Purple pill

[marykmusic]

On another (rather volatile) thread, came this wonderful insight from AnnaLivia: <!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>This may sound counter-intuitive coming from someone who warns against extremes, but there’s a red pill, folks, and there’s a blue pill. If you want a purple one so you can stay in the middle and escape making the important discernments, big pharma is happy to provide.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Shall we talk about Big Pharma? How about some leading suggestions:<br><br>1) The proverbial Purple Pill does, indeed, keep the highs and lows from being expressed. This can be a relief to someone whose extremes are depression to the point of suicide, and manic (like my ex-mother-in-law) as in shopping until all the money is gone (hers, her mother's, and all her credit cards.) So she relies on pills. BUT (and this, to me, is a big one)-- in avoiding sadness, she is also never happy.<br><br>2) The fastest-growing group that is being prescribed mind-altering pharmaceuticals is the under-5-year-olds.<br><br>3) "If you put your boy on Ritalin, he will become a better student." This was the school nurse who took it upon herself to visit my house to discuss my youngest boy, then in first grade. That particular district has a huge proportion of students on psychotropics, something like 30%.<br><br>4) Because of potential lawsuits, Big Pharma goes all-out to protect themselves against the many cases of children and adults committing suicide and/or turning violent while on these drugs. There are studies and grants and FACTS and NUMBERS and so on...<br><br>Anyone? --MaryK <p></p><i></i>

[anonymous]

One pill makes you larger<br>And one pill makes you small<br>And the ones that mother gives you<br>Don't do anything at all<br>Go ask Alice<br>When she's ten feet tall<br><br>And if you go chasing rabbits<br>And you know you're going to fall<br>Tell'em a hookah smoking caterpillar<br>Has given you the call<br>Call Alice<br>When she was just small<br><br>When men on the chessboard<br>get up and tell you where to go<br>And you've just had some kind of mushroom<br>And your mind is moving low<br>Go ask Alice<br>I think she'll know<br><br>When logic and proportion<br>Have fallen softly dead<br>And the White Knight is talking backwards<br>And the Red Queen's off with her head<br>Remember what the doormouse said:<br>"Feed your Head<br>Feed your Head!" -- "White Rabbit" Jefferson Airplane <p></p><i></i>

[Avalon]

The one generally known as the Purple Pill is actually for acid reflux.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.purplepill.com/">www.purplepill.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[dbeach]

'ya know they got pills for all your chills and spills and thrills but I Think its just a lil too late..' Jimi H.<br><br>illegal /legal drugs and how to steal a nation..<br>the elites have just figured out that many of us take vitamins and herbal supplemenst so NOW alternate medicine is gonna get regulated with codex and Cafta<br><br>stock up cuz the game plan remains the same reduce the population by whatever means necessary.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

