THOUGHTS: Substance of Choice...

MUSES ABOUT ADDICTION...
This morning drinking coffee with a friend, I listened carefully as this former smoker of weed, expressed his disdain for alcohol, beginning with the taste, the effect, and general atmosphere where people meet to drink. "It seems like when women drink, they just lose their self-control and act stupid! Dancing like they think they are the queens on the floor when in reality they stink. Not only that, between the 5 people in attendance of their little celebration at a sports bar, they went through 2 bottles of tequila, and 20 bottles of beer. I only drank 1/2 a beer, and gave my shot to the guy sitting next to me. I hate bars. They smell bad and people act like fools. Why do people worship alcohol? It's sloppy and messes people up."  Could it be that within the realm of addiction there are factions? Just like anything else, members of "teams' stick, as birds of a feather flock together. In a small way this line of conversation and thought confirms my suspicion that the root of addiction lies in the need to belong. 

Good question asked, although I bet some would ask the same thing about people who abuse drugs, pharmaceuticals, gamble or whatever. I looked for a book on substance choices. I found one book that is a comprehensive text about substance abuse, but it's $229. After yesterday's post about wolves and sheep, it made think that those people are wolves in shepherds clothing. I don't want to be too harsh. I know research and writing, in the publishing world is time and money. I suppose having a book like that would save the time it takes to go to college for four years to learn about the psychology of Substance Abuse. One would think so!

From the other side of addiction, I see a huge difference. Weed, meth, drugs, coke, all are ILLEGAL. Alcohol is not. I suppose on a sliding scale of mild to horrible, weed is on the mild side while meth is outrageously destructive. Funny thing, while alcohol is legal, the damage goes far beyond the one who drinks, even though physically there is no justification for abusing this choice of addiction.

Listening to my friend opened my eyes to the fact that different personalities need certain types of atmospheres and ways to soothe their weary souls. There are no formulas as to why. I just find it interesting that drug/pot users usually don't condone alcoholic use and visa-versa. Then you have the both sides of the fence people. They partake both, or have been busted with illegal stuff and switch to drink as a substitute. It's a conundrum to say the least!

There is one thing that links most addicts. Doesn’t’ it seem to you that nearly all addicts; recovering or not, SMOKE cigarettes? In my opinion, smokers have the deepest, meanest long-term addiction of all. So few break this habit, it's really shameful! I suppose a muse about cigarettes is on the horizon. For now, I just needed to write these thoughts down, in the journey of understanding addiction.

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