The Original Drug Manual for Kids – for families that care about real drug related problems is a unique resource for those seriously interested in dealing with the real problems of drug abuse, addiction and dependency.  Unlike other drug literature it is a forward-looking view of the adult world of drugs. As teens you will have to learn coping strategies to lead a productive and healthy life.  Contrary to media disinformation, over 90% of the drug-related problems are in the adult world. There the pressure to use and abuse drugs will dwarf anything that you may have previously encountered as a child.  Those people that you should normally look to for leadership and guidance will deliberately mislead you for their own benefit and compound the difficulties in coping with those pressures. 

            This manual was not written to provide you “quick fixes” and “magic bullets” to solve all drug-related problems. It does not even attempt to educate you about the vagaries of drug use and addiction.  That information is subject to change as research and life experiences reveal new truths. It will not give you specific information about how a drug will affect you as a user since that information differs between users and the ways that they use – or abuse – any drug. This manual will deal with lifestyle and attitudinal changes that may prove most helpful in dealing with possible addiction, dependency, or abuse problems. This manual deals more with avoidance of these types of problems. If you fail despite these precautions don’t hesitate to consult professionals for help in dealing with the aftermath. Building a support network among friends, family and community is always helpful. Your participation in others’ support networks is equally helpful.  

            What the manual does offer are insights – from an adult – into the stresses and problems that most adults have to deal with.  These stresses include the abuses that one will encounter in everyday life. Everything is open for discussion: workplace, sexual relations, friendships, social activities, politics, religion, community involvement, and even one’s family.  In this respect, it will not only prove a serious launchpad for discussions of child related problems, but those of adult related problems.  The manual will expose the abuses and hypocrisies in the adult world leading to drug related problems. In this respect it may prove even more educational for the parents than for the kids. Most kids are already aware of the widespread abuses, lies, and hypocrisy within the adult world.

            This manual is designed mainly to guide emergent adults into independent thought about current problems and developing strategies for coping with future problems.  Those in leadership positions throughout our communities continually and deliberately mislead us – with the aid of a lapdog mass media - about many serious issues.  They shouldn’t be trusted to look after our welfare.  It is your duty as a citizen taxpayer to learn about the issues and problems that our untrustworthy – and largely abusive – leaders are entrusted with.  This manual will give you simple coping strategies and suggestions for reliable resources to gain necessary information for functioning in the adult world.  Most adults are inherently honest and will go out of their way to help you.  However you must ask the right questions and make the most productive requests.

            The most important thing to be remembered about this manual is that it is inherently incomplete. It is only based on the life experiences of one adult – who can’t seriously be considered for sainthood.  There will be a web page set aside for feedback from readers.  This page will include additional launchpad activities and questions for readers to deal with along with additional information and insights that readers may wish to share with others.  Since the author is a US citizen, much of the commentary is mostly applicable to the US legal and political system – although some of the truths are universal in nature.  The website will be located at: http://www.geocities.com/rimchamp77/odm4k.html; I would greatly appreciate your help in making this – your manual – more complete.  Your manual will work best if it’s not just read – but done with those you love and trust.

 

US Copyright © 2003

All rights reserved.

Do not reprint or distribute without written permission from:

              JT Barrie     [[email protected]]

              PO Box 411

              Philomath, OR 97370-0411

 

                        FORWARD TO THE ORIGINAL DRUG MANUAL FOR KIDS

            The idea for this manual came to me after one of my cynical suggestions that drug policy reformers would further their cause better by promotion of education of children about drug abuse and addiction problems in the school – rather than waste their efforts on minor drug law changes.  This was an easy assessment when one considers that 98% of drug abuse and addiction problems are not related to illegal drugs.  This figure rises to only 20% if one includes alcohol.  Our local school had just discontinued its DARE program and one school board candidate made an issue about the lack of drug education in our schools.  The problem was that DARE – like all other anti drug programs – tends to blame the drugs and equates simple use to abuse, dependency and addiction – for restricted drugs only. The simple fact of life is that it is not drug use – but abuse – that causes the problems. It is not helpful when children are constantly exposed -via TV and the mass media- to drug ads that equate drug use to instant relief from problems and instant fun. We should realize that drugs could neither cause nor solve all our problems. We must take some responsibility for our own well-being.

            The problem was that there is no educational curriculum available in our schools to teach our children about the problems of drug abuse and addiction.  That seems to be a skill that they have to learn on their own or from parents and/or community.  This did not have come as a major surprise to myself. I’ve maintained for years that our policies toward drugs are not even an attempt to solve any real problems.  I did delude myself that this was a golden opportunity. I could either market the manual to schools or present the lack of market as irrefutable evidence that people in power were absolutely not serious about dealing with real problems.  Either way it would be a success!  In any event I was determined that the first comprehensive drug manual for kids would deal with real issues and offer real strategies for real problems that real kids faced in their everyday lives and their everyday futures.

            This manual has little to do with drugs and I make no apologies for that.  Drugs are only one of many tools we have in dealing with life and its problems.  I show zero respect for drug prohibition, its adherents, or their attitudes and I make no apologies for that either.  Prohibition is an inherently abusive policy. It has no basis in truth.  Its adherents’ arguments can’t stand up to the slightest scrutiny.  The purpose of this manual is not to illuminate you about the benefits or costs of drug use. If you decide to use drugs it will be your responsibility to educate yourself on those matters.  I will tell you where to get useful information and warn you of misleading claims.  You will have to get that information yourselves from reference materials and highly trained specialists.  More importantly, I will tell you of other more useful tools and strategies to deal with the problems of stress and abuse in everyday life.  Drugs will neither ruin your life nor solve any long-term problems; how you use them will determine their value in your life. I claim little to no expertise in treating drug addiction problems. Very few professional treatment programs successfully treat half of their patients and much of their limited success is due to the addict’s resolve and support network.  Besides, treatment programs deal with less than a third of drug addiction/dependency problems.  Socially acceptable addictions and medically prescribed dependencies can cause problems. Ultimately all that is worthwhile in life comes from within yourself and the sooner you take control of your life the easier life will become for you.

            I am a highly educated person with sesquipedalian tendencies. It may be quite helpful if I included a glossary of terms that I use in this manual. I am a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Political Science.  I have been involved in the serious exercise regimen of long distance running and racing. I won the 1977 Crater Lake rim marathon – which is the basis for my web identity. I have been running at a high level for over 30 years without serious long-term injury and have been competitive – despite being diagnosed with ‘moderately severe’ asthma as recently as 1990. I have unilaterally – with some helpful advice from physicians – reduced my dependency on asthma medications by 75 per cent. I am a parent with two pre teen children and have a vested interest in their well being and safety – and needless to say – this has been an impetus for my manual.

 My parents were – and are only to a lesser extent - ‘functional alcoholics’ and lifelong nicotine addicts; even today they are in denial about their drug problems. I had two siblings who met with early deaths due to drug abuse.  Needless to say I have had to learn coping strategies in my life.  While I have done very well in IQ tests, I am not very good at solving complicated problems. I am excellent at solving simple problems and have a ‘flair for the obvious’ that will undoubtedly mystify many of my readers who will state “Well duh! Anyone should be able to figure that out”.

My spouse has given me some useful suggestions to improve readability. My sixth grader insists that the manual was very readable – before I made improvements. I suspect that the comment could be an early onset of ‘teenage rebellion’ [to be confirmed later?]. My 3^rd grader shares my asthma and has mild attention deficit problems – which are aided with sparing use of drugs. My own ‘absent mindedness’ may be related to these deficit problems. Our dog shares my passion for exercise and keeps up with me in cooler weather – when her fur coat isn’t a big impediment.

            I would hope that this would not be the only drug manual available in later years.  It should be rather easy to write a more easily understood and readable manual.  That could be a task that any one of you can take upon yourself when you have better control over your life.  I will publish any and all variations at my website: http://www.geocities.com/rimchamp77/odm4k while I add your suggested incites and launchpad activities.  At some point in our futures I would hope that one of these manuals would be taught in schools to your children.   This manual is meant as a prototype and it will be out there as a basis for comparison whenever those in power lie to you and promote alternatives that don’t deal with real issues.

            I have written this manual for a younger me. I wrote this manual to deal with the kinds of problems that caused heartache and misery for myself – before I figured out useful coping strategies.  This manual is precisely what I would have wanted available to help me cope with difficult people and situations.  I might have made better choices or avoided the abusive behavior that I have inflicted upon others in my life.  While it may be too late to undo the mistakes of my youth, it isn’t for you.  Besides, as old as I am, I still have a LOT of productive life ahead of me.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction – an overview of drugs and ten simple rules about understanding the problems related to drug use.

 

Chapter 1 entitled “Lies, lies, nothing but lies” describes how people lie about drugs and their motivations for doing so. It also describes how you can get accurate information about drugs, the types of questions to be asked and the people most likely to be able to give you accurate information. It also mentions the nature and content of lies put forth by both those supporting drug prohibition and reformers.

 

Chapter 2 entitled “costs and benefits of drug use” mentions that each drug offers benefits and that the costs. Costs are usually related directly to the benefit derived. It also describes the pluses and minuses relating to delivery systems for drugs. It also describes natural drugs such as adrenalin and endorphins, which are related to stress and exercise. The various forms of emotional abuse connected with stress are described.  There is a simple 3-step strategy for coping with stresses related to abuse. It describes unilateral strategies for minimizing abuse. It also describes how adoption of a life-long physical fitness regimen aids coping abilities.

 

Chapter 3 entitled “recreational use of drugs” describes the pressures to use drugs in a recreational manner and in a recreational setting.  It includes simple rules for ‘responsible use of drugs’ that will minimize harm done by recreational use. A special section deals with ‘transportation issues’ – often overlooked by users and hosts.  There is a lengthy section on sex and sexual relationships including the expansion of principles introduced in Chapter 2.  Early sexual involvement can be very dangerous – especially in combination with drug use.  Sex related problems are briefly discussed – with more discussion available in launchpad activities.

 

Chapter 4 entitled “families, abuse, and drug abuse/addiction” expands the coping strategies described in prior chapters. Parenting can be a harsh ordeal; don’t take it out on your kids.  As a child you really can help your parents cope with yourself and siblings.  Abuse doesn’t begin and end within families.  Learn how to recognize abuse outside the family. Recognize abusive behaviors in yourself and others. Learn specific coping strategies for coping with abuse. Learn other strategies for ridding your behavior of abuse.  Abuse of drugs is a factor in most abusive behavior.  Drug abuse and dependency are symptoms of larger problems; deal with those problems first.

 

Chapter 5 entitled “other considerations” gets into the real problem of unilaterally giving up abusive behavior in a give and take world.  This chapter has a lot to do with legal principles and how they interact with moral principals and righteousness learned in prior chapters. Hypocrisies and injustice thrive in a world based on give and take.  Nevertheless, even the most abusive people pay lip service to higher principles

 

Chapter 6 entitled “alternatives to drug use” mentions drug use as a ‘coping mechanism” for emotional and physical problems that one encounters in real life. In this chapter we get into alternatives such as religion, meditation, exercise regimens, along with political and social activism as a means to improve the quality of one’s life.

