new thread
For those of you who do not know..straightedge is the abstinence of
alcohol, smoking, and narcotics. I have been straightedge for the
past 6 months and I am very glad, and proud of myself..I was just
wondering if Longhair and being edge was interrelated. I know your
hair will benefit from the lack of alcohol, smoking, and drugs and
as will your health so I'm under the assumption that there are
quite a few of you here. If yes, how long have you been without the
use of tobacco, alcohol and narcotics?
-animosity
That's cool that you've been able to that. However, alcohol in moderate quantities would not be bad for one's hair. Marijuana smoke has not been proven to be detrimental to hair. If anything, it's been linked to increased female hormones so it might even help hair growth.
I agree 100% about tobacco though.
I don't drink, mainly because all the alcoholic beverages I've ever had have made me gag or otherwise just plain tasted bad. I don't smoke cigarettes for obvious health reasons.
However, I don't think a little grass here and there ever hurt anyone. I don't believe in the history of medicine cannabis has ever been directly linked to emphysema. Sure, some pot-smokers have died of lung cancer, but if you check their records they were usually also heavy tobacco smokers.
As with anything, you gotta know your limit. I applaud you for being a "straightedge", but I still maintain that certain psychoactive substances (such as cannabis or psilocybin mushrooms) aren't detrimental to your health in the way that engineered things are, such as methamphetamine. Nor are they as high-risk for dependency. I have never heard of a dimethyltryptamine addict, for example.
Just food for thought.
Im Straightedge, but not because I'm against any of these things (except for smoking) on moral or health grounds, I simply have a high tolerance for alcohol and never found a Drug that was worth the money/damage to your mind--Weed is fine, fairly cheap and doesn't really hurt you mentally but I have almost no money and its just not all that great, so I dont bother anymore.
Does it count when I'm an unvoluntary straightedge? :o))
Usage of drugs (even these harmless ones, like hallucinogens or cannabis) is always quite risky, because of exposion to outer influences without a protective shield of normal consciousness. Also, I have heard terrible things about persistent damage on the soft-mattered bodies, but I don't have it confirmed from an independent source.
I smoked cannabis for about a half year and I seem relatively intelligent and nice person. There's a major rule - you must not use drugs for a purpose of entertainment, its the sacred and holy stuff!!!!
I am now. I didn't used to be, as cigarettes were my friend last summer, and let's just say that I've had more than a few experiences with alcohol. Drugs have never come near me and never will, as I've seen family members and their struggles with them. Overall, I feel much better health-wise and my hair does seem healthier. =)
-James
Not to be rude, and I'm saying this as a friend, but if you have had cigarettes and so on, you're technically not a full straightedge. But at least you havn't used drugs.
I'm not a straightedge, but I hardly drink, only on occations like New Years Eve.
- Chris PhoeniX -
never used any of those and I have no intention of starting
been "straightedge" all my life, but when i turn 21 im sure ill be drinking a bit here and there. i guess ive always prided myself in being different than most people who seem to go to extreme in everything, kinda want to give a better image to longhairs than the stereotypes of drunk or high. not that i care if you like to get drunk or high :)
I've never smoked in my life and have no interest in drugs. Although I don't drink during the week, I DO enjoy a beer with my foursome after a round of golf, and a glass of red wine with my weekend meals.
David
I'm with you all the way there David, red wine with a meal is great and the health benefits are there too.
so thats all I have done, I don't even drink, just smoke pot occasionally, why, b/c it helps he relax and feel better about myself, and actually is quite harmless.
I hardly drink, don't smoke pot...but I do smoke about a pack of cigarettes a week.
I don't find that it damages my hair all the much though, as a rule I don't think smokers do have bad hair, tobacco just affects other areas more than hair.
alcohol and narcotics?
I occasionally smoke. I smoked in my teens/early 20's, then quit. A few years ago started again when I got back into the music scene. It's frigging hard to just have a beer WITHOUT a smoke. Nowadays with a lot of states banning smoking in public establishments I think it actually helps, or could help, people quit. I don't mind the law, especially when I'm playing onstage. Back on-topic... I drink occasionally. Have tried pot a few times, never anything "harder". No thanks. I'm whacked enough without that sh*t! :-D
--
Splat
I only drink socially and in general the attitude of most straight edge people really annoys me and I've always hated the music that inspired it. I try not to judge them all the same but I always find it strange that people make a big deal out of not doing drugs and alcohol.
There is music that imspired it? I always stayed away from
Narcotics after hearing about stuff like LSD in the 60s.
