Well done Toni Collette. When stoned, your show is fantastic. Haven’t watched it straight yet though.

I can’t wait for season 3 of Breaking Bad. If you’re not familiar with the show, see synopsis here. I love the show. It’s depressing, disturbing, fast moving with the glimmer of happy and fun amongst it all.

Unhappy Mother with Addicted Daughter

I saw a comment  from a mother who was disgusted by the show which according to her, sensationalized methamphetamine and she could not believe it was considered entertainment.  Sadly, her daughter was struggling with addiction at the time of her comment.

Sensationalizing Methamphetamine?

I’m not sure if she had seen much of the series but I didn’t find that Breaking Bad made me want to try Meth in the slightest. If anything, quite the opposite. You’ll see in my description above that one of the words I used to describe the series is “disturbing”. Disturbing in a way that made me cringe at the consistent theme of the series – Methamphetamine.

The trade, the use, the consequences of the drug are not depicted as positive or cool in breaking bad and I’ll continue to enjoy watching the train wreck that it is Breaking Bad. I’m addicted.

From me Breaking Bad gets a

8/10

Have you ever taken drugs when camping? It’s a blast. I have had ecstasy and weed both when camping and it’s a very fun experience.  Here are some tips and suggestions on what to do.

Before you go

Prepare your trip like you would any other camping trip with all the essentials e.g. first aid kit

Add some entertaining things to the mix – glowsticks, light gadgets\toys etc, fireworks glasses

Munchies are extremely important. Have chips, chocolates, lollies, whatever you want ready to go.

Be Careful

Nature can be unforgiving. If you are high, be wary of your environment. Not paranoid, you still want to enjoy it. But be sure not to take unnecessary risks while your coordination skills and senses are altered.

At night time, I would suggest not running in the dark. Tree branches, rocks, snakes and cliffs may await you.

Before You Get High

Have everything you would need while high ready and available

• Plenty of water, especially for ecstasy
• Munchies on standby for weed
• Bags ready to place rubbish in

While You Are High

• If you’re not too high and have little to unpack, setting up your tent while a bit stoned can be a funny experience
• Walking in nature when high is one of the nicest experiences, by yourself, or with a friend. Take extra care if you’re by yourself. I don’t think getting lost or hurt while your high would be that much fun.
• Sit down in a nice scenic spot over looking a valley or amongst great big trees and vegetation
• Take a swim somewhere safe
• Is the weather hot? Crack open a nice cold beer or refreshing fruit drink
• DO NOT run in complete darkness
• Enjoy a fire, dance around it
• If there is sufficient clearing, try and run towards an object such as a tree after being rapidly spun 10-20 times

Annoying Statement

Recently I was at an event where most were participating in recreational drugs. Everyone in my group, except for a friend of a friend who found it neccessary to announce frequently “I don’t need drugs, I mean, look at me, I’m already full of energy and hyperactive”.

Response

So I turned to her and I told her the following, quoted as well as I can remember.

“If you think we take drugs to be anything like you, you are seriously mistaken. We are taking recreational drugs today, not on a daily basis. In our everyday lives we are functional, energetic and successful individuals and the reasons we take drugs on occasion are to explore areas of the mind and to have physical, mental and spiritual experiences that just are not possible without chemical intervention. But you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. You haven’t been there and you don’t even seem to have the scope of mind to consider what I am saying. All I know is, your comments are completely irrelevant.”

No response.

Snap.

I’ve previously mentioned about the fragile balance between drugs and friends and most recently I’m facing the issue of a friend who seems to be asking for drugs more regularly then is polite.

How To Tell If Your Friend Is A Weed Scab

The following are the points which have bought me to the conclusion that my friend is a weed scab. Perhaps it can help you to be establish if YOUR friend is a weed scab too

• I tend to make a point to never ask for drugs unless it is for a special occasion. This person has become too comfortable asking for a little bud.
• This person seems to do it when they’re having a bad day. I don’t think this is the right reason to smoke weed
• They don’t take much care with the amount that they smoke and the weed is smoked quickly. Especially if it is some one elses weed you are smoking, you should make it last. Respect the weed. Respect your friend.
• They’re doesn’t seem to be much a moment in the year where I receive weed from this person.

I don’t want money, I don’t want favors and being an awesome friend doesn’t make me feel better. If you’re a really good friend – yah don’t scab!

What Do I Do About My Weed Scabbing Friend?

I’m not sure, I’ve always been good at establishing ground rules and expectations amongst my friends, I’ve never been in much a position where I’ve had to stand back and say, hey, you need to stop asking me for weed.

But I’ve got a new, less subtle, easier game plan with this person.

Just say no.

Weed scabbing friend: “Do you have a little bud?”

Me: “Sorry man. No can do.”

Unlike the U.S. Australia has not opened up the gates for Marijuana to be used for medical purposes. HOWEVER, this isn’t to say that medical and scientific professionals in countries such as Australia where it is still illegal, do not see the benefits of Marijuana.

Medical Conditions Treated By Marijuana

Studies have taken place to support the potential of Marijuana to treat and manage various medical conditions and/or their symptoms. Some of these conditions are:

• Lung cancer
• Pain
• Depression
• Brain Cancer
• Anxiety
• Breast cancer
• HIV

Doctors Recommending Marijuana in Australia

There are doctors in Australia who are suggesting patients consider Medical Marijuana, though obviously they cannot sign off on it. I’m aware of 2 cases where a doctor has recommended to people I am connected to as Marijuana for medicinal purposes.

