Reset Password
If you've forgotten your password, you can enter your email address below. An email will then be sent with a link to set up a new password.
Cancel
Reset Link Sent
If the email is registered with our site, you will receive an email with instructions to reset your password. Password reset link sent to:
Check your email and enter the confirmation code:
Don't see the email?
  • Resend Confirmation Link
  • Start Over
Close
If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service

Addiction  

kzoopair 73M/71F
8366 posts
6/4/2016 9:50 pm
Addiction


CravingsAddictionsObsessions Is The Topic For The Twentieth Virtual Symposium

I’ve had addictions. The hardest one to break was smoking. I smoked for over forty years and it took sickness to break the habit. But I had quit smoking many times over those years, only to take it up again. The final time, the straw that broke the camel’s back, was when I couldn’t walk uphill hiking without being out of breath. I couldn’t run with my dog. I packed up all my pipes and tobacco and put them away, and have never picked them up again.

All I need to keep me from smoking again is to think of that feeling of suffocating when I tried walking up hill, or chopping wood. It’s not so much humiliating as it is depressing, and disappointing. Why the hell could I have not done that forty years before? Partly because it was always so easy to get, and partly- probably- because there are actually some benefits to smokers that anti-smoking groups refused to acknowledge could exist. It was condemned as a pure evil without any research into what compels people to smoke. They were written off as weak and stupid.

But there are benefits to the smoker. It’s clear that the benefits are outweighed by the harmful effects, but people continue smoking even when they’re aware of the damage they’re doing. They aren’t stupid! Studies have shown that smoking stimulates pleasure centers in the brain and enhances other pleasures that you experience. The same pleasure centers in the brain that are affected by morphine and heroin are activated by nicotine. And for years smoking was a socially accepted vice, like alcohol.

Opiates were never socially acceptable. It was the drug of the ghetto and used first by Chinese immigrants and then found its way into working class and racially segregated black slums of the big cities. On the tail of prohibition and its dismal failure as a social experiment, religious zealots and moralists went after free love, public lewdness, including that depicted in films of the time (which frequently featured nudity), and drugs. All the intolerance of non-smokers today was then directed at the supposed moral weakness of hedonists and drug users who were seen as substandard, and this of course could be attributed to their belonging to inferior races and economic groups. They just weren’t as strong and upright as white Europeans. They didn’t have our inherent moral fiber. White youth were warned to resist the siren call of hipsters, to preserve the purity and natural superiority that was their birthright.

In the sixties, when young people began rejecting the values of their parents’ generation, a reassessment was in order. White were using drugs! That was a problem, and had to be explained by the destabilizing influence of rock and roll, the devil’s music, and the coddling of negroes in our modern culture. This couldn’t be allowed to stand- our white youth were being corrupted, and along with that our position as the natural rulers of lesser races was being threatened. Parents were said to be too permissive., and drug addiction and moral degradation was the result. if there’s anyone who doesn’t realize that this is pure and unadulterated bullshit, let him stop reading here.

President Nixon declared a war on drugs.

The already vast federal bureaucracy would see to it that no drugs would enter the country. They’d make drug use impossible by eliminating illegal drugs. I won’t attempt even a cursory history of the drug war. Anyone who’s been paying attention can see how well that’s worked out. You’d think that Americans of all people would understand the law of supply and demand, especially after our experiment with prohibition. The bureaucracy that was created to stop the flow of illicit drugs is dependent on the flow of those drugs for its existence. Smuggled drugs are their livelihood. We passed, state by state, tough laws, habitual offender laws, called three strike laws, to lock addicts up for being convicted more than twice of possession of controlled substances, but we can’t control the demand for more drugs no matter how many people we lock up. We incarcerate more people than any other nation on the planet. A great number of them are imprisoned because of drug related offenses. And very few rehabilitation programs are at all successful at curing addicts of their addiction.

The British began a heroin maintenance program to try to fix their own problems with heroin addiction. Addicts would register and be given a daily dose of heroin. Eventually they would die out and Britain would be free of addicts. But after about twenty years heroin from the continent was again showing up on that sceptered isle. A new generation had grown up unexposed to heroin, and they represented a brand new and lucrative market for smugglers. There was a new market and a new demand.

Unheralded, a man named Bruce Alexander, a professor of psychology in Vancouver, noticed something interesting about how rats behaved when exposed to drug laced water supplies. A rat is put alone in a bare cage with two water bottles. One bottle is clean pure water. The other bottle is loaded with heroin or cocaine. The rat will use the drug laced water supply until it kills him. So Alexander built a different kind of cage. He called it Rat Park. He put many rats in the cage, with plenty of room, and there were enough female rats to make life interesting for the most sauve “ rat about town”, to quote Johann Hari, who wrote about the experiment with Rat Park in his book “Chasing The Scream: The First And Last Days of the War on drugs”. The rats had plenty of diversion, including colored balls to roll and play in. Apparently rats are crazy about playing with colored balls. Who knew?

