Is cocaine bad for you?

Actually bad for you.

[krimson]

Yes, it causes long-term damage to your bank account.

[sexdrugsmoney]

Yes.

[ QUOTE ]
Yes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

[evil_twin]

Side effects include increased blood pressure and heart rate, and it's highly addictive. When you're coming down from it you'll experience a strong desire for more, and the cycle will begin.

The ever useful wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Effects_and_health_issues).

[ QUOTE ]
Cocaine abuse is associated with a lifetime risk of heart attack that is seven times that of non-users. During the hour after cocaine is used, heart attack risk rises 24-fold. It accounts for 25% of the heart attacks in the 18–45 year-old age group.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm no doctor, so my advice means nothing (standard disclaimer), but don't get involved with this one, and if you really feel you must experiment, make it extremely casually. Do not start taking it regularly, it will take over your life. I've seen it happen.

[purnell]

I am not a doctor or otherwise knowledgable about the physical side effects of cocaine, but I can tell you that nearly all of the users I have known became dependent on (addicted to) it. From my own experience I can say that as soon as you start to come down (even the first time) you want more. And more. Bad news IMO.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
I am not a doctor or otherwise knowledgable about the physical side effects of cocaine, but I can tell you that nearly all of the users I have known became dependent on (addicted to) it. From my own experience I can say that as soon as you start to come down (even the first time) you want more. And more. Bad news IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5.

[Boris]

If you've ever used cocaine you know it has to be bad for you.

[David Sklansky]

"Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5."

What is the statistic for those who can easily afford it?

[evil_twin]

I believe you pulled that figure out of air, but assuming it's correct, taking a drug and having a 20% chance of becoming a habitual user sounds like a bad deal to me.

[Myrtle]

[ QUOTE ]
"Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5."

What is the statistic for those who can easily afford it?

[/ QUOTE ]

....does ease of affordability have a significant effect on the answer regarding the question asked?

Methinks we need to better (more specifically) define the question, i.e, 'Bad for you" in what way before we attempt to address it.

Physically.....

Psychologically......

Financially.....

Emotionally......

etc.........

[Aytumious]

I tried cocaine on a few occasions in college. Once, I had the sensation that my heart was going to explode within my chest. I highly recommend trying it.

[sexdrugsmoney]

[ QUOTE ]
"Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5."

What is the statistic for those who can easily afford it?

[/ QUOTE ]

David have you tried it? (if you don't wish to answer, understandable)

[purnell]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am not a doctor or otherwise knowledgable about the physical side effects of cocaine, but I can tell you that nearly all of the users I have known became dependent on (addicted to) it. From my own experience I can say that as soon as you start to come down (even the first time) you want more. And more. Bad news IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5.

[/ QUOTE ]

My sample is too small.

[Myrtle]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am not a doctor or otherwise knowledgable about the physical side effects of cocaine, but I can tell you that nearly all of the users I have known became dependent on (addicted to) it. From my own experience I can say that as soon as you start to come down (even the first time) you want more. And more. Bad news IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try actually doing some research. Statistics will show that you are very, very wrong. The majority of individuals who try cocaine will not use often. I believe that the statistic (for crack, considered the more addictive form) is only 1 in 5.

[/ QUOTE ]

My sample is too small.

[/ QUOTE ]


....a standard consumer complaint. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[bholdr]

It sure isn't GOOD for you (unless being used medicinally- even the feds admit that cocaine has medical benifits, esp for treating infected tissue)

cocaine, like most drugs, is extremely dnagerous physically, psychologically, emotionally, and financially- not to mention that it's very illegal- buit the dangers are generally overstated, IMO, and are serious only for those with the risk factors that exacerbate the negitive effects of the drug.

People with addictive personalties, psychological disorders (esp bipolar and schitzo folks), histories of drug problems, poor people, young people, unhealthy people, etc... SHOULD NOT do coke. others may decide for themselves, as far as i care. i've done it before, and found it to be much more managable, enjoyable, and safe than say, extacy or methamphetimine. It's also not as addictive as people think. I used to hear the old line about how 'ciggerattes are more addictive than cocaine" and think "That's BS- i smoke cigs and they're not THAT addictive"... then i tried coke. After a day or so i was done with it (for a while- /images/graemlins/smirk.gif). If i go a day or more without a ciggerette i'm ready to mug old ladies for a drag. the 'white christ' is also not as expensive as people make it out to be- for $20 one can have a fun night, for $100, four people can stay up till noon the next day. it's very easy to spend much more than that on drinks, weed, etc...

basicly, don't swallow all the horror stories and propaganda about drugs- decide for yourself; Of course, be smart, be careful to know exactly what you're putting in your body, and take responsibility for your own use.

all IMO.