So I avoided it like the plague. After college I stayed away
from alchohol, having done enough of it to last a lifetime.
The reason why I make it a big deal is that in this day and age...not sure if it was more evident in the 70's like everyone says but here where I live in Brampton, Ontario, weed, and ecstasy are huge..its terrible. Majority of every high school is full of potheads and dealers, and even worse people who do ecstasy. Its incredible how common the two are. I have tried both..and regret it and I am very glad I had the will and intelligence to stop both before I did any permanent damage to myself. I despise both the two and all other drug forms now...I find that they ruin society and kids here are being exposed way too early if ever in life to them. I don't know what attitude you are talking about but I admit that I have become very close minded and outspoken about drugs, and anything else that is either addicting or harmful to ones body. I cannot stand to see people killing themselves because all of their friends are doing it, or failing school because they skip constantly to get stoned. The impact these things have on my hair my not be too significant but the addition of everything I have just said speaks for itself. I believe being straightedge is the way to lead a great life, you certainly do not need substances to enjoy yourself.
-animosity
That was exactly the attitude he was talking about. There is no way to say that cannabis and ecstasy invariably have negative effects on the user, because different people react differently to psychoactive substances.
Personally, especially in the case of psychadelics such as LSD or psilocybin, I've found that whether or not the substance has a "positive" or "negative" effect largely depends on the level of intelligence and particular mindset of each specific user, as well as the integrity of the substance. For example, a lot of what is dealt at street-level as "pot" isn't 100% cannabis, if at all.
As with most divisive issues like this, I encourage you to keep a more open mind about the subject, as your experience is likely very limited (you are, after all, one person,) and to educate yourself with more solid facts than just your personal observations within a specific community.
And with that, I'd also like to say that this is probably not the best discussion to get into, especially seeing the level of emotion you seem to have invested in the subject, but I ask you this: do I seem like a person who is killing himself or failing on an intellectual level because of substance use or abuse?
I understand not everyone ruins themselves..but you cannot deny that you are not doing SOME damage to yourself mentally and or physically. Whether or not you notice it..because it may not necessarily be noticeable. You said that "I encourage you to keep a more open mind about the subject" why? I'm not going to get into this but I just want to understand your reasoning as I cannot change your mind just as you cannot change mine. Why be open minded to something that has the potential to change you...to hurt you...to hurt others. Even if it may not..it has the chance to. All I ask is for you to answer me that...why take the chance to hurt yourself?
Well, I suppose at the most basic level I think it's best to keep an open mind about *everything*, not just things you don't lean strongly one way or the other on.
Specifically to the use of psychoactive substances, there's several ways to approach an answer. Firstly, the fact that people use the word "drugs" to refer to *every* chemical substance in existence which can be ingested for recreational purposes, suggests a certain level of fuzzy logic or outright ignorance on their part.
For example, I would hardly place cannabis and methamphetamine in the same category, based on several factors. Yes, they are both psychoactive substances, but in terms of their effects on the user, the magnitude of those effects and the difference in risk of biological dependency, (not to mention that cannabis grows naturally whereas meth is made in a lab,) they couldn't be more starkly different. If you like, I can describe these differences in detail, but I see no need in this particular post.
Notice I am giving concrete examples rather than making generalizations, because every substance is different and must be approached accordingly.
As for the question of why risk dependency: tha'ts another thing which I would give a different answer to based on what substances we're talking about. Some, such as dimethyltryptamine and psilocybin, have never been observed to cause biological dependency in humans, as far as my research has gone.
Cannabis has an extreme range of results depending on the user, but I'd have to say based on information a professional in the feild has given me, it seems as if cannabis is addictive in certain individuals who have taken their use to the extreme, but not at all in others.
In any case, if you're curious as to the positive effects of psychoactive substances I can personally attest to: how's the complete and utter revelation that we are all of one mind, matter is energy condensed to a slow vibration and that the only true God that exists is the unconditional love we're all capable of sound for ya? Anything upward of four dried grams of psilocybin mushrooms can grant the prepared mind an experience something like that.
Again, a very specific example, but it serves to illustrate my point that "drugs" can't be intelligently discussed by using broad generalizations.
Let me preface this by saying that I have ingested alcohol many a time and been drunk numerous times, but that apart from 1 puff of a cigarette and 1 puff of a flavoured tobacco cigarette I have never touched drugs despite being offered numerous times (especially as regards marijuana).
I am also not 'straight-edge'- not a part of that culture or even by definition as I drink, yet I can see the social value (most definitely) in such a sub-culture.
Now...