The rats tried both water supplies, and knew what the effect of each would be. They avoided the drug tainted water and drank the clean pure water instead. In Rat Park, they had everything a rat could want- toys, tunnels, and plenty of rat pussy. When hearing about this experiment, I was immediately reminded of something William S. Burroughs , a lifelong heroin addict, had said: that given the absence of any strong motivation or interest in another direction, people will gravitate toward drug use. The implication is significant and large. If people have decent, interesting and fulfilling lives, they may experiment with drugs but they will steer clear of relying on them to the point of addiction and death.

I can personally vouch for this. I wasn’t just a smoker, I was a heroin addict. I won’t write about the time and the details of when I think I hit bottom. But when my life finally changed for the better, I was able to quit. I knew plenty of people who weren’t that lucky. The results of the Rat Park experiment ring true to me, just like Burroughs’ remark years ago had before. If they have the basic necessities to survive, some social support from their own kind and even a chance to prosper, most people can handle the rest on their own.

Participants List For the Twentieth Virtual Symposium CravingsAddictionsObsessions



Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


tickles4us 62M
7262 posts
6/4/2016 10:06 pm

A+

Vive La Difference


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/4/2016 10:09 pm

Thanks, Tickles.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


SilverPhenix 106F
332 posts
6/4/2016 10:29 pm

" given the absence of any strong motivation or interest in another direction, people will gravitate toward drug use. "
Rat Pack experiment proves this beyond doubt.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/4/2016 10:55 pm

    Quoting SilverPhenix:
    " given the absence of any strong motivation or interest in another direction, people will gravitate toward drug use. "
    Rat Pack experiment proves this beyond doubt.
It proves it to me, along with my own personal experience. There are criticisms of Hari's book, and of the Rat Park experiment, but then, there are criticisms of human initiated climate change and evolution too, so I take those critics with a grain of salt. I suspect there will always be a minority of people who use intoxicants excessively, but what good does moralizing and ostracism do them or us? We ought to be treating folks as members of the tribe, not as outcasts or misfits. Even the Neanderthal cared for their sick and injured.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


rachel0718 58F
20470 posts
6/4/2016 11:25 pm

Absolutely loved this! I can relate to quite a bit of your personal experiences.
Very well done!


Rachel Mae


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/4/2016 11:38 pm

    Quoting rachel0718:
    Absolutely loved this! I can relate to quite a bit of your personal experiences.
    Very well done!
Thanks Rachel. We're all in this together. Self righteousness and finger pointing have never gained us a damned thing. We have too many throw away people today.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


HamburgDave2 80M
16526 posts
6/4/2016 11:57 pm

Great Post
I am myself a recovering Tobacco Addict, I tried several times to quit and eventually succeeded. My only other Addictions are Alcohol and Women
Then nearly 20 years later, my job brought me to Germany. I met a woman who Smoked in a Bar After a couple of weeks with her, I started Smoking again, my excuse was that it took away the Ashtray taste when kissing. This was of course total BS.
We split up after a while, but I continued to Smoke. I also found my health was suffering, Breathlessness Etc.
I stopped smoking at the end of October last year. I couldn't go completely "Cold Turkey", I use E Cigs as a crutch, a little Nicotene helps now and again.
I have however, No Plans, to give up Alcohol or Women



Visit my Blog Older but no Wiser and find out more


KItkat1415 61F  
20051 posts
6/4/2016 11:57 pm

So your testimony is that your life is now interesting enough that drugs hold no sway over you.
Thank PD for that! Love her and so glad that you will be with us longer because the drugs are no longer of interest.
Good entry into the symposium ,
Kk

The observant make the best lovers,
I may not do right, but I do write,
I have bliss, joy, and happiness in my life,
Kitkat
Come check out my blog
KItkat1415
check out this post by me
Adventures In Body Grooming
#39 April Topic Link: What Lies Beneath
If April Showers Oh Bloody Hell What Kind Of Weather Turns Me On Bloggers Symposium 40


JN63JPN 61F  
27439 posts
6/5/2016 12:12 am

Great post!

