Any of you use drugs to increase creativity?

[removed account4]

I agree cell phones are a menace on the road. But having more stoned drivers is going to make it worse.

i agree distracted and engrossed in that distraction would not be good, it would end up like crispin glover in river's edge when he fell asleep in the middle of a "busy intersection" and the po-po had to wake him up ... that said, is there some sort of a non bias study that suggests that people who have been users are all becoming users now that it is legal ? seems to me that not many people would do that, and then drive when they feel out of it?, i know people who used to envibe once in a while but now that it is legal don't want anything to do with it, so it has sort of the opposite effect.
regarding creativity, i think there are many ways to enhance one's creativity, which includes being able to ponder and just not do anything else; some folks like to do that under the influence of something and some people don't ( does top of a mountain count, you know, clean clear crisp air, exhilarating, like eating a pepperment patty, less 02 ). not sure what the problem is...
one thing i would NOT recommend is getting campylobacter jejuni, while it may seem like fun being sleepless and foodless for more than 3 days, hallucinating, and the few moments one barely dozed off having one nightmare after the next, it really isnt' worth it. sure it changes one's perspective being out of it for 8 weeks, losing 30lbs and having your gut messed up and distressed from there out .. but i can wholeheartedly DISrecommend campylobacter jejuni.. lack of sleep, coffee and pain though, that is a good perspective enhancer, i like that ..

 

[Vaughn]

Well, I would trust a stoned driver more than one with a Trump bumpersticker...

 

[Sirius Glass]

There have been people driving and doing that for 30 or 40 years . I’m more worrried about someone on their cellphone than anything else. Completely and utterly distracted. Saw a 3 car pileup tonight. Cars and trucks &c should have something that completely disabled telephones except for directions/maps or emergency services...

( written on phone, edited on computer, fixed typos, only consumed a barly ripe banana for my creative typos )

I agree cell phones are a menace on the road. But having more stoned drivers is going to make it worse.

It is not just their cell phone that need to be disabled; their brains are disabled. Putting them on public transportation would be a great improvement.

 

[MattKing]

Well, I would trust a stoned driver more than one with a Trump bumpersticker...

Even the "Trump for Prison" bumper sticker I saw recently?
There are a bunch of things that a driver can do that will make them less safe on the road. Whether they are more related to impairment, or more related to distraction is relatively immaterial.
In respect to cannabis I live in a fairly large country that has just replaced criminalization with regulation. That change was made in a context where the social acceptance of cannabis was almost entirely inconsistent with the criminal law treatment of cannabis - and that is in a country with an otherwise fairly strong history of deference for the law.
It will be interesting to see how things evolve, but I would point out that the criminal law was, in the past, spectacularly unsuccessful at controlling impaired (due to alcohol) driving. It was/is a change in social forces, along with enhanced efforts from those who regulate driving, that has made for a real improvement in the amount of alcohol related carnage on the roads - even though there is more to be done.

 

[Vaughn]

Even the "Trump for Prison" bumper sticker I saw recently?
...

My word, yes! Along with anything to do with Bernie, Bigfoot, or honor students.

I live in a state with roughly the population of Canada (what's a couple million?) that has done the same -- we still have a problem with drunk driving, despite jail time/fines/loss of license, and education. Much better than it was and better than many states, but with the increased number of drivers, the totals still seem high even though the rates have gone down. There does seem to be some improvement, but the figures I was looking at only went to 2015.

 

[MattKing]

In my province, the efforts of educators and organizations like MADD have been really effective in enhancing the stigma associated with drunk driving.
In addition, most of the formerly criminal enforcement actions (and it still remains a crime) have been supplanted with the provincial authorities immediately impounding the vehicles and charging a whopping sum for the storage and (eventual) retrieval charges. They also immediately suspend driving privileges for significant periods of time and put the onus on the driver to argue for earlier return of those privileges and the vehicle.
The same procedures apply if the drivers are impaired by another drug (not alcohol) but the criteria for using them is a bit more challenging because while road-side breathalyzers are available for alcohol, road-side tests for other types of impairment are not nearly as reliable or advanced.
In either case, enforcement actions usually result in high costs - sometimes several thousands of dollars - along with inconvenience and disruption.
By the way, the vehicle remains impounded even if the driver isn't the registered owner (unless it turns out to be stolen).

 

[pentaxuser]

Here's a thought that might help establish if there is a minority of drunk or drugged drivers that is pretty constant in every state/country once you get to a certain level of population. By minority I mean people who are in the incorrigible bracket. If there are such people who remain unconstrained by the law or any prohibitions imposed by the "mores" of that state/country then this may show up in the likes of Utah's figures for drunk/drugged driving offences compared to the more "liberal" states or it may not. For instance Holland has a more liberal approach to cannabis use than the U.K. but does this result in more/the same/less than number of offences for drugged driving than the U.K.?

pentaxuser

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Meditation to quiet the mind. A noisy brain drowns out the beauty of world.

 

[George Mann]

For instance Holland has a more liberal approach to cannabis use than the U.K. but does this result in more/the same/less than number of offences for drugged driving than the U.K.?

pentaxuser

There is a high number of people caught driving while stoned on pot in the pot haven state of Colorado.

 

[jtk]

Don't think I ever photographed behind dope....but I did go out one rainy night with a new F1 and Kodachrome, having snorted cocaine (gift from a girl). Gorgeous slides...looked just like nighttime Kodachromes in the rain.

 

[ColdEye]

Interesting thread. I am quite envious of people who can drink and enjoy coffee. It just makes me want to vomit when I try it. Even Cola with caffeine.I have tried micro dosing mushrooms and and edibles, didn't really do anything for me. Now my drug of choice is sugar.