 

8] Medications administered directly on the surface.  These include lotions, crèmes, and antiseptics used to treat minor injuries, rashes, infections, burns, or bites.  Read directions carefully before use.  Nearly all these treatments are ‘not for internal use’ and extreme care must be taken to keep away from mouth and eyes; if administered by hand, you must wash your hands after administration.

The slogan ‘a drug free America’ is laughable – especially since the body produces its own drugs in response to stimuli as a necessary survival mechanism.  And like any other drug, natural drugs can be over utilized and abused or become addictive in nature – to the long-term detriment of your body and spirit.  These problems are compounded when institutions condition people to over extend themselves to achieve unrealistic standards for success measured in terms of quantity rather than in quality. 

Adrenaline is a hormone which releases epinephrine and nor epinephrine into the bloodstream to facilitate the ‘fight or flight’ response.  It facilitates quick response in emergency situations. Epinephrine was an early drug used to fight asthma attacks; other stimulants such as coffee and cocaine were also effective in a pinch. The problem is that such strong stimulants become far less effective with prolonged use – and asthma is an ongoing condition – and they do use up a LOT of the body’s energy reserves, wearing it out with restlessness, fatigue, and nervousness. 

The problem with adrenaline is that in today’s society there is very little use for it. It helps facilitate additional strength and speed for emergencies. Even if you are an emergency worker you spend only a small portion of your time in life threatening situations.  Yet your body will produce adrenaline under every stressful situation that arises in your life. If you don’t find an outlet it will be turned inward.   There are downsides to the use of physical violence against others. One can incur criminal penalties for assault, battery, or family abuse. The use of violence towards others often results in violent or legal retaliation – or alienation from others. One can lose money, position, influence or respect after violent actions.  The majority of physical violence done is either criminal in nature, in response to criminal force, or by authority figures such as parents or police – and nearly all violence done in anger can be rightfully classified as abuse. Adrenaline can increase the intensity of the response and reduce the remorse during response. It often results in use of extremely excessive force.

However, reality is that only a very small portion of the violence done is physical in nature.  The stress invoked by a school bully – who can be avoided with ease, pales in comparison to an abusive supervisor or coworker who can make your life at work pure torture.  The same can be true of teachers and classmates who seem to go out of their way to make other peoples’ lives more difficult – all without touching even a tiny hair on their heads.  There are legal recourses to physical violence.  Emotional abuse can go on indefinitely without criminal prosecution.  All too often a skillful verbal abuser can provoke physical violence from others – leading to criminal prosecution.  The problem with all forms of abuse is that – unlike the villains in James Bond movies – these real life abusers go to great lengths to justify their actions to others as being just.  They often blame the victim for their use of violence.   If you don’t believe this is true, try to think of any acts of violence being reported in which the perpetrator didn’t claim to be reacting to some kind of injustice.

The tragedy is that few people exercise any real control over their own emotional well-being.  They react according to their predetermined ‘autopilot’.  Authority figures such as parents and teachers along with peer groups such as friends and colleagues all exert influence on your ‘autopilot’.  Public and private institutions, along with the mass media, have their own agendas for influencing opinion and behavior on a large scale and their interest in your welfare and improvement are dubious at best. From birth you have been conditioned for emotional dependence, even as you are taught skills for physical independence – even as you have exercised influence on others to promote dependence on yourself.  This is done via a system known as ‘give and take’ whereby you give rewards to those with ‘good’ behavior and inflict punishment for ‘bad’ behavior – with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ being judged on an individual or group basis.  In primitive times this social bonding was necessary for survival and when adrenaline was triggered it was directed towards group enemies such as predatory animals or the next dinner.  In today’s society the survival drugs are directed in harmful ways towards others or inward on you.

The key thing to know is that you can exercise greater control over your own ‘autopilot’.  You can develop deliberate strategies to use on a reflexive basis for dealing with stressful situations.  We will expand on these strategies in Alternatives to Drug Usage chapter:

1] Keep one thing in mind:  you don’t deserve the abuse; don’t do anything for anyone to justify it.  People who abuse others invariably try to use the victim’s behavior to justify their abusive behavior. You should never give them cause for justification by reacting to their violence in kind.  However, you must never assume malicious intent from anyone who abuses you.  What you regard as abuse may be an endearing behavior to someone else – or a means of relieving tension.  If you did something to trigger the outburst admit your mistake. People spend so much time justifying their own misbehavior; apologies are rare – almost nonexistent. This is especially true for people who are not authority figures or otherwise intimidating.  If you are reacting to someone else’s mistake, apologize for your abusive behavior. Then explain the reason for your outburst – if it is a misunderstanding. Never offer explanations to justify your bad behavior. When the mass media manipulate people - via drug ads or entertainment- expectations become skewed.  When people expect instant gratification and that this can be achieved using threats and coercion against others, you have a recipe for major stress and abuse.  Learn to recognize ‘difficult’ and ‘impossible’ people and know that some people can’t be dealt with in a rational manner.  All you can do is accommodate their demands and refer them to someone more ‘capable’ so that you can escape their ire. Never justify their anger or abuse and never abuse others on their behalf.  In cases where the ‘impossible’ person is a parent, teacher or other authority figure a useful tactic can be employed to facilitate a solution of the problem by soliciting the solution from the abuser.  Ask their advice for dealing with a bad situation that you are having with another authority figure.  Explain the situation and carefully work out a solution – with their help.  Then follow the solution as dictated by the abuser – after all, you got it from a reliable source.  With parents, you may have to request a solution for a 3^rd party, since abusive parents tend to blame you for all problems that you have with others. It may be necessary for you to write down the suggested solution, especially if the abuser has a serious ‘truth impairment’.  We will deal with direct confrontations in the section on abuse.

2] Be constantly vigilant for opportunities to provide aid, encouragement, and assistance to those you meet in the ordinary course of living your life. Simple actions such as a bright smile and simple ‘good morning’ will not only improve the moods of the recipients, it will improve yours too.  Providing aid doesn’t always involve giving to or doing something for someone who needs help; it can also involve requesting and/or accepting assistance from those capable of providing advice or help.  This could even include advice from routine abusers about dealing with an abuse problem – as long as you don’t blame them for the YOUR problem.  A secondary effect of seeking out helpful situations is that you can develop an excellent network to assist you in tight spots.  You will also attract some social ‘outcasts’ who will take up a lot of your time with problems, taking away time to hang out with the ‘cool’ people.  You must keep in mind that ‘outcast’ and ‘cool’ are arbitrary classifications mandated upon others by the social caste system in place; one system’s ‘outcast’ can be ‘cool’ in most other systems.  Consider this a major step away from emotional reliance on the behavior of others.

3] Expectation of reward is NOT part of doing good for others.  You will routinely receive abuse from those you’ve bailed out of dreadful situations, volunteered help, or shown kindness.  If possible, you do your good deeds in secret. At no time are you to draw attention to yourself by good deeds.  In fact it is better to help people who either have little to no chance of repaying you or not at all likely to be helpful in return; you may be surprised by the result – but that would be a bonus in your life.  Helping only others who are likely to repay you is part of give and take – which is the path of emotional dependence and leads to abuse.  You treat others with kindness and respect – not because they are wonderful people. You treat others with kindness and respect because you are a wonderful person.  And you can’t remind people of this either, because wonderful people can’t require kindness and respect from others.

As you grow into physical maturity, you body produces sexual hormones such as testosterone [male] and estrogen [female].  Production varies widely both in terms of age and amounts.  These hormones produce the physical changes that occur as boys and girls mature into men and women respectively.  Changes include deeper voices and facial hair for men with larger breasts and vaginal bleeding for women.  The rate and degree of change vary widely according to genetics, diet, exercise, environment, and other factors that may or may not be under the individuals’ control.

The period of time when boys and girls mature physically into men and women respectively is known as puberty.  With these physical changes comes sexual awareness and the onset of a strong sexual drive. In nature, sex is a necessary part of reproduction and sexual urges during the mating season are irresistible.  It has to be this way for a species to survive.  In humans the onset of puberty also varies, but usually begins between 12-16 years of age – which is long before children are considered legally responsible or financially capable of independence from their parents and families. With overpopulation a real concern it is also not really a crucial factor in species survival.  The irony is that nature doesn’t follow human social patterns very well.  The fact that we, due to our high levels of technology, are better fed has actually led to earlier onsets of puberty and the inherent contradictions of sexually active teenagers and pre teens.  In times when people seldom lived past their 40s and education was reserved for the ruling class, it was quite common for people to wed in their teens and have large families – and careers - before they left their twenties.  Infant mortality was much higher, childbirth was occasionally fatal, and the dangers of losing your life to disease, infections, and violent conflicts were much higher than they are today so that staying married until ‘death do us part’ was a much more doable proposition.  For most families, staying married was an economic necessity for survival. In our society, all but those in the most severe poverty live like the kings of olden days and their expectations for happiness are just as high – or higher. Expectations have always exceeded the reality of living, but in today’s world of instant communication and instant media the expectations can be brought to unrealistic levels in a lot more efficient manner. 

The fact is that the degree of changes due to puberty has little to nothing to do with sexual orientation. The fact is that every person has both male and female hormones to some degree and the production is determined by genetic factors. Proclivity towards homosexual orientation has a genetic basis and this basis varies widely. Historically the figure is between 1 and 2 percent with another 3% who are bisexual in nature, which – unlike the hardcore homosexual population – can be ‘converted’ to heterosexual behavior.  ‘Effeminate’ men and ‘butch’ women are not statistically more likely to be homosexually inclined.  Scientific studies have shown that homosexuality occurs in nature among animals not subject to human temptations and that the incidence of homosexuality seems to have a positive correlation to food shortages.  Nature apparently uses homosexuality among animals as an aid to population control.

While people are conditioned to associate sex and drugs as separate but related activities, the reality is that sexual attraction can act in the very same manner as drugs, and it can be addictive in nature.  Sexual attraction can be thrilling and exciting and give you a rush just as formidable as any strong stimulant such as cocaine or amphetamines.  You can get just as ‘high’ on ‘love’ as you can on any other drug and the impairments are similar to those of strong stimulants. The fact is that your sexual drive can wear you out physically and emotionally just as easily as any abuse of or addiction to stimulants, it can skew your priorities, affect your judgment, and reduce your sensitivity to pain inflicted upon yourself and others.  Furthermore, your sexual drives and attractions can and will be manipulated by others for personal and financial gain – at your emotional, physical, and financial detriment.  Abuse related to sexual relationships will be covered in more detail in the ‘Recreational Use’ section.