Got Sh*t to share? Post a comment on Sht That Dudes Say
Haven't done it yet? Come sign in my Guest Book
How're you scoring? IQ Test for Dummies
Moderator of Coffee Break
Help us improve the site--Live From AFF
HNW enthusiast? HNW Bloggers


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:16 am

    Quoting HamburgDave2:
    Great Post
    I am myself a recovering Tobacco Addict, I tried several times to quit and eventually succeeded. My only other Addictions are Alcohol and Women
    Then nearly 20 years later, my job brought me to Germany. I met a woman who Smoked in a Bar After a couple of weeks with her, I started Smoking again, my excuse was that it took away the Ashtray taste when kissing. This was of course total BS.
    We split up after a while, but I continued to Smoke. I also found my health was suffering, Breathlessness Etc.
    I stopped smoking at the end of October last year. I couldn't go completely "Cold Turkey", I use E Cigs as a crutch, a little Nicotene helps now and again.
    I have however, No Plans, to give up Alcohol or Women


Well, you don't want to be branded a quitter, that's for sure! Honestly, I did have issues with giving up the walk on the wild side. I identified with those people. In so many ways I was a misfit and an outcast. But if you pare it down to the core, that shit was gonna kill me, and I didn't really want to die. That would only occur to someone who had options. Nobody else has any particular reason to go on.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:25 am

    Quoting KItkat1415:
    So your testimony is that your life is now interesting enough that drugs hold no sway over you.
    Thank PD for that! Love her and so glad that you will be with us longer because the drugs are no longer of interest.
    Good entry into the symposium ,
    Kk
Drugs are not of no interest- I'm not made of stone. But they are of little interest. You don't often meet any old junkies. Yes- I can thank my wife for giving me a reason to rejoice in life, although I was fairly well recovered when I met her. It is true though, that after we met, our past lives melted away and all we had was each other. It was like Day One from that point. So you're right- getting high has no real sway over me anymore.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:31 am

    Quoting  :

Leo, I've made my case before that terrorism could be much reduced by giving the young men who are seduced by radical ideologies a little cash via some kind of gainful and useful employment, and a reasonable supply of pussy. All kinds of guys will fight before getting laid, but who the hell has the energy after indulging in some fresh nookie?

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:31 am

Thank you!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


Furbal1972 51M
18571 posts
6/5/2016 12:56 am

Addictions suck. .. I know all about them.

They are a part of the Eco-verse.

Read my diary Journal of a Taxi Driver for taxi stories and pictures of flowers and trees.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 1:03 am

    Quoting Furbal1972:
    Addictions suck. .. I know all about them.

    They are a part of the Eco-verse.
Yeah. I like the turn my own life took a lot more. It's kind of a crap shoot, as it stands. We ought to be able to do better. Addicts are seen as somehow broken when really it's our culture that's broken.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


Annie_34 65T
5945 posts
6/5/2016 1:21 am

Bonjour Kzoopair
Dans ma jeunesse j'avais fumé quelques joints . À 35ans j'ai fumé pour la première fois une cigarettes de tabac et je suis devenu addict en une journée c'est vrai que j'étais en plein divorce et maintenant je fume toujours du tabac alors que je peux fumer des joints pendant plusieurs jours et ne plus en eprouvé le besoin quand je n'en ai plus . Je pense donc que le tabac est plus addictif que l'herbe .
J'aime bien l'expérience des rats heureux qui n'ont plus besoin de drogue
♥ Bisou ♥ Poton ♥ Annie ♥


Hello Kzoopair
In my youth I had smoked some joints. at 35 years I smoked for the first time a tobacco cigarette and I became addicted in one day it's true that I was in the divorce and now I still smoke tobacco while I can smoke joints for several days and no longer feels the need when I have none. So I think tobacco is more addictive than grass
I like the experience of happy rats who no longer need drugs
♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥


Notre vie est un voyage-♦-Dans l'hiver et dans la nuit
Nous cherchons notre passage-♦-Dans le ciel où rien ne luit .

Pour laisser un message cliquer ici Boite aux lettres secrete Annie
Sommaire du blog Annie la Pute


satyrnsheepzskin 46M
5939 posts
6/5/2016 4:52 am

Great insight and the entire Rat Park experiment is EXTREMELY interesting to me. The small Kentucky town I grew up in was "dry" for my entire childhood and young adulthood. Many of the older decision makers in town refused to go "wet" because they were so fearful of the consequences of allowing liquor to be sold in town.

The hubris of the entire situation was clearly present in the fact that many nearby counties were wet and the small expensive liberal arts college students in my town were NEVER going to abstain. Being a "dry" county doesn't preclude you from drinking alcohol in your home or apartment, it simply prevents you from being able to buy it there. No tax money generated even though liquor was still coming in.

Eventually about 10 years ago they went "wet" after a trial period of meeting somewhere in the middle where liquor sails were only allowed in restaurants where more than 50% of sales could not come from liquor. Shocking news, but the town has actually NOT burned in a writhing sea of euphoric evil fornication and debauchery as a result.

