Regarding Alcohol, marijuana and similar substances

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I'm wondering - how attracted people on the Spectrum are to alcohol, marijuana and similar substances. It seems to me that most people on the spectrum spend a lot of time "in their own world." Alcohol, marijuana and similar substances seem to facilitate that to a degree. Also, most people on the Spectrum have serious anxiety issue which might find temporary relief from alcohol, marijuana and other similar substances.

Oh yeah, I 'misplaced' about 10 years of my life doing that (alcohol, pot, various assorted drugs). I thought it made me fit in... it didn't, and help my anxiety, which it did to a point...until the following day, of course.

I only have half a glass of wine ~5 days a week. A 750mL bottle lasts me a week or two. That's all. I don't drink other types of alcohol. I have never used marijuana, other types drugs or never even smoked cigarettes. None of them appeals to me. I wouldn't even want to try them.

have used marijuana to treat epilepsy because the prescribed carbamazepine was not as efficient as pot as an anticonvulsant (which most epilepsy orginisations do not or will not acknowledge). Also there is also controversy that people who are not sufficiently neuroregulated such as the under 16s and people with developmental disabilities may experience an anandamide syndrome according to modern research which is debatable. However my using marijuana was reducing anxiety for a while and acting like a serenic as well by creating a strong craving for affection and a change in my music collection (out went 1950s rock n roll and in came Pink Floyd House and rave music and electronic classical music and a complete turnaround in ideas because before I started smoking hash back in 1992 I was having two seizures a month and entertaining the thought of transforming Britain into a eugenically pure Aspergia due to some issues that were present at the time such as the dehumanisation of people and the often the neglect of the issues of undiagnosed Asperger syndrome which as been used as an excuse which I soon began to think about with less anger about it and also less bitterness which meant that it was having a positive effect on PTSD which I had since 1974. I don't drink alcohol much only a few cans of Tennants at christmas. I only gave up because there was an issue that I was being taken advantage of by allistic smokers and the price of weed had stopped me for two years and even smoking which I do not do and my lungs were not desgned to be filled with polycylic hydrocarbons. A couple of years later I started using weed in the form of edibles. I now have not had a seizure since 2010 due to eating spacecakes that I can now bake myself. I have even been to Amsterdam a few times and enjoyed it and even tried psilocybin truffles which are like shrooms which were sold in places which looked like a cross between an autism sensory room and a shop. There was one thing though that when I was stoned or on psilocybin truffles that it dissolved boundaries and in the presence of dissolved boundaries I could not continue to close my eyes at the neurobigotry and discrimination against people with developmental disabilities and the dehumanisation of autistic people by allistic society that I often thought about over a joint in a coffeeshop or a spacecake at home.

Last edited by Aspiewordsmith on 25 Oct 2014, 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Alcohol certainly helps my anxiety a lot, as do cigarettes, but marijuana makes it even worse, and emphasizes them beyond oblivion. Maybe I just take too much or something.

I personally feel different "substances" are attractive to some Aspies as they are unknowingly used to escape the reality of having autism.

I am very conservative about that stuff. The only substance I use is alcohol which I drink in moderation for the most part. Cigarettes, never smoked and never will. Bad, expensive habit. Marijuana, illegal and smells absolutely horrible. I seriously can't stand the smell of pot. Same with all illegal drugs, I never bothered with them.

The most stress-free (and enjoyable) time in my life were the four years immediately after graduating from college. I started working at a technology company, moved out of my parent?s house (I lived at home, while attending a local university), stopped seeing my therapist (who I saw on a weekly basis while attending college), became involved with a young woman (who I eventually married) and began using at least one of the substances you mentioned above on a daily basis.

Looking back, the handful of people I hung around with (at the time), also used similar substances (on a daily basis). Effectively, it was our ?social glue?.

I stay away from it all. My mother was an alcoholic and it kill her in the end. So Ya! Best not to get started.

I hate the taste of alcohol. I also do nothing illegal so don't go near cannabis etc.

Drink good beer and wine on occasion, I've held to my "three beer limit" since I was 19. Like a buzz but a hangover is something I never want to feel again.

I used marijuana regularly for about 3.5 years in my mid to late twenties. Liked it but it started to increase my anxiety. Might have been in combination with a lack of sleep and coffee consumption, though. I haven't tried it in 15 years. Our state passed a medical marijuana law that goes into effect next year, maybