Ding ding, round 2? 
Rum and Coke please. Easy on the Rum.
I like it nice and sugary.
Ooh you little tease LM 
Gibā¦ are you looking to quit stimulants/intoxicants all together, or just giving your body and mind a break?
Well, the whole point of this exercise is to see whether I want to quit all drugs/alcohol, or maybe just certain drugs. I need to take these occasional breaks to see how I feelāphysically and emotionally. I thought I could do this just onceāabstain from all substances, that isāand that for the second round (this one) Iād try a different combo: maybe allow for caffeine but nothing else. But the last experiment was too topsy-turvy, too many other variables going on in my life to draw any obvious conclusionsāso Iām doing the same thing again.
Donāt say I didnāt warn you, says the guinea pig to gib. 
Just a question, gib, since I know little of psychology/physiology, et cetera. What would you think, ethically speaking, of a study in which what you are doing to yourself, was being done to ~~ say ~~ a dog or a cat or a sheep - any animal?
I just donāt get it.
Who, more than anyone else in the world, would you like to set an example for?
Would this example be simply short term, long term, based on if I can do it, if I want to do it?
I donāt think that youāre the ONLY one in the equation which is your life, are you?
Iām not sure I get your question.
The experiment is to see how I feel off the drugs. Would it be ethical to conduct such an experiment on animals? ā Thatās the part I donāt get. Are we assuming the animals are already addicted? If so, itās probably ethical if it means showing the animals a healthier, happier lifestyle.
That is the point of the experimentāto see if life is better without the drugs. And if I can prove that to myself, I have more justification for quitting for good.
gib
I think I will PM my response to you here, gib. You and I are coming from 2 different perceptions and realities. I kind of think that I would like this to remain private since my point of view is too different from yours and I suppose others. Youāll hear from me soon.
Gib, Iāve been doing extra drugs and alcohol to make up for you not doing any. Youāre killing me man. You gotta get off that wagon to nowhere and rejoin the living.
He probably went to AA and found God.
They donāt do God. Just a higher power.
I donāt know.
I went to an AA once trying to get laid with an alcoholic chick.
It was always God this and God that.
I was just like, can I buy you a twenty four pack and take you home with me?
The great thing about alcoholic chicks is that they donāt remember anything in the morning.
Report em. Itās supposed to be non religious.
Nah, Iām no snitch.
Oh, Iāll rejoin. Iāll come back with results.
Oh, God, Iād never be caught dead going to an AA meeting. If anybodyās gonna find God, it would be through acid or some such.
Thatās great GIB.
For a moment me and Reasonable were worried that the zombies got to you.
I havenāt had drugs and alcohol in years, and Iām quite enjoying actually. My goal is to remain perfectly clean and sober for the rest of my life.
Good for you, Antithesis.
Tell me, what do you think was the main motive for taking the drugs and alcohol? Was it to drown some kind of depression or pain, or was it for a buzz to get rid of boredom?
Thanks.
I was in my late teens and early 20s when I took drugs, mostly marijuana.
My motivation was experimentation, and exploration of my of consciousness.
Shits and giggles too, I was a very social drug user.
Never got psychologically or physically addicted to them.
Donāt have much of addictive personality, when it comes to these sorts of things.
As for alcohol, I guess I drank it because it numbed me, made me care even less about my life than I already did at the time.
I was also very much a binge/social drinker.
I would go out with friends or relatives and have a laugh.
Iāve been sober for several years now.
I got sober mostly for health reasons, but also because I was tired of falling all over the place, injuring and making an ass of myself.
Iām not entirely against drug and alcohol use, I think thereās a time and place for it in peoples lives, but it had run itās course for me, and I canāt see myself getting back into them anytime soon, Iām just not in that space anymore.
However, part of me would like to try DMT or Ayahuasca one day.
I tried 5-meo-dmt a few times. Thereās several different types of DMT and this one was nothing specialā¦ which makes me wonder whether itās the type everyone raves about (with the astral projection trips and such). Youāve got to be one brave mother fucker to try Ayahuasca. I tried it at a mild dose one time and prematurely (i.e. on purpose) purged, partly because I couldnāt stand the nausea and partly because I made a last minute decision that I wasnāt ready.