• How young is "too young" for drugs?
    37 replies, posted
I know of some assholes who long story short allegedly gave a 13 year old girl coke and also let 12 year olds try it from what I heard, they didn't force it up her nose or anything but they gave her the opportunity too. personally, I think this is pretty fucking evil, but worse things have happened. I tried to do coke when I was 15 but an older friend who had had some bad experiences with it stopped me. I tried ecstacy and speed shortly after on my 16th birthday. anyway, the question i'm posing is this, how young is "too young" for drugs? and what drugs? although I don't recommend it, I don't think smoking green would have too much of an effect on someone in their early teens (12-13), but coke at the age of 13 seems pretty fucking over the top to me. (the first time I ever felt the effects of weed was when I was 11, at Wickerman festival. I was in an airtight reggae tent with maybe 200+ people, 2/3 of which were smoking/hitting the bong, so I got hotboxed. It wasn't intense or anything I just felt pretty funny. put me off weed till I was a bit older (14?)) am I being too judgmental? or does this seem like a fair opinion? I live in Scotland, it's pretty common to see people as young as 8 smoking weed and drinking and smoking tobacco, but it still annoys me every time I hear about it. edit: Oh yeah, I also knew a 16 year old girl whos father gave her mephedrone and actively encourages her to do hard drugs such as ecstacy etc.
it makes your brain cells overclock so never,the younger you are = brain growth/creativity + healthy choices by being smart due to 'muscled' brain gummy ganja vitamins!yummy!
Yeaaaa thats wayy to young for coke. Fucking pricks. Seriously. I did coke for my first time at 15 and i think thats young...Some green I wouldnt condemn nor condone (as i toked up my first time at 12) but Cocaine is a serious nononono. Cocaine is an addicting substance and giving that to such a young mind could do some serious damage. God damn people these days.
[QUOTE=xSikarius;40177679]Yeaaaa thats wayy to young for coke. Fucking pricks. Seriously. I did coke for my first time at 15 and i think thats young...Some green I wouldnt condemn nor condone but Cocaine is a serious nononono. I would never think about doing that in a million years.[/QUOTE] Yup. I actually had a few opportunities to do it at 13 and avoided the shit like the plague. my logic was basically "If I can get drunk on like 3 cans of lager if I drink them fast, what the fuck is this going to do me?" I guess everyone doesn't think like that. the time I was gonna do it was just before my 16th birthday, and it was 90% stuff apparently, but my friend was too afraid to do it so he begged the guy who had it at the party to not give me any. that was a really shitty party. I only went for the coke too. tried to a buy a gram of it once and my parents caught me too (?) so I ended up never doing it.
Too young would be an age at which the drug can have a substantial negative effect on development, to my mind at least. That varies by drug and although some are just permanently bad for you, I guess basically every drug opens up at 18-20-ish cause by then you can make your own choices and mistakes more reliably than younger ages. I don't really think kids under 12 or 13 should be doing any drug, mostly because they arn't so great at forming their own opinion and I doubt most kids search out drugs at that age, they are offered to them by someone older. Which created a very different situation compared to them asking themselves.
I would say wait until you are at least 17-18
Definitely 17-18. Even if something has a very low risk of causing harm, a lot of kids are just not mature enough to be responsible with their usage.
I would even proposition 18-20, looking back at myself at 17 I was an absolute idiot.
I just turned 15 and started smoking at 14 1/4. I know that I responsible enough to do drugs. I've only smoked and done 25i. I'm not at all interested in others. I always wondered if this was a bit too young. Thoughts?
you guys saying 17-18 have it wrong. responsibly that's probably it for women. give or take a year or two. for men it can go as far as 23 years of age. really it's when the body as a whole stops developing. exactly what drugs do what to stunt growth is not entirely known to well. there hasn't been enough testing of illicit substances anyway, and studies done with medications were probably not done with recreational doses. this of course is if you want to be extra careful. everyone's body chemistry is different, remember this as well. but then again starting at those ages isn't fun isn't it :p... you just have to gauge risk/gain. for me i definitely paid at least some of a price for my shenanigans as a kid. i couldn't give a number to be honest. [editline]6th April 2013[/editline] in good conscience
[QUOTE=RusSlayer;40179304]I just turned 15 and started smoking at 14 1/4. I know that I responsible enough to do drugs. I've only smoked and done 25i. I'm not at all interested in others. I always wondered if this was a bit too young. Thoughts?[/QUOTE] I'd say a bit too young. At least for 25i and the like.
It's right wnen it feels right
[QUOTE=Dougz;40179445]I'd say a bit too young. At least for 25i and the like.[/QUOTE] I thought that as well. However, I rarely smoke anymore, perhaps once or twice every 2 weeks.
[QUOTE=brianosaur;40179543]It's right wnen it feels right[/QUOTE] there's a slight chance around toddler age that i was dosed with vicodin to make me go to sleep during daycare. feltrite but was it rite?