In a small town with little to do ... the less inhibited youth will find SOMETHING to occupy their time.

Satyr in Sheep's Skin
Peruse my many stories at Satyr39s Storybook Corner or my Renaissance Era BDSM fantasy story at Serial Story Reinport39s Crowning Index.


VenusRising11 71F
4677 posts
6/5/2016 7:23 am

Wonderful post, kzoo! Thanks for sharing so much with us. Cigarettes and sugar are the monkeys on my back......I will probably always fight them both, and figured I didn't need any others.



Venus Rising

Please come visit my blog Talespinner VenusRising11


Nourish my mind.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:02 am

    Quoting Annie_34:
    Bonjour Kzoopair
    Dans ma jeunesse j'avais fumé quelques joints . À 35ans j'ai fumé pour la première fois une cigarettes de tabac et je suis devenu addict en une journée c'est vrai que j'étais en plein divorce et maintenant je fume toujours du tabac alors que je peux fumer des joints pendant plusieurs jours et ne plus en eprouvé le besoin quand je n'en ai plus . Je pense donc que le tabac est plus addictif que l'herbe .
    J'aime bien l'expérience des rats heureux qui n'ont plus besoin de drogue
    ♥ Bisou ♥ Poton ♥ Annie ♥


    Hello Kzoopair
    In my youth I had smoked some joints. at 35 years I smoked for the first time a tobacco cigarette and I became addicted in one day it's true that I was in the divorce and now I still smoke tobacco while I can smoke joints for several days and no longer feels the need when I have none. So I think tobacco is more addictive than grass
    I like the experience of happy rats who no longer need drugs
    ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥

In the end I found that tobacco was a lot harder to quit than heroin. Tobacco is everywhere, and relatively cheap. It's only recently that it's had such stigma attached to it.

À la fin j'ai constaté qu'il était beaucoup plus difficile de quitter tabac que l'héroïne. Le tabac est partout, et relativement bon marché. C'est tout récemment qu'il a eu un tel stigmate attaché à lui.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


pocogato12 71F  
37235 posts
6/5/2016 10:02 am

I tried pot and hash and peyote in college and discovered I did not like the "not being in control" feeling that they achieved ( loved the foodie cravings from pot LO so it never really got me hooked or curious to try anything further. I also had friends who came home from Vietnam who had done acid -they kept having flashbacks that were dangerous to themselves and those around them when the revisits" happened.

As always very impressed with your writing style and presentation in your post. Thank you for the knowledge and insight.

(Virtual Symposium Group) use Virtual Symposium Group


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:07 am

    Quoting satyrnsheepzskin:
    Great insight and the entire Rat Park experiment is EXTREMELY interesting to me. The small Kentucky town I grew up in was "dry" for my entire childhood and young adulthood. Many of the older decision makers in town refused to go "wet" because they were so fearful of the consequences of allowing liquor to be sold in town.

    The hubris of the entire situation was clearly present in the fact that many nearby counties were wet and the small expensive liberal arts college students in my town were NEVER going to abstain. Being a "dry" county doesn't preclude you from drinking alcohol in your home or apartment, it simply prevents you from being able to buy it there. No tax money generated even though liquor was still coming in.

    Eventually about 10 years ago they went "wet" after a trial period of meeting somewhere in the middle where liquor sails were only allowed in restaurants where more than 50% of sales could not come from liquor. Shocking news, but the town has actually NOT burned in a writhing sea of euphoric evil fornication and debauchery as a result.

    In a small town with little to do ... the less inhibited youth will find SOMETHING to occupy their time.
Or even in a big town with plenty to do. But if they have options in their lives, if they aren't alienated and shut out, they'll experiment for a while and then move on. There are people who are predisposed to addictions- for all I know I'm one of them- but treating it as a moral failure is singularly unhelpful.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:11 am

    Quoting  :

Well thanks! I used to take more credit for it than I do now. I thought I had a stronger will than the ones who weren't able to quit. As I've got older it's gradually sunk in that we have less control over events in our lives than we like to think. I had alternatives...I had a way out.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:33 am

    Quoting  :

Thanks Spunky. You and I see this the same way. The message is always the same- "Be afraid! Be very afraid!" And there's never really any serious attempt to get at the root cause of either one. It's useful to sustain the problem and keep us distracted from the fact that our pockets are being picked. Any empathy is belittled as permissive and weak. We're never going to incarcerate our way out of these problems.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:39 am

