I am writing down the date. On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:11 PM, Scott Stroz <boyz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Larry Lyons<larrycly...@gmail.com> 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:300868 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