I did 100ug+ LSD when I was 15, no regrets
[QUOTE=NeoSeeker;40179389]you guys saying 17-18 have it wrong. responsibly that's probably it for women. give or take a year or two. for men it can go as far as 23 years of age. really it's when the body as a whole stops developing. exactly what drugs do what to stunt growth is not entirely known to well. there hasn't been enough testing of illicit substances anyway, and studies done with medications were probably not done with recreational doses. this of course is if you want to be extra careful. everyone's body chemistry is different, remember this as well. but then again starting at those ages isn't fun isn't it :p... you just have to gauge risk/gain. for me i definitely paid at least some of a price for my shenanigans as a kid. i couldn't give a number to be honest. [editline]6th April 2013[/editline] in good conscience[/QUOTE] By the price you paid I assume you mean schizophrenia (considering you mention that a lot here)? This will not be conjured from nothing by solely doing drugs at a young age, surely you must have had a predisposition for it, in which case it doesn't matter if you start at 16 or 23 as the drugs are just as likely to trigger these disorders at any age. As far as OP's question goes I can not give a proper answer as there is none, it's a complex question and if you wish to completely eliminate the risk of drugs interfering with mental development then yes, 23-25 would be the best age to start. However drugs will most likely not have any changes on your development even if you start at 16-ish. I'm pretty the studies demonstrating correlation between cannabis use at an early age and permanent impairment (as opposed to temporary if you do it as an adult) of cognitive abilities showed that this only lasts until about 16 years of age. Of course it is individual to some degree but I would say 16 is a pretty safe age to start with only developmental issues in mind. 12-13 will most certainly cause permanent impairment though and is a stupid age to start anyway because you're so young and have the capability to easily enjoy life to the fullest, plus at that age you probably have little or no notion of what you're doing. But the more important aspect in my opinion is responsibility, self-control and maturity, something that increases with age. As a 15 year old for example it's harder to fully grasp the potential consequences of what you are doing, and many at that age are very irresponsible and simply put quite dumb. However there are plenty at the age of 15-16 who are far more responsible and intelligent than 18-20 year olds, so once again this is a highly individual matter. But to be safe my rule of thumb is to only touch psychedelics and/or weed if you're younger, and wait with addictive and potentially harmful substances (if you must try) until you are older, more experienced and won't fall into addiction as easily due to ignorance and immaturity when dealing with the drugs. My 2 cents.
i did coke when I was 14 and yeah its not a good idea, tried weed at the same age and i think thats ok, its just kids that go around all "yeah man weed" that annoy me.
Shulgin and others recommended until you're 25 to experiment with psychedelics because of increased risk of schizophrenia. I've made the decision that it's worth it to me, but not everyone should make that choice
just to add to mindtwistas thing, the brain is constantly changing, cognition/subtle structure changes/etc, in accordance to your environment. No matter when you start doing drugs, they will cause a change no matter what obviously for better and worse varying in degree. The younger you start the more vulnerable you are, yadda yadda thats already been established. I feel that using mental health as a clear cut age setting tool isnt too viable since there are sooo many factors based on the individual and restricted by humans limited knowledge of the brain. So what we are debating here is responsibility more than anything (which i guess is just as dependent on the individual and what not). In the end i think its better to gauge based on responsibility since its better for someone to be responsible and have mental illness predisposition than have someone who is mentally healthy yet irresponsible and ruin it all.
im not talking at all about my schizophrenia. i had a suspicion i had it ever since i was a kid. i really really didn't want to have it because the fact that my mind and senses would be nearly completely unreliable, and try to trick me scared the shit out of me. needless to say i exhibited symptoms of schizophrenia ever since i can remember. i'm talking about actual stunted growth and brain damage, which i most likely have at least a little bit of both. [editline]6th April 2013[/editline] also i don't mention my schizophrenia often at all. at least the way you put it it makes it sound like i go around like a wannabe assburger. yeah sure when i was actually exhibiting chronic symptoms i'd reference it a lot on here simply because it feels good to talk about the negative experiences. i would say i hardly ever reference it anymore, and i wouldn't like to either.
[QUOTE=RusSlayer;40179304]I just turned 15 and started smoking at 14 1/4. I know that I responsible enough to do drugs[/QUOTE] if you still count your age in 1/4 years, you are too young to do drugs
[QUOTE=NeoSeeker;40185690]im not talking at all about my schizophrenia. i had a suspicion i had it ever since i was a kid. i really really didn't want to have it because the fact that my mind and senses would be nearly completely unreliable, and try to trick me scared the shit out of me. needless to say i exhibited symptoms of schizophrenia ever since i can remember. i'm talking about actual stunted growth and brain damage, which i most likely have at least a little bit of both. [editline]6th April 2013[/editline] also i don't mention my schizophrenia often at all. at least the way you put it it makes it sound like i go around like a wannabe assburger. yeah sure when i was actually exhibiting chronic symptoms i'd reference it a lot on here simply because it feels good to talk about the negative experiences. i would say i hardly ever reference it anymore, and i wouldn't like to either.[/QUOTE] You mistake my meaning, I did not mean it in a negative way at all! Merely that you talk about it at times and it's a thing I associate with you (the broken guy, for better or worse), thus I figured you meant that when you said you paid a price. I have nothing against you talking out about your condition, in fact it quite fascinates me to hear first-hand reports of how it is to live with it. Though you do seem to have a habit of becoming rather aggressive and unreasonable at times when schizophrenia is mentioned in passing :p But out of curiosity, what kind of brain damage do you refer to?