While the sexual drive is irresistible for most animals it is not an overwhelming biological urge with humans. It can be suppressed, sublimated, controlled and/or disciplined, or even shut down completely by force of will.  The usual reasons for a complete shutdown are varied:  a very strong commitment to a career or discipline, physical impairment preventing sexual activity, or a sexually dysfunctional marriage partner are among the most common reasons for such an extreme course of action.  Religious taboos on extramarital sex are never strong enough for a shutdown but can lead to suppression, sublimation and a limited amount of control or discipline. Invariably, religious taboos on extramarital sex end after the first marriage with the result being that undisciplined religious people – who pay lip service to ‘waiting until married before having full sexual relations’ - tend to marry at a younger age rather than spend the necessary time and patience to develop a strong, durable personal relationship to augment a strong, durable sexual relationship.  The point is that the biological drive pressures most people into seeking physical intimacy long before they are ready and committed to the emotional and personal intimacy that is needed to sustain and nurture a longstanding personal relationship.  Such relationships require patience and when instant gratification is used to sell all manner of products and services patience is all too often associated with ‘losers’.

Anyway there is no rule that all sexual interests have to result in mutual copulation.  Some people can revel in just ‘being in love’ and alternately worship from afar people they feel are ‘unattainable’.  Then, of course, you can have an active fantasy life, read or view explicit sexual materials, and/or masturbate.  While these activities may give your life some excitement, there are far more productive activities to improve your life than indulging your libido. Movement towards mutual copulation will be covered in the ‘Recreational Uses’ section.

The body produces endorphins during heavy or prolonged exercising to reduce pain and clear the mind.  In earlier times most work involved physical labor and endorphins quite likely played a HUGE role in the Protestant Work Ethic. Not only would they reduce pain from labor [which would manifest itself later in aches and pains when the endorphins wore off] but with heavier and more prolonged labor would produce euphoria and clear one’s mind – supposedly making it more open to ‘God’s will’, or at least much less inclined towards doing harm to others.  Of course, there was work that was so hard it injured the body and long hours with little sleep or time for social interaction often undid the benefits that endorphins gave – and that’s not mentioning the harmful health and safety hazards many workplaces offered.  But hard work in an agrarian society, in the open air, in close proximity to friends and family, and allowing for enough time for recovery was extremely beneficial. It built stronger bodies, allowed for personal and religious reflection, kept families together, and built good character.  The meager existence had its drawbacks and hard times could be disastrous for personal and economic welfare for all involved. 

Today most of us have more than what we need; many of the medical problems have to do with excess:  stress, weight, diet, and a sedentary lifestyle. Hardly any of the work that we do involves hard labor since we have machinery to do most of the heavy work.  Any exercise we get has to be done by devoting part of our decreasing discretionary time to a physical exercise regimen or taking extra time to walk, run, or bike places instead of using the automobile.  And it’s so easy to get involved with so many passive activities.  Even as teenagers, active games or sports – both organized and disorganized – are being replaced by video games, television, and an increasing amount of homework that is driven more by competition than by the educational needs of our society.  All our labor saving devices have managed to do is pile up more work for people that needs to be done.  Word processor programs that make writing easier to do physically only end up creating more paperwork – or more information that needs to be stored in computers that can store all sorts of data that no one really needs to know.  Most people I know who don’t exercise cite the reason ‘I simply don’t have the time’.  In their minds they have so much ‘necessary’ things to do that they can’t seem to find the time to properly exercise their bodies – and then they wonder why they are spending so much on medications for headaches, blood pressure, excessive weight, sleep problems, and other problems related to the stresses of a sedentary active lifestyle.  They often end up relying on caffeine, alcohol, or other drugs to keep them going with their lives.  That’s why it’s urgent that people incorporate an exercise regimen early in their lives, building other activities around good health – before other activities swallow their lives up.

Most doctors recommend vigorous exercise of 30 minutes five times per week. Actually seven or more times is even better.  The fact is that exercise can be addictive and following your doctors’ advice will lead to major endorphin addiction.  The fact is that governmental authorities have abused the word ‘addiction’ for centuries in order to impose draconian measures against its citizenry.  There is absolutely nothing wrong or harmful about addictions as long as the addict gives his body enough time to recover from use.  Addiction becomes abuse only when the addiction leads to use beyond the body’s abilities to cope with damage.  Exercise will strengthen the body’s abilities – but only if the person has adequate time for rest and sufficient nutrition to sustain the exercise regimen.  In earlier years people who did get physically overworked fell victim to infections and diseases that weren’t treated or lack of rest or lack of treatment for injuries.  Track coaches who were successful in the late 1970s and 80s would alternate days including strenuous workouts with days including much lighter workouts.  In this manner they could sustain their athletes’ fitness without wearing out the body and producing staleness or injuries.  While the axiom ‘no pain, no gain’ does apply to physical fitness, ignoring your body’s signals can lead to debilitating injuries and ongoing fatigue that hinders reaching higher levels of fitness. 

The fact is that nearly all injuries – especially those involving overuse – are due to competition with other athletes to achieve personal or team glory.  In runners’ circles there is a term called ‘personal record’ or PR that indicates that the runner has exceeded his best for a particular distance.  When you adopt a physical fitness regimen to improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual well being it should remain personal.  The most effective way to do this and still work hard towards personal improvement is to maintain a training and competition journal.  I have maintained a running journal for most of my running career and for some of that time it was done on a formula generated computer spreadsheet giving myself a comprehensive record of my daily, weekly, yearly, and any other periodic progress in a meaningful manner.  If you are not numerically gifted it can also indicate a steady stream of progress.  You don’t need to race to record progress.  Any distance or route can be adopted as a standard for improvement. As long as you do your time trial over the same route your times will reflect consistent improvement. In fact as you get older you may have to adopt new routes or start adopting PRs, or personal records, for ‘over 40’ or ‘over 50’ or even ‘over 45’ to give yourself new standards to achieve.  Once you have set standards for your own exercise regimen, you find that you have a good incentive to ‘get out the door’ or ‘get into the gym’:  you either do it regularly or fall behind.

The drive to succeed in sports results in the use of steroids and other ‘performance enhancing drugs’ to increase performance.  The problem with use of drugs to force the body to do more is that, like using drugs to force faster temporary relief from maladies, it wears out the body.  There is no substitute for a stronger body and there is no long-term substitute for time in accomplishing this.  When Mark McGuire used a substance to speed up recovery from injury in order to extend his season and thus permit him to break the single season home run record not once – but twice – he undoubtedly shortened his playing career by more than 5 years.  Many professional athletes end their careers very rich [some don’t manage their money very well or develop marketable personalities] – but with bodies many years older in wear and tear, than most athletically minded individuals of similar age who developed less competitive physical fitness regimens.  Lucrative contracts often force athletes to ‘play through injuries’ with debilitating effects on the length of their careers.  Some become addicted to pain killers while others alter their physiologies and psychologies by over reliance or abuse of drugs used for performance enhancement or recreation.

The only known reliable source of endorphins is thru exercise – although many believe that acupuncture utilizes endorphins for pain relief.  Exercise, however, serves another useful purpose beyond releasing endorphins:  time away from stress for private reflection and/or prayer.  Endorphins work as a complement to hallucinations; whereas hallucinations cause one to see things that aren’t there, endorphins permit one to see things in plain view that were hidden by stress and unclear thinking.  Many successful problem solvers [not to be confused with most political, social, business, and religious leaders – who make their mark by not only not solving problems but creating new ones for personal gain] work through seemingly unsolvable problems at the gym, on the streets or on a running path or track.  Regular exercise strengthens the body and mind and provides a limited immunity to the effects of drugs and the lure of addiction, dependency or other self-destructive behavior.  Training for a race or a competition – even if it’s only a personal time trial or scored gym workout - gives you a focus for exercise.  While obviously there is a limit to what your body can accomplish in terms of exercise [otherwise, why are there world records, the Olympics, and other competitions where records are kept] but you can expand your body’s limits for a long time before reaching a plateau [six years is standard for someone embarking on a running regimen] and several plateaus before reaching your peak.  In order to sustain an exercise regimen it is very helpful to avoid injuries and to avoid injuries it is essential that one proceed with caution, gradually extending your regimen as your fitness level increases – ALLOW YOUR BODY TIME TO RECOVER.  This doesn’t mean that you have to take days off every time you feel tired, fatigued or sore; it just means that for every very strenuous workout you do, several ‘easy’ workouts of lighter intensity should follow.  If you are on a team sport your coach has a defined schedule of competition to follow and has a definite time limit to adhere to for his team.  Unfortunately for coaches, many players don’t stay in condition during the off season and forcing fitness on unconditioned athletes during a short period of time often results in injuries, fatigue, staleness and other performance enhancing problems. If you are planning on joining an organized competitive team it is in your best interest to begin your fitness regimen long before the team workouts begin.

If you have been a part of any team sport with a coach you will be aware of the following routine for workouts:

1] Warm up, including slow running, stretching exercises and other light drills in order to allow your muscles and respiratory system time to ‘warm up’ or adjust to a heavier work regimen.

2] Do a workout consisting of faster runs, heavier lifting, or practice competition. A runner can get by with ‘conversational’ running during the first 10 minutes of the run working gradually into a faster pace gradually easing off towards the end – but your abilities will definitely improve with supplemental stretching and strength exercises.

3] Do a warm down, consisting of a few laps or other ‘winding down’ exercises.  Brisk walking or conversational running is usual for this stage.  One could also bike to an exercise venue as a warm up and then bike home for a warm down.

It’s always best to seek out expert help when embarking on an exercise regimen.  You can ‘drop in’ on a running club and find many experienced runners eager to share their secrets, along with a coach who can instruct you on efficient running style.  There are also many books available for walking, running, swimming, and biking – the essential building blocks of any exercise regimen, even if you prefer team sports like baseball or basketball or competitions like tennis, golf, or handball.

 

INTRODUCTION TO DRUG USE, ABUSE, ADDICTION AND DEPENDENCY EDUCATION

 

            My objective for development of this curriculum is to educate young people about drugs and even more importantly, the problems surrounding drug use, abuse, and dependency surrounding them.  I have repeatedly stated that there is no interest in this country for educating our population – and especially young adults – about real drug problems and it came as absolutely no surprise that a comprehensive education curriculum for drug use, abuse, addiction and dependency is impossible to find.  In order to validate my statement about those who profess to care about the welfare of children threatened by drugs, it is necessary to develop a credible curriculum that informs children about drugs before they are corrupted by the many lies surrounding drug use.   Any manual about drug abuse problems that totally ignores the sources of abuse and dependency within our everyday provides little of value to anyone concerned with constructive solutions to these problems. But that is precisely what most ‘drug experts’ presume to do.  The overriding purpose for writing this manual is to educate young people how to think independently about drugs and how to use them productively for their benefit and only when it serves a useful purpose – that can’t be better served with other means and strategies.

