[allegory]

Well he decided to take mushrooms one day due to peer pressure. Unfortunately he didn't know that he had a few problems that hadn't manifested themselves yet. The mushrooms pushed him over the edge and within a couple of days he became increasingly violent and had random personality changes. This was merely after one single session.

Consequentially the chain of events is pretty obvious but ultimately everyone kicked him out, especially his girlfriend who couldn't cope with him kicking the shit out of her randomly and then being completely normal 20 seconds later.

Eventually they managed to help him get control over it with a cocktail of drugs but he's not the same now. The drugs they give him take away most of his good traits as well as the bad ones.

A shell of a human for the sake of one mistake.

Not saying the problems may never have manifested themselves at all but the sudden change was unbelievable.

Being 100% honest, I did some experimentation back in my student days and was damn lucky. Now in my late 30s, people who stayed with it aren't the same anymore. It's destroyed them entirely. I'm sure I'll get some 20-year old jump in now and say that smoking hash is fine but it's not - you won't know it until you're that fried person in your 30's and it's too late. One of my friends got a first in his degree (electrical engineering) but is so fucked up now from just smoking pot that he can't even hold down a job stacking shelves in Tesco.

All I see is self-destruction and it makes me very sad and angry.

Edit: I expect downvotes as you can't have rational discussion with the pro-drugs crowd on the Internet. I'm not interested in your opinion; experience says the opposite and your lack of experience says otherwise. Even the fact I have to suffix the post with this shows the sad state of affairs.

Edit: 3 downvotes from the pro drugs crowd.

[phaer]

You write about having a rational discussion but all you come up with are some non-representative anecdotes and the "argument" of "you'll understand when you are my age". Does that make sense to you?

> . I'm sure I'll get some 20-year old jump in now and say that smoking hash is fine but it's not - you won't know it until you're that fried person in your 30's and it's too late.

Okay, I'm gonna be that 25-year old: It seems to depend on the dosage, like almost any substance use. It's fine to smoke some hash every two weeks or maybe even a bit every evening, but if your friend is one of those who spend most of their day doing nothing besides smoking pot, then of course that destroys you just like drinking beer for the whole day.

[EdwardDiego]

> I'm not interested in your opinion; experience says the opposite and your lack of experience says otherwise. > Edit: 2 downvotes from the pro drugs crowd.

Or the downvotes could relate to your unwillingness to consider viewpoints other than your own.

[wj]

You write that "he had a few problems that hadn't manifested themselves yet". It sounds like he would have eventually reached the same behavior pattern even had he not had that experience with mushrooms.

Still, sad to hear.

[allegory]

He may not have. Most psych issues have a trigger i.e an emotional or stress experience. Something that violently changes your brain chemistry has the same effect.

[wildgift]

As I understand it, things like schizophrenia are primarily hereditary, and the trauma pushes you over the edge. So, people with a family history of schizophrenia or related conditions shouldn't do these drugs.

[kurage]

>Well he decided to take mushrooms one day due to peer pressure

Well, that was definitely mistake #1; psychedelics require the right set & setting. That with the possibility of him not knowing he had a mental illness is probably what did it. Also, there is a possibility that he was given a different kind of mushrooms, like amanita.

Drugs, food, anything for that matter, when taken to excess can be damaging, like what happened with your friend.

Personal anecdote, which you've been relying on so far.. LSD helped my depression and allowed me to quit adderall and weed. With shrooms, my anxiety got better and I quit my fap/porn addiction. I will be going to Peru in 2 weeks to do Ayahuasca (DMT) to help me get over my childhood sexual trauma. You can't lump all drugs into one category; psychedelics might as well be called "medicine".