Smoking dope before 18 fucks up your memory later in life. Don't do it kiddies!
[QUOTE=Caboose866;40188473]Smoking dope before 18 fucks up your memory later in life. Don't do it kiddies![/QUOTE] Oh really now, and your evidence and facts are what?
[QUOTE=Caboose866;40188473]Smoking dope before 18 fucks up your memory later in life. Don't do it kiddies![/QUOTE] I don't think anyone has ever proved that people under 18 who get blazed off some nice ganja once and a while have any memory problems. Sure, it CAN cause short term memory loss for the duration of the high, but it won't make you braindead. Ever.
[QUOTE=Mindtwistah;40186775]You mistake my meaning, I did not mean it in a negative way at all! Merely that you talk about it at times and it's a thing I associate with you (the broken guy, for better or worse), thus I figured you meant that when you said you paid a price. I have nothing against you talking out about your condition, in fact it quite fascinates me to hear first-hand reports of how it is to live with it. Though you do seem to have a habit of becoming rather aggressive and unreasonable at times when schizophrenia is mentioned in passing :p But out of curiosity, what kind of brain damage do you refer to?[/QUOTE] oh, alright. as you said it's a touchy subject sooo.. the damage i'm referring to is mainly memory and bodily growth during puberty. as for any other things like being slow or scatterbrained i cannot really gauge how much of it is simply what i was born with and how much of it was caused by binging. really there's a great deal, maybe even more than the memory and body stunting, that i might not know about because i don't know what's what inside of my head. the bright side though is that i'm incredibly self aware about these things, all of them, even if i may not know the cause. and you know what they say about an insane man who pleads that he is sane... better to know and accept what you are. then you're functional.
[QUOTE=matrixninja;40188922]I don't think anyone has ever proved that people under 18 who get blazed off some nice ganja once and a while have any memory problems. Sure, it CAN cause short term memory loss for the duration of the high, but it won't make you braindead. Ever.[/QUOTE] Yeah man just once won't fuck up your brain. Studies show that consistent use at a young age can affect short term memory later in life. This isn't a myth! I'm not gonna find any sources cause it's 1:25 and I'm tired and I aint no goddamn scientist. [editline]7th April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=kherbyne;40188650]Oh really now, and your evidence and facts are what?[/QUOTE] [Google]
I think occasional smoking (weed) from roughly 14/15 onwards is fine. I define Occasional as like, once a month down to once a fortnight. Moderate smoking, as in, once a week would be about 17/18, go nuts in your 20's. Psychedelic drugs i think should be at least 17. An age where one can probably gain from experience and not freak out. Although my opinion is worth squat on that matter because i haven't done any psy's, that just comes from what i've observed from underclassmen. Hard drugs i don't support in any way, but at least be out of the fucking house (18+). Ecstasy should be 15+, because kids that age might get dehydrated.
[QUOTE=Caboose866;40190956]Yeah man just once won't fuck up your brain. Studies show that consistent use at a young age can affect short term memory later in life. This isn't a myth! I'm not gonna find any sources cause it's 1:25 and I'm tired and I aint no goddamn scientist. [editline]7th April 2013[/editline] [Google][/QUOTE] He's right everyone, pretty sure stormcharger posted a study once that showed that it messed up a memory, just a bit, under 18, and more so the younger you are. Obviously you can roll with the punches if you really think you need to smoke prior to 18, or have already started and you won't be some brainless idiot once you reach adulthood, but you won't be very fast when it comes to memory. Of course this is a person by person deal, so everyone's different and won't witness the exact same effects. [editline]7th April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=The Aussie;40191336]I think occasional smoking (weed) from roughly 14/15 onwards is fine. I define Occasional as like, once a month down to once a fortnight. Moderate smoking, as in, once a week would be about 17/18, go nuts in your 20's. Psychedelic drugs i think should be at least 17. An age where one can probably gain from experience and not freak out. Although my opinion is worth squat on that matter because i haven't done any psy's, that just comes from what i've observed from underclassmen. Hard drugs i don't support in any way, but at least be out of the fucking house (18+). Ecstasy should be 15+, because kids that age might get dehydrated.[/QUOTE] Oh, excuse me, was there something wrong with "hard" drugs? What about alcohol?
i'd like to retract my previous statement and say 18 universally. some pot and maybe a little booze every now and again probably won't fuck you over noticeably if you do it before you turn 18 either. but even when you turn 18 it just means you can become a semi-regular user. it doesn't matter your age, heavy use does cause long term and permanent damage.
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