I don't think I'm missing out

[_Rambo]

I've never smoked pot, nor done any other illegal drug, nor abused any prescription drugs (the last prescription opiate drug I was prescribed I ended up flushing about 2/3 of the prescription down the toilet). Would I enjoy the feeling of smoking pot? I don't know. Maybe. But I volunteered to rejoin the Army National Guard and accepted a commission as an officer in that service, so there's simply no debate for me. Whether I'd like it or not, whether I know what I'm missing or not, none of that matters. I still don't know what smoking pot feels like, and I almost certainly never will. I'm OK with that.

Smoking pot is pretty fun Seth but it's not worth it in your case.

[_angsty]

Bob has already tried beer

From what I understand is he tried beer but didn't get too tipsy. I didn't like drinking until I actually got tipsy from it.

This is just coming from personal experience. I heard what it was like to be tipsy/drunk most of my life but I didn't really know what it was like until I tried it. That goes with weed as well.

I get your point you are trying to make but your examples would take a lot of time and money to do them. Plus we have a good idea what it would be like to skydive or go deep sea fishing before even trying it.

If something is cheap and easy to do then why not try it just once?

I know you are going to say something like scrapbooking is cheap and easy to do but you would have no desire to do it. You can't compare something like weed or drinking. Everyone would know what scrapbooking would be like before they even try it.

Okay, if your position is "Hey, it's cheap and magical and convenient, you need to give it a try or you haven't really lived" consider this: Weed is illegal in most parts of the US. That alone is a legit reason for anyone to not want to give it a try without any further peer pressure from the likes of you. And, unless you already have a ready source, it's not all that easy for the uninitiated to get hold of. And finally, do you live in the land of cheap weed? Because even when I wasn't trying to save money, I would never characterize it as particularly cheap. Further, a health-conscious person can have informed reasons for rejecting weed, and/or alcohol absent any personal experience with it.

So there's all that.

As to the idea that Bob hasn't experimented enough with beer to be able to appreciate what magical things greater quantities of alcohol and/or weed could do for him, I just have to laugh. I've met scrapbookers who would be just as bothered by your dismissal of scrapbooking as you are by my my dismissal of weed. They would defend it every bit as fiercely and they would say the same kinds of things. You think weed is something that has to be experienced in order to make informed judgments about it, there's many a scrapbooker that would make the same claim. You are biased because you really, really, love your weed-- and I don't blame you-- we've all got our blind spots.

We all have limited time and resources. We have to prioritize what we do with ourselves. We can't all do everything that is within reach. Some of it has to fall by the wayside. That's just how it works.

Bob has given us a list of the things he loves about his life-- spending time with his family, jogging, whatever. Bob has a life he enjoys filled with things he loves and he doesn't seem to be interested in further experimentation with mind-altering substances. He has other priorities.

Do you really think you are in a position to tell him (a stranger on the internet) that he is missing out because he hasn't experimented enough with your preferred way of living (however cheap and easy)? That seems pretty arrogant. Bob is the only one here qualified to have an opinion on whether he's missing out on anything. He's the only one who knows what his priorities and resources are, how much time he has and where his interests lie. He doesn't have to try everything out that everyone else thinks is the crap in order to be legitimately satisfied with his own quality of life.

[_Tchild]

Droopy just reminded me of something: I've never been high before. In fact, I've never taken drugs of any kind except for a Lortab or two a few years ago after surgery, and I did not like the way it made me feel.

I've also never used tobacco, gotten drunk, had hard liquor, or even had wine. I've had beer a couple of times but did not like it. Heck, I don't even like tea, though on a cold day I'll occasionally drink coffee.

I've never had sex with anyone but my wife. I haven't even done anything approaching a "Mormon lay" (still skeeves me out to say that).

I know this is destroying my image as the enemy of all that is good in the world, but I don't think I've missed anything. The times I feel the best are after a good run or a long swim, or when I'm with my wife and kids. I suppose if I thought something was missing in my life, I'd be more inclined to experiment. But I have no interest.

Am I depriving myself? I don't think so.

Borrring! What kind of ex-believer doesn't go right to the edge of the abyss of self-destruction? It validates to the believers that our disbelief had a clear and visible cause when we become raging drunks and adulterers.

To each his own, but I wanted to sneak up to the abyss and peek in. In Utah county, that essentially equates to getting a tattoo and drinking coffee.

[_Ceeboo]

To each his own, but I wanted to sneak up to the abyss and peek in. In Utah county, that essentially equates to getting a tattoo and drinking coffee.

Peace,
Ceeboo

[Guest]

...

[Guest]

Okay, if your position is "Hey, it's cheap and magical and convenient, you need to give it a try or you haven't really lived" consider this: Weed is illegal in most parts of the US. That alone is a legit reason for anyone to not want to give it a try without any further peer pressure from the likes of you.

The likes of me? What’s that suppose to mean? Bob could live where it is legal. Anyways, it’s not really a big risk to him to go and find a joint. Do you listen to the government on every aspect of your life?

And, unless you already have a ready source, it's not all that easy for the uninitiated to get hold of. And finally, do you live in the land of cheap weed? Because even when I wasn't trying to save money, I would never characterize it as particularly cheap. Further, a health-conscious person can have informed reasons for rejecting weed, and/or alcohol absent any personal experience with it.