So you're saying that the positive effects of certain drugs like some psychoactive substances (e.g. LSD) are not only worth the risk, but CAN (have the potentiality to) be safe?
By 'risk' I mean dependency and death. Risk can be avoided.
But in terms of possible safety, what about the certain fact that by taking ANY drug you are altering your mind? The Blood-Brain Barrier is there for a reason, isn't it?
& please don't use the argument that anything we put in our bodies, including food, such as 'comfort foods' is also having the same sort of effect (e.g. having endorphins released into the body after eating chocolate)
It would not be useful to use that argument because things like overeating are often comorbid with psychological issues such as depression, bullimia nervosa etc. whereas drug use is often comorbid with such disorders (although with far higher risk factors), but is often not a symptom (e.g. such as thrwoing up is for people with anorexia nervosa) but the cause of the behaviour.
Again, it is true that people can turn to drugs due to depression etc. but that is not what we're talking about here; instead we're talking about your proposition that drug use is fine and can be sought out without any qualms (differences between different drugs aside, the same principle is there...besides how much do we really know about what's happening to your mind long-term even during a 'safe', 'prepared for' acid trip for example ?)
I'm not disputing that one can have positive mental perceptions with drugs on a far-higher level than satisfying an addiction (e.g. once again, with acid trips)but isn't it wrong to not mention that drugs will effect you by affecting your brain and that your safety/health is NEVER guaranteed (short or long term) whilst using?
he was (supposedly) on LSD, so you know, has benefited humanity greatly
Yep, Francis Crick has been known to speak of his LSD use back then to help expand his mind power. And lets not forget all the positive movements that happened as a result of consciousness exploration in the 60's such as the civil rights movement, women's right's movement, the anti-war movement the sexual revolution and we can't forget about the great music, poetry and art that came out of that era as well. And lets also not forget about the LONGHAIR revolution ;-).
Aww, I just spent so much effort tracing the inception of the term "Straight Edge" as it was initially inextricably entwined w/t D.I.Y. Hardcore Punk scene, and how it FIRST meant not only anti-drugs/tobacco/alcohol, but was ALSO a vegan movement AND pro-chastity to boot! Where's THAT post?
Anyway, friends, let us not forget that the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, often spoke of his depression. His treatment? Why, lysergic acid diethylamide! Thank you, Dr. Albert Hofmann! But let's not overlook the importance of set and setting. The Mexican Indians and related indigenous peoples have a god, Ololiuquil (spelling?), who is the god of the Morning Glory, a flowering vine known to have lysergic components in it. Why, just look at its names, e.g. Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, Flying Saucer, among many others. Somebody knew something.
So, as long-winded as I am, I finally get around to the specific URL I mentioned in the subject heading. It is an excellent essay, with fun psychedelic fractal graphics, by one Doug Yurchey. He even used to do background artwork for, gasp!, "The Simpsons" animated comedy series. I always knew that those guys "knew"!
Cut and paste this URL: http://illuminati-news.com/LSD.htm
Hmn, while we're at it, here's his other URL on the duplicitous nature of corporations and utter wastefulness on pot prohibition:
http://illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm
And then do a search and visit all of the outreal seed banks in foreign lands. Duuude! Six hundred hybrid species, bred for their own specific characteristics. Whoa. War on drugs indeed!
Yours in "experienced" camaraderie,
Prof. Quenyan (+;-)}
Thanks for the links, Quenyan! You are obviously educated in natural entheogens and can see their benefit. I, too, am fascinated with them and even have some ethnobotanicals (legal ones, of course) that I care for on a daily basis (for their historical significance). I believe in psychoactive plants and fungus that induce visions and feel that they have been key in moving our species forward. To ban these natural plants and fungi is ludicrous, in my opinion. You mentioned Ayahuasca in another post and that brew is certainly something I want to experience sometime in my life. I haven't experienced DMT yet and want my first experience to be with Ayahuasca in the Amazon rainforest. Yopo snuff is another method on my list. Cheers, brother....
I'm actually planning a backpacking trip around the world in a few years. As you can probably guess, I'll be doing more than backpacking. ;)
Good for you...I totally envy you!! My wife and I are setting up our future so that when the kids are out of the house and we retire (hopefully way before the age of 65) we are going to do a lot of traveling/backpacking throughout the world. South America and India are BIG destinations for me and I'd like to spend months in each of those places. I sure hope the trip around the world becomes a reality for you.
