Is there really a starting point that most of us can remember? It’s not a drug, but I remember loving to spin around until I was dizzy and couldn’t walk. That’s probably my first mind altering activity. :)

Caffeine was probably my first drug. I had small sips of coffee before I can remember.

Alcohol was probably next, starting with sips of my dad’s beer, and progressing to wine and liquor.

Cannabis was next. Initially smoking flower, later hash. I instantly liked it, more than alcohol. Might have helped that I did cannabis and nitrous oxide for the first time together.

Next was nicotine. It’s the one I regret, and the only one I’ve really felt addicted to.

I stuck with cannabis and alcohol for a while until the opportunity to try mushrooms came up. Had a pretty great time, although I don’t find mushrooms something I want to do super frequently. Maybe a few times a year.

Tried cocaine for the first time on my 30th birthday, it was fun. For me it’s like turning everything up to 11, without really feeling blurry. It was fun and made me more social. Never had a regular enough supply to get hooked.

Injected morphine once, but my nurse friend blew out my vein and I didn’t get the whole experience.

Did Meth a couple years after cocaine. I always describe it as 5 of the best hours of your life followed by 20 of the worst. I can completely understand why people bump again, the come down is not any fun. For me the come down was enough to keep me from seeking it out.

Occasionally I did oral opioids when I had extras around, but I always feel like I’m falling/dying when I take too much, even at well below dangerous levels. Don’t ever crave them at all.

Salvia in my mid 30s. Strong, vivid hallucinations, very crazy, but short lived. Again, not something I wanted to do very often.

Crack once, it was like cocaine, but not as cool. Amazing how perception changes the drug experience.

Throughout my life I’ve abused nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis. Only nicotine became a real addiction. These days I’m mostly a cannabis and alcohol guy, and I’m trending towards more cannabis and less alcohol.

I enjoy weed for the same reasons people drink - to be more sociable, to relax and unwind, to increase my enjoyment of an activity, and to put myself in a better mood. Alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine are socially and legally accepted drugs, they’ve just been commodified.

Mushrooms were because of curiosity meeting opportunity. I don’t take them often, but the handful of trips I’ve been on have all been interesting and (mostly) enjoyable if a bit intense.

Cocaine was purely opportunity. While it was an extremely positive experience, I would advise against it and any of the harder drugs because even though I only did it for one night over a decade ago there is still a strong desire to do more if I could. Imagine thinking about your favorite food while you are very hungry, and maybe kick the desire upon a few notches. Yeah.

The mind is all we have, so how could I not explore its alterations? Lack of interest in drugs seems insular and weird to me. It’s like saying, “My city is good. Why would I ever visit a different city?”

I don’t regret it. If I have ever over-indulged, then maybe I’d prefer to have been more responsible, but it’s never been a problem so I have no reason to regret.

I am not a weed smoker even thought I smoke weed occasionally (a few hits once every couple of months I guess, only when it’s offered, I’ve never had a joint alone at my place), but I’ve tried many different drugs and some of them I use more frequently than others.

I’ve always been interested in drugs and I’ve spent some time on Erowid even before trying them for the first time, and the one drug that I wanted to try more than any other was mdma because of all the great experiences I’ve read online, and also because I am a big fan of 90s electronic music, and some genres are historically linked to ecstasy usage.

When I’ve finally been able to try mdma at a techno party, unfortunately I dosed too much (I perfectly knew what was the recommended dosage, the crystals we used were tested and weighted - unfortunately I misunderstood what my friend told me about the dosage in the bag he gave me (two doses instead of one) and I don’t remember the whole night. But I had a blast nonetheless, and this experience made me want to try to explore drugs. It’s definitely the experience that showed me that the altered state that you experience while under the influence of these substances is worth exploring, especially if you’re doing it with other people.

Finding drugs was not a problem at all at the time, because legal techno parties in big cities such as Milan were full of drugs. But I didn’t fully trust what dealers were selling, and even when my friends brought their substances to the party I never wanted to try them because of the the place - it wasn’t that easy to find a quiet spot with no people where to isolate, and I was a little paranoid. For some reason we never organized to try them before or after a party, probably because I’ve always felt shy being the only one that was trying a specific substance for the first time, even if there was nothing to be shy about and my friends were fully supportive. Anyway, I really started to use substances when I started to go to freeparties. They last 2-3 days, you can do drugs pretty much anywhere, you go there with your tents so you have your safe spot where to isolate or cooldown or do whatever you want. At parties I’ve been able to try many different drugs - ketamine, 2cb, speed, cocaine, dmt, some RCs - and for a long time, I limited my drugs usage to parties only. I kinda still do actually, but sometimes I bring home a gram of ketamine that I use alone, and I have quite some speed lying around that I’ve used before some social gatherings, but I still mostly use at parties.

