Drugs are for Everyone

I do not think drugs like coffee and cigarettes actually give any high after a couple of weeks.
What they offer instead is a way to get back to their 'normal' state.The reason people repeatedly take drugs like nicotine and caffeine is due to physical addiction and brainwashing.
Very few people can accurately describe drinking caffeinated coffee or smoking nicotine as pleasurable, except when describing the relief they feel from the symptons caused by the absence of the drug.The reason most smokers enjoy their coffee/cigarette is because since their last coffee/cigarette they have been gradually feeling worse and worse as withdrawal takes effect.
First thing in the morning, people are likely to have abstained from drug taking (as they were asleep).
This makes the first coffee/cigarette of the day seem particularly nice as they are particularly far into withdrawal.

Elephants, pentailed treeshrews, mountain gorillas, dogs, cows, snails, cats, horses, chinese deer, giraffes...and even politicians!Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

In reverse order... Yes. Not all drugs are physically addictive (but there is always the possiblility of brainwashing though).
I smoked a lot of dope when at college. I decided to stop. So I stopped. Then I discovered I was addicted to nicotine. I realise I don't actually know if it is true about you, but that is the kind of thing addicts will say."If i wake up and i need to be productive, i drink coffee." - why do people not then ask themselves: "Am I unwell that I wake up unable to be productive?"
Some of the effects of caffeine withdrawal include tireness and the inability to concentrate.Reading back through this post it seems like it could look like an attack on you.
It is more meant to show that normal people give normal reasons to avoid seeing an addiction.
Cognitive dissonance is frequently responsible for the continued use of an addictive drug.Sincerely, this is not meant to be interogatory.
If you think this is off-topic or too personal than just say and I will delete bits of this post and not mention it again.

It was for me (and the others that quit with me). I do not recall anyone enjoying their first few cigarettes.
Mostly people spend their time trying not to cough up a lung, during their first.
Can you really imagine a first-timer inhaling a big breath and exhaling gently with a look of pleasure on their face? Really?

If we are only talking about non-addictive mood-enhancing drugs, then I would posit that they are just an 'emergent property of technology'.The body is designed to respond positively to feeling good - it is our 'carrot' (and pain is our 'stick').
Would you really go through all the hassle of dating if sex didn't feel good? But as a species with a brain (which is big enough to get us into trouble) we discovered would could 'cheat' and get pleasure for little investment.
I think it is probably just another symptom of our culture/society being out-paced by technology.
-We suffer from weight-gain because technology reduced the amount of exercise we had to do, and also increased the amount of food available.
-We over-populate due to curing diseases but not restricting reproduction.
-We by-pass the natural causes of pleasure by using man-made drugs.Culture/society/psychology seems to continually be two steps behind technology.Edited by Panda, : tyop

As you see from what I said: people feel relief from withdrawal.
Relief from discomfort is often felt as pleasurable.
Have you never had to delay having a piss until it was painful and then felt the 'pleasure' from finally having a piss? You would have to be stupid to choose marketing over addiction and cigarette manufacturers are far from stupid: so they use both.Ask a smoker to describe what they are feeling as they smoke. Ask them to pinpoint what exactly is pleasurable.
Is it the taste? - ask them to describe the taste.
Is it the smell? - ask them to describe the smell.
Is it the feeling? - ask them what it feels like.Or is it the relief?Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

But my argument is that those particular drugs offer no relief from any drudgery in our lives.Alcohol? Cannabis? Cocaine?
Yes - these drugs do have an effect other than withdrawal.
These do help people 'break away' from their day-to-day existence.But caffeine and nicotine* offer little more than addiction.
Yes, there are a few coffee connoisseurs, but they are the exception.
I doubt if there are any cigarette connoisseurs.Anyway, this seems off-topic.
I'll have a think about requesting a new topic...Maybe I can think of something controversial enough to be interesting. *This refers to western doses/strains. IIRC: American Indians used to smoke a tobacco that got them completely off their face.Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

...and it offers fecal incontinence.
These effects are from single use. Tolerence to caffeine is rapid. Are you saying that people enjoy smoking because of the weight loss?
Weight loss would be a reason to smoke, not a reason to enjoy smoking. This seems to be a rant aimed at me, but unconnected to anything I have said.
I can't even see what the point is you're trying to make. Do I really need to explain that cigarettes are not cigars?
They are not made the same; they don't contain the same ingredients and they are not even smoked the same. I don't understand how someone could fail to read what was a fairly short and clear post. Please try again.

Do I have to explain to you that cigars and cigarettes are not the same? Really?If you were talking about cigarettes then you would be correct. They also contain/produce 599 other ingredients including:

quote:

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Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia

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Could you please be specific about which 'things' you are referring to? So, businesses offers a coffee 'experience' with different flavours!
Marketing and addiction, eh? They are as clever as BAT. Better tasting brands? Not 'nice tasting', but 'better' tasting?
Preferred brand? Yes, based on which cigarettes taste the least offensive and/or have the best advertising. (Answered by Omnivorous)Edited by Panda, : tpyo

As a drinker of lemonade I'll give it a go... Is it the taste?
Yes. I like the sharp taste of lemons, slightly tempered by the sweet taste of sugar. Is it the smell?
Not particularly. The smell is ok, but I tend to ignore it. Is it the feeling?
Yes. I like the clean feeling that my mouth experiences. I find the drink very refreshing, especially on a hot day.

Are you having an 'off' day?
I have seen you displaying better comprehension. 'Sharp' and 'sweet' are both descriptions of taste.
'Clean' and 'refreshing' are both descriptions of feelings.If you think I want some scientifically measured quantity of taste then you are wrong.
All I asked for (and all I gave as an example) were very every-day descriptions of taste, smell, etc.

I did not mean to imply that the questions were impossible to answer.
The questions weren't rhetorical.Maybe a smoker will answer those questions and then it will all become clearer...For an extra point: get a smoker to not smoke for a couple of days and then describe what is enjoyable about their next cigarette.

If they experience difficulty stopping, then yes.
It is all releated to the definition of addiction. Strange that.
The bar scenario could be Social Alcoholism. Better tasting brands? Not 'nice tasting', but 'better' tasting? I would not say that same about scotch, as I have little knowledge of scotch. You probably haven't changed your brand in a long while either.
(In 2006 they spent $12 billion on advertising. I can't find out how much they are currently spending.)