drug use

[lurker]

It is my firm belief that if we still had test patterns on our TVs, at the end of the broadcast day, drug use would be cut in half and tolerance would be the order of the day. The way it is now it never ends. It goes on 24 hours a day. And when you got that much hardcore crap coming down the tube non-stop, us poor jumped up apes have no choice but to draw hard lines and do hard drugs. Our whole society is in a fight or flight stance, and it is all for want of a test pattern at the end of the day.
Move over Jim, I’m bellying up to the soma bar.

[Jim Warfield]

One of the first big-time cocaine users was U. S. Grant, former president and Civil War general. It was a pain killer as cancer ate his mouth and he was trying to finish his personal book about the Civil War so his family could get the royalties from it and have an income, which he successfully accomplished before he died.
The book sold very well, and sustained his family after his death.

One of the first familys in town to get a TV had twin boys , both severely crippled and retarded . My Dad installed their TV antena and marveled at how TV gave these poor kids something to look at as they laid there helplessly.
Of course no one could know then how many healthy, normal people became cripples physically and mentally by watching way to much television over the next 50 years!
Does anybody else miss the old test patterns after sign-off?
I go again speaking in a lost language....."Ah! The old one is rambling again, put more Soma in his broth, that will give us a quieter night."

[Rachel]

Everyday people make sweeping generalizations about people based on gender, sexual orientation, age, lifestyle, religion, etc etc

For example (not necessarily my opinions):

Jews are cheap.

Gay men know how to dress well.

Old people are cranky.

People who use drugs are a drain on society.

Blah blah blah <enter preferred stereotype here>

And you know, we probably all do know a Jewish person whose cheap, a gay man who dresses well, and older, cranky person and a drug user who is a drain on society. so what? it doesn't, it can't, always apply.

Maybe lurker has a point, maybe the problem isn't drugs, maybe the problem is there are too many idiots and ignorant people. Pair the idiots with the drugs = your stereotype of those who are a "drain" on society.

Pair the feeling of moral superiority and the feeling that only you know the truth and the way and you get someone like .... (thinking of a few historical figures here....fill in the blank).

I guess I need to go plug into the tube so I better understand the different sects of people I am surrounded by. I am sure the DARE program and the "war on drugs" campaign would be pleased that they effectively spread the message (although I imagine they spread the message to the choir, not exactly the audience they were seeking if you get my drift).

[Duke of Darkness]

I wasn't going to comment further in this thread, but I feel the need to answer Rachel's question, in case I wasn't clear. I was not saying that cannabis had no medical uses. I was saying that your argument that it might have a legitimate medical use somehow made it different than cocaine or heroin.

What did I mean by lesser of two evils? I meant that, as is the case with many drugs, dealing with the effects of the drug is less evil than the effect of what it is used to treat. The same can be said of many medicinal treatments, as their are almost always some type of side effect. But the fact that it can be prescribed for glaucoma and a few other conditions does not, in any way, justify its recreational usage. That is all that I was saying.

**Stepping back into the darkness**

[Greg Chrise]

Those of us here at the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings do all of this with no drug abuse what so ever. We are on a coffee and cigarette bender perhaps. Maybe abusive consumption of pastry.

In 30 years of working so many places I can not believe the world still turns with all the substances everyone is on. I try to think maybe only 20% of the population is completely dysfunctional or involved in treatment but it is probably much higher.

I tend to find the "cool people" opt out of the haunted house in either acting or building as it is a lot of work and doesn't pay or if it does pay, not high enough to match sitting on someones couch and making it to the refrigerator occasionally. They just don't get it or certainly are not of a mindset to do anything for the greater good of any one unless there is something in it for them.

You don't want people even that think what a person does in private is their business, in your place of business (even temporary business) inventorying tools or props that could become souveniers for them or their freinds. You don't want their kind refering customers to you creating a hassle for your security.

Somehow drugs are equated to being creative? I have never found someone that was an abuser that was. Certainly they find the time to toil but, it is diminished creativity.

Something like a haunted house is an odd offering as it is and shouldn't be linked to any kind of substance tolerance or your towm bunches the event into the catagory of tattoo shops, adult book stores and exotic dance clubs. One or two individulas working your event will make the whole thing look like it is enabling such activity. Illegal activity.

Unfortunately it takes time to determine what kind of losers you have hired and in a seasonal haunt there might not be enough time to learn everyone's history. Luckily everyone is generally gone soon. In other businesses it is really bad as you have trained and have an investment in someone and find out they are bad and unproductive and sometimes have to put up with them until and adequate replacement is found.

Even people who used to be scandalous can haunt your current activities.

