Drug use- what do you find acceptable?

[Rachmumoftwo]

There is a thread that has touched on this already. What is acceptable drug use in your eyes? Is it OK to smoke a little weed when the children are in bed, or take cocaine on weekends or holidays, or is it totally irresponsible to even entertain the idea of drug taking if you are a parent (or if you are planning to be)?

[VictorianSqualor]

To me, personally, I put alcohol and weed in the same category, it's something that can be done, in charge of children (i.e when they're in bed) with responsibility.

Cocaine/Ecstasy/Heroin etc can kill you straight away. One hit you're dead. Bye bye mummy. Irresponsible no matter where your children are.

Heavy drinking, or drug taking and having to look after your children terribly hungover or on a come down are irresponsible too.

[3andnomore]

personally I won't touch drugs like that....a main reason for this is, that I would simply be to worried that I would get addicted.

[FrannyandZooey]

I think if you are talking about health risks VS, alcohol and nicotine kill many many more people each year than ecstasy

also bye bye mummy

[VictorianSqualor]

I don't agree with smoking either, nor heavy drinking, but at least this things take time to kill.
One drink isn't going to kill you, one E could.

[Flamesparro]

I think along the same lines as VS.

I know more people die of the other things, but it is normally a build up of rather than a bad trip.

Excess of anything is not good and will ultimately kill you.

[FrannyandZooey]

I think regular drinking and smoking are far more risky and harmful to health than the occasional E personally
I choose to do none of them, but feel it is odd that society finds quite heavy drinking ok, but a one off use of E is seen as unacceptable and irresponsible

[CoteDAzur]

re 'one ecstacy can kill / one drink can't kill'

Corpses at the scene of many drink driving accidents would disagree.

Do read this article.

Just an excerpt:

"Since 1994 there have been approximately 400 deaths in which Ecstasy has been a contributory factor. In 2005 alone 8,836 deaths were alcohol-related and roughly 100 deaths each year are attributed to overdoses or adverse reactions to aspirin or paracetamol."

"So say there are a ball-park 1.25 million Ecstasy tablets taken each week in Britain. That is 65 million annually and 910 million since 1994, working out as one death every 2,275,000 tablets."

[VictorianSqualor]

Because that one E could kill you Franny.
Every time you take a drug like that you are playing russian roulette, regular drinking is not the same as heavy drinking, if you regularly drink to excess, yes you're stupid, and could ultimately die from it, same with smoking, my Dad died of lung cancer, due to smoking, stupid, but something like that takes a long time to kick in and kill you, and ultimately you can possibly come back from it.
People who drink to excess are able to stop and fix themselves, someone who takes one bad E and dies, is dead.

[alittleone2]

Message withdrawn

[VictorianSqualor]

CoteDazur, drink driving is not the same as drinking.

Also I am talking instant death, not long-term disease.

[FrannyandZooey]

good figures Cote
I was being too lazy

alcohol and smoking are to blame for a crap quality of life for many many families

alcohol leads to domestic violence amongst other things, poor quality of health both physical and mental
nicotine obviously impacts on the smoker and on those around them who breathe it in
babies are especially at risk
yet these drugs are socially acceptable

I think it is crazy to say a parent taking one E or hit of cocaine is irresponsible without condemning the legal drugs as well

[Flamesparro]

Erm, drink driving is a VERY different issue.

[CoteDAzur]

To OP: I feel parents can go out and party occasionally, whether that be on wine, hard liquor, ecstacy, or whatever, as long as they arrange for their DCs to be taken care of in their absence. Including the following day when parents are asleep.

There is a lot of misinformation and even disinformation on the subject, to the point where a lot of people know so little on various drugs and their effects that they immediately classify anyone who dares touch them as terrible people who shouldn't be allowed near children. It's a shame.

[tiredemma]

Alcohol- although I do occasionally drink, I do not really like the effect that it has on people. If it was first discovered today then Im convinced that it would be illegal and given a class a catagory.
(Just as an aside- I have been in plenty of 'Ritzy' type shitholes clubs were alcohol is the main intake of the night and seen many many fights, I have never seen a fight in a club where everyone is off their head)

I dont have an issue with anyone taking ectasy, a few lines of coke etc on an odd night out- but agree that its best not to indulge when you have kids around the next day. Kids + comedown cannot be a great combination.

Hate Heroin, it is an evil drug

Weed/Skunk etc- have never had an issue with this before, however im amazed at the amount of young people that I have come across during my training that have mental health problems and who smoke a massive amount of weed. It cant be just a co-incidence.