I believe in adult free choice for access to drugs, as a matter of principle.<br><br>I abhor mandatory drugging of children. <br><br>I abhor the advertising of pharmaceutical drugs on the televison set. It's patently absurd (get it?) to seriously contend that it's possible to get responsible drug education from a television advertisement. And "ask your doctor for this med by brand name" ads are so irresponsible that they should probably best be banned, like liquor ads. <br><br>I abhor the practice of drug companies rewarding doctors on the basis of the volume of brand-name medications they prescribe; or for offering material rewards and honorariums in return for endorsements of pharmaceutical drugs. <br><br>I'm wary of the use of psychotropic drugs on developing nervous systems- even coffee and pot, which appear to me to be a good deal less profound in their effects than the stimulants, tricyclics, quadcyclics, and serotonergic antidepressants commonly prescribed to children and adolescents at the drop of a hat, these days. <br><br>I abhor having free choice restricted so that cannabis is not available as an option to lower blood pressure, an aid to digestion, to cure erectile dysfunction, as an appetitie stimulant, as an antidepressant, or any of the other multitude of other medical uses that it typically performs with fewer toxic physical effects than pharamceutical drugs.<br><br>I support the loosening of prescription restrictions for various mild to moderate opiate preparations, particularly for those in chronic pain, and the elderly.<br><br>I support research into the use of opiates for their value as antipsychotic drugs. Consider the principal drawbacks of "antipsychotics"- they have such horrible side effects that it's difficult to get schizophrenics to keep taking them. What's up with that? I know how to encourage those folks to keep taking their anti-anxiety meds...seriously, would someone kindly critique this Modest Proposal of mine? <br><br>I support having a much wider array of pharmaceutical drugs available OTC in the USA, just as they have been for decades in other countries like India and Mexico, with negligible social costs or public health impact (provided that they're not counterfeit.) Why not? <br><br>I'm wary of using any drug prescribed for daily use in a way that produces habitual dependency, whether it be antidepressants, tranquilzers, sleep aids, blood pressure medications, stimulants, or many of the array of medications piled one on top of the other and given to the elderly. I contend that cannabis is less toxic and less habit-forming than any of the pharmaceutical drugs that I've named. <br><br>I think it's ridiculous to consider one class of habit-forming drugs "addictive" and the other as simply "perilous to ever stop taking", simply because the "addictive" ones tend to make people feel euphoric and the others don't. <br><br>If I'm lying immobile in a bed as a debilitated elderly senior citizen, I'd rather spend that time dreaming out on opium or morphine than simply wait out my days in a state of officially enforced "sobriety." At present, I have no use for opiates. But once I'm permanently bedridden and senescent, what possible difference could it make, to myself or anyone else, if I'm floating in the arms of Morpheus? Just add it to my daily drug cocktail- the one that I can't do without anyway...I'll be a nicer person to be around...all the time in the world to put the headphones on, and treat myself to a music appreciation course....Actually, I'll probably prefer hashish. Considering that I'll be suffering from it's principal negative side effects- lethargy and torpor- anyway...where's the downside? <br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 10/6/05 12:46 am<br></i>

[nomo]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr> I contend that cannabis is less toxic and less habit-forming than any of the pharmaceutical drugs that I've named.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>You're a pothead.<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rolleyes --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=nomo@rigorousintuition>nomo</A> at: 10/6/05 12:47 am<br></i>

[robertdreed]

I used to be one. <br><br>It got to be a little too much like pre-hibernation somnambulism. But as drug habits go, you could do a lot worse. A lot worse. <br><br>It really helped my ear for music, which was originally quite tin. But after year in and year out of being high on pot, eventually I no longer needed the dope bone to be connected to the music bone. <br><br>But music still sounds better high on weed. The notes last longer. <br><br>Never had any problem if I ran out, either. Cannabis is less habit-forming than coffee. A lot less. <br><br>Life without coffee is an extremely unsalted existence, for me. In fact, it's a good thing that coffee is as non-toxic as it is. It's also a good thing that it's legal.<br><br>Somwhere out there in an alternate universe, coffee is illegal, and coffee fiends are persecuted pariahs. And there are all sorts of myths about coffee and sexual potency, and coffee and aggression, and coffee and hyperverbality, and coffee and artistic output. <br><br>It's the real cocaine. <br><br>But on this planet, because it doesn't have that illegal cachet, no one realizes it. <br><br>Except for the Javacrucians. <br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 10/24/05 9:12 pm<br></i>

[ewit]

Coffee and dope! Now that's a drug plan I can support!<br>I've always wondered about the fact that pot has been labelled as such a bad, bad substance in our society. Medical marijuana use can only be a good thing - bringing relief for many conditions, including HIV/AIDS, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, pain management, nausea resulting from chemotherapy, etc.etc. <br>Our gov, here in Canada, has tinkered with the idea of medical marijuana. It may not be working very well, but, at least it's a start to recognize the many uses of the substance. <br>Yes - music is much better when heard while high!<br> <p>ewit :)<br><br><br></p><i></i>

[professorpan]

The other problem with the WOSD (War on Some Drugs) is the illegalization of psychedelics or entheogens, which can be very healing and useful in the exploration of consciousness.<br><br>In particular, MDMA (Ecstasy) should be available to the healing professions. Used wisely, it can open up repressed emotions and can enable healing of all types of psychic wounds, as well as enable honest, loving communication.<br><br>Thankfully, there has been progress, albeit slow progress, in gaining acceptance of MDMA by the medical community (see maps.org). <br><br>The WOSD is a failed war, and, like all wars, there is far too much collateral damage. <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