[Rachel]

I agree - you certainly shouldn't think *MY* arguement holds "water" - I would rather see what scientific studies suggest:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2000/...bis000301.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=15159679

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1064462.stm

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6790

The lesser of the two evils how? Should we tell the person suffering from cancer or MS or fibromyalgia that they can't have access to a drug that might help them because "I knew a guy who smoked pot and now he isn't a productive member of society"

We all know someone who did something that had some outcome. I could tell you that I know people that smoke up and are school teachers, social workers, lawyers, cops (yes cops) etc etc who lead perfectly normal lives. My husband is a social worker - I used to be a social worker. Who cares? You have ever right not to want to "associate" with people who do drugs (I still say that you all do and just don't know it). My point is just because 5-6 people on this forum rant about the "evils" of alcohol and drugs doesnt' make what they say the "truth." It doesn't make what I say the "truth."

I'm sorry, I just think people are so incredibly arrogant to be so bold as to state their opinion and proclaim it as the "truth." We are human, we are not infallible.

Please, don't associate with people who do drugs, don't hire them, whatever makes your world happy. What makes my world happy is accepting that we don't live in a cookie cutter society and everyone is entitled to their own lifestyles. We all seem to forget as haunters that we aren't always shown in the most positive light either. It's not fair that because one haunted house had a pedophile working in it to assume that the "truth" about haunted houses is they are dangerous and have sex offenders working in them. Or that we worship the devil and promote mass murder or whatever other crap the media spews our way. We are haunters - we know that's not true - we know that through life experience. Isn't it frustrating when people who aren't in the haunting profession sit back and judge us and proclaim what the "truth" is?

The "truth" is subjective.

[MDKing]

Thanks for chiming in Dave. I knew I couldn't be the only one on this board who thinks the way I do. I appreciate your insight, a police officer and attorney would have seen many extremes. Growing up in Baltimore's east side I saw too much myself. It's great to hear your perspective and what you speak of is the truth.

Allan

[Duke of Darkness]

Okay, I have held off jumping in here other than stating what I did as a business person but since the thread has taken this turn, I will contribute my two cents worth.

I grew up in a home dominated by drug use. It started with alcohol, moved to pot, and eventually to abusing and dealing harder drugs. I saw, first hand, what drugs do not only to the user, but to those around them-- most notably their families. Let me tell you, it was a living hell.

If you think "okay, but that was an isolated incident" you would be wrong. Years later I became a police officer. I can honestly say that there were very, very few cases of child abuse/neglect or domestic violence that did not involve drugs. In the vast majority of all calls that I responded to the perpetrator was high.

The fact that you can point of a few people who are able to smoke pot and still be productive members of society is not enough to overcome the enormous body of research and first hand accounts of the devastation that marijuana and other illicit drugs cause.

And Rachel -- just so you know -- your medical use argument does not hold water. Like most drugs, the use of Cannabis to treat certain disorders is the lesser of two evils. And while perhaps you haven't heard of it, many illicit drugs are or were used medicinally. Cocaine is used as a local anesthetic in certain surgeries. Heroine is basically a fast acting form of morphine, which is used in hospitals every day.

Am I judgmental about drug use? I suppose that I am, but I also try to be approachable. And I do have people approach me to talk about such issues. I have helped people get into detox/treatment centers, I have given them moral support as they tried to kick a drug habit, and I have not abandoned friends and family when they had a problem. That said, I will not be an enabler either. I most certainly will not tell them that what they are doing is okay.

Back to the original question, let me say as an attorney, that if you know that someone in your haunt is on drugs and they are involved with someone getting hurt (and accidents do happen in haunts, as we all know), whether drugs were at fault or not, you knowledge of their drug use will come back to haunt you. Mark my words.

Sorry, I usually only get on my haunt soapbox in here. I will now put this one back in the closet.

Dave

[Jim Warfield]

A TV show once said there are something like 165 different chemicals in pot and to research the effects they have in various combinations upon the human body and mind would be almost impossible.
Pot as a hybred plant has alot more nasty brain cell destroying chemicals in it than it's "ditch-weed" cousin had during the 60's, TV also said.
After reading some of the posts here I thought back and I once knew a guy who smoked pot a few times a week and it didn't seem to effect him, the ONLY such person I ever knew like this.
I hadn't seen him in over twenty years, then a few years ago he found me here at my house, I thought it didn't effect him back then, he had a new Firebird, wore a suit to work , managed a nice little store for the owner of it ....
Then he appears here many years later driving a rusted out quivvering Toyota on it's last legs, car packed full of his clothes and worldly posessions, dressed like a bum, his last several jobs was washing dishes in a restaurant...maybe pot did have an effect on him afterall?
Your brain is the main receptor of the world around us, if it begins lying to you, what then? Most of these drugs do alot of lying to their users don't they.

[Rachel]

Consuming large quanities of fast food or processed foods is bad for you (legal)

Smoking cigarettes is harmful to your health (legal)

Staying out in the sun too much with out sunscreen is harmful to your body (legal)

I guess I'm more comfortable making my own opinions and decisions based upon my own thoughts and my own life experience vs letting the DARE ads and the government tell me what is or isn't good for me. (See lurker's comments on what is legal vs not legal).