[lulumama]

i think because you don;t know if the E you are going to take could be the one that kills you, whereas you have to drink a hell of a lot, over a looooooong time, to do yourself in. whereas with an E, it could be over that night.

dunno, i find it a really interesting debate.

after once enduring a terrible day when DS was three, where i had a hideous hangover, i vowed never to drink to that point again, and i haven;t, he is 8.8 now and have never been at that point again.

i just cannot do it.

but then i don;t have an alcohol or drug dependency.

[FrannyandZooey]

deaths from ecstasy are VERY rare
did you read the figures?
people who get into trouble with alcohol are NOT always able to fix themselves - or the damage done to their families
regular drinkers run the risk of addiction - we all know people who have started as 'ordinary' drinkers and gone too far, don't we? I bet you do, whether you know it or not
a lot of those drinkers will die from it

[Hulababy]

I don't find any illegal drug use acceptable personally. I have my reasons from within my family and through my work. Also, due to the nature of my work. I see first hand the effects of drugs, drug taking, drug selling, the lot. That lifestyle choice is simply not for me.

I would also probably find myself looking at being sacked if I was found to be indulging in illegal substances.

I do not class drinking alcohol as the same as there are known safe limits for alcohol (unlike the majority of illegal drugs) and they are easy to stick within. Drininking alcohol is also not illegal, which does mean something to me. I chose not to drink and drive and wouldn't condone anyone driving having taken more than the drink/drive limits. This is common sense, and is definitely not acceptable behaviour.

Driving after indulging in illegal drugs is also a complete no no. Including cannabis.

[VictorianSqualor]

alittleone, I agree about the impact of weed.
Most peopel I know go from smoking it a little bit, occasionally, to daily, in the evenings, eventually to end up having a spliff every few hours, and smoking them like cigarettes.

That is a danger, as is drinking, it starts as a glass of wine with dinner, a drink in a pub, then a bottle of wine on a weekend evening, two bottles, a drink each evening, not just weekends, a drink at lunch as well etc.

But, I class both those scenarios as abuse, rather than use, of the substance, and yes they are tantamount to a death sentence, but there is still the chance to change.

[peppamum]

Surely you're as likely to have a stupid accident of some sort or get into a fight, when drunk, as be the one in a million who takes the bad E.

Generally I agree with TE, CD'a and Franny. As long as what you do doesn't impact on your family life, its up to you.

[lulumama]

drinking is automatically more accpetable than E etc as it is legal, therefore if it can be bought in a shop or supermarket, it can;t be that bad....

however, the effects of drinking can be just horrific.

and smoking, but again,there is the veneer of resepectability because it is legal

[Hulababy]

There are many cases of people getting into fights, etc. after taking drugs, just as with alcohol. I see such cases regularly.

[alittleone2]

Message withdrawn

[VictorianSqualor]

Franny, they may be rare but we don't know which tablet it is that is going to kill someone, that's the risk issue that bothers me.

I do not condone abuse of alcohol anymore than I condone use of hard drugs, but a family will not be torn apart by someone who uses alcohol responsibly they will only be torn apart by someone who abuses it and has a dependency.

I think the issue to em is whether or not it can be used responsibly, alcohol can, there is no risk from one alcoholic beverage, whereas drugs cannot, no-one can guarantee what they are about to take will not kill them, however rare it is, because they don't even know what is in the drug, so drugs, IMO, cannot be used responsibly, therefore once you have a family, it's wrong? definitely selfish and completely irresponsible to use them.

I don't think that it equates to not being allowed to have a family though, there are many things, we as a nation do that hold risk and no-one would say they shouldn't be done because of a family.

[lulumama]

also there is the risk when buying illegal drugs you could end up in trouble with the law. which can have devastating consequences.

[barnical]

IMO (which you may not want to hear) is that I don't agree with taking illegal drugs at all. We teach our Dc that illegal ( eg stealing is wrong), but then maybe justify why some drugs are okay? It just doesn't sit with me for my family. For me It isn't necessarily that actual drug, it is the whole back ground of the drug and the devistating effects the trafficking (sp), production and gangs that run it can have.
I'm not a girl guide I just really don't agree with taking illegal drugs, they are illegal for a reason and I don't see how it can be said that one illegal activity is better than the next. I also know that there is a very high chance that my Dcs will experiment with drugs as a huge number do.
I also hate heavy alcohol use, as it can lead to totally unacceptable behaviour. Smoking isn't great and it kills people, but It doesn't change ones perception or make people agressive etc. ( just kills tyhem and makes other people around them suffer LOL, but hopefully you'll see what I mean).

sorry if I sound like an old cow LOL