Some years ago a younger Polish friend was looking for a book published in Poland in the 1980's (or maybe early 90's) on drug abuse.
Ostensibly a guide for parents concerned about possible drug use by their children, it was apparently also a very good how-to manual for the prospective drug user, giving instructions on the manufacture and consumption of a variety of drugs.
Some guy on dopalacze has died after severe burns when he was trying to climb on electric pole.
Ostensibly a guide for parents concerned about possible drug use by their children, it was apparently also a very good how-to manual for the prospective drug user, giving instructions on the manufacture and consumption of a variety of drugs.
Anytime somebody is hurting themselves, I tend to put into category of mental illness. It does not matter if it is a cause or result of drugs/alcohol abuse. The only other alternative is to treat them as criminals, and I don't think that is working very well here. I see many kids/young adults start up with some pills, before they know it they are addicted to opiates, and they cannot stop by themselves. All of them would be willing to go to rehab, but the citizens of this country think it is much cheaper to shuffle them in and out of jails..
well... this is perfect example how much Poland is unlawful country. Dopalacze are perfectly legal- they are not prohibited- and, yet, politicians have to show "how much they care about society"- so they are sending SANEPID and other services just to find hooks on them. but, well, those attention ****** will do anything.
Basically, you could be consuming/smoking ANYTHING.
I have couple of stories on that subject. When I was in HS, somebody started a rumour that you can get high from smoking dried banana peels. You just know, few had to try and report back. There are couple of lessons right there.
There are few naturally found substances that are very dangerous: there is bush in florida, with beautiful white bell flowers that will make you high. People die. Every once in a while somebody starts a campaign to make them illegal.
Have you heard the legend of a psychoactive toad? How about the hallucinogenic mushrooms? Do they have them in Poland? How are you going to control that? And is poppy still Poland's national flower? Like I said earlier, when you see somebody repeatedly hitting themselves with a hammer, the problem probably does not lie with the hammer.
There aren't too many psyllocybin mushroom in PL due to land use - it prefers flat, damp cool meadows to forest (there are plenty of dangerous fly agarics though) - and the poppies here are the wrong type for narcotic production. Opium poppies are illegal in PL (though not in UK, due to being too mild in summer to make growing them worthwhile), but Poland is ideal for wild marijuana, and it seems to be spreading. Poles have discovered Salvia Divinorum (check out szałwia wiesza on youtube) too, which can have quite dramatic effects and can be both unpleasant and disturbing in large quantities.
A few people in Poland have told me about a drug that homeless people sometimes make out of highly concentrated tea. Radoslaw Sikorski's wife, in her book about the Gulag system mentions it. I wonder if anyone knows anything about that?
Thanks. The point is, that if someone is searching for the escape, they will find it. How far they will go with it, depends on many different factors, all subjets of psychiatry. My theory, and this will sound cold, is that drug abuse is just another manifestation of theory of evolution. The weak are the victims. I tell my son that too.
In my experience, the most dangerous substance to teach your kids about is alcohol, because it is so socially acceptable here. My mantra on that is that if you have a drink everytime you have fun, sooner or later you will not be able to have fun without a drink.
I remember when I was at university back in the mid eighties, cannabis was very rare (at least in my circles) and other drugs were unknown, but consuming toxic amounts of alcohol was quite normal, and for a lot of 18 year olds, it's still a rite of passage. There was a university club, with a lot of members, whose joining requirement was to drink something like 20 pints of beer in one session. Sometimes I wonder if any of those people became alcoholic later in life.
I also remember young people inhaling various household solvents. They were available, cheap, strong and highly dangerous. In Saudi, where I spend a lot of time at the moment, young people can't conveniently get much alcohol, but hashish is everywhere and discreetly tolerated and those wanting a bigger kick sniff petrol.
You're right - if someone's searching for escape, they'll find it.
I remember when I was at university back in the mid eighties, cannabis was very rare
Strange. For me, that was exactly where you would get all manner of drugs - anything really. Outside of college, at that time, I wouldn't know where to go and I probably wouldn't have dared investigate either.
In fact, you were probably considered unusual if you didn't smoke, take mushies, the occasional line...etc etc
Plus as much alcohol as possible on top of it all.
While I'm not sure if "dopalacze" are indeed as dangerous as the media tend to portray it, I think that recent crack down on them is a good thing to do. Generally, govenment is trying to do something good and the thing they have choosen will not hamper the lives of ordinary pepole. One could wish that earlier "reforms" of previous govenments have strived to do something like that.
All in all, the PO's rule turned out not even half as bad as I expected. For now.
25 years ago we had magics growing on the boundary of our school's main cricket field. Come late summer we'd all be down on our hands and knees snuffling about like wild boar for acorns.
You could always rely on independent school teachers to have the street smarts of the average lemming, though.
"What are you doing down there, boy?" "O-Level biology project, Sir." "Jolly good, carry on..."
While I'm not sure if "dopalacze" are indeed as dangerous as the media tend to portray it, I think that recent crack down on them is a good thing to do.
The irony of it is that the substances which those shops sell are almost certainly more dangerous than the illegal substance which people would clearly prefer to take.
One example: you are statistically more likely to die as a result of taking a fishing trip than as a result of taking ecstasy (even if we include the chance of dying as a result of taking things sold as ecstasy which are not actually ecstasy).
404 of the 411 MPs present have voted to ban the production and sale of designer drugs (nootropuics). For once, the usually copy-cat Poles have opted for something innovative. Other countries are racking their brains trying a keep up with clever smart-drug makers able to alter their formulae just enough to stay legal. The Polish solution is based on the effects these products produce in human users, not their ingredients.
All the Harrys of this world as well as the drug trade's paid hitman, lobbies, media and PR flunkeys as well as their pricey lawyers, all backed by millions of euro, złotys or whatever, also use these sophistic arguments. They are only concerned about free trade being threatened and people's freedom of choice being in jeopardy. Nutmeg is a food product. Maybe hammers should be outlawed because they can be used as a murder weapon bla-bla-bla ad nauseam. Tell it to the parents of kids in intensive care or the morgue following a trendy designer-drug trip.