    Quoting mcmaniac:
    I smoked, on and off, for over 20 yrs. I also quit for illness reasons. I think the level of addictions might be based on those "pleasure centers" in every ones brain and how strong they are. Besides cigarettes, I've never been addicted to anything else, while I know people who did certain drugs less than me and became very addicted.
I don't pretend to understand the mechanics of addiction deeply. I'm convinced that some people are more likely to have addictions while others can take it or leave it. But I do know that shaming and berating don't work, and that the war on drugs is a fucking fraud, and that the tobacco companies can't be trusted any farther than we can spit. And the moral high horse that some folks like to ride is a lot more helpful to those up on the horse than it is to addicts.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:57 am

    Quoting VenusRising11:
    Wonderful post, kzoo! Thanks for sharing so much with us. Cigarettes and sugar are the monkeys on my back......I will probably always fight them both, and figured I didn't need any others.
Thanks Venus. Sugar is kind of an interesting side note for me. I used to have a sweet tooth. In my forties I had got debilitated and out of shape and decided that if I was going to keep doing the things I like to do I'd better get a handle on it. I changed how and what I ate and one of the things I cut out was sugar. I didn't stop it completely but I did cut it back gradually. I began to notice that the less sweet stuff I ate, the less I craved more sweets. In a fairly short time my craving for sweets had disappeared. And I almost didn't notice it happening!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 10:58 am

    Quoting  :

Than you Vixen! See- I can enlighten once in a while!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 11:01 am

Thank you. I eventually came to the same place you did- that I didn't like not being in control. It bothers me less now that I have some experience, and the craving, the need to get high just doesn't have the same allure that it used to.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


Peter12953 70M
83 posts
6/5/2016 11:39 am

At one point I saw someone use crack for the first time. The first words out of her mouth were "I want more".


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:05 pm

    Quoting  :

Thank you!

You threw me for a minute with "bin them"...

I can't remember how many times I quit smoking , for a month, six months, two years. It was always stress that started me again. When people ask me what I would do over I've always said "Nothing", but that isn't true anymore. If I could go back and counsel my younger self, I'd slap that cigarette out of my mouth and keep slapping.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:09 pm

    Quoting  :

I had bad experiences too, but I'm a slow learner.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:11 pm

    Quoting Peter12953:
    At one point I saw someone use crack for the first time. The first words out of her mouth were "I want more".
Succinct, and eloquent. Thanks.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 12:14 pm

    Quoting  :

Thanks MissK. I never struggled with anything the way I struggled with quitting smoking. And then, when I'd one day had enough, I just packed it in and never smoked again. Lord, how I wish that day had come sooner.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 3:27 pm

Thanks, eMAN. I really appreciate the all support you give me!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


NaughtyInSO 113F
9755 posts
6/5/2016 5:39 pm

I don't think that declaring any substance illegal could result in stopping it's use. People would try anything out of curiosity or as a rebellion, or for many other reasons. War on any forbidden substance would only result in growth of black market. The use will never stop.

I am a smoker. Have been for 50 years. There was a time when I had to stop because of illness, but after that was dealt with I started again. I'm old enough to know all the risks and stubborn enough to ignore them. Surprisingly, my oncologist never suggested I quit smoking. I smoke the same number of cigarettes a day since I started and never inside or around non-smokers, children or animals. And I don't plan to quit.

Great post!

Visit my blog It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World of NaughtyInSO, leave a comment, become a watcher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LIVE AND LET LIVE Be happy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/5/2016 7:48 pm

    Quoting NaughtyInSO:
    I don't think that declaring any substance illegal could result in stopping it's use. People would try anything out of curiosity or as a rebellion, or for many other reasons. War on any forbidden substance would only result in growth of black market. The use will never stop.

    I am a smoker. Have been for 50 years. There was a time when I had to stop because of illness, but after that was dealt with I started again. I'm old enough to know all the risks and stubborn enough to ignore them. Surprisingly, my oncologist never suggested I quit smoking. I smoke the same number of cigarettes a day since I started and never inside or around non-smokers, children or animals. And I don't plan to quit.

    Great post!
I agree with you, and we have plenty of evidence to back us up. Prohibition doesn't work.

I'm not going to evangelize about other people quitting smoking. People who did that when I smoked were a pain in the ass. But I sure as hell wish I had quit earlier- years earlier! I had examples- a good friend, a guy fifty years my senior had emphysema and couldn't walk a hundred feet without resting. I shoulda learned from his condition!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


sweet_VM 65F
81699 posts
6/6/2016 9:01 am

Excellent post KZ.. I never got trap in smoking so I was lucky I never got addictive. For myself I never did drugs either. I do like to drink a little. That is my only addition besides coffee.. Now sex can be another addition. But is that a bad one? Not for me! hugsssssssssss V