Luckily when I entered the drugs world, I already knew the basics and the harm reduction guidelines about every substance I wanted to try. I think I’ve always been very responsible with them, and the fact that I am the “harm reduction” guy of my friends group (I always bring with me a full reagents test kit, saline solution, straws to cut, magnesium, NAC, all that kind of stuff) kind of pushed me to act as the responsible drugs nerd (even if I’m not a drugs nerd, and in my friends group there’s definitely people who know more than me about psychoactive substances).

I have never tried LSD or shrooms because in so many years I’ve never felt comfortable with the environment/surroundings. With some friends we often discuss to organize together and go somewhere in the mountains and take LSD, but none of them is a big psychedelics fan so :(

I don’t plan on quitting because I think my usage is not problematic, and I like doing drugs. The one drug that I would have a hard time quitting forever, btw, it’s caffeine. I am not operational without it if I don’t get a full 8 hours of sleep (eg. workdays). I try to limit coffees to <=2 per day, but sometimes I have more, even when I know I don’t need them. It’s not much at all, and the fact that I usually don’t drink coffee during the weekend shows that I can live without it no problem, but I hate the fact that I need it so much to start to be productive, even after I bike to work. I will soon try to gradually phase it out using tea

Peer pressure, or just cause my friends were doing it. Mostly pills and powders. Ecstasy, coke and speed at all night raves at the weekends, and sometimes midweek with friends around playing Mario kart on the N64, Then I grew up and haven’t touched anything for 20 years.

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It seems to me you are rather interested in the addiction aspect of drugs.

I can give you my perspective / my anecdotal experiences with cannabis.

I started smoking very early in school - around 14. My country has many smokers, statistically speaking, so it was not difficult to get even though not of legal age. Cool kids were smoking in the school yard and I ofc had to be one of them.

I believe I smoked my first joint with 15, 16 years. Those first experiences were magical (apart from the very first, which was mostly puking - I smoked a fat bong hit, heavens know why). I only consumed when around friends, in chilled nature settings, and it was a relaxing, social, very pleasant thing. This “honeymoon period” lasted maybe 2 - 3 years. All was good.

Then I started to not only consume in public settings, but also alone. And that was a big mistake. Suddenly all the negative aspects that regular marihuana consumption can have started to show. I became unmotivated to do anything else than “chill”. I neglected my friends and my then-girlfriend.

Then my girlfriend gave me an ultimatum - her or the smokey goodness. I decided wrong and she rightfully left me. That’s when I started to COMPENSATE lacking things with the drug. Going out? Why when I can chill and play some computergame at home? Touch grass? same thing. Meeting up with friends? Yeah, but only if I can smoke there.

I guess you see a trend here. I managed to somewhat regulate my consumption when in my mid-twenties, finished an education and started to work parttime. Since then it’s been a constant “up and down”, or, to be more realistic, a struggle. I’ve tried to kick the habit many times but always slipped back. I am currently in psychological treatment to give it another go, but complete absence even fucks with my physical condition (sleep issues, heavy sweats, nervousness, shakyness) after such a long time of consumption (I’m going on 40).

I’ve also tried mushrooms - very cool experience, can reccomend, but you really should have a comfortable setting with friendly faces around before you try it.

I’ve denied myself any other drug (I’d love to try cocain for example) since I just know myself and how fast I could get addicted. Except for Alcohol because its just socially accepted in my surroundings. But I dont really like the alcohol high.

I finally wanted to touch on the legalization of cannabis. I am pro legalisation even though I personally had, in the end, a not so good experience with it. It has countless good usage scenarious in medicine, and can also be a great recreational drug. It’s just the dose that makes the poison.

I think it should be legal as long as ample education about its use, benefits and risk are available and actively taught to youths.

Well, that was longer than anticipated, but may give you an insight as to “what causes one to take drugs”. And to answer your second question OP: Yes, I would leave it if i could. I hope I’ll sometime be able to.

Psychonautics. Only THC so far, but might be interested in psilocybin, LSD, DMT and salvia maybe. Always been fascinated by how much our perception of ourselves and our environment is shaped by the delicate (im-)balance of chemicals.