Since there are no clear delineations between the various kinds of drugs in use recreationally, medicinally, or for performance enhancement in sports, business, and other enterprises, anything other than a comprehensive curriculum is woefully inadequate.   Many prescription drugs are routinely used recreationally and as performance enhancers – with many prescription drugs banned at the Olympics. Just about every recreational drug is useful medicinally in its ability to stimulate or depress body function as an aid to long term healing.  Some drug use is unavoidable, even for religious purists, as the body creates its own drugs as a necessary response to stimuli.  The most widely known are endorphins produced during heavy exercise that reduce pain and produce a natural “high” or exhilaration after or during activity.

            If you read no further than the introduction there are several important rules about drug use that need to be understood by any potential drug user:

            1] Drugs affect people in different ways and those effects can alter dramatically over time with each individual.  Everybody reading this has experimented with drugs in one way or another. Nearly everyone has experienced disappointments in performance and inconsistencies. This includes people – who for religious reasons - don’t use medications, since the body produces drugs in response to demands such as heavy exercise.  Some of you may even have developed a lifelong addiction to an exercise regimen that while mostly healthy, has its costs and effects.

            2] Most of the widely distributed information about drugs is deliberately misleading – even outright lies.  Those who sell drugs have to overcome societal stigma and disappointments over prior experience by users.  Even within the last generation admission of use of some common medications was career threatening.  There are those who deliberately exploit this stigma – which is even stronger for recreational drug use – to support drug prohibition.  Drug prohibition is entirely dependent on misinformation for its continued existence; no drug war advocate has ever or will ever defend this destructive policy in an honest debate forum.  Both sellers and prohibitionists rely strongly on partial truths and misleading associations.  For sellers it’s with fun activities and vigorous, healthy users; for prohibitionists it’s the tragedies that accompany the minority who abuse the drug in a major way.

            3] Our understanding of individual drugs is in constant need of revision. Experience constantly reveals new benefits, new costs, or constructive ways to use benefits or circumvent costs. Many restricted drugs are now sold over the counter, while some over the counter drugs are now available only by prescription.  Many highly addictive treatments like codeine have been replaced by less addictive alternatives.

            4] Every drug has its benefits, costs, and side effects.  Drugs provide 2 basic functions: they stimulate body function or depress body function; if they do something else they aren’t really drugs – although if used as medication they might be referred to as such. The benefits and costs of any drug are in its utility. A drug that enhances relaxation and enables drowsiness is wonderful for someone who has taken time off from work and school to fight a nasty infection. The same drug is hazardous for someone who is driving a semi truck through windy mountainous roads or engaging rush hour traffic.  The best example to demonstrate drugs function is to examine the effects of caffeine when you drink a caffeinated soda. The caffeine enhances alertness and most people who drink a soda before class will feel more alert – which is good. However, several minutes later in the class, as the body counteracts the caffeine, one is likely to feel even more tired and drowsy than they would have been if they had not drank the soda – unless they’ve tuned in on the class and are stimulated otherwise. If one is already alert, the soda might make them “hyperactive” or little annoying.  A side effect of drinking sodas would be a hazard to dental health due to sugar content or increased belching due to carbonation. These are effects that have nothing to do with the drug caffeine.  If you use ephedrine in antihistamines or cold medication and you experience sleeplessness, this is NOT a side effect – even if manufacturers call it that. Ephedrine counteracts the symptoms of allergies by speeding up the body’s response and sleeplessness may be a cost for some people – or for abuse.

            5] Drugs can only provide short-term benefits; the long-term solution to any problem addressed by drugs always resides outside use.   All responsible recommendation of drug use should include other measures including revision of lifestyle choices to facilitate remedy.  In our fast paced world the best permanent alternative to drug use is a variation of the 59^th Street Bridge Song: “slow down, you move too fast, try to make the morning last….”.  The physical and psychological stresses of trying to do too much are better dealt with by reducing stresses rather than using drugs to deal with the symptoms of the stresses.  Some short-term use of drugs can be helpful in this process, but one can’t permanently deal with the results by ignoring the causes.

            6] Certain people shouldn’t use some drugs. This varies between individuals and as mentioned earlier anyone who uses drugs, for any reason, is in a state of constant experimentation. This can be due to certain allergic reactions – which may not be known or common. This can also be due to certain physical conditions unique to that individual. Or it can be due to incompatibilities between classes of drugs; if you use other drugs, you have to be very careful about medications; conversely, if you use medications you have to be careful about recreational drug use.  Many over the counter and prescription drugs contain warnings about the use of other drugs; you should read all warnings before use. Pregnant women should avoid use of all discretionary or recreational drugs to minimize damage to their unborn child.  The use of ALL drugs – including common over the counter varieties – contain some risk.  As you learn more about your body’s response, you can minimize this risk. It is also wise to learn about scientifically valid studies about certain drugs to assess overall risk.  While prohibited drug studies are highly suspect [only after prohibition will the results of honest scientific studies be widely distributed], most banned substances are for recreational purposes and are highly discretionary in nature – and there is no accountability for sellers for disclosure.

            7] Addictions and allergies are both cumulative in nature. You are much more likely to become addicted to a drug if you are already addicted to another drug.  For some this is due to psychological reasons such as an “addictive personality”; they may also suffer from other non-drug related addictions such as gambling or workaholism. For others it is the result of the body’s limited capacity to physically cope with drug use.  If you use too many drugs to cope with the results of too many stresses the likelihood of addiction goes up.  While the risk of a life threatening allergic reaction to the moderate use of a drug is infinitesimal, the risk goes up with much larger concentrations or use over prolonged periods of time.  If you experience adverse symptoms it is best to proceed with extreme caution – or better yet, not proceed.

            8] There are no “recreational” or “medicinal” drugs.  Those designations are artificial and totally dependent on how they are mass marketed or used.  Whiskey can be used to get severely intoxicated, deal with viral infections, or for cooking purposes; banning whiskey use and possession criminalizes all 3 uses.  Since so many substances have multiple uses prohibition is truly a stupid and counterproductive means of dealing with any problem.

            Despite the fact that drug dependency and drug addiction are too often used interchangeably there is a difference.  Someone who is dependent needs to keep using the drug to treat a problem and the consequences of discontinuation are due to the original problem.  An addict experiences withdrawal symptoms that are directly related to the use of the drug and not the original problem.  Someone who uses asthma or high blood pressure medication is drug dependent whereas someone who smokes cigarettes is an addict.  If you use a physically addictive substance like codeine or morphine for cough suppression and pain respectively you can experience addiction problems after your cough or pain has subsided but it is clearly an addiction at the later point.  Where the distinction becomes hazy is when one uses a drug to deal with a social or emotional problem. If you are in a situation with constant social and/or emotional stresses the only way to tell whether it is dependence or an addiction is to try quitting. If you have an otherwise successful career that involves frequent contact with peers who also use drugs [usually alcohol] there is little incentive to quit.  If you are a well - connected ‘social drinker’ you can even avoid the consequences of irresponsible drug use – like driving while intoxicated. 

            Early in one’s life, the decisions about drug use are ultimately the responsibility of parents and guardians.  As one gets older a greater portion of these decisions will fall on the user.  To maximize the benefits of drug use – whether it is for medicinal or recreational purposes – one must use sparingly.  A drug that relaxes you and induces drowsiness is better used when you are battling a 24-hour virus with a 102+ degree temperature and desperately need body rest rather than used to deal with sniffles. Over reliance on drugs for remedies reduces benefit and increases both costs and risks.  Before use find out information about how it affects your body and alternative or supplemental remedies.  Listen carefully to any explanations offered by pharmacists or doctors and ask serious relevant questions.  Whether one begins an exercise program or a drug regimen one must allow the body sufficient recovery time. This time varies according to the individual, the drug, or the exercise regimen.  Err on the side of being overly cautious.  This manual is designed to inform you as to the relevant information you will need to make wise choices and maximize the benefits of any drug use.

 

INTRODUCTION LAUNCHPAD ACTIVITIES

 

1] Can you name at least two prescription drugs that are banned from athletic competition? If you are not into sports you may need to get information from a sports coach or a pharmacist.  Ask yourself [coach or pharmacist?] why these drugs would be banned?

 

2] Have you used a drug whose effect has diminished with continued use?  If you know someone who has taken medication over long periods of time you can interview him or her about the effects.  If you abstain for religious reasons from taking all drugs you can explain how exercise induced endorphins decrease over the course of an exercise regimen as your body strengthens.

 

3] Can you name a medication used in your school whose users attract negative attention [teasing] because of use? If you are home schooled you may ask your parent or guardian that same question – or you can ask them about negative attention about use of medications at work.  Is this type of teasing fair?

 

4] Have you or someone you know used medication that has been either discontinued or replaced by other medication due to either new developments or discovery of new information?  Ask a pharmacist about discontinued medications and replacement therapies or for information about why medication was changed.

 

5] Can you name a drug used for one purpose that can be dangerous when used for another purpose?  If you want to cheat on this question go to a drug store and read the warnings on over the counter medications.

 

6] Have you noticed that friends and family get sick or ‘under the weather’ more often at particular times of the year? Do you think that this might be due to additional demands on their time or other stresses?  What do you think can be done to reduce these stresses so that you don’t become dependent on drugs for relief?

 

7]  Have you ever taken a drug that came with a warning about when and how to use it?  If you’ve never taken drugs go to a pharmacy read a warning and ask pharmacist to explain the reason for this warning.  Have you ever observed how the directions and warnings are so carefully worded on pharmaceutical drugs?  The next time you visit your doctor or school nurse feel free to ask further questions on any directions you may find on any medications used by the family.

 

8]  Can you name a ‘recreational’ drug that has medicinal uses? Can you name a ‘medicinal’ drug that can be used in a recreational manner?  If you are having trouble with this question go to a pharmacist, read the warning labels in a pharmacy until you find the warning ‘can be addictive…’, or ask a friend or family member about these questions.  Should any drug that can be addictive – like codeine – be restricted as to availability?  Are criminal penalties for  use or possession/sale helpful in limiting the harm done by these drugs?

 

9]  Do you know someone who is dependent on the use of a substance, such as insulin for diabetes, for continued good health?  Was their health condition ‘preventable’ or due to conditions beyond their control such as genetics, environment, 2^nd hand smoke, or abuse inflicted by someone else?  Do you know someone who uses a drug on a routine basis for a specific function?  Is that person dependent or overly reliant on that drug?  You may want to ask that user if they’ve ever tried going long periods of time without the drug.  If so, did they experience ‘withdrawal symptoms’?

 

LIES, LIES, NOTHING BUT LIES!

 

            People in this country are literally inundated with information about drugs – with most of the volunteered information being deliberately false and misleading.  People lie for many different reasons. Those who sell drugs have already invested a great deal of money for research and procurement and it is in their financial interest to sell as much as possible. One sells a product by accentuating the positive and downplaying the negative.