Cannibis (pot) has been approved for certain medical uses. It's legal in Amsterdam. If it is so harmful and detrimental to our health then why would it be approved for medicinal purposes? I've never heard of meth or coke or heroine being used for medicinal purposes.

[MDKing]

Wipp,

If I knew a doctor that used pot or if he was my doctor, I'd definitely report him and seek legal advise. And yes, the business guy is a loser and a criminal, because whether it's Pot or crack it's still illegal and bad for you, and everyone knows it. Doing it accidentally he would not be a loser, doing it knowing it's illegal and harmful you darn right he's a loser. There are drug dealers and pimps and mobsters who earn tons of money, that doesn't mean they are not losers anymore based on their earning potential. Also, I can personally show you some potheads that have become unfuctionable in society and serve as nothing more than a drain on society, and a disgrace to their family and friends.

Remember, your body is your temple, as it was spoken. Knowing the risks and still doing drugs, is just idiotic. What I'm saying is no different than what you would hear in a drug ad on TV, DARE programs, or any anti-drug discussion. I'm saying what anyone out there believes provided they stayed clear of drugs for themselves, or reformed from a destructive lifestyle and speaks about his/her experiences. Ask any former junkie, medical professional, or drug councillor, they'll say to you exactly what I'm saying. They don't make ads on TV and spend billions worldwide on stopping drug use because it's good for you. If you accept Pot as not so bad now, what's next? Before you know it cocaine and heroin and meth will be accepted as not so bad in light of a worse drug to come.

[wipp]

mdking,with all due respect,and not trying to anger you,you wrote"Pot is no better or no worse than heroin, crack, meth, they are all harmful and all illegal. "i think you need to do a little research.im not taking up for pot users by no means but a pot user dosnt rob his mother,or kill someone for 10 bucks like crack herion and meth.they dont become unfunctionable to society.let me ask you,is the doctor or biss owner that makes 300k a year and smokes pot at night a loser in your eyes?if you found out your son smokes is he then a loser?i posted this because you had such a bold oppinion and i feel you were way off.again not to make you mad

[Rachel]

"unsavory practices"....hmmmm

Hey Lurker - I'm teaching an advanced lapdance class today. Is that unsavory? Am I fired? ;-)

That's great that many of you won't hire people who do drugs - certainly your right. Just keep in mind they aren't always so easy to spot and that there is such a thing as lying. Good luck.

[MDKing]

We all get judged, we all need to be judged sometimes. To bring it all back to the discussion initiated in this tread, I'll only hire and work with people who refrain from drug use, and other unsavory practices. As a business owner, I have that right and I feel good about doing it that way.


Take care of that cold Rachel.

Allan

[Rachel]

MDKing - you misinterpret my thought. I didn't have a "stick up my butt" because I didn't drink or smoke. I had a stick up my butt because I used to judge people who did chose to do those things. I didn't start drinking to "fit in" (I would have had to start years earlier at those frat parties). I started drinking because I discovered alcohol didn't have to come out of a trashcan or out of a cheap beer bottle. In other words, I discovered wines and liquors (when mixed) that tasted good and were enjoyable. I'm not downing the bottle of Nyquil to get my fix ok, I am a snob when it comes to alcohol and what I will drink. It would be hard for your to understand if you don't imbibe.

You keep talking about the "right" thing and in your world the "right" thing is not smoking or drinking or doing drugs. You have every right to feel that way, but let me be frank. The way you present your arguement and the way you talk about those "weak" and "bad" people and what is "right" makes you seem intolerant and unapproachable (and in my opinion a "moral know it all"). "Intolerant" and "Unapproachable" doesn't lend to creativing a positive environment. I question if someone in your circle ever had a problem if they would be able to come to you with out fearing your judgement.

For instance, if a son grows up with a father who thinks gays are a "freak of nature" and "unnatural" or whatever other crap people say and that son turns out to be gay is the son going to be able to tell his father with out shame or fear of judgment?

See, I'm not telling you to change your values. I'm telling you that your choice in language to describe people that you claim you don't know is unfair and unjust in a lot of cases and that makes you seem unapproachable. You can't pretend to know what is "right" for everyone. No one knows what is "right" for everyone.

Everyone has indiscretions - keep saying that - some are really careful to hide theirs. I think they worry they will be judged like they judge others.

Lurker - yes, I take sudafed - or I'd flippin like to! Meth must be some good stuff if the ingredient that used to make sudafed good is in it! Now I'm "Miss Snuffles" because the new decongestant sucks! right now, the only two rooms in the haunt I could work would be a "whisper" room or if we had like a phone sex scene (It's ok MDKing - we don't really have a phone sex scene - it's a joke). But I think I have a great low, raspy voice right now that would work well in a scene like that. And don't get excited and call, I make Pete answer the phone right now