Quote Originally Posted by otsever
Well said. However, I don't think there is a line between use and abuse. imo the only line is the timeline and use and abuse both sit on the same line. Normal use turns to abuse at some point simply because it is literally not possible to maintain the SAME amount of use and have the same effects over and over. After the 1st few months with any drug, all you do is desperately (deep inside) search for the same high when you first start using the drug. You may still very much enjoy the experience but you always look for the good old days. That is why a lot of smokers I know including me "use" marijuana for a while, then "abuse" for a while, then you start realizing the unwanted things more than wanted effects, and quit for a while, then rinse and repeat.
Good points all, but I just can't get on that bus. There is a line, as difficult as it may be to define, between use and abuse and I would venture to say, without actually knowing you, that you are staying on the use side based on the fact that you are honest enough with yourself to occasionally back off. I have been through those cycles myself and will probably (I hope) go through them again. Abusers/addicts have lost the ability to make that distinction or at least to act on it. It is also quite dependent on how it affects you life, work, family, self esteem, sexual function, etc etc etc. Oh what a tangled web we weave in our amazingly complex and fragile human psyche's. It also is affected by your reasons for using in the first place which are in turn affected by your upbringing and environment and the ever popular genetic makeup. (and if the Adam and Eve thing is true then we didn't have a chance since the gene pool was effed from day one) And one more item is the addictive nature of a substance itself. Not all substances are physically addictive or involve the brutal and even life threatening effects of drugs like heroine or booze. One of the few premises of the 12 step movement that I do agree with is that each must decide for oneself which side of the line they are on.