Carpe Diem
Dear Professor Gman,
Aaah! Yet another "illuminated" longhaired, bearded, plant-friendly brother! Shwew! After having been made short shrift of two or so weeks ago all on account of bein' an Elven/human hybrid . . . well, let's just say, Gman, I've been a tad reticent to open up again. But, as they say in the Program, "This too shall pass", and, like a trapped bubble of intestinal flatulence, it finally did!
So, see the enclosed pic. It is my wife's and my little pet therionthrope. His name's Amaringo. He's named for the BRILLIANT Ayahuasca artist and shaman, Pablo Amaringo, whose artwork graces the Graham Hancock title I had raised. Hancock! Whoa, man. Please, go to http://grahamhancock.com to get the gist of what this extraordinary thinker and world-traveller is all about.
Hey, Gman, I, too, am most certain that the imbibing of certain of our plant allies is responsible not just for "moving us forward" but for CATAPULTING us forward!
Why, just have a looksy at the official website of NYC's obscure Chapel of Sacred Mirrors at http://cosm.com which is where I had met the world-renowned Hancock and his world class photographer wife Sathya Faiia. Even chatted w/ them after his lecture. He enscribed my copy of "Supernature", too! If you're ever in NYC, duuude, you must make the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors a stopover place to hang. The work of visionary artist Alex Grey and his artist wife, Allyson, is just not to be believed.
Talk on these matters again, reeeal sooooooon! Oh, oh! And pop onto the Botanical Preservation Corps site at, hmn, how about that? Their website is botanicalpreservationcorps(dot)com!
Who'd've thunk?!
Best in stopping to smell the roses,
Prof. Quenyan (+;_)}
I never said it *was* guaranteed. Once again, we could have lengthy discussions on the subject and come to different conclusions depending on what substance we're talking about.
For example, cannabis has been known to have a characteristic progression in *some* heavy users, which begins with temporarily increased creativity in problem-solving areas, sometimes resulting in a few higher marks in school, then a quick recoil which results in the stereotypical laziness and forgetfulness commonly associated with pot. These effects can last for a while depending on how much of the user's system is saturated with cannabis, but they tend to cause no permanent harm. After prolonged abstinence, the user almost invariably returns to a normal state of mind. Also, it's worth noting that the detrimental effects to one's memory are not usually even encountered if the user only smokes in moderation.
That said, your point still stands that we cannot know for *sure* whether this will have long-term effects, but based on many cases I've studied I feel it's safe to say that cannabis generally does not have permanent effects on the user's mind.
Again, nobody knows anything for sure, just like you don't *know* that the world isn't flat until you've traveled around it yourself. :)
It's important to understand that I'm not saying, "Hey everyone, go out and get stoned every single day!" here. I'm advocating personal freedom and the search for truth through knowledge, that's all.
I think its important for everyone to find a live balance which works for them, if substances like Alcohol, Cannabis or tobacco form part of that balance then that's great, if they don't then that's great too.
I guess the issue I have with StraightEdge is the way it can come across as a pressure group. And people who are StraightEdge can in my experience (and I hasten to add 'my experience' doesn't constitute a representative sample) demand a high level of conformity from their associates. I know some people who weren't really all about StraightEdge, but became StraightEdge to remain part of a group, they would otherwise be excluded from.
One characteristic which I think most long hairs share is our desire and need to be individuals and personally autonomous, so the StraightEdge sub-culture (like many other sub-cultures) may in their own non-conformist way, turn out to be very conformist.
Catch my drift?
I dont drink, use drugs, or even smoke, but I listen to most of the music you guys listen to, just because we dont drink doesnt mean we can't rock out.
I don't smoke or take narcotics for any reason. The last time
I smoked was in the 70s and you can probably guess what that
was. I also very rarely use alchohol, usually on New Years Eve and that didn't happen last year.
Besides I used enough alchohol in college to last a lifetime.
And that was 25 years ago.
I guess i am not straight-edge(X):-(
I take 3 mg Xanax which is prescribed by my doctor. I suffer from anxiety and insomnia. I can go up to 4 days without sleep and still manage to work and have energy. Xanax really helps me relax and it also prevents panic attacks from occuring :-)
Long hair or not, I've experimented with all kinds of substances over the last 20 years. I was never one to buy into the "just say no" mantra. Instead, I adopted the "don't knock it until you've tried it" mindset. I've tried a lot of stuff. Had some addictions (nicotine) that I've kicked. Used to drink heavily when I was younger. Kicked it as well. I was a big pot smoker for 20 years. Stopped last summer when I started running, doing yoga and meditating. I've done more LSD and Psilocybin in my past than I can count and have recently been experimenting with Salvia Divinorum a bit as it's still legal in my state and is a powerful psychedelic and learning tool...for me. I'm very big on mind expansion/exploration. I'm not ashamed in the least. Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Ralph Metzner, Terence McKenna, DM Turner, Zoe7, Albert Hofmann...all hero's of mine. I study Phsychoactive plants and have a fascination of the unknown so I will continue to keep my mind open to experimentating with legal natural compounds that continue to be discovered or re-discovered. Luckily, I never got hooked on substances like cocaine, speed or meth even though I've tried them at least once. Never did anything requiring a needle as I'm deathly afraid of them. After all these years I'm still in great health, have no straight jacket memories, and have still been able to have 2 beautiful and healthy kids.
