Some of the posts on here asking if something is "bad for you" reminds me of my kid brother, who constantly does the same thing. Is trans fat bad for you? Is sodium bad for you? Answer: I'm not a scientist, so i DON'T KNOW DAMN IT! But back to the issue at hand...it's important to draw a hard line between use and abuse of substances. If you read D.A.R.E handbooks or watch the tv show Intervention, you'll notice that all of the statistics and negative effects concerning drugs contain the word "abuse" instead of "use." Like the fact that alcohol abuse can cause liver disease and high blood pressure. But they don't tell you that [responsible] alcohol use can prolong your life and improve your cirulatory system function. What does it mean? It means that sure, pain killer abuse is bad for you. Cocaine abuse could kill you. But nobody is constantly bombarding you with the fact that sugar abuse will cause diabetes and lead to serious complications. Nobody tells you that sodium or vitamin C abuse will cause circulatory complications. I just think people should keep in mind the difference between use and abuse. Just my thoughts.
I had written a paper type of thing (I was drunk and probably high, did it so I'd remember my thoughts) on my ipod explaining the difference of use and abuse and how the common man is taught to default every instance of drugs as abuse. While it shouldn't be so, because everyone is different and you can't just decide whether it's use or abuse if you don't know a little about the person.