[xniNja]

This is all nonsense. Everyone knows cocaine is good for you. Where's the herry at?

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
I believe you pulled that figure out of air, but assuming it's correct, taking a drug and having a 20% chance of becoming a habitual user sounds like a bad deal to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, the figure is from an essay found in Modern Morality. The book is at home, but if you want author, source, etc, I can provide it.

You are also looking at the statisitic incorrectly. You first need to examine the type of person who would try crack-cocaine. This type of person is generally more prone to addiction, low social status, nothing to lose, etc.

There are many factors that must be examined regarding the use of illegal drugs. Simply saying something is "bad" or "good" ignores the complexity of the issue.

Also, cocaine is regarded as being very tame in regards to physical addiction. However, psychologically, users often do not want to come down and attempt to continue to stay high, hence a craving for more. But, the idea of the frantic cocaine user desperately seeking out a way to keep their high is overly dramaticized propaganda. Aside from putting strain on the heart (and the risk of use for those with high blood pressure), cocaine does not have many harmful side effects.

[cokehead]

[ QUOTE ]
This is all nonsense. Everyone knows cocaine is good for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

[BluffTHIS!]

Regarding any of you who maintain that doing coke is not in fact bad for you, please let me know if you play poker while coked up and on what site and what limits. And are you willing to play for bigger stakes?

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
Regarding any of you who maintain that doing coke is not in fact bad for you, please let me know if you play poker while coked up and on what site and what limits. And are you willing to play for bigger stakes?

[/ QUOTE ]

What does this have to do with anything? A relevant proposition would be playing a coke user in general.

I drink alcohol. Does that mean I can only play while drinking? Use some freaking common sense.

[BluffTHIS!]

I am willing to play against you when you are drinking too, not just coked up, as long as the stakes are big enough. And I don't believe that people who regularly get high or drunk, are likely to be selective of what activities they do when in such a state.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
I am willing to play against you when you are drinking too, not just coked up, as long as the stakes are big enough. And I don't believe that people who regularly get high or drunk, are likely to be selective of what activities they do when in such a state.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's pretty [censored] stupid considering the majority of this board are young, college kids many of whom drink heavily and are much better players than yourself.

Honestly, what world do you live in that you think because someone chooses to drink or use drugs that they have no control over themselves. I can't believe someone is this naive. Do you not undertsand the concept of a functioning addict? Or what about selective users? Seriously...

[Zygote]

I can easily afford cocaine and have tried it three times. Although, I doubt i will use this more than 10 times from now to the time i die. I just don't see anything too exciting about the drug and the benefits are minimal IMO. From what i've gathered, I don't really believe there is a physical addiction, but i guess i can see how others form psychological dependencies. I think the fact that coke is made into crack is what really confuses people about the true effects of just cocaine.

Honestly, I don't see why the public gets so riled up about some of these illegal drugs when alcohol is apparently far worse. On top of coke, I have tried ecstacy, ketamine, codeine, mushrooms and weed/hash and, aside from mushrooms (which is about equal), alcohol fucks-me up far, far worse than anything else.

[BluffTHIS!]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you not undertsand the concept of a functioning addict?

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO.

Yeah I've know a lot of "functioning addicts" on the poker scene over the years. They usually functioned until they OD'd or got cirrhosis of the liver or got messed up in a car wreck from driving that way. Or until their boss had had it with 1 too many times them showing up still feeling the effects and not really functioning on the job.

I am not talking here about having a few beers occasionally, or even 2 or 3 a day. But getting high on drugs is the same as being drunk, and if you do either regularly for a long enough period of time it will be reflected in your life's results. And while I am sure that there are many college kids here who might be better poker players than myself, I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ask and report back. I'll bet $100 straight up that there are some posters who play those games occasionally while high.

