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Comment by rwmj | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone really think "one try ... is enough to get us hooked"? They can't know any overt functional drug users if that's the case. Cocaine in particular isn't instantly addictive. If anything on the few occasions I've used it, it actively put me off.

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A while back (some years perhaps) on Reddit there was a story about someone who basically documented their experiment with heroin. It could have been a hoax of course, but most agreed it wasn't.

It was this person who was already doing milder illegal drugs. He goes to his dealer and dealer proposes something different this time. He decided to try heroin. Had pretty high confidence he wouldn't get addicted. Anyway he describes his first try. Then as weeks went on he periodically posted updated. He kept justifying going back to trying it. Gets addicted. Long story loses his job, girlfriend, goes into rehab for a long time. Pretty harrowing story.

EDIT:

Thanks to japhyr56 who found the link:

http://www.reddit.com/user/SpontaneousH/submitted/

Was it one of these?

http://www.reddit.com/user/SpontaneousH/submitted/

Or this one?

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/jcxow/iama_functioning...

Thanks for finding it, it was SpontaneousH one.

So you've got an anecdote, and you didn't even link to the source of the anecdote.

I think the main problem is that lots of people who have heard the "try it once and get hooked" story realize that they did try it once without problems, and therefore assume that addiction won't be a problem. From once to a few times to regular use to addiction is a slippery slope that most avoids, but for some it can take several years. But none of them started it with the assumption that they themselves would get addicted, and along the way made up many rationalizations for their drug use. So in that way, this anecdote is interesting.

Sorry I tried to find it but couldn't at the moment. It was some years back and reddit's search is not the best it seems.

Anyway the idea was that many go in thinking they can handle but it turns out they can get addicted the first time and it can ruin their life pretty quickly.

"If anything on the few occasions I've used it, it actively put me off."

Cocaine can't have actively put you off that much if you did it again a few times. Reminds me of the joke "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it lots of times."

I enjoyed your comment so I don't want you to think I'm being rude but I think there is a difference between trying a drug (maybe more than once) versus becoming addicted to it and needing to quit.

My best (and personal) example is that I would smoke a cigarettes with friends back in college whenever we were out and drinking. It provided a good additional buzz and it was somewhat social. I'd even buy my own pack so I could have one if my other smoking buddies weren't around (also when I was out drinking). I averaged 2-4 cigarettes per week and I'd even go weeks without smoking as well. It was sporadic and I didn't enjoy cigarettes any other time. When I saw people smoking during the daytime I would actually be kind of disgusted at the thought of smoking. So I guess my point is... was I addicted? I don't think I was. Was there ever a line that I would say that I "quit smoking"? Eventually I did stop my "casual" routine. Even now, I think I would still smoke a cigarette if I was put back into similar situations.

I think it's completely reasonable to have tried a drug many times and not be considered addicted. On the contrary, many of those same college friends I smoked with I would consider to be addicted. It wasn't a limited activity. It was an anytime and anywhere activity.

Considering I've not taken it, or even thought about taking it, for over 15 years, I'd say you are wrong.

Perhaps it's an acquired taste. It took me loads of tries to get olives, ale and death metal. I was actively put off all of those several times, now I survive on pretty much just those...

Why does this need to be the case?

I guess for most people it is more like "there's so many movies about this stuff and famous people take it, it MUST be good, I need to try".

The author proposes this theory is incorrect but doesn't cite any scientific sources that state "all it takes is once." (They do cite a drug scare web page.) They then go on to say that environmental factors influence drug use, which is obvious. This article isn't a very good advertisement for their "MindHacks" book.

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