My friends father who has cancer is one such case.  His doctor bought up the idea of marijuana as a means of helping him to deal with the pain.  Studies have shown that Marijuana may also inhibit the growth and spread of cancer.

In TODAY’S NEWS , there are reports of a new drug DOI surfacing in Adelaide.  It’s certainly not the fact it has surfaced in Adelaide that has me surprised, but I’ve never heard of this DOI before.

Scary Sounding Drug

The chemcial name for DOI is 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine. That doesn’t sounds so scary.

If the news reports are accurate and DOI is more intense then LSD and lasts for 3 days, then THAT sounds  scary and exhausting to me.  Having had decent dosages of potent LSD I may even be able to understand the intensity of the trip, BUT, I struggle to get my head around tripping as hard on an intense LSD trip for THREE days. This really is ridiculous. Even the period of time that LSD has lasted for me in the passed has been a little on the exhausting side. I’ll be interested to hear more about this hallucinogen, other peoples experiences and whether it gathers some popularity

Have a great weekend, don’t take DOI if you have to work on Monday.

Drugs Today and Gen Y

The rampant drug use amongst Generation Y and the normality of it all (speaking of this in earlier posts) is obvious. But I think the focus on recreational drug use amongst Gen Y is so highly exposed, that the social changes that have been bought about about by Generation X go relatively unoticed. I think there are a few reasons for this.

Generation X & The Change In Drug Culture

Though recreational drug usage amongst teens may have been less mainstream and widespread in the 70’s to 90’s, drugs were still common, present in the media  and heavily experimented with. They were taboo (as they still are to an extent) and as Gen X teenagers turned into adults, drugs and the stigma attached to them loosened.

As a guy who is myself in my 30’s, recerational drug use amongst my generation does appear to be quite loose and less hormonally driven in nature. Though Generation X is still happy to include recreational drugs in celebrations, concerts and parties, marijuana in particular has become a fairly acceptable drug in a range of more casual social situations such as BBQs or other house gatherings.

 TAC advertisement

Recently when the new Austrlian TAC (Transport Accident Corporation) anti-drug and driving advertisement was launched, there was a scene of middle aged adults at a casual afternoon gathering involved in the passing of a marijuana joint.  I didn’t think too much of this until I read a youtube comment

“”xxindeedxx
middle aged family men do not smoke dope?”"

But they do! And the depiction of adults sharing this joint at a gathering was not unrealistic. This isn’t to say that all middle aged adults are comfortable and happy to partake in a joint at a BBQ, I’m not saying this, but I do thinkit is not all that uncommon amongst middle aged adults, even those with families.  Drug use by middle aged persons is less likely to be of a nature that invites attention or public exposure.

Baby Boomers, Your Parents & Drugs

When generation X teenagers were tucked away in bed, were their parents quietly sharing a joint with the family friends? Perhaps not as many.

The Normality of Bongs

Last night I watched parts of the new Channel 7 series, “Word’s Strictest Parents”, Australia’s version of sending our nastiest teens to other parts of the world. The show was funny and pointless but what caught my attention was

• The way substance abuse amongst teens was casually discussed
• The casual imagery of the humble bong during these discussions

I’m Getting Old

I consider myself a relatively balanced person when it comes to being liberal and open minded about things such as drugs, this is obvious by this blog and some of my posts.

But I’m still a conservative in some ways and hold firm views relating to the misuse of drugs and the maturity required to manage their use. For example, I dont’ see the use of drugs during the teenage years as preferable and I’m starting to understand more and more just how rampant and “normal” this has become.

Seeing the way the bong was depicted on this show really helped to drive it home.
Just check out some of the classic quotes in this article about the show in the Daily Telegraph

I’m with a group of friends, we’ve planned to take ecstasy for a special occassion and everyone has popped their pill. Let’s just say we are at a gig of some sort, watching a band. Once the pill has been popped, why is it that people often go into this sort of hibernation mode, waiting for the pill to do its thing. It’s such a phenomenom, you can sometimes spot people who have taken a pill and are not high.

Pills Can Take A while To Kick In

I’ve been around people who have become impatient after just 10 minutes within taking a pil. This is ridiculous. Pills can take up to an hour to kick in and there sure as not going to do their thing if you spend your time miserably waiting for them show you a good time.

What If They Hadn’t Popped A Pill?

Some people would probably be having a much better time if there was never any pill to begin with. Getting more into the music, maybe drinking some alcohol, speaking to their friends like normal people rather then standing around waiting to be high. So until the pill kicks in (if at all), just enjoy yourself!

Sometimes The Drug Is A Party Pooper

When the anticipation of a drug high (such as that from ecstasy) is not met, the dissappointment of this can really ruin a good time.

• Not just for the people who are experiencing the dissappointment
• But for those who are around them

The Best thing to do when drugs haven’t kicked in:

• Don’t dwell too much on your empathy for anyone who hasn’t reached their expected high. It’s not good for your own state of ecstasy and it won’t help them to bring on their high. If anything, still give them a periodic moment to say hello, scream, wave or smile and continue to enjoy the time you are having whether you are high or not
• Tell people to pretend they haven’t taken drugs and let it kick in without thinking about it. Pills work best when you’re already having a good time and you suddenly realise that you’re high, but you have no idea how long for.
• I know it can sometimes be difficult to do when you’re expecting a great night on ecstasy, but it should be your secondary pleasure source, your primary pleasure source should be the event itself.