[bluesbassman]

[ QUOTE ]
I am not a doctor or otherwise knowledgable about the physical side effects of cocaine, but I can tell you that nearly all of the users I have known became dependent on (addicted to) it. From my own experience I can say that as soon as you start to come down (even the first time) you want more. And more. Bad news IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like poker. /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I've never tried cocaine, but many, if not most, of my friends in college used it recreationally. (My friends and I are all musicians, and I suspect drug use is unusually high among that group.) A couple in the group ended up having serious substance abuse problems, but most stopped using after college years, and have become very successful.

Obviously, that's all anecdotal. Cocaine is like any other drug or alchohol (or gambling) in that there is some risk of addiction, but when used in moderation causes minimal harm.

[Cyrus]

[ QUOTE ]
I can easily afford cocaine and have tried it three times. I just don't see anything too exciting about the drug and the benefits are minimal IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah.

But what if the benefits are not minimal? And the drug is exciting ? What then ?

Here's the relevant lines (no pun intended) from Trainspotting :

[ QUOTE ]
People think [heroin's] all about misery and desperation and death and all that sh*t which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not f*cking stupid. At least, we're not that f*cking stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ask and report back. I'll bet $100 straight up that there are some posters who play those games occasionally while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do I not get a response to this?

[BluffTHIS!]

Firstly, I wouldn't trust anything an anonymous online player told me in chat. And secondly, since I am a winning player at the limits I gave, the odds that anyone who is better than me regularly plays high are obviously so small as to not be worth trying to demonstrate.

Allow me to turn this around. You go multitable those limits while high every night for a month and report back to us next month and tell us how you did.

[evil_twin]

If doctors and stock traders can manage to do a decent job while high on cocaine or heroin (and they do, many of them function well for years or longer), then I don't really see why an online poker player couldn't do it.

[BluffTHIS!]

[ QUOTE ]
If doctors and stock traders can manage to do a decent job while high on cocaine or heroin (and they do, many of them function well for years or longer), then I don't really see why an online poker player couldn't do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Feel free to let yourself be operated on by such doctors, and to allow such stockbrokers to manage your money. I'll pass on that.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
Firstly, I wouldn't trust anything an anonymous online player told me in chat. And secondly, since I am a winning player at the limits I gave, the odds that anyone who is better than me regularly plays high are obviously so small as to not be worth trying to demonstrate.

Allow me to turn this around. You go multitable those limits while high every night for a month and report back to us next month and tell us how you did.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. You do not just get to turn debates on their side because of how you want it to turn out. Firstly, that is not what you said:[ QUOTE ]

I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is obviously wrong. But, I am willing to forgive you inability to express yourself properly and bet that there are winning players who play, occasionally, while high.

Secondly, please stop trying to drag me into your claims and challenges. This is not about me. It is about people in general and your lack of understanding about them. Let's face it, you are extremely naive as to what many people do during their free time.

[BluffTHIS!]

You are the one who challenged me first with a bet.


[ QUOTE ]
Let's face it, you are extremely naive as to what many people do during their free time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know very well what people do in their free time, whether those things are what I do or not. I've been around and seen plenty. And it is you who are either extremely naive or stupid to assume that winning players at the higher limits regularly play while high.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
And it is you who are either extremely naive or stupid to assume that winning players at the higher limits regularly play while high.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for changing your wording, again.

If you think you are right, then accept the [censored] bet. Don't change it, don't make excuses.

Or say, sorry, I'm wrong this time.

All we have to do is start a thread in MHNL with the simple post:
"Winning 5-10 players and Up"
Do you ever play while high? How regularly do you do so if yes? How long have you been playing and winning at these levels.

We can leave it up for a week or until you are proven wrong.

And you are extremely naive to believe that there are not functioning and successful people in the world who use drugs and alcohol, even on a regular basis! Drug and alochol users, look out, they're all around you.

Another question, simply for the sake of my own curiosity, where do you live?

[evil_twin]

[ QUOTE ]
Feel free to let yourself be operated on by such doctors, and to allow such stockbrokers to manage your money. I'll pass on that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite obviously given the choice I would also rather be operated on by a surgeon who wasn't a Heroin addict. But that doesn't mean they don't exisit, and it also doesn't mean they don't manage to function quite reasonably.