As a parent now I continue to study about all kinds of drugs and substances available so that I'm informed about what my own kids will be faced with as they get older. It doesn't pay for parents to be naive about such things in this day in age. I feel I'll be of help to my kids as they get to their teenage years and beyond as I have a lot of experience and knowledge on the subject to share. I have a wide open mind about drugs and my kids will never get the "just say no" spiel from me nor will they be encouraged to do them. But, if they get curious I will gladly give them the honest truth to the best of my ability as the government and paranoid citizens with absolutely no experience certainly can't be trusted to do it for me.
gman, you're a perfect illustration of my previous point. Personal freedom to explore and learn about these things yourself is part of what I think it means to be an adult.
Your kids are very lucky to have such a free-thinker for a dad. :)
(As an aside, remember Mckenna's description of 6 dried grams or more of 'shrooms? "Heroic" was the word he used, I believe. I've approached that threshold a few times. :p)
A quote from Mckenna:
"If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on".
I've experimented with quite a large range of substances, started out smoking pot in school, then tried other things like speed, ketmine, ecstasy, cocaine, lsd, shrooms recently tried salvia as it's legal in the UK, my reasons for drug-use are similar to that of gman's, mind-expansion and experimentation really interests me i always read up on substances on www.erowid.org so i can get a rough idea of what to expect before trying them so i'm not the stereotypical junkie that society always labels drug-users as.
I don't regret trying any of these things i feel they've made me a much more open-minded person, i passed my gcse's at school in a period i was heavily into pot, ecstasy and lsd. I'm now at college and i've been sober for the past 2 months, i've never had problems with addiction just feel like a break for a while. I've never been much of a drinker though never liked alcohol at all i guess that's partly the reason why i decided i wanted to try other drugs.
I'm a supporter of Erowid.org and think it's a great resource. I encourage all parents to browse it from time to time.
I don't regret any of my life experiences...even the really bad/hard ones. I've learn something valuable from everything I do. And as far as my substance experimentations, well, I will credit LSD and psilocybin for saving my life when I was 23. I was going down a bad path with alcohol and nearly did myself in a couple times. I started experimenting with psychedelics and really dove into myself and started getting to know the real me and asking myself some hard questions. I came out of those experiences a completely different and more positive person. I quit abusing alcohol, enrolled back into college, got my education, started a career, met my wife, got married, had kids, started my own business, bought a home and am just a decent and productive member of society. I'm living the life I've always wanted. Drugs didn't do me in...they helped me. And the past few years I've kicked my nicotine and caffeine habits and stopped drinking even the occasional beer with the help of cannabis. It was hard but weed saw me through it. Then the end of last summer I gave up weed entirely in favor of exercise/yoga/meditation which brings me to today. Except for a handful of Salvia experiences this past year the only substance I put in my body or mind is a cup of herbal tea (non-caffeinated) in the mornings with my lovely wife and reading good books. Hell, I haven't even watched television in 7 years as I believe TV to be a highly addictive drug in itself with negative effects on society. You'll never hear me preaching to "kill your TV", though. Every individual has the right to put whatever they want into their own systems. I judge nobody.
Someday I'll be living proof for my kids that alcohol and tobacco are serious addictions but can be kicked. I'm also proof that drugs CAN be used as an aid to better ones life but can eventually be retired in favor of exercising, healthy eating and growing long-ass hair :-)
Peace,
~Gman
Glad to see that, you're truly a man of new age! It would be great to have parents to talk with about drugs freely, without prejudices.
The salvia divinorum is very fascinating, IMHO. It should be as intentive as Living Source of Dreams, but effects lasting just for 5-20 minutes. It would be nice if you'd have some suitable place to post your experiences for other curious people.
I admire the drug-inspirated music, psychedelic ambient genres, I think its the best way how to express these experiences.
