Heh..Larry and I actually see eye to eye on quite a few things, its just we usually disagree on the more...errrr...emotional...topics.
On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 7:34 PM, Dana<[email protected]> wrote: > > I am writing down the date. > > On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:11 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Larry Lyons<[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> >>Actually, that is not what I said. >> >> >> >>What I said was that sometimes (though not nearly as often as some >> >>would have you believe) pot is the first step. Most (if not all) of >> >>the hardcore drug users I saw in my career in EMS started with pot. >> >>Now, as has been stated, this has more to do with the person than >> >>whatever dug they first started using, but it does not detract form >> >>the fact that pot can, for some, be the first step into hardcore >> >>drugs. >> >> >> >>Would they get into hardcore drugs if they did not start with pot? No >> >>one knows. We can speculate, but we do not know for sure. I will also >> >>state that I have known a lot of people who never went past pot (which >> >>gives weight to the 'its the person, not the drug' idea). >> >> >> > >> > While many addicts start on less "harmful" drugs, a very "mild" drug does >> not necessary lead to more harmful psychoactive drugs. Similarly there are >> those addicts that started on crack heroin etc., without any intervening >> steps. >> >> I think we both said the same thing. Though, most drug addicts I >> encountered in my previous career started with a 'mild' drug, but >> admittedly, this is a small sampling of 'drug addicts' >> >> > >> > In other words correlation != causation. >> >> Just like with guns. Owning a gun does not necessarily lead to killing >> someone. ;D >> >> > >> > It may also be that many users shop around for their buzz. I am willing >> to bet that those more hard core users you mentioned drank beer before they >> touched pot. Also I suspect that its not just one drug (ie crack, meth etc) >> they take regularly, but more than one. >> >> I would agree with that. >> > >> > To some extent I think that addiction is determined to a great extent by >> physiological factors. Then by environmental ones. If the person tends >> towardsfor addition (and pardon the very gross over-generalization here) >> they will become addicted to something. They may change from drug to drug >> until they find one that supplies their need best. In contrast there are >> also those who no matter the exposure to whatever, they will not become >> addicted. If you look at the uptake pathways in the brain, many addicts will >> show a lot more response in select areas of the brain than non addicts. The >> caveat here is that these studies used small samples etc. >> >> Again, I think we are saying the same thing. >> >> > >> > Environmental factors may determine in part the choice of drugs and >> degree of exposure/ Thay may determine the degree of resistance to >> addiction, such as competing behaviors, cognitive factors etc, but I don't >> think that they have as much of an impact as physiology in whether the >> person becomes addicted. >> >> Again, I agree. >> >> > >> > larry >> > >> > >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:300869 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