 

[guangong]

A hero of my youth, Charlie Parker, the Bird, spent much of his adult life fighting addiction because he understood that it constricted his creativity. Also reduced his creativity by shortening his life. Chet Baker’s declining creativity can be observed before your eyes in the film Let’s Get Lost. Took my daughter to see film in her early teens. Never had to worry about her using drugs. By the way, he either jumped from window or believed her could fly. This happened after film was released.

 

[ColdEye]

Even hipster coffee? I hate the bitterness of bad coffee, so I hardly ever drank it until this year when I started watching James Hoffmann's YouTube channel. I find good coffee thoroughly enjoyable now.

Yup, even those. I am actually not sure if its caffeine or just coffee itself, as I drink green tea quite regularly. I know its not the bitterness of coffee too, because I love some stir fried bitter melon. My lady loves coffee, and she has a bunch of types of coffee here, a few are pretty interesting to read about, but that's as far as I go.

 

[jtk]

A hero of my youth, Charlie Parker, the Bird, spent much of his adult life fighting addiction because he understood that it constricted his creativity. Also reduced his creativity by shortening his life. Chet Baker’s declining creativity can be observed before your eyes in the film Let’s Get Lost. Took my daughter to see film in her early teens. Never had to worry about her using drugs. By the way, he either jumped from window or believed her could fly. This happened after film was released.

On the other hand they all accomplished important art in their youth, as did Charlie Christian (whose curse may have been tobacco)...and of course Jesus, who recommended wine to his friends.

 

[jtk]

On the other hand they all accomplished important art in their youth, as did Charlie Christian (whose curse may have been tobacco)...and of course Jesus, who recommended wine to his friends.

...and Edward Weston (coffee early every morning).

 

[Fraunhofer]

Where I grew up beer is considered an essential food group ( and also taxed like food), but I have my beer after the darkroom.

I do drink quite a bit of coffee especially since I gave up smoking some 16 years ago. Without coffee I am pretty useless.

 

[alanrockwood]

Does chocolate count?

 

[removed account4]

Without coffee I am pretty useless

+1

I tried to do tea. but I was putting l ike 5 teabags in a cuppa, I just want back to juicing the bean...

 

[Anon Ymous]

+1

I tried to do tea. but I was putting l ike 5 teabags in a cuppa, I just want back to juicing the bean...

I'm not useless without coffee, I can do whatever needs to be done, but if I don't drink some, then I'll have a terrible headache within some hours. I am addicted to caffeine and need some in the morning to avoid this nasty headache.

 

[Vaughn]

Reality is for those who can't handle drugs, as we use to say a half century ago. I read a good book on How the Swan (Buddhism) Came to America. One little part about how people would show up at the Zen Center in SF and sit through the whole zazen session without moving, then at the end, they'd get up and fall back down with their legs "asleep". Word had gotten out that dropping acid and going to the Zen Center for zazen was a pretty cool thing to do.

But the issue of acid and Zen was mentioned and the general consensus of the zen teachers who came across it with their students was that it actually helped to introduce the student to the concept or idea of Zen, but of no use after that. In other words, it helped the students get rid of their misconceptions that the everyday reality they experience is truly reality, and is instead a personal construct made of their own experiences and impressions of reality....but it did not help the students to advance.

Acid certainly is not for everyone -- it blows the minds of those who can not exist without believing that their reality is the real reality. I tend to be a bit more flexible about reality...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have found that I am addicted to H2O and O2, not CO2 nor CO.

 

[Vaughn]

Can't do much without the C, though...

 

[grain elevator]

I think the association of drugs with creativity is not simple. But I don't believe they're the actual cause of creativity in any case.
There is an indirect, or one might say false, association with creativity: One part is that people with inner demons may be very creative if they can harness their demons to some degree, but also may be driven to drug use. Another part is that we may feel super creative while under the influence. If it's something that only comes to us u.t.i., then it's probably crap, looking at it the next day. If it doesn't look like crap to you, chances are you've gone too far down the rabbit hole.
And there is a slightly more direct association with creativity: Drugs may indeed remove some inhibitions that keep us from making art. Fear, restrictive self-images, false loyalties, insecurity... I for one struggle with finding confidence in what I do or want to do, and I'm sure temporarily cocaine would be exactly what I need, which is precisely why I should not try it.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

esp LSD? This may be a dumb post, but I believe Lewis Carrol used psychedelic mushrooms to write "Alice in Wonderland?,

Sure go ahead, but people be aware, you may not always be able to photograph want to see.

 

[removed account4]

I think the association of drugs with creativity is not simple. But I don't believe they're the actual cause of creativity in any case.
There is an indirect, or one might say false, association with creativity: One part is that people with inner demons may be very creative if they can harness their demons to some degree, but also may be driven to drug use. Another part is that we may feel super creative while under the influence. If it's something that only comes to us u.t.i., then it's probably crap, looking at it the next day. If it doesn't look like crap to you, chances are you've gone too far down the rabbit hole.
And there is a slightly more direct association with creativity: Drugs may indeed remove some inhibitions that keep us from making art. Fear, restrictive self-images, false loyalties, insecurity... I for one struggle with finding confidence in what I do or want to do, and I'm sure temporarily cocaine would be exactly what I need, which is precisely why I should not try it.

I think one of the greatest thing one can do to increase creativity is to notice things, the little things that we often miss or take for granted. most people are busy, non-observant, blind to what is infront of them. anything that helps is good if you ask me...