[HalveBlue]

Originally Posted by fckillerbee

because years of my mother doing coke, has caused her to not have any patience, and the mood swings are out of control. And when she was high, she told her oldest son to move the fuck out...all because I didn't wake up at 12 am in the morning to move some boxes for her. Who would have known I was still in highschool.

Not saying that if she didn't do drugs, would she have these moodswings, but I'm sure she wouldn't have been up for 3 days straight, and at midnight woke me up to move a box she could have done herself, and then getting crazy on me cause I said no.
Next day, I asked what her problem was (not the best question) but she started swinging at me.

my argument being...people that smoke weed. are less likely to randomly brake out and fight people. and the long terms effects of smoking, is mild to nothing compared to long term effects of any other drug.

I do smoke weed, not for being fucked up, but for relaxing (my brain never rests...so I'm told). de-stresses me at the end of the day. Much like having a beer! Except I don't get bloated, and have gas at work all next day.

First off, let me just say that what you experienced is a tragic and unfortunate reality. I would never wish that scenario on anyone.

However, your post brings up some very interesting points.

As you already mentioned, the correlation between her mood swings and her cocaine use doesn't necessarily have to be certain.

Personally, I wouldn't doubt it. Cocaine is a pretty strong stimulant. Plus, going three days without sleep would just add to the extreme emotional outbursts. So I imagine your mother was pretty aggressive and distraught at the time.

However, what you're describing isn't what I'd call cocaine use. It's cocaine abuse.

In essence, what your mother experienced is a possibility, but it isn't necessarily indicative of everyone's reactions.

For example, a large percentage of alcoholics are born that way. Unfair as life can be, it cursed individuals with a certain genetic make up that predisposes them to show extremely and/or physical reactions to the consumption of alcohol. I, however, am not one of these individuals.

I can drink a beer, and leave it at that. I can drink a lot before I feel the effects of inebriation. And I can go months without drinking. I don't show any physical signs of withdrawal after consuming quantities of alcohol (small or big).

A former superior of mine wasn't so lucky. He was one the unlucky individuals I described earlier.

He drank when he got up in the morning. Every morning. He drank at least a bottle of wine when he got home in the evening. Every BBQ, birthday party he had at least two kegs standing out. If he wasn't working, he had an alcoholic beverage in his hand.

In fact, I remember this one time, him and I were responsible for the set up and take down of one of his friend's weddings at a local bar. We drank a couple of beers before setup, got trashed during the wedding party, and I eventually ended up crashing at his house at 4:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m. we were back at the bar taking down chairs and tables. I hadn't set 5 steps inside when he ordered a pitcher of beer.

Unfortunately, this individual would more often than not show a negative response after drinking alcohol.

When he didn't drink enough his hands would shake. He'd have emotional outbursts over the most ridiculous issues. He'd show up for work drunk. I mean, this dude would threaten to shoot people. Literally!

Things escalated to the point where his behavior and decisions resulted in a government investigation being launched, with the end result being the he had his career advancement opportunities permanently eliminated - in fact, he probably would have faced immediate dismissal if it hadn't been for his time in service and ongoing family problems.

What I'm getting at is, no matter what this person did his reaction would be extreme. Almost always the outcome would be negative.

This person, was predisposed to abuse alcohol, no matter how much or how little he chose to drink

Obviously I would have preferred this the individual I've been taking about quit drinking. But that wasn't my choice to make. It was his.

We don't ban using ladders because millions of Americans fall of them and injure or kill themselves as a result. We don't revert to walking everywhere even though millions of Americans die in transportation related accidents every year.

The extremes and risk don't, or at least shouldn't, dictate what our choices are or who gets to make the decision. Risk is an inevitable part of life. We can minimize, or at least try to minimize those risks, but it's virtually impossible to eliminate all of them. The choice, when it exists, of whether to engage those risks should be left to the individual.

One of the founding principles of this country was the belief in reason and self governance.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Why is an adult individual, allowed to cast a vote, participate in politics, defend their nation, or start multi-billion dollar corporation - all of which would have far wider reaching consequences - not allowed, without of fear criminal prosecution, to decide what they choose to ingest into their own bodies?

It's absurd.