Oh yes it is a huge risk financially to go out and buy a 5-10 buck joint. Oh yes it is a huge risk on your health to smoke a joint once and a while.

As to the idea that Bob hasn't experimented enough with beer to be able to appreciate what magical things greater quantities of alcohol and/or weed could do for him, I just have to laugh.

I would have to laugh back at you. I know many people that didn’t like weed until they actually tried it more than 3 times or so. Are you saying a person knows what it is like to be drunk/tipsy after one or two drinks? (unless there a lightweight)

I've met scrapbookers who would be just as bothered by your dismissal of scrapbooking as you are by my dismissal of weed. They would defend it every bit as fiercely and they would say the same kinds of things. You think weed is something that has to be experienced in order to make informed judgments about it, there's many a scrapbooker that would make the same claim. You are biased because you really, really, love your weed-- and I don't blame you-- we've all got our blind spots.

I would be surprised if they made the same claim because I don’t think you can compare a mind altering substance something like scrapbooking. Most people can say what scrapbooking is like before they would even try it. I highly doubt someone that hasn’t tried weed or alcohol would know what it is like. You can read about it but you can’t honestly say you know what it will be like.

Do you know what is it is like to take mushrooms, mdma, acid, meth, and coke? I don’t have clue what it would be like. Sure I have read about it but I can’t honestly say I how those things will affect me without trying them.

We all have limited time and resources. We have to prioritize what we do with ourselves. We can't all do everything that is within reach. Some of it has to fall by the wayside. That's just how it works.

Yeah it takes so much time to roll a joint or pour a few drinks. I’m not saying focus on trying this stuff I am just saying you might as well try them once cause you may find something that you really do like. I am a huge advocate of trying new things because then you aren’t missing out on something you might really love. By trying new things I just don’t mean mind altering substances.

Bob has given us a list of the things he loves about his life-- spending time with his family, jogging, whatever. Bob has a life he enjoys filled with things he loves and he doesn't seem to be interested in further experimentation with mind-altering substances. He has other priorities.

Are you telling Bob that he shouldn’t try new things because his life is full already?

Do you really think you are in a position to tell him (a stranger on the internet) that he is missing out because he hasn't experimented enough with your preferred way of living (however cheap and easy)? That seems pretty arrogant.

Hey Bob is the one who asked the question so I answered. I don’t think it’s arrogant at all to answer a complete strangers question.

[_Rambo]

Angsty I got one question.

Did you really know what it would be like to be tipsy/drunk before you even tried drinking?

Yes or no?

[_kairos]

From your opening post it is clear you are blessed by not having an addictive personality which is often the case when one becomes severely dependent on sex, booze, weed, work, exercise ,porn to feel "normal". this also indicates you did not have much if any dysfunction in your family(is that true) and/or you have really good genes. Addictive personality disorder is indicated when one takes say a beer then can't stop until blackout occurs or gets percocet from the doc for a legit shoulder injury then cannot turn it off and percocet becomes his/her life.

i have a friend who have been through everyone of the above addictions at some stage of his life but now is addiction free living a healthy spiritual (not religious) lifestyle- he slips on occasion but gets up again and the slips are much fewer than in earlier times. his road to recovery in every case was caused by hitting bottom realizing he was screwing up his life and surrendered to help and a very supportive wife.

you are blessed- stay healthy!

k

[_Harold Lee]

There's no such thing as just 'addicted' or 'not addicted'. The whole thing is nothing BUT gray area and is enormously complicated- the cartoony caricature of addiction that the church creates is not the way it really works. There is absolutely no black or white, it's about knowing limits and how harmful something is.

People are addicted all the time to things that are harmful- going to bed late, kids with video games, the internet, eating out, drinking soda, eating emotionally, making excuses instead of working out, etc. And sure there are people addicted to tobacco, alcohol, porn that do more than they should. There are people addicted to any the above. Choosing to have an irregular sleep schedule for as long as it takes for lung cancer or psoriasis to develop can cause more damage than any of those, heart disease comes with obesity, etc, it's not socially healthy to spend a ton of time online. Reality is you need to learn discipline and how to make judgment calls with everything in life that can be an addiction (defining addiction as doing anything more than you know you should and lack the willpower to cut back on).

I'm going to straight out say the Mormon way of being gullibly scared into never trying things that some people can be addicted by is not really exercising or learning discipline. There's benefits to anything people can overuse, but you learn discipline with these things as you learn yourself and learn to be careful and exercise judgment. The amount of discipline it takes to never drink or smoke is not really that high- you can just be too timid to try it for a number of reasons (maybe fear of addiction or sin, whatever).

They're worth giving a try, but DO stick to what medical professionals say and not what the church teaches about addiction, health consequences etc. Ie alcohol can be healthy in certain amounts, there's no ill consequences of looking at porn within limits, tobacco can cause lung cancer but it's greatly reduced if it's limited, as well as what studies say about sleep, exercise, diet, etc. Momron ideas on the health effects of coffee and tea are skewed, don't expect to inherit their views on the rest of the WoW and it to not need adjustment. I do alcohol and tobacco socially, sure look at porn sometimes, illegal stuff rarely. Don't think there's any real advantage to never doing it except the money it'd cost.

[_ludwigm]

... i have a friend who have been through everyone of the above addictions at some stage of his life ...
k

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