Become a blog watcher sweet_vm


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/6/2016 9:07 am

    Quoting joisygirl:
    I'm glad you are reformed in many ways. I've never tried drugs or even tobacco. I do however, have an addictive personality. Alcoholism on both sides of the family, functioning alcoholics and even drug addicts. Thanks for sharing another very informative post Kzoo.
Reformed? That sounds kind of harsh. I did sort of regroup and take a different approach.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/6/2016 9:09 am

    Quoting sweet_VM:
    Excellent post KZ.. I never got trap in smoking so I was lucky I never got addictive. For myself I never did drugs either. I do like to drink a little. That is my only addition besides coffee.. Now sex can be another addition. But is that a bad one? Not for me! hugsssssssssss V
Thanks. You were smart!
Hugggggs B

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/6/2016 10:28 am

    Quoting joisygirl:
    Um, yeah, I did re-think that word as soon as it was on the page, but then I just left it stand. I'm glad you are you! xo
After all, I got a reputation to maintain!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


wickedeasy 74F
32404 posts
6/6/2016 11:49 am

having spent a good deal of time with addicts, I think your assessment is in large part true. given a true chance at a better life, many will move away from drugs successfully. tbs, addictive behavior is a psychologically more difficult to attach.

the only thing I've ever been addicted to is cigarettes, physiologically. but I have the behavior and so I steer clear of things that could claim me. yanno?

You cannot conceive the many without the one.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/6/2016 2:37 pm

I think a lot of things go into making an addict, and I'm sure environment isn't the only thing- it affects the wealthy as well as the poor, and people who would seem to have everything can be addicts too. There are nearly as many theories as there are theorists. But criminalizing it has been singularly unhelpful and the war on drugs is a farce. Surely it would be worth a try to address issues of poverty and alienation as a first step in prevention.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/6/2016 4:01 pm

    Quoting  :

Thanks Cinnamon, but I've come to think it was kind of a matter of luck. I used to give myself credit for being of stronger will that the people I knew who couldn't quit, but now that I'm older I can see it differently. Lot's of things could have gone wrong and didn't, so I was able to taper off over a few years and finally just stopped altogether.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


HermanG67 56M
8464 posts
6/7/2016 7:30 am

thank you for sharing this kzoo


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/7/2016 10:00 am

    Quoting HermanG67:
    thank you for sharing this kzoo
And thank you for reading it, Herman.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


08540Tantrafun 60M  
1072 posts
6/7/2016 10:50 am

"some social support from their own kind " Bill that is all that is needed.Every year millions of people are given the purest kind of heroin when they go in for surgeries of all kinds. People who have a little support don't become addicted. Others do. Over 100million prescriptions for opioids are filed every year. Dopamine is the basis of all addictions. It is what motivates us to do anything. If nothing is motivating us and the level of stress is high, we self medicate with alcohol, drugs, tobacco, internet, sex and sugar etc. Great post.

You might remember my post about isis and the discussion with Dr.Calypso Flame. I had said that it is "Arab exceptionalism" that is fueling terror not religion. In muslim culture a man has to pay dowry to the brides father to marry his daughter. With oil price collapsing, no jobs and media showing sheiks living the grand life, average Arab cant get married(high expectations).

There are 175 million Muslims in India only 4 joined isis, 3 returned one remain fearful of procecution. With India's economy growing at 7.6% people of all religions have hope of a better future. The level of violence is remarkably low for the population. Hurricanes, droughts, heat waves and missing monsoons etc causes hopelessness, breaks social support and violence/addictions follows.

India instituted something similar to USA's WPA (during great depression) in Afghanistan. A few hundred million dollars worth. Gave them shovels and pick axes to build a high way and a dam. 2 days ago PM Modi and Afghan President Inaugurated the dam that helps to irrigate 100000 acres. No terrorism in that part of Afghanistan.
Hope our government will do the same here and get our hopeless and helpless unemployed people to build next generation railroad and other infrastructure. Workfare not welfare is the answer. Work gives a person dignity, social support and motivation, just giving money takes it away.

"Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”― Immanuel Kant .


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/7/2016 11:41 am

    Quoting 08540Tantrafun:
    "some social support from their own kind " Bill that is all that is needed.Every year millions of people are given the purest kind of heroin when they go in for surgeries of all kinds. People who have a little support don't become addicted. Others do. Over 100million prescriptions for opioids are filed every year. Dopamine is the basis of all addictions. It is what motivates us to do anything. If nothing is motivating us and the level of stress is high, we self medicate with alcohol, drugs, tobacco, internet, sex and sugar etc. Great post.

    You might remember my post about isis and the discussion with Dr.Calypso Flame. I had said that it is "Arab exceptionalism" that is fueling terror not religion. In muslim culture a man has to pay dowry to the brides father to marry his daughter. With oil price collapsing, no jobs and media showing sheiks living the grand life, average Arab cant get married(high expectations).

