So what do you guys think of alcohol? Beneficial? I've been drinking too frequently and in massive amounts, but what I have found is that when I've been drinking self induced trance states are much more accessible. I've seen hypnotherapists who couldn't do anything for me, but last night I drank a bit (enough to be semi-drunk, my favorite state) and went to see a hypnotist perform and just sitting in the audience I was completely gone. It's every society's favorite drug, what could happen if everyone learned to use it properly.

See:

Alcohol - entheogen of the masses

I like a drink occasionally(must be the half-Irish blood ). I dont think its particularly harmful if drunk responsibly. I rarely get drunnk, except upon rare occasion. My drinking fluctuates. Sometimes Ill drink a lot, sometimes a little, sometimes frequent, sometimes infrequent. Though, if I drink a lot, Ill drink slowly. If you need to drink, you need to be pro (make sure you have a full stomach, drink slow, dont mix drinks). With responsible use, I think its fine. Its only the foolish drinkers that give it a bad name, and that end up with health/life problems.

So, (I know this will possibly be contraversial here)IMO, it IS fairly beneficial, if treated correctly, and with proper thought and respect.

alcohol is a shit drug IMO. I personally find it repulsive and have not drank it in about 2 years. That is just me though.

I think, although it is a habit, drink can really bring people together, chatting and having fun, which I love. Also, going out dancing for example, it actually allows me to dance (whereas if I didnt drink I may be too shy too). It is not for spiritual awakening, I concede, yet it is a very good social lubricant, IME. Also, I find sometimes people tell the truth more, and can be more open (I say this with particular reference to family members and the like, and also strangers that you are meeting for the first time).

Alcohol might be beneficial for some situations, but in the long term it is rather damaging.

I watched my mum become addicted of that shit. It is ruining the lifes of lots of people.

The problem is that it is hard to use it properly. You'll drink this little drink because it makes you feel good and socialize easier etc... And before you know it you will have to drink every time you go out, because you are not facing the fact that you have to work on your social skills. Or you drink everytime you go out with your buddies, and after a while you need it to enjoy the parties.

On top of that I don't think it is healthy at all for our body. I read about a study about the relation between drinking and cancer.
Personnaly I do not like the effect of alcohol, especially the feeling after a night of heavy drinking.

It is sad to see people at work for instance that will plan their weekends of heavy drinking, like it's a hobby. Like it is cool or something.

I used to drink a lot when I was a teenager but nowadays I drink very rarely. And I'm glad about it.

Its true, it can damage. I have a freind who is 25 and irreperably damaged from it. You need to be a pro if you want to drink, and not use it to escape. The alcohol escape is a slippery slope indeed. Another slippery slope is drinking to kill a hangover...

Just to clarify, I never said that alcohol can't lead to terrible things. I just think that it can be beneficial at times.

iTS NOT EVERY SOCIETIES favorite drug, it's just the only legal one -that's all. Biologically speaking some people cannot cope with alcohol,so it doesn't suit everyone. And not everyone is lookin' for the alcohol vibe-or fat gut , either!!

Me too,

and it was listed as the worst drug(harm to user and society) in the UK, not surprising;

http://uk.reuters.com/ar...ol-idUKTRE6A000O20101101

To be honest though, that could be partly down to it being so readily available. If you made ketamine as available, it may be much worse, for example. Also the fact that so many countries have drunk alcohol for hundreds or thousands of years, surely testifies to some kind of beneficial effectiveness (right back to the Greeks, Romans and older). At one point the only safe way to consume liquid was through alcohol. It is much more ancient, and has been much more beneficial, than people give it credit for.

Also, to take the elctric edge off a strong acid doses, for example, a small amount of alcohol is a useful tool.

The drug that the masses all use to socialize... we end up shallow and insecure. The drug we use most in social occasions says a lot about us...

Imagine every week we had ecstatic mushroom dancing.. we would see more of what we are, with drink I think it does the opposite. I haven't drank in about 3 months, which is the longest I've gone in about 4 years, doubt I will touch it again.

I hate how it's the drug of choice simply because it's sold in the supermarket

Edit: that said, I'd like to make some sort of blue lotus concoction sometime.

'The drug that the masses all use to socialize... we end up shallow and insecure. The drug we use most in social occasions says a lot about us...

Imagine every week we had ecstatic mushroom dancing.. we would see more of what we are, with drink I think it does the opposite. I haven't drank in about 3 months, which is the longest I've gone in about 4 years, doubt I will touch it again.

I hate how it's the drug of choice simply because it's sold in the supermarket'



From this can I suppose your use of psychedelics is some sort of 'rebellious' action agains the masses? Would you still take them if they were legal?

Sadly, you cannot get more "traditional" or "classic" with drugs than ethanol. I drank wine last night and really enjoyed myself. First time in years drinking. I probably won't drink soon simply due to a few factors like the hangover is generally rough, there are no endogenous receptors or systems set up to make alcohol or similar molecules in our bodies (like there are with cannabinoids and DMT). It is processed as a poison. There is no active transport, no close match to a neurotransmitter. Therefore the body's only tactic to deal with or process the poison is liver filtration.

alcohol might have some "trance" like properties to it, however, there are superior and less damaging alternatives, harmalas for example. I wouldn't even say alcohol is trance like, more stupidifying. Anything that alcohol is good for, there are other substances that are better it, and less damaging. I can only figure that alcohol is so widely used and abused is because people don't know there are better alternatives, and also don't care about their health. Also, ironically, although alcohol is very damaging, superior and relatively safer substances like the entheogens are illegal.

They say alcohol is a good social lubricant. I guess.... but I think 3g of Syrian Rue is as well. Or, has anyone ever tried small doses of mescaline as a social lubricant? I suppose alcohol may have some positive aspects to it, if used in small amounts. I'm just sayin, I think alcohol is probably one of the worst drugs out there. Alcohol fails... yet succeeds in destroying brain cells and liver, and making people feel terrible after it wears off.

One thing I hate about alcohol: Running into a mob of drunks, out on a Saturday night looking to prey on whoever they deem the weakest.

Been two incidents in the last 12 months in my relatively small community where a group of drunks have literally beat people to death because they were drunk and decided a stranger on the street was a "faggot" who needed to be put down.

Some people are just nasty drunks and shouldn't touch the stuff.

I don't even think of alcohol as a drug. In the same way I don't think butane is a drug. Alcoholism is solvent abuse.

Until recently, I'd drink quite frequently, but now that I exercise quite a lot I've noticed that just a few drinks can near double the time it takes my body to recover.

It just seems to dissolve everything inside you and disable the more complex mechanisms of your brain rendering you a lizard!

My psychedelic use has further alienated myself from the masses. Perhaps also raised my awareness of the reality of alcohols impact on our collective social dynamics. Made me yearn for the day when we will socialize with a truer understanding and appreciation of the the depth of what we are...

I don't appreciate such a statement about my relationship to the plants being made based on such a paragraph..

Edit : And yeah, I find that a bit of syrian rue can connect the flows of 2 peoples minds very well

Well put in.
Ethanol is a medecine in microdose, when taking tincture it helps a lop for absobtion but then it's more a carrier than a drug.
Although I had some great night on boozes, I've also had the worst dirtiest darkest night me reckon.
Something is wrong with alcohol in high dosage. makes you loose your consciousness that you so hardly try to get back on track.
Alcohol is just a cheap way to relax IMO. nothing brain storming.