Ain't that a trip?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Regardless, I disagree about adrenaline issues. I fail to see how something our body makes and increases production of naturally (assuming there is nothing wrong the way your body is functioning) is quite akin to putting foreign substances in your body, but that's OK. This is also why I would never be critical of some on say, an antidepressant, because typically that mind altering drug is to try to restore the natural balance of serotonin.

Interesting that you call the goal of antidepressatns "restoring the natural balance", but don't see massive adrenaline dumps as an "unnatural imbalance". LSD, actually, makes for an interesting comparison point. It's been show to have effects using as little as 20 micrograms (that's 1/50 the weight of a grain of sand). A dose that size is far too small for the direct physical effects of the chemical to be causing the "symptoms". No one's even sure what exactly causes it, but the likely culprit seems to be an increase of the naturally ocurring amino acid glutamate. From that view, skydiving and LSD sound pretty similar. Both are activities that produce enjoyment for some people by increasing production of a naturally ocurring body chemical, cause permanent alteration to the functioning of the brain, and carry a risk of serious physical harm.

[Alex]

By broad defnitions pretty much anything you put into your body is a drug. If sugar is a drug then so are carbohydrates and protein. All of them, through injestion cause body chemistry changes. About the only thing you could put into your body and not have it be a drug would be the rightmost column of the periodic table (and even those, in sufficient quantities will produce significant change in bodily function).

I don't care what people put into their bodies or why. All I care about is how they act after they do so. If you can consume an 8 ball a day and still function in polite society I don't give a damn. If you can't drink an O'Doul's without becoming aggressive and puking on my shoes then I give a damn.