So, I quit drinking

[nullnor]

...this is really all i know:

1) acid lasts much longer than mushrooms. it's like a 9 hour trip as opposed to a 6 hour one.
-9 hours are enough to make you forget you took it, and you might start thinking it's something else. lol
- if your genetically predisposed to schizophrenia, depending on usage, either one may or may not bring it out later.

2) marijuana is much better than alcohol. at least as far as brain and organ damage. it takes pot 20 years to do the same brain damage 2 years of booze of daily usage for either one.
-pot aalso can bring out schizophrenia if predisposed to it.
-i also think marijuana inhibits growth in the amygdala of the brain.

3) cocain can be evil drug. but the most important thing is to know whether somone has the right enzyme to break it down to stop your heart from beating. most do, but some don't. Len Bias of the Celtics in 1986 for example.

[Teenwolf]

And he was spending $6,000 a year on alcohol. If someone is spending over $100 a week on drinking, week in and week out, then it's reasonable to think that he may have a problem.

Maybe he can chime in, but it seems to me that he was indicating that there could be more than just weight or money issues involved with his decision to quit. I mean, he flat says he can't hit the off switch with regard to drinking. Now if that doesn't indicate a problem, I don't know what does.

Yeah, I did have a drinking problem, but it's not something that I was unaware of. I wanted to cut back on how much I drank when I went out, and found that I lack the self-control to do so. It's all relative. I have friends who top my 15 beer average when they go out. Or friends who drink every day, sometimes a few, sometimes a dozen. I had been talking about my excessive drinking for a while, and just decided to give an honest try at quitting.

The reasons are money, health (both weight loss/caloric intake and letting my liver repair itself), and feeling more in control of my life.

I have a few grams of mushrooms sitting 5 feet away from me right now, and no desire to take them right now. Also, when I do take them, I'm pretty conservative with them. I've never done more than 2 grams or so.

As much as I realized that I had a drinking problem that needed addressing, I also realize that I'm using small amounts of drugs as a crutch to deal with social situations. I don't see it as a problem right now, but I trust myself to be aware of it if it does become a problem.

[bryanbutler]

sorry i came late to the parade - not checking the forums as often as i should.

i can speak with quite a bit of personal experience on the topic, having used many of these substances quite heavily at times (though nothing but alcohol and a bit of pot since my first son was born almost 12 years ago now!). but the topic i wanted to address is the one that folks brought up about the danger of using shrooms to kick an alcohol addiction. there is actually a large body of literature dealing with how successful hallucinogens can be at that (although it is, admittedly, controversial). in the 1960's, before LSD became the demon that it did, it was researched heavily for just that use. i can dig out specific references if folks are interested, but the classic is Hoffer & Osmond 1967 (and, yes, i know Hoffer's history). i looked into the whole broad topic when i was using hallucinogens pretty regularly (and by that i mean every 2 to 4 weeks or so; a mix of LSD, shrooms, and peyote) in grad school. there are similar current studies, but they don't use hallucinogens, but rather more targeted drugs (like olanzapine and its family). so one should avoid a knee-jerk reaction that using drugs (or particularly hallucinogens) while stopping alchohol consumption is bad, IMHO...