There is no wrong or right in this situation, it depends how you wish to live life, Personally i smoke, i drink a day or two a week, a i smoke pot daily.
I dont really see what this has to do with long hair, but yeah its interesting to see what the others of this board has to say... I thought there would be more chronic smokers etc. here though..lol
I've never done an illegal drug my entire life.
When I was little, my mom used to smoke. I kept begging her to let me try a cigarette one time (I was probably about 8 or so). She did, I had a fit of coughs that I thought would never end, and I haven't touched a cigarette since then. (1986 or so.)
In the early-90s, I tried some alcohol (beer, wine, champagne). They all just about made me sick, and I've been nowhere near any of that stuff since.
Yup, I'm completely alcohol/cigarette/drug-free. :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a5TJApnJ8X8
Does this include the use of narcotic prescriptions (taken at the prescribed dose)?
...so I'm a straightedge... I don't smoke, I don't drink (I have tried beer, wine, vodka, but I don't like this, I think) and I haven't tried drugs & other, even if I "would like" to try, just for curiosity.
By the way, I don't think I'm the one like this in France, among my friends.
Abstinent from alcohol and narcotics for 7 years, 8 months and 13 days! These choices are mine and result from earlier addictions that nearly killed me. I wouldn't dream of imposing these choices on other people though. I 'have no opinion' on whether or not other people should drink or use drugs. Enjoyed them myself for many years.
Still a heavy cigarette smoker and wanting the willingness to stop. Not got it yet though.
PS A 12-Step friend of mine came off alcohol, ecstacy, cocaine, cigarettes, formaldehyde and everything you could think of. He was still physically ill all the time. Turned out he was gluten-intolerant. It was the pastries all along - hahahahaha!!!!!
I've never heard of this term before, --- and even though I pretty much fit the description, I'm not sure I like the sound of it... But, maybe that's because I'm not straight; but gay instead (lol)!! So... does that make me, "Gayedge?"
Anyway, I have a lot of friends and dance partners, as well as my life-partner, who have all been through serious drug and/or alcohol addiction; but are now clean & sober. I have GREAT admiration for anyone who is able to overcome a huge ostacles like that! As for myself, I guess I was just "lucky" (or so I've been told by many of my AA friends): I never went through any smoking habit period (other than briefly in 8th grade - lol); did any hardcore drinking (have never even been drunk, --- just slightly "tipsy" once - lol); or used any recreational drugs (the one and only time I took a hit off a joint was at my brother's 50th birthday party, --- and that was just to give him the cheap thrill of seeing me cough & complain about how much I hated the smell - lol).
Being raised a Christian Scientist, I never even tried my first Asprin until I was well into my 30s, --- so even my clean & sober AA friends like to introduce me to their other AA friends as, "This is my weird friend, Ken, that I told you so much about!"
Hmmmm... so, I'm not sure if I *really* ever want to be called a, "Straightedge" now (lol)....
- Ken in San Francisco
I had the same reaction: What does "edge" have to do with getting straight? "Straight" has several meanings of course - "not gay", "not on drugs", "not a hippie", etc.
I can't imagine you swing dancing to punk rock. LOL
I do my trippin' by listening to groovy sixties tunes. My mind was always enough of a free spirit that I never needed drugs to set it free. I've definitely had a love-hate relationship with caffeine, though. I love chocolate!
Bill
I never smoked, drinked or whatsover...
My only adictions are long hair and chocolate lol =P
Long hair and chocolate? YES!! :)
--Rick
Hehe lol you're the same as me!
RM
I'm not staight edge, but have nothing against people who are.
I don't smoke tobacco
But I will have the occassional bud or two.
And I drink occasionally.
Nothing else though, no hard drugs or anything of the like.
-Mihnea
Aaah, yes, Mr. Animosity I presume,
As you must know, Straight Edge, was and is a lifestyle. It was an offshoot of the early 1980's Hardcore Punk rock scene; bands such as Ian MacKay's Minor Threat, Kevin Seconds's Seven Seconds, Henry Rollins the ex-lead singer of Black Flag, now of his namesake the Rollins Band, to name a few, were its first proponents. The more the ranks of Straight Edge bands swelled, exclusively Straight Edge recording labels developed, Victory Records among them. One of Straight Edge's current most popular groups is Path of Resistance, big vegans as well.
B.T.W., originally, Straight Edge, whose adherants could always be identified at shows by the letter exxes that they magic-markered (and some later even had tattooed) on the backs of their hands, not only eschewed the use of all kinds of drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, but was ALSO an outlook and praxis for sexual abstinence as well as of a vegan diet. That all went with the anti-corporatism of early D.I.Y. punk culture, taken to the next extreme . . . HEALTH!
