Why do people take drugs?

Not so much the prescription kind (although way too many people like taking- and talking about- their pretty little pills), but the heroin, coke, marijuana, etc.? I've never taken anything, and I don't understand when I read a story about oxycodone, meth, etc. What's the attraction?

• Pack mentality. Followers. Heteros.

• BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A BIG MAN, OK OP???

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• Alcohol is probably the most abused drug in the USA, op, and you don't even mention it. Prescription drugs are abused more than hard drugs, but they get a "public pass" because pharmaceutical companies are profiteering immoral scabs.

• Because it leads to a feeling of euphoria, relaxation, inhibition, and usually feeling pretty fucking awesome.

• R4 = meth queen who hasn't come down from his bender yet.

• I'm with ya, OP. Never understood why you want to risk your life with that shit.

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• Well besides offering at least momentary pleasure, illicit drugs also can offer intoxicating feelings of rebellion and nonconformity. In this sense, they got me through high school when I didn't feel like I could really fit in.

• Because life is miserable?

• OP, over the years I've come to the conclusion that most people who abuse drugs have a chemical imbalance in the first place. All these illegal drug users are trying to do is to feel the way "normal" people feel all the time -- mostly happy and content. I got clean and sober many years ago, but I was suffering from clinical depression and I didn't know it. I was miserable for 15 years before I started taking anti-depressants. Now I'm happy most of the time -- and when I'm sad, there's a reason. It's truly a wonderful life. And I don't think my experience is that unusual. I mean, I remember wanting to commit suicide back when I was 12 years old. Who wouldn't want to alter their mental state to relieve that pain?

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• Because they're fun! In moderation. E can be really great and its pretty safe but it's something to limit taking just a few times a year, if that.

• What R10 said. This idea that people who take drugs are somehow damaged is just nonsense. People who have drug problems do tend to have difficult histories, but lots of people use drugs recreationally in their teens and twenties and just grow out of it. In my friendship circle nearly everyone has at the very least smoked a bit of hash or taken a few E's and some have gone further that that, including myself. I spent every weekend for a few years clubbing and taking various substances. I never was off work on a Monday and functioned perfectly normally. I didn't take drugs because i was abused or had mental health problems or needed to escape from my life, I took drugs because i enjoyed them and i usually had a fucking great time. I don't take drugs now and neither do any of my friends as we just grew out of it. None of us appear to have been significantly effected by the experience. None of use needed to go through the 12 steps - we just grew up and moved on like the vast majority of people who use drugs.

• What an interesting question, OP. People take drugs to make people like you seem interesting.

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