Those who sell legally available products can be held financially accountable for outright lies told about their product in advertising; there is also disclosure requirements and health warnings – if not as required they are done as a protection from being held financially accountable if harm results from someone misusing/abusing their product.  There are no such restrictions for those who sell banned substances. They don’t have to disclose other ingredients, effects, limitations, or possible dangerous “side effects” – which are, in reality, costs of usage that are inherent in what the drug does to your body.  Neither legal or illegal drug sellers are required to disclose the effects of over utilization resulting in reduced benefits and costs related to the body’s reaction to prolonged usage, although some of these effects are listed as ‘side effects’ with legal drugs.  Those who provide “anti drug” information in support of drug prohibition operate under the rules governing any other political advertising: if they are caught in blatant lies they lose credibility – but not taxpayer funding. They can’t be held accountable for the damage their lies due to the destructive effects of prohibition and no media outlet or public official currently in office will directly challenge their lies.  There is a lot of your tax dollars used for prohibition that can be withheld from constituencies of political leaders and those who own the media and their advertisers have a vested interest in continuing this abusive policy.

Lies come in the following formats [in order of occurrence]:

1) Association of use with something unrelated to what the drug [or policy] actually does.

2) Omission of key relevant facts about drugs in such a way as to deliberately mislead.

3) Representation of typical as atypical and atypical as typical with respect to both benefits and costs of drug usage.

4) Announcement of results of scientific studies that do not conform to strict scientific standards or quotes from ‘experts’ who have a political or financial interest in hiding the truth.

5) Statements that have no foundation in truth that can be directly contradicted with factual information.

Every hour on prime time network television one is exposed to at least 5 messages that tell viewers the following: got a problem? Use of a drug ends the problem. Normal people are transformed from sufferers to people engaged in worthwhile fun activities by simply using a drug   Of course, there is the obligatory reference to doctor’s advice if the drug is available only by prescription and for most over the counter drug remedies there is mention of  “possible side effects”.  These ads are designed to motivate viewers to use their products and heavily exploit the users’ desire for a “quick fix”.  To be fair this is no different than the tactics used for just about every other product which promise instant fun, instant popularity, instant relief, or instant success – in other words: instant satisfaction.

There are several lies being employed in the advertisement of medicinal drugs available over the counter [OTC] or prescription.  First off, they associate fun, worthwhile activities with drug use when the fact is that the drug only provides temporary relief from symptoms by either depressing or stimulating body functions.  Permanent relief is done by the body and over reliance on product reduces effectiveness.  Of course, when you actually purchase the product and read the instructions this is clearly stated or implied [if symptoms persist consult physician]. This is why it becomes imperative for any user to ask serious questions to a reliable source of information, usually the prescribing doctor [who may be reluctant to volunteer specific information] or the pharmacist who can volunteer more information than is necessary.  The instructions conveniently lump all undesired effects as “possible side effects” – including predictable effects of the drugs itself or the body’s response to the drugs. Such symptoms as fatigue, nervousness, or drowsiness are not true side effects but the natural effect of the drug itself or the body’s response to the drug.  As a responsible user who presumably cares about their own well being you should ask someone how the drug is supposed to help you with your problem.   It’s probably best to regard the use of drugs as on should an emergency line of credit.  There is always a price and if you don’t allow time for recovery it won’t be available when you really need it. 

Imagine someone prescribing small amounts of whiskey for temporary relief of a severe toothache and mentioning inebriation as a “possible side effect”. Even if the dosage was so small that only a small fraction of users became inebriated, there is no doubt that the inebriation is no side effect.  No doubt that the prescribing doctor would have some patients seeking his professional advice, faking toothaches, and using the prescription with the intention of achieving the “side effect”. While this scenario seems ludicrous, it’s not that far removed from the very real problem of prescription drug abuse for recreational purposes with the identities of prescribers being given out to friends and associates.  Prescription drug abuse is a real problem and is the basis for much of the federal resistance to medical marijuana laws.  What underlies this controversy is the fact that drug prohibition has nothing whatsoever to do with actual misconduct. It is strictly about conduct and – with the existence of other laws – punishment of recreational drug misconduct is irrelevant and purely incidental to its real purpose.  Those who cause harm by knowingly prescribing drugs for recreational purposes are already liable for harm caused by user and drug prohibition is an irrelevant factor.

Today, there are many remedies for nicotine addiction being offered to the public. They work on a simple premise: they substitute a less “efficient” delivery system for nicotine and gradually wean the body from nicotine dependence. They are often promoted as another “quick fix” solution: have a nicotine addiction, take our drug = no more nicotine addiction.  These treatments depend on the users commitment to ending their addiction.  Like diet plans, the long term effectiveness depends on the users’ ability to make long lasting changes in attitudes and habits – which has nothing to do with the method or substance used.  Comparable results can be achieved without use of the remedy or employment of alternative remedies such as prayer, meditation or the commencement of a physical fitness regimen.

Those who advertise legally available drugs for recreational use do so mostly to establish name recognition and associate drug use with fun, festivity, bonding, sexual intimacy or tension and normalcy.  Nearly all the ads are for alcoholic products with most being for beer and wine – with a smattering for coolers and products like hard lemonade.  Their target audience knows that these products produce inebriation and other impairment, and – due to public pressure – many of these ads advise people to “use responsibly” in a vague non-specific manner.  The recreational use of alcohol is embedded into all our social activities. People expect over use during festive times of the year like 3-day weekends, Christmas and New Years, and the 4^th of July celebrations.  During certain times of the year, there is a great deal of pressure to organize and/or attend social gatherings of co-workers, teammates, or friends where alcohol is available. It is such an implied staple of social gatherings that only some religious groups are immune to its influence.  Of course in some of these social venues “other” drugs or substances are also included. These other substances could include illegal drugs, prescription drugs used recreationally, pain killers such as laughing gas, and even over the counter drugs or foods used in a recreational manner. One gubernatorial candidate glibly instructed the audience at debate forums on how to get “high” on even the most innocuous of substances that are easily available to children even as young as 7 or 8 years of age.  The only counter to this pervasive “drugs = instant party” type of mindset are messages to “use responsibly” with the only admonition being to avoid driving and use a designated driver. Unfortunately, there are many people who are a severe hazard to themselves, family, friends, colleagues, and casual acquaintances – who primarily utilize public transportation. Alcohol not only impairs motor skills and inhibitions against socially irresponsible behavior but can – with prolonged chronic abuse cause severe health problems. Yet such information is virtually nonexistent in either drug ads or public service ads about use of legal recreational drugs.

There is no legal ads for illegal drugs so whatever lies are used to induce purchase are not subjected to any type of scrutiny. Usually, the sales pitch is for recreational use – but it is not unknown for salespeople to sell medicinal uses.  Invariably, the first contact is another user, who is most likely addicted to the drug and sells to provide money to keep him or her supplied.  Often they will either be someone you know, a friend or acquaintance, who may provide you a free sample or furnish the drug in a party setting. Drug use has already been established by legal drug ads as “instant party”, so illegal drugs are just another form of this instant gratification. You may know users already and most will not fit the profile of illegal drug users that you will see portrayed in the media, in cinema, on television, or in “anti drug” literature.  Most users of illegal drugs – even at younger ages - are not seriously addicted abusers that prohibitionists like to use as justification for their immoral social policy.  That does not mean that there are not serious costs involved with drug use. You have the very same costs as use of any drug – only you have far less information available about how the drug affects you.  The person who provides you any illegal drug is likely to be totally disconnected to the initial provider so they will have no clue as to how the drug affects your body – other than a description of the symptoms that they have experienced. Their experience isn’t even likely to have been with the same drug they are providing you since – unlike legal drugs – there are no standards for drugs put out to consumers.  There are no set levels of potency, active ingredients, inert ingredients, or listing of effects and side effects for users available. The first contact usually doesn’t have a clue – even if they were inclined to list the possible downsides and there is no way to get in touch with the ultimate provider of the drug. Even in Meth houses where the end product is produced with legally available ingredients, the likelihood of a Meth dealer keeping track of disclosure info [which is worthless after it’s been combined anyway] is nil.  These guys don’t sell their product by warning users about possible bad effects – nor are they required to do so. What are you going to do? Sue them? Levy a civil fine for failure to disclose? 

If you are serious about your body and mind, but open minded enough to try anything once, and want to remain “cool” with your friends your best response is as follows: “sorry, but I think I’ll wait until after our political leaders pull their heads out of wherever they have them before I try this drug. Then I’ll have the choices on potency of drug and delivery system for my best interests”. Prohibition leaves you at the mercy of an unscrupulous black market – with no recourse for misconduct.  IF you can obtain a banned substance on your own terms AND use it in a safe environment AND you can find a worthwhile reason for using it to aid in celebration with proven friends and/or loved ones with no other demands on you – like driving, work, or fulfillment of obligations…. Use can be enjoyable and constructive.  This is good advice for use of all recreational and medicinal drugs. Also follow an axiom for drug use and exercise regimens: for best results always allow your body ample time for recovery before using again. In drugs as in exercise, more isn’t always better.

Our country currently spends more than a quarter billion dollars a year in “public service” advertisements against [illegal] drugs. “Keep our kids off of drugs” is a mantra of our lapdog media, which if taken literally would include children’s Tylenol, Ritalin, and all other medications.  Key public officials have stated that “drugs aren’t dangerous because they’re illegal, they’re illegal because they’re dangerous” – which is a direct lie totally contrary to the truth. If this were so objective scientific standards would be an integral part of drug prohibition. Prohibition can’t coexist with any identifiable objective standards and can only be explained by ignorance or prejudice. Currently, there are no objective standards, subject to scientific scrutiny, with regards to recreational drug use.  It is amazing how much hysteria has been generated with no scientifically valid evidence for support. Since no studies subject to scientific scrutiny have shown any drug more harmful than by mere use than consumption of fast food burgers and fries, prohibitionists have resorted to distortion of fact.

            Religious organizations have historically formed the cornerstone of prohibitionist movements.  Adoption of abstinence from drug use is on a very sound religious basis since religious discipline – including prayer and/or meditation – is a key alternative to all drug use in dealing with both physical and spiritual problems.  Some religions have banned use of any and all medications and this principle is upheld by nearly all governments – for adults. The only problem lies with children who are not considered legally able to undertake that religious contract and usually then only for life threatening situations.  There is even justification for banning recreational use of drugs only – since this use is totally optional and often a substitute for true religious devotions and communion promoted for adherents.   Prohibition works well within a voluntary religious discipline; it doesn’t work in government where it is implemented by force of law.  While most governments adopt laws that are also used within religious disciplines they are usually “universal” in nature and provide punishments for harm caused by individuals. These laws have to do with the interactions between its citizens while prohibition has to do with private decisions that may not affect others.  Furthermore, prohibition always involves an extremely high level of dishonesty and deceit to justify to its citizens and since honesty is always a highly prized virtue claimed by all major religions, support for prohibition couldn’t be justified on religious grounds.  Strictly speaking all proclaimed support for the War on Drugs citing “religious reasons” is a lie.