As many of the Straight Edge bands matured, many took on more of the characteristics of Nu Metal and Hip Hop, wearing baggy jeans, hoodies, having shaven heads, tattoos, etc. As a matter of fact, I hardly ever encounter Straight Edgers with long hair. Beards, yes, but that comes from touring w/o daily shaving.
Although the Straight Edge lifestyle, per se, originally sprang from the Hardcore Punk scene as outlined above, it seems that nowadays it merely refers to the avoidance of drugs in all their forms, whereas initially it was also anti-sex and anti-animal products just as much.
I am not a Straight Edger. I'm afraid that both of my grandfathers were heavy drinkers. They, too, were artists. I inheritted both genetic indicators. I was a big pot-smoker in high school. I am still interested in the human/plant relationship, or, ethnobotany. Although there are admittedly dangerous plant derivatives in the world, there are many beneficial properties that plants can lend the human experience.
As a matter of fact, ibogaine, a Central and South American herb, has proved a cure for heroin addiction. Having witnessed firsthand the devastation opiates visitted upon people who succumbed to its wiles in inner city populations, I never felt the compunction to ruin my life. But one wonders why ibogaine still isn't widely used in treatment.
A good pro-ibogaine website is http://mindvox.com
A non-Alcoholics Anonymous website is http://rationalrecovery.net
started by Jack Trimpey, he of the A.V.R.T. system of anti-drug/anti-alcohol treatment (Addictive Voice Recognition Training). A proponent of OTHER treatment outside of A.A. and N.A. is a Dr. Stanton Peele.
Peele deals not only in alternate applications to sobriety outside the Programs, but the legal significance of 12-Step enforcement. You can find two of his excellent anti-Program papers, "Resisting Twelve-Step Coercion" as well as "Drunk With Power: The Case Against Court-Imposed 12-Step Treatments" at his website here http://peele.net/lib/drunk.html
So, Mr. Animosity, and everyone else who visits this board, know that I'm somewhat of a psychonaut my(s)elf. The wife and I are looking forward to our first Ayahuasca experience, thanks largely to the late, great Terrence McKenna, but also to Graham Hancock, the maverick archaeologist who has handed over the torch, so to say, of his ancient site explorations to his colleagues in favor of exploring other dimensions now. See his latest, "Supernature: Conversations With The Ancient Teachers of Mankind", a mind-opening title to be sure.
I completely support you in your affiliation with the Straight Edge lifestyle, Animosity. As for me, my wife and I intend to imbibe in a carafe of some good Pinot Noir with our Italian cuisine this evening. The key is moderation. For those who go overboard in everything, that's when abstinence becomes an imperative. Best wishes always.
Yours in inked and long-haired (and soon bearded) camaraderie,
Professor Quenyan 9+:-)}
Wise words and extremely interesting I must say.
There are drugs, and then there are drugs. The WHO (the UN agency, not the aging rock band!) has the most authoritative take on the real effects of drugs, as opposed to those effects imagined by sleazy politicians and gutter press.
It turns out tobacco is one of the worst all round, both for addictiveness and mortality, worse than most illegal drugs. It also turns out that legal ethyl alcohol is worse than marijuana, but that neither is anything like as bad as opiates or cocaine. It's true that alcohol can ruin some people's lives, or even kill them, and yet most people use it with no noticeable harm. Marijuana, OTOH, is creditted with zero fatalities, although I won't pretend it has no negative effects atall, and requires incredibly high use for any semblance of addiction, which is technically described by another word that I forget, to distinguish it from real addiction.
One the whole, if someone does choose to abstain from all the above, I have no problem with that. OTOH, if they act holier than thou they can be a pain!
I don't smoke tobacco. Tried it and never liked it, and I credit with the untimely deaths of both my grandfathers. While we're discussing what I don't do, I don't gamble either. It never appealed to me.
If you are looking for a list of all my vices, you're crazy if you think I'm immortalising it on the Internet!
However, I think it's a truism that one should never trust a man who has no vices, and I'll raise a glass of ale to that!
That other word is "dependency".
...is the word I couldn't remember. Dependency is a vaguer term that could include both habituation and addiction. Addiction is physical, whereas habituation is merely psychological. Vast amounts of marijuana have to be consumed even to result in habituation, whereas similar vast consumption of alcohol can lead to alcoholism, which is an addiction, and sadly even normal use of tobacco is addictive.
Of course, joints have tobacco in them as well as marijuana, but most people don't smoke enough joints to get addicted to the tobacco. For example 10 a day is considered very low use for cigarettes (but still borderline for addiction), but not many people smoke more than three joints a day.
Hey Mr. Elektros, my non-unitedstatesian friend,
Yeesh. We wouldn't "ruin" joints here by mixin' 'em w/ standard tobaccy. Ew. As a matterly factual, the T.H.C. content of late has, uhm, what's the word, skyrocketted to heights rarely encountered back in the 1970's when I first imbibed.
I mentioned previously the evoluion o/t Straight Edge culture-come-terminology. Your own distinction in mentioning habituation versus addiction is admirable. Admittedly, there are certain pharmaceutical extractions that serve NO OTHER PURPOSE than to make amoral, sociopathic, cold-hearted drug barons filthy rich. Chemicals like ice, crack, meth, junk, and crank (a highball of speed AND coke) leap to mind. This garbage is a must to avoid at all costs.
Walking through bad parts of town when I attended college in NYC
eventually brought me into contact with far-gone, burnt, tragic individuals, either panhandling for a bag of whatever or sticking me up at knife point. They weren't mixing tobacco and pot, that's fershure.
Yeah. I have my dinner wine sometimes w/t wife. Beer at a concert. The occasional single malt with the occasional cigar. But then there are those truly sacred botanical specimens that have extraordinary powers of both enlightenment and healing. These same flowers, seeds, roots, bark, leaves, and/or fungi have always been used in the context of religious ceremonies with no deleterious effects to those partaking of them.
I said it before and I'll say it again. Please go to this URL for
an amazing array of what the gods have wrought for the betterment of mankind at this location http://botanicalpreservationcorps.com
As others of us who visit this board know all too well from our own experience, many of these plants are cultivated from the Amazon, an area being decimated for soy fields to feed the fast-food hamburger industry's cattle stock. Amazing, this supremely idiotic trade-off. Burgers for brains.
Cynically yours but still hopeful for a greater future,
Quenyan (+:-)}
Why not just make the soy into burgers? - so much better for you!
Elektros,
Obviously YOU don't care one iota about the tragic fact that the Amazon River Basin and surrounding jungle habitat that took thousands and thousands of years to form, which science is proving more and more serves as a kind of breatheing vacuole for not just the South American continent BUT FOR THE WHOLE PLANET, is being eradicated by the fast-food industry.
B.T.W., soy shouldn't be eaten by humans. It has estrogen-like components in it. So, men keep away from it. Boys, too. And pre-adolescent girls. The medical ramifications and their attendant symptomology should be quite obvious.
Hey, how do I get blocked from this site?
Quizzically yours,
Quenyan (+:-)}
I just think it's more ecologically friendly to eat vegeburgers than feed veges to cattle and eat them.
As for the Amazon, I agree with you. And as for soy, I personally would avoid it for it's Sodium content. If it has such strong oestrogen like effects, then that's another good reason.
I like my vodka too much, that being said I'm not a heavy drinker just one or two in the evening . I don't smoke except maybe weed once or twice a year. So I'm a wavy edge I guess.
Kevin
... and will be the case until the day I die.
I despise them all - smoking, drinking, drugs... don't need 'em. Alcohol has turned many of the people I used to know as good friends into drink-obsessed idiots rather than spending time doing something a little more constructive and interesting.
I hate the 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' stereotype that often goes with having long hair too. The rock 'n' roll is fine as I am a keyboard player but that's all that rings true with me.
RM
n/t
To me, "straightedge" implies that you are a member of the Christian music scene. You may adopt certain cultural aspects of the Rock, Punk or other alternative scenes such as long hair, piercings, even tattoos; but you otherwise lead a Christian life. Aside from not doing substances, you also attend church regularly. It's a term that I would usually not apply to anyone who isn't in highschool or college, aged 22 at the very most.
So, if you had simply asked me if I was "straightedge" I wouldn't have replied.
Then again, as with any subculture, I suppose there are straightedge kids who grew up and never dropped that identity.
According you your definition though, the answer would be "yes".
Sorry, still stuck with donut shop internet, so it might be a while before I reply. Email if you really want to sound off.
A glass of wine everyday is actually very good for you. If this prevents one from being "straight edge," then I find this preposterous.
Regardless, I enjoy drinking and such related activities, so no, I wouldn't fit this description anyway.
~JeffL
If you don't count the drugs I had to take after I got my wisdom teeth pulled last summer (since I never became addicted and it WAS doctor recommended lol). And since I'm Muslim I don't drink either.