    There are 175 million Muslims in India only 4 joined isis, 3 returned one remain fearful of procecution. With India's economy growing at 7.6% people of all religions have hope of a better future. The level of violence is remarkably low for the population. Hurricanes, droughts, heat waves and missing monsoons etc causes hopelessness, breaks social support and violence/addictions follows.

    India instituted something similar to USA's WPA (during great depression) in Afghanistan. A few hundred million dollars worth. Gave them shovels and pick axes to build a high way and a dam. 2 days ago PM Modi and Afghan President Inaugurated the dam that helps to irrigate 100000 acres. No terrorism in that part of Afghanistan.
    Hope our government will do the same here and get our hopeless and helpless unemployed people to build next generation railroad and other infrastructure. Workfare not welfare is the answer. Work gives a person dignity, social support and motivation, just giving money takes it away.
"Work gives a person dignity, social support and motivation..."
I love that line, Kama. One of the things that bugs me about our present culture is that trades and physical labor are not respected. We pay lip service to it, but it isn't rewarded. People who labor for their livelihood are seen as chumps.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


sexysixties2 106F
39750 posts
6/7/2016 12:14 pm

Great post Kzoo. I smoked for over 50 years and like you was forced to give it up cos my lungs couldn't do what they were meant to any more.

I live in a city with a huge drug problem especially in the marginalised areas. Luckily I personally survived the sixties without succumbing...mainly due to the fact that a friend of mine died aged 18 from a heroin overdose.


"Age does not protect you from love, but love, to some extent, protects you from age."

~~Anais Nin~~


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/7/2016 12:32 pm

Smoking did more damage to me than anything else- so far!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


effer2910 60M
5508 posts
6/8/2016 3:55 am

Un regard très interessant sur les toxicomanies qui offre des perspectives sans doute plus efficaces que la simple prohibition.

A very interesting look at addiction that offers prospects probably more effective than the simple prohibition.

Blog effer2910
Sommaire
Et la souffrance vgtale
L'être idéal ? Un ange dévasté par l'humour.
E.M. Cioran


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/8/2016 9:46 am

    Quoting effer2910:
    Un regard très interessant sur les toxicomanies qui offre des perspectives sans doute plus efficaces que la simple prohibition.

    A very interesting look at addiction that offers prospects probably more effective than the simple prohibition.
Treating people as if they had value, and an equal share in our society, won't solve all our problems, but it's a good starting point. Prohibition just doesn't work.

Le traitement des personnes comme si elles ont eu la valeur, et une part égale dans notre société, ne résoudra pas tous nos problèmes, mais elle est un bon point de départ. La prohibition juste ne fonctionne pas.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


Not_here2meet 55F
3843 posts
6/8/2016 11:08 am

This is some great insight into addiction. I've seen a few TED talks about addiction that had close to the same idea. From what I've gathered, addiction is a social and cultural problem, and until those social and cultural problems are eradicated, there will be addicts.

In this world, it seems, to me, that often we are praising the apathetic (Trump anyone?). It seems, to me, that this whole "look out for yourself and don't care about your fellow man" has insidiously poisoned our society.

Thank you for writing this, I learned something and I got to know a little more about you.

Live life to it's fullest!

If you're bored, Read
Hugs
Gypsy


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/8/2016 11:41 am

    Quoting Not_here2meet:
    This is some great insight into addiction. I've seen a few TED talks about addiction that had close to the same idea. From what I've gathered, addiction is a social and cultural problem, and until those social and cultural problems are eradicated, there will be addicts.

    In this world, it seems, to me, that often we are praising the apathetic (Trump anyone?). It seems, to me, that this whole "look out for yourself and don't care about your fellow man" has insidiously poisoned our society.

    Thank you for writing this, I learned something and I got to know a little more about you.
Thanks for that comment. I know that having been a user doesn't make me an expert. Addiction is complicated, and not all of us are created equal when it comes to addictions. But since some attempt at social equity is the right thing to do for so many reasons, it's at the least a solid foundation to begin from in treating addicts.

You're right- there is a frighteningly large constituency for social Darwinism in America. This goes against the grain for me. We ought to be caring for one another and trying to see to it that everyone has a chance to succeed.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/8/2016 6:37 pm

    Quoting  :

Drinking has never been much of an issue for me. I do drink more now that I'm retired, because I don't have to get up in the morning unless I feel like it. Sigh. I should probably drink less anyhow.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


LemonSqueezy7116 52F
452 posts
6/8/2016 11:10 pm

I've had friends who went cold turkey for a variety of reasons and successfully quit. Only to take it up again when something unpleasant happens. Not sure if that actually counts. I think you need a strong motivation to permanently break any addiction and I'm Glad you've found that!