 Drug war advocates have taken advantage of the fact that prohibited drugs attract users who are more prone to risky behavior – such as abusing drugs - and less prone to obedience to the law.  While 75% of crimes are committed by drug users, if drugs were legalized many of these users who commit crimes to pay black market prices to sustain their drug habit, would likely find other reasons for mischief.  There is much evidence showing many illegal drugs being safer than legal alternatives – despite the fact that experience with users shows the opposite. Try comparing the users of muscle cars like the Corvette, with superb handling and acceleration with those of mini vans with sluggish acceleration and high center of gravity. Obviously, the Corvette is the inherently safer vehicle, yet owners typically – and rightfully – pay much higher insurance rates. The rates are due to the fact that Corvette drivers have a much higher tendency to engage in unsafe behavior being far more capable of doing resulting in much higher insurance rates due to higher collision rates and fatalities.

            Prohibitionists have preyed upon concern for the welfare of children. The fact is that there is no support among reformers or civil libertarians for legal access of any recreational drugs for people under age 18 and only scant support for those between 18 and 21. Restrictions on drug availability for minors can only be changed after they [minors] have shown a much better pattern of responsible drug use. That is only possible with comprehensive education about real drug problems, like this manual – which will be fiercely opposed by all drug war advocates.

            There are also lies being promoted by some drug policy reformers.  The flip side of the crime problem and making safer drugs available is that a large portion of current users of illegal drugs will still commit crimes and will still abuse drugs with unsafe delivery systems.  The fact is that illegal drug users can’t even consider freebasing, snorting, or mainlining legal drugs; the results would be immediate fatalities because the most common recreationally used drugs are more dangerous than most illegal drugs.  The irony is that – being less dangerous – they would be more prone to use the currently illegal variety with more potent delivery systems, if legally available.  The fact is that many users of drugs like heroin or cocaine were mainlining, inhaling, smoking, and snorting even before prohibition.  While most users of newly legalized drugs would utilize them in much safer manner, those who are prone to abuse drugs would still abuse drugs and the number would probably not go down in any significant manner.  The amount of money spent of law enforcement wouldn’t likely to go down with legalization either. Since the proportion of criminals actually prosecuted is low, prosecution of a larger proportion of “other criminals” that currently escape prosecution would mostly offset the fewer drug-motivated criminals.  While real crime would go down significantly, the same public safety resources would be expended.  Most of the underlying causes of crime are due to other social influences – independent of illegal drug trafficking and the black market price structure.

            A “savvy” drug user, before using any drug, carefully reads the labels about use and possible “side effects”. This will give a serious clue as to how the drug affects the body.  Ask the pharmacist serious questions about dosage. If a drug is being recommended to you ask about alternative remedies such as exercise, diet, or rest – which ultimately do more for your long-term health than any drug .  You can supplement your information about use of medications from the Internet.  While drug suppliers blatantly mislead to gain your interest, they do have incentives to inform the public about their product in a more useful and responsible manner. Since you have to be physically present when the doctor makes his diagnosis [before prescribing drugs] ask serious questions not only about the drug and its effects, but also about the cause of the original problem and lifestyle changes that will prevent further need of drugs.   Getting reliable information about recreational [read: totally optional] drugs is next to impossible for minors as few responsible people are willing to risk liability for under age use.  For minors, all drugs normally used for recreational purposes are legally unavailable as are prescription drugs that are taken under the supervision of both a legally responsible adult and doctor.

If you are suffering adverse physical symptoms or having trouble concentrating it is the body’s and/or the mind’s signal to SLOW DOWN.  There is no substitute for rest.   The purpose of drugs is not to keep symptoms under control so that you can continue to abuse your body and spirit.  There is – or will be - constant pressure in today’s world for you to continually put more activity and/or possessions into your life. You will ‘need’ more possessions to accumulate [requiring more money], with more activity at work and less free time. Your parents may already have you on a tight schedule and with schoolwork, chores, after school activities, and/or work schedule you may find yourself with little if any time to relax or to reflect.  Currently, you may not even have adequate sleep time or experience difficulty falling asleep most nights.  When your body breaks down the choice to forgo fun in order to fully recuperate will be a difficult one.  The temptation to use medications to ‘see you through’ rather than to give up ‘necessary and scheduled’ activities to rest, will be tremendous – and some of that pressure may come from your parents.  The irony is that your parents may over schedule your activities to ‘keep you off [illegal] drugs’ in response to ‘public service’ ads – ultimately paid for by your tax dollars - seen on TV. 

Your parents are under even more pressure to buy and do.  All the recent labor saving inventions have managed to accomplish for the average worker, parent, and consumer is to allow them to do more, translating to more things that they have to do.  A cell phone that lets you ‘get connected’ doesn’t allow time to ‘get away’; a laptop which allows you to do work at home gives you more work to do at home.  Your parents simply have a much harder time finding time to interact with you than ever before and are under more pressure to over schedule they and yourself. This results in long lines of cars at schools when school gets out, shorter tempers and more risky behavior among those drivers, with less free time and down time for both parents and children to recuperate from stresses.  Many parents have begun resistance to these kinds of pressures from outside their families – only to get them from their children who complain about ‘missing out on all the fun’ their friends are having.  Setting limitations is not an easy process and necessarily involves open communication between parents and children.  In this hectic world it becomes necessary for families to simplify their life – rather than adding drugs to cope with the effects of the complexities.  Sometimes it is better for families to ‘just say no’ to the rat race rather than complicate their lives by trying to ‘keep up with the neighbors’.

 

                                                LAUNCHPAD FOR CHAPTER ONE

 

1]  Pick an hour of prime time  television and count the number of advertisements for drugs.  Does it make any difference whether the television audience is older or younger viewers either in the amount of drug ads or the type of drugs advertised?  What is the message that you get from these ads about using drugs?

 

2]  Listen to an advertisement for a medicinally used drug and go to the pharmacy to read the label for that particular drug. If it is a prescription drug you may require the assistance of a pharmacist – you can ask further questions if he/she has time.  How does the information given in the ad correspond to information you got from the label and/or your pharmacist.  It’s quite likely that the drug advertised is available in your parents’ drug cabinet, in which case you may interview your parents about its effects.

 

3] [optional]  If a seller of illegal drugs tries to get you to buy or try an illegal drug ask him/her about information that is available on legal drugs, then compare this answer to the one you get from a pharmacist.  If you feel inclined you can approach a police officer with the same questions. Compare the answers that you get – or don’t get – from these different people.  Are they in agreement? WARNING:  Do not take the initiative to contact any illegal drug dealers or to cooperate in any police ‘stings’.  That’s why this activity is strictly optional – to be done if the opportunity presents itself.

 

4] Visit a local drinking establishment with your parent or trusted adult. If your establishment is not covered by a ‘smoke free’ ordinance, this may be done by phone, as the 2^nd hand smoke can be quite unpleasant even for those without breathing difficulties.  Are local alcohol free alternatives available offering similar entertainment or recreational facilities to view as a comparison?  If so, do you see alcohol as a necessary – or even useful - component of recreation?  How does your local establishment compare to those seen on the screen for alcohol commercials or in programming such as Cheers?  Ask the owner or manager about problems he or she faces with clientele.  Are those problems shown in movies, beer ads, or other television programming?

 

5] Do you know anyone who has switched or discontinued medications because they ‘stopped working’?  Do you know anyone who can’t take certain medications because of allergies or ‘low tolerance’?

 

6] If you are taking medication ask your doctor or pharmacist what would happen if you increased the dosage of the drug?  Would the effects be similar to those of someone who had a lower tolerance for that drug?  Are any of the expected effects listed on the drug as ‘side effects’?  Could you expect similar effects if you increased the frequency of use?

 

7] Would your legal access to currently illegal drugs be affected in any manner if the War on Drugs were declared unconstitutional? If all drugs were legalized would they become more available to minors – or less available to minors?  Are ‘anti drug’ ads appealing to parents to protect their kids against ‘drugs’ a false argument to justify an abusive policy as suggested by the author, or are they a useful tool in protecting minors from real dangers? Or are these ads designed to partially offset the increased availability of illegal drugs to minors CAUSED by this abusive policy?

 

8] The author suggests that legalization would hold those who profit from currently illegal drugs financially liable for damages.  Do you believe that holding tobacco and alcohol sellers financially liable for the abuse of users is fair?  Should those who sell products compensate those who use those products in an irresponsible manner?  Should all products that are potentially harmful and used in a dangerous manner be criminalized – or should criminal penalties be reserved for those that act in a socially irresponsible manner?  Can you think of a widely used product that kills more than 10 times as many people as all illegal drugs combined?  Should we make that product legally unavailable? [Email me at [email protected] if you can’t figure out what that product is]

 

9] Call your local police department or district attorney’s office and ask if there are crimes that are not prosecuted due to lack of jail space or crimes that are not investigated due to lack of resources. If drugs were legalized would we need less jail space and fewer law enforcement personnel?  Is it likely that if all drugs were legally available to adults that more crimes would be committed? Could there be other social costs due to legalization?

 

10] Should we put warnings on all OTC and prescription drugs about the effects of abuse and severe abuse – as the Drug Czar does with illegal drugs?  What about coffee, tea, chocolate, and other food substances that contain drugs?  Would such information be helpful – or would it give potential abusers ideas about how to abuse drugs?

 

COSTS, BENEFITS, AND SIDE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH DRUG USE

 

            The use of any drug, supplement such as vitamins or hormones, anti biotic or other substance used in treatment, performance enhancement, or for recreational purposes has an effect on how the body functions.  Even if you don’t use any medications or treatments due to personal or religious reasons your body produces drugs under conditions to aid your body to cope with stressful conditions.  All of these effects are short term, although long-term use can change your physiology and psychology – or how your body and mind act.

 Addiction or acute dependency will definitely influence your decisions and certainly limit your freedom by severely reducing options until the addiction/dependency is ended.  Some dependencies results from severe physical problems that are life threatening that require drug intervention.  Some people have lifelong insulin dependency because their body is no longer capable of producing adequate amounts of this hormone to regulate sugar levels.  People being treated with insulin invariably have to alter their diet and may adopt a fitness regimen – in addition to taking the hormone.  Whether this is due to prior abuse of drugs is irrelevant; most users must continue or face serious health consequences.  These types of long-term use of medications are nearly always done with supervision and instruction of qualified health professionals. As a patient you must ask relevant questions as to use, and additional or alternative measures that can be taken with medication and most importantly if you can end your dependency in a safe and responsible manner.