[Warren Whitmore]

Yes. Because of the wording is cocaine bad for "you". I went to Florida for a couple of weeks vacation. When I got back I had not lifted weights for those 2 weeks and so was a little tiered. I drank 3 cups of coffee and then did my workout.

Bad idea. Heart palpataions for weeks finally went to a doctor who asked what caused it. I explained and he said "No more uppers for you."

So in my case it is definatly bad.

[Warren Whitmore]

In my wife's case definatly good. She had her gall bladder out and without the cocaine based pain medication the doc's gave her I am certain it would have been a less fun experiance.

[eOXevious]

I don't like cocaine to much, I just like how it smells.
/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Supersetoy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ask and report back. I'll bet $100 straight up that there are some posters who play those games occasionally while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

You would win. *Raises hand*

Have played drunk and/or high for $3000+ buyins (cash games) and $1000+ buyins for tournaments. And I'm still a winning player. But, I would say I drink/smoke about 5% of the time while playing. Mainly because I don't like having to piss every 30 minutes, or the hunger that strikes me when smoking. This still doesn't mean that I don't do it.

I've met a few people that say getting high helps them focus. I can't say the same for myself.

[thatpfunk]

Thank you for blowing my potential win /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[BluffTHIS!]

I said regularly plays while high.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Do you not undertsand the concept of a functioning addict?

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO.

Yeah I've know a lot of "functioning addicts" on the poker scene over the years. They usually functioned until they OD'd or got cirrhosis of the liver or got messed up in a car wreck from driving that way. Or until their boss had had it with 1 too many times them showing up still feeling the effects and not really functioning on the job.

I am not talking here about having a few beers occasionally, or even 2 or 3 a day. But getting high on drugs is the same as being drunk, and if you do either regularly for a long enough period of time it will be reflected in your life's results. And while I am sure that there are many college kids here who might be better poker players than myself, I am also quite sure that of those who are and who play at the same stakes I do (1K/2K buyins in plo and nl), there are 0% who play while high.

[/ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ]

I said regularly plays while high.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, whatever you say.

[ QUOTE ]

in·teg·ri·ty
1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

[/ QUOTE ]

[evil_twin]

[ QUOTE ]
But getting high on drugs is the same as being drunk, and if you do either regularly for a long enough period of time it will be reflected in your life's results.

[/ QUOTE ]

ig·no·rance n.
-The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

(Sorry, replied to wrong post, but we know who this is directed at).

[BluffTHIS!]

Happily one can overcome ignorance and become knowledgeable by observing the repeated mistakes of others and not committing them rather than only learning through one's own mistakes. Keep shoving that stuff up your nose regularly for the next 10 years and come back here then and let us know how you're doing financially and health-wise.

[bholdr]

[ QUOTE ]

I don't like cocaine to much, I just like how it smells.


[/ QUOTE ]

nh, sir.

Also, cocaine is often cut (reduced in potency and mixed) with vitamin B-12. see? it's good for you! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I am not an expert on addiction from a psychological and physiological standpoint, but I can say with near certainty that cocaine is indeed an addictive drug.

If it's not physically addictive, it is certainly psychologically/socially addictive. Regular users (I know one person who is) have it on them all the time and don't like being in social situations without doing it and having it in their pocket.

I will give you that the majority of people who do coke are professionals with decent or better-than-decent incomes who like the rush it gives them when they're out partying or hanging out with friends. Most of these people keep this under control, rarely going off the edge.

But a fair amount of people take it a lot further than that and need to constantly have it around.

Is it bad for you? Of course. That's an obvious question. All else being equal, regular coke users have lower life expectancies than non-users. That's the bottom line, and any doctor would agree to that.

Every person's physiology is a bit different.

You should take loads of it, give it a good 2-month allout test, and then report back to us your results.

[Gamblor]

In law school at the moment, we are studying the case of R. v. Malmo-Levine and Clay, the landmark marijuana legalization case in Canada.

In it, the defence repeatedly introduced as evidence the addictive properties of Marijuana versus harder drugs and the 1 in 5 number is about correct for cocaine.

From personal experience, I suggest you stay the hell away from cocaine unless it'll help you get into a stripper's bagina.