Myself - I've never touched a cigarette in my life.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/9/2016 12:11 am

You're quite right- quitting is one thing, staying quit is another.

I wish I could say the same thing- that I had never touched a cigarette.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/9/2016 2:06 pm

    Quoting Apollorising2056:
    Great write and that's why I support you my great writing friend!
Thanks eMAN!

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


BeccaLuvs 61F
20895 posts
6/13/2016 10:02 am

Wow, you wrote an excellent Sym on "Addiction" K! And congrats to you giving up the nicotine! Strange as it is, but I have read somewhere that smoking is the most difficult to give up and stop and sadly almost all heavy smokers wait till they forced to. As you said - "if only you'd done it ages ago"?! Plus, there is the - surely smoking, if it helps with stress is beneficial cos stress can kill you?!

Guess in ths crazy mixed-up world we live in - turning to false aid is something that happens to so many of us.

..... And always 'hold onto all those sexy thoughts'!
(Remember if you feel like taking part in some sexy fun then click here!) Come on Some Sketch Fun
And Now How About 39Me39 Watching 39You39 If you39d like that Please Comment - So if you would like - click here as well!


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/13/2016 11:20 am

    Quoting BeccaLuvs:
    Wow, you wrote an excellent Sym on "Addiction" K! And congrats to you giving up the nicotine! Strange as it is, but I have read somewhere that smoking is the most difficult to give up and stop and sadly almost all heavy smokers wait till they forced to. As you said - "if only you'd done it ages ago"?! Plus, there is the - surely smoking, if it helps with stress is beneficial cos stress can kill you?!

    Guess in ths crazy mixed-up world we live in - turning to false aid is something that happens to so many of us.
Thank you Becca! I wouldn't say that say that stuff that makes us feel better is necessarily false support, even if it harms us in the end. It appears to be that way when we're no longer using it, but having our pleasure centers stimulated is pretty heady stuff and hard to ignore! I can laugh about it- because I lived, so far- but it's a powerful draw to get reliable short term relief from what ails us. It took a relentless anti-smoking campaign quite a few years to make headway against tobacco, especially with the stonewalling of the tobacco lobby. And in many countries they haven't even begun that fight.

And still I wish I'd had the strength to quit years ago, now that I'm feeling the result. Hindsight is torture, isn't it?

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/19/2016 10:25 am

    Quoting  :

You're welcome. Thank you for reading it! Please come back soon, and often.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


stardust81937 87M
8340 posts
6/25/2016 9:31 am

Men and women who've been able to break the tremendous pull of drugs once and for all, have learned a secret of life that will stay with them for all the remaining years of their lives. All of us humans have things to learn in this life and the ability to pull free of things that harm our bodies is probably foremost in that learning curve.

For myself, Smoking and Drinking were my enemies in the first half of life. I needed to give both up together in order to give up smoking cigarettes-- which was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do... Stopping alcohol was not too difficult for me. Other drugs have never had any pull on me.

a fine post..


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/25/2016 10:18 am

    Quoting stardust81937:
    Men and women who've been able to break the tremendous pull of drugs once and for all, have learned a secret of life that will stay with them for all the remaining years of their lives. All of us humans have things to learn in this life and the ability to pull free of things that harm our bodies is probably foremost in that learning curve.

    For myself, Smoking and Drinking were my enemies in the first half of life. I needed to give both up together in order to give up smoking cigarettes-- which was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do... Stopping alcohol was not too difficult for me. Other drugs have never had any pull on me.

    a fine post..
Thanks, Stardust. I see it just as you do.

In the grand scheme of things my own addictions don't count for much. But who gives a shit about the grand scheme when he's in trouble? We all have our problems and they're immensely important to us and to the ones who care about us. If we can try to treat our troubled citizens as if they belong, as if they have value, just like we'd want our own loved ones to be treated, we'd be well ahead of the game.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


MALESforus 52M/49F

6/30/2016 8:30 am

Interesting


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
6/30/2016 9:36 am

Thanks.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


scoupe42 60M

7/3/2016 1:52 pm

My friend you been through a lot, by having an addict. But your mind and will was make stronger than the addiction!


kzoopair 73M/71F
25831 posts
7/3/2016 3:24 pm

    Quoting scoupe42:
    My friend you been through a lot, by having an addict. But your mind and will was make stronger than the addiction!
Thanks for that, scoupe. I appreciate it. There was some luck in it too. I had other options and was able to figure them out. So many people don't have anything else. I wouldn't change that part of my past though. I think it did make me stronger.

Become a member now and get a free tote bag.


Become a member to create a blog