            Drugs either stimulate body function or depress body functions. Your body will always react to the drug’s influence. The caffeine in a cup of coffee will increase alertness for a short time. However, if you do not become active or otherwise stimulate yourself, the body’s response will be to induce drowsiness; in cases of repeated stimulation with repeated doses of caffeine [as in multiple cups of coffee] it may result in fatigue.  Frequent cups of coffee won’t work if your workplace or school lacks sufficient stimulation to keep you alert.  If your body can’t handle caffeine, even moderate use may result in fatigue.  Some very young and older people use coffee to help them fall sleep.  When you read the directions on some medications it may seem confusing to find that the same drug can produce BOTH drowsiness and sleeplessness; the effects of the drug are dependent on the users’ response to the drug – and with some drugs it varies widely.  Some people have allergies to certain drugs. While life threatening reactions to small doses are very rare they’re not nonexistent and those who prescribe medications in larger quantities or strength will inquire as to allergic reactions.

            One of the interesting facts about repeated drug use is that it does affect the body’s equilibrium and the body and mind compensate for the effects – often shifting the body’s equilibrium producing effects counterproductive to the reason that you originally used the drug.  Frequent use of caffeine to compensate for lack of sleep will not only result in drowsiness as the drug wears off – but will make you more prone to drowsiness even when adequately rested.  Using alcohol to dull your brain functions when used recreationally can result in an overactive mind – or ‘hallucinations’ – when one ceases to use alcohol for a while.  Don’t worry, delirium tremens only results from long-term abuse of alcohol; it is not a typical result of alcohol use or abuse.

            The body generally resists the effects of any substance introduced – including drugs that are supposed to help the body recover by turning on or turning off certain bodily systems.  When that happens it takes more of that substance to produce the desired effect and your ‘tolerance’ is increased.  The body’s resistance continues even after the drug no longer affects the body.  With some allergy medications the result is that when you are no longer medicated the allergies worsen.  That’s why those who fail to take alternative measures to deal with problems always run a high risk of becoming dependent on using larger and stronger amounts of drugs to take care of the problem.  Tolerance for drugs varies widely between people.  Some people either start or develop allergies to certain drugs that can be life threatening.  When their bodies adjust to high levels of drug usage – or high exposure to other substances that affect the body – it can be stated as an addiction.  Your body will react to the withdrawal of any substance that it has received large amounts of exposure; the severity of the reaction determines whether it is regarded as an addiction.  A body that has already made adjustments for one substance is more capable of making adjustments for others. 

The general rule about addictions and withdrawals is that the withdrawal symptoms will be complementary to the effects of the drug:  withdrawal from a stimulant will produce tiredness and depression while a depressant will produce agitation, nervousness and hallucinations.  It is extremely rare [read: virtually impossible] for anyone to become physically addicted to any drug after just one use.  Physical addictions require a combination of repeated usage and higher concentrations of drug. You will develop an addiction more quickly to espresso than to coffee but in either case the physical addiction will be preceded by a psychological addiction to the effects of that drug. 

Of course most drugs can be lethal if used in large enough quantities in a short amount of time.  If the body is not given enough time to offset the effects of some drugs the result may be major shutdowns in body systems or death.  Chugging alcohol can be a killer as are overdoses of sedatives.  Too much of most stimulants can produce cardiac arrest or strokes.  With many ingested drugs, you will vomit or pass out before lethal quantities can be reached.  It would definitely be interesting to see – if full disclosure were required for all medications – how many drugs would have ‘death’ listed as a symptom of severe abuse.

            Vitamins are essential for aiding the body’s immune system; fighting infections, processing proteins, blood clotting, and various other essential functions.  Some vitamins are water-soluble, some fat-soluble and even others like D are available naturally with exposure to the sun; all vitamins are available through foods and it doesn’t make any difference for most whether the vitamin comes ‘naturally’ via diet or through pills, tablets, granules or liquids.  Vitamins are usually taken as supplements and you should check containers for instructions on proper usage.  Sometimes the method of delivery can reduce side effects; sometimes one needs to be careful about the amounts taken daily.  Be wary of “mega vitamin” plans to improve overall health.  With some vitamins, you can reach a saturation point where incremental amounts provide zero benefit.  With other vitamins – especially fat-soluble – you can reach toxic levels.  Reading instructions carefully and know which vitamins should be taken with more caution.   Mineral supplements work in pretty much the same manner as vitamin supplements; these essential minerals are available through diet.  While most vitamins and minerals are taken to supplement one’s normal diet some are taken because the body can’t process enough of a nutrient on an ongoing basis or for a severe shortfall due to malnutrition or other abuse or as a precaution against the onset of maladies such as anemia or osteoporosis.

            Antibiotics are used to fight infections.  Basically, they attack all bacteriological organisms – including those essential for digestion.  That’s why antibiotics are used when the immune system is overwhelmed by infection and then only for short term – when a higher proportion of “bad bacteria” are being attacked.  Some physicians now prescribe lower grade antibiotics to allow less damage to “good bacteria” and more responsibility on the body’s immune system.  This approach invariably requires more rest and time away from work, school, and other activities – sometimes resulting in patient resistance and pressure for “stronger measures”.   If a doctor prescribes or administers antibiotics, rest is always part of the remedy and the use of other drugs is minimized to those essential to facilitate rest and recovery. Unfortunately, those who suffer from severe addictions, like cigarettes – even under doctors’ care and even in a hospital facility – will take measures to continue their addiction, even at the expense of their own recovery.

            Hormone therapy is a more direct method of treating maladies.  While drugs affect the general systems, reducing or stimulating as needed, hormones can be used to affect specific systems. The most widely known hormone is insulin, used in treatment of diabetes.  Hormones often work in combinations and it is tricky reaching the right balance.  As more is learned they may be used more effectively – or they may discover even more “complications” with hormone therapy.

            There are many ways to administer medications; each has its inherent advantages and complications. It is easiest to list them in order of efficiency.

            1] Tablets or caplets that user swallows whole.  They take the longest to process, having to go through the digestive system with little help from the oral enzymes used in chewing.  This allows medications to be released gradually providing smaller long lasting relief. This can be prolonged with gel caps that take even longer to digest. Usual complications involve stomach problems or allergic reactions to medications; these allergies can develop with prolonged use [over reliance?] – which is why some people continually change medications.

            2] Chewable tablets or caplets that user chews and swallows.  This speeds up the digestive process, but is slower than most methods. One may have reactions to other ingredients that may be used to make medication more “palatable”, but otherwise reactions are similar to regular tablets/caplets.

3] Suppositories that user [or other person] places in anal opening or a tincture that is placed under the tongue. Such administration bypasses the digestive system and delivers medication into bloodstream in a quicker manner but amounts delivered can be erratic and some drugs can’t be used in suppositories due to bowel irritations.

            4] Medications that user injects into muscle tissue or just under the skin – almost always in the extremities.  This method increases effectiveness by bypassing the digestive system. Medications are then slowly absorbed into the blood stream and into the body.  One can get infections from use of needles and for most medications administered one needs to avoid injection directly into veins or arteries [btw, no medication is EVER administered into arteries].  One should not self-administer shots unless they have received professional instruction.  Hormones like insulin are administered in this manner, since the digestive tract alters the medication too much [development of “pro drugs” are in their infancy – but orally administered hormones may be available in the future].  Vaccinations are almost always administered in this manner, although some vaccinations may be administered orally or by suppositories. Some drugs used as local anesthetics, such as Novocain are administered in this manner.

5] Inhalants that user has taken often through a restrictive tube or use of devices to direct the majority of medication through the mouth. Using inhalants bypasses the digestive tract and gets a larger proportion of medication into the system. This method is most effective to deal with respiratory problems like asthma or emphysema with medications to work on lung and chest restriction since medications are strongest in respiratory system before dissipation into the rest of body.  Most medications used in this manner have some effect on brain function and effects vary according to individual. Legitimate side effects of this method for delivery are throat and lung irritation that can be damaging if abused.  Some dentists use a carefully regulated nitrous oxide or laughing gas as a general anesthetic for some dental surgeries.  This has the general advantage of avoiding lingering numbness in the area of the surgery but has the potential for asphyxiation if not carefully supervised.

6] Medications users heat and inhale such as Nebulizers.  The heating increases the rate of absorption but otherwise act in same manner as inhalants with the benefits and costs increased correspondingly.  Heated inhalants are used exclusively for more severe symptoms than regular inhalants are used for due to the significantly higher expense.  Smoking substances has never been recommended for any treatment due to the much higher likelihood of damage to lungs and respiratory system.  This method is recommended for medical marijuana mostly due to the unique cumulative nature of the active ingredient in marijuana: THC.  Since THC is stockpiled in the body, first time users for pain relief would most likely need to smoke substance initially to guarantee immediate relief of very severe symptoms; other methods may be considered after the ‘thresh hold’ for effects has been reached.  Since medical marijuana is used mostly for cases involving nausea, inhalation and suppositories are the most viable options for self-administration – although suppositories come with erratic rates of absorption and development and testing of other safer methods for inhaling are hampered by drug prohibition [prohibition is always an impediment to personal safety].

7] Medications user has injected directly into the vein. This has to be done with extreme care and this method is invariably chosen in desperation and done by highly trained professionals.  It is usually chosen due to major breakdowns in the body’s system and can be used for replacement of basic nutrients or blood. While many people are willing to extend their lives using blood pressure, heart and asthma medications, quite a few are not willing to do so with intravenous drugs due to both the expense and the diminishment of the quality of life.

8] Medications administered directly on the surface.  These include lotions, crèmes, and antiseptics used to treat minor injuries, rashes, infections, burns, or bites.  Read directions carefully before use.  Nearly all these treatments are ‘not for internal use’ and extreme care must be taken to keep away from mouth and eyes; if administered by hand, you must wash your hands after administration.

The slogan ‘a drug free America’ is laughable – especially since the body produces its own drugs in response to stimuli as a necessary survival mechanism.  And like any other drug, natural drugs can be over utilized and abused or become addictive in nature – to the long-term detriment of your body and spirit.  These problems are compounded when institutions condition people to over extend themselves to achieve unrealistic standards for success measured in terms of quantity rather than in quality. 

Adrenaline is a hormone which releases epinephrine and nor epinephrine into the bloodstream to facilitate the ‘fight or flight’ response.  It facilitates quick response in emergency situations. Epinephrine was an early drug used to fight asthma attacks; other stimulants such as coffee and cocaine were also effective in a pinch. The problem is that such strong stimulants become far less effective with prolonged use – and asthma is an ongoing condition – and they do use up a LOT of the body’s energy reserves, wearing it out with restlessness, fatigue, and nervousness. 