I just thought that I'd bring this thread up to provide evidence for my contention that ezboard search SUCKS. <br><br>Even after I jumped through all their hoops, I still couldn't even get them to pull this post up from a search of my posts containing the terms "robertdreed" and "drugs"/"pharmaceutical"/"drug". A one-term search, with my user name attached. <p></p><i></i>

[wintler]

'here here!' on the scathing criticism of drugging children, how people can justify it to themselves i will never understand.<br>If kid was continuously violent, maybe, for a few days/weeks, until a better intervention was available, otherwise, its just adults forcing kids into crippling boxes for their convenience (a.k.a. compulsory crappy education or full time 'child care'). <br>Sorry, but if your jobs require you to institutionalise your kid/s >30hrs a week, any resulting 'behavioural problems' (usual trigger for drugging) are a flashing signal to CHANGE YOUR PRIORITIES, not to drug your kid/s. Poverty is better than abandonment any day.<br><br>But its so common too. I have real probs not offending other parents i encounter who are drugging their kids, i just want to scream at them. <p></p><i></i>

[heyjt]

Johnny's in the basement cookin' up the medicine<br> I'm on the pavement thinkin' bout the Government...<br> - our old friend Bob <p></p><i></i>

[periwinkle]

I've done them all,<br><br>Literally, and I make no bones about others and their methods until it becomes antisocial to the point of being pathological. Pot opens the mind a wee bit, LSD, MDMA mushrooms and mescaline show you where the mind can go, coffee,coke, speed gives energy to stay up and explore the niteside of life speed is overkill, heroin relieves stress and anxiety so that intense emotions can be examined or ignored (hopefully examined). Angel Dust has no redeeming qualities and is a curse sent from deep hell.<br><br>Antidepressants are similar to heroin, relieving you from anger and sadness so that you can confront the obstacles in your life and move on. Once that a drug has done its work, time to let the drug go. If you stay with one for a really long time and can't let go you are missing something from your life. None of these seem to satisfy me in a complete way, and the more pharmaceutical, the more dangerous.<br><br>If you find that you can't let go, find out why you do it, and replace it with something else at first. Don't bother quitting if you can't face life without it. It will never work until you reslove the circumstance that drives you to it. Also there is no such thing as genetic predisposition to addiction/depression. That is an invention of the Big Pharma's and Big Psych's They cooperate to create demand for each others product. Look for physical reproduceable evidence of any mental disease before you let them convince you that there is a pill that will fix it. In any case don't forget to have fun no matter what your choice<br><br>thats how I see it<br><br>periwinkle <p></p><i></i>

[Inanna]

I believe there is a genetic disposition to addiction and depression and have been diagnosed with such. I remember the onset at the age of nine and I've been dealing with both issues my entire life. The drugs do help me, although I don't like being on them. <br><br>I've seen spects that do show abnormalities of levels of neurotransmitters in both the depressed and those who've done substances. My Dr. told me it takes the brain a minimum of six months to start healing and depending on the substance, up to ten years. In some cases, the brain never becomes normal again.<br><br>I am struggling with my own adjustments to the meds right now. I am for the purple pill, as it's the only way I can function in this crazy world. OTOH, one has to be really careful with these drugs. I had my first hallucination the other day which was quite unnerving. My Dr's solution was to remove one pill and double the dose of another.<br><br>I have been trying not to think about politics so much lately and have pretty much concluded I can't change anything, so why think about it? <br><br>I respect anyone's wish to ponder on things, but for me it affects my mental health in a very negative way. <br><br>I'm only chiming in here as I'd like to see both addiction and depression legitimized. As long as there is a stigma around either one, people cannot get the help they need. If I have to take the drugs to function the rest of my life, so be it, although I would really prefer not to. <p></p><i></i>

[Inanna]

I respect anyone's right to do whatever drugs they want to, for any reason. Here is a brain spect of what happens to your brain. I don't share this to tell anyone what to do or not do, rather seeing what certain substances do makes me think twice. It's a great site and you can look at brain spects of many different conditions.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.amenclinic.com/bp/atlas/ch15.php">www.amenclinic.com/bp/atlas/ch15.php</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>