Few substances are as deeply woven into everyday life as alcohol. It is a fixture at holiday celebrations, work-related social gatherings, sporting events, airports, and brunch or dinner tables. A raised glass for a toast, the ubiquitous wedding open bar or drinks shared during a Fourth of July celebration all demonstrate how deeply alcohol has become embedded in social customs and cultural traditions.
Yet alcohol contributes to millions of deaths globally each year and is linked to cancer, liver disease, unintentional accidents, violence and, importantly, dependence and addiction. Despite this, the disconnect between alcohol’s cultural role and its serious health burden is striking.
Isn’t heroin, like, insanely addictive?
Yes. I haven’t gone as far as heroin, however over a decade ago I quit sniffing morphine powder (like that character from that show, Mr Robot I think the name is? Couldn’t watch that for long).
As a result of stress from childhood abuse, and bullying, I drank alcohol from a young age. I first remember being drunk at about 5 years old. At 12 I would often have a cap of brandy to start the day, before school. Alcohol provided it’s issues, and whilst I cannot drink now for health reasons I could at least stop, go for long periods of time without drinking, and it didn’t provide such a hold on me.
The morphine was something else.
When it’s sniffed, it has a different effect. There is a strong initial rush of euphoria, as if my brain was on its way to having an orgasm. That feeling subsided into a sort of… Content numbness. Satisfaction to an unnatural degree. The feeling of accomplishment, from the drug, felt more fulfilling than… Anything. It removed desires, because it felt more worth it to just do the drug instead of even sex, because that felt empty compared to how fulfilling the morphine felt.
The withdrawals were an absolute nightmare.
Once I realised I was developing a dangerous problem, I went cold turkey. Sweating from head to toe, and a lot. Constantly shivering, cramping in my gut, throwing up and having to force myself to drink water. Nightmares so incredibly vivid. I felt like I was going to die, and this lasted for almost two full weeks.
Alcohol is dangerous for sure, but if heroin is anything like the morphine I was sniffing… It just isn’t comparable in my experience.
Been clean since 2012. That shit is the devil if there ever is one.
Yes, almost as addictive as alcohol even!
I honestly don’t know about that. I don’t want to fall for drug paranoia propaganda, but there’s people who literally take heroin substitutes every day, but I’ve never heard of anyone addicted to non-alcoholic beer.
Because the heroin substitutes are drugs that also hit the same opioid receptors . . . NA beer literally has no drugs in it at all.