The problem with adrenaline is that in today’s society there is very little use for it if you are not involved in a real emergency situation requiring additional strength and speed to cope with an emergency situation. Even if you are an emergency worker you spend only a small portion of your time in life threatening situations.  Yet your body will produce adrenaline under every stressful situation that arises in your life and unless you find an outlet it will be turned inward.  Besides there are HUGE downsides to the use of physical violence today – like jail sentences for assault and battery and/or family abuse, lose of position, privileges or compensation, and/or physical retaliation by the victim.  The majority of physical violence done is either criminal in nature, in response to criminal force, or by authority figures such as parents or police – and nearly all violence done in anger can be rightfully classified as abuse since adrenaline increases the intensity of the response and reduces the remorse often resulting in use of extremely excessive force.

However, reality is that only a very small portion of the violence done is physical in nature.  The stress invoked by a school bully – who can be avoided with ease, pales in comparison to an abusive supervisor or coworker who can make your life at work pure torture.  The same can be true of teachers and classmates who seem to go out of their way to make other peoples’ lives more difficult – all without touching even a tiny hair on their heads. Whereas there are legal recourses to physical violence, emotional abuse can go on indefinitely without criminal prosecution.  All too often a skillful verbal abuser can provoke physical violence from others – leading to criminal prosecution.  The problem with all forms of violence is that – unlike the villains in James Bond movies – these real life abusers go to great length to justify their actions to others as being correct, even to the point of blaming the victim for their use of violence.   If you don’t believe this is true, try to think of any acts of violence being reported in which the perpetrator didn’t claim to be reacting to some kind of injustice.

The tragedy is that few people exercise any real control over their own emotional well being.  They react according to their predetermined ‘autopilot.  Authority figures such as parents and teachers along with peer groups such as friends and colleagues all exert influence on your ‘autopilot’.  Public and private institutions, along with the mass media, have their own agendas for influencing opinion and behavior on a large scale and their interest in your welfare and improvement are dubious at best. From birth you have been conditioned for emotional dependence, even as you are taught skills for physical independence – even as you have exercised influence on others to promote dependence on yourself.  This is done via a system known as ‘give and take’ whereby you give rewards to those with ‘good’ behavior and inflict punishment for ‘bad’ behavior – with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ being judged on an individual or group basis.  In primitive times this social bonding was necessary for survival and when adrenaline was triggered it was directed towards group enemies such as predatory animals or the next dinner.  In today’s society the survival drugs are directed in harmful ways towards others or inward on you.

The key thing to know is that you can exercise greater control over your own ‘autopilot’.  You can develop deliberate strategies to use on a reflexive basis for dealing with stressful situations.  We will expand on these strategies in Alternatives to Drug Usage chapter:

1] Keep one thing in mind:  you don’t deserve the abuse; don’t do anything for anyone to justify it.  People who abuse others invariably try to use their behavior to justify their abusive behavior. You should never give them cause for justification by reacting to their violence in kind.  However, you must never assume malicious intent from anyone who abuses you; what you regard as abuse may be an endearing behavior to someone else.  If you did something to trigger the outburst admit your mistake; people are spend so much time justifying their own misbehavior, apologies are rare – especially to people who are not authority figures or otherwise intimidating.  If you are reacting to someone else’s mistake, apologize for your abusive behavior, explain the reason for your outburst – but only if necessary; and not to justify your mistake.  Drug ads are only part of the problem involving the mass media and pop culture manipulation of peoples’ expectations and behavior.  When people expect instant gratification and that people with money and/or position should demand instant gratification from others using threats and coercion, you have a recipe for major stress and abuse.  Learn to recognize ‘difficult’ and ‘impossible’ people and know that some people can’t be dealt with in a rational manner.  All you can do is accommodate their demands and refer them to someone more ‘capable’ so that you can escape their ire. Never justify their anger or abuse and never do wrong on their behalf.  In cases where the ‘impossible’ person is a parent, teacher or other authority figure a useful tactic can be employed to facilitate a solution of the problem by soliciting the solution from the abuser.  Ask their advice for dealing with a bad situation that you are having with another authority figure, explain the situation and carefully work out a solution – with their help.  Then follow the solution as dictated by the abuser – after all, you got it from a reliable source.  With parents, you will have to request a solution for a 3^rd party, since abusive parents tend to blame you for all problems that you have with others. It may be necessary for you to write down the suggested solution, especially if the abuser has a serious ‘truth impairment’.  We will deal with direct confrontations in the section on abuse.

2] Be constantly vigilant for opportunities to provide aid, encouragement, and assistance to those you meet in the ordinary course of living your life. Simple actions such as a bright smile and simple ‘good morning’ will not only improve the moods of the recipients, it will improve yours too.  Providing aid doesn’t always involve giving to or doing something for someone who needs help; it can also involve requesting and/or accepting assistance from those capable of providing advice or help.  This could even include advice from routine abusers about dealing with an abuse problem – as long as you don’t blame them for the YOUR problem.  A secondary effect of seeking out helpful situations is that you can develop an excellent network to assist you in tight spots.  You will also attract some social ‘outcasts’ who will take up a lot of your time with problems, taking away time to hang out with the ‘cool’ people.  You must keep in mind that ‘outcast’ and ‘cool’ are arbitrary classifications mandated upon others by the social caste system in place; one system’s ‘outcast’ can be ‘cool’ in most other systems.  Consider this a major step away from emotional reliance on the behavior of others.

3] Expectation of reward is NOT part of doing good for others.  You will routinely receive abuse from those you’ve bailed out of dreadful situations, volunteered help, or shown kindness.  If possible, you do your good deeds in secret. At no time are you to draw attention to yourself by good deeds.  In fact it is better to help people who either have little to no chance of repaying you or not at all likely to be helpful in return; you may be surprised by the result – but that would be a bonus in your life.  Helping only others who are likely to repay you is part of give and take – which is the path of emotional dependence and leads to abuse.  You treat others with kindness and respect – not because they are wonderful people. You treat others with kindness and respect because you are a wonderful person.  And you can’t remind people of this either, because wonderful people can’t require kindness and respect from others.

As you grow into physical maturity, you body produces sexual hormones such as testosterone [male] and estrogen [female].  Production varies widely both in terms of age and amounts.  These hormones produce the physical changes that occur as boys and girls mature into men and women respectively.  Changes include deeper voices and facial hair for men with larger breasts and vaginal bleeding for women.  The rate and degree of change vary widely according to genetics, diet, exercise, environment, and other factors that may or may not be under the individuals’ control.

The period of time when boys and girls mature physically into men and women respectively is known as puberty.  With these physical changes comes sexual awareness and the onset of a strong sexual drive. In nature, sex is a necessary part of reproduction and sexual urges during the mating season are irresistible.  It has to be this way for a species to survive.  In humans the onset of puberty also varies, but usually begins between 12-16 years of age – which is long before children are considered legally responsible or financially capable of independence from their parents and families. With overpopulation a real concern it is also not really a crucial factor in species survival.  The irony is that nature doesn’t follow human social patterns very well.  The fact that we, due to our high levels of technology, are better fed has actually led to earlier onsets of puberty and the inherent contradictions of sexually active teenagers and pre teens.  In times when people seldom lived past their 40s and education was reserved for the ruling class, it was quite common for people to wed in their teens and have large families – and careers - before they left their twenties.  Infant mortality was much higher, childbirth was occasionally fatal, and the dangers of losing your life to disease, infections, and violent conflicts were much higher than they are today so that staying married until ‘death do us part’ was a much more doable proposition.  For most families, staying married was an economic necessity for survival. In our society, all but those in the most severe poverty live like the kings of olden days and their expectations for happiness are just as high – or higher. Expectations have always exceeded the reality of living, but in today’s world of instant communication and instant media the expectations can be brought to unrealistic levels in a lot more efficient manner. 

The fact is that the degree of changes due to puberty has little to nothing to do with sexual orientation. The fact is that every person has both male and female hormones to some degree and the production is determined by genetic factors. Proclivity towards homosexual orientation has a genetic basis and this basis varies widely. Historically the figure is between 1 and 2 percent with another 3% who are bisexual in nature, which – unlike the hardcore homosexual population – can be ‘converted’ to heterosexual behavior.  ‘Effeminate’ men and ‘butch’ women are not statistically more likely to be homosexually inclined.  Scientific studies have shown that homosexuality occurs in nature among animals not subject to ‘human temptations’ and that the incidence of homosexuality seems to have a positive correlation to food shortages.  Nature apparently uses homosexuality among animals as an aid to population control.  There are obscure scriptural passages that condemn homosexuality – along with scores of other behaviors including dietary, marital, business, social, grooming, and ritualistic habits. It should be noted that none of the leading critics of gay and lesbian rights has seriously embraced bans on many of the other practices mentioned in these scriptures.

While people are conditioned to associate sex and drugs as separate but related activities, the reality is that sexual attraction can act in the very same manner as drugs, and it can be addictive in nature.  Sexual attraction can be thrilling and exciting and give you a rush just as formidable as any strong stimulant such as cocaine or amphetamines.  You can get just as ‘high’ on ‘love’ as you can on any other drug and the impairments are similar to those of strong stimulants. The fact is that your sexual drive can wear you out physically and emotionally just as easily as any abuse of or addiction to stimulants, it can skew your priorities, affect your judgment, and reduce your sensitivity to pain inflicted upon yourself and others.  Furthermore, your sexual drives and attractions can and will be manipulated by others for personal and financial gain – at your emotional, physical, and financial detriment.  Abuse related to sexual relationships will be covered in more detail in the ‘Recreational Use’ section.

While the sexual drive is irresistible for most animals it is not an overwhelming biological urge with humans. It can be suppressed, sublimated, controlled and/or disciplined, or even shut down completely by force of will.  The usual reasons for a complete shutdown are varied:  a very strong commitment to a career or discipline, physical impairment preventing sexual activity, or a sexually dysfunctional marriage partner are among the most common reasons for such an extreme course of action.  Religious taboos on extramarital sex are never strong enough for a shutdown but can lead to suppression, sublimation and a limited amount of control or discipline. Invariably, religious taboos on extramarital sex end after the first marriage with the result being that undisciplined religious people – who pay lip service to ‘waiting until married before having full sexual relations’ - tend to marry at a younger age rather than spend the necessary time and patience to develop a strong, durable personal relationship to augment a strong, durable sexual relationship.  The point is that the biological drive pressures most people into seeking physical intimacy long before they are ready and committed to the emotional and personal intimacy that is needed to sustain and nurture a longstanding personal relationship.  Such relationships require patience and when instant gratification is used to sell all manner of products and services patience is all too often associated with ‘losers’.

22] What are the problems with conducting valid scientific research about illegal drugs – which would include a representative cross section of users?  Do you believe that ANY of the publicized studies about currently illegal drugs can stand up to minimal levels of scientific scrutiny?  Do you believe that the government should restrict use of anything that is deemed too harmful for the general population? Should these restrictions be based on scientific evidence and studies which can stand up to peer review?  Should they use the same standards our elected representatives [legisliars?] currently use for gun laws, environmental protection, drug prohibition, pornography, and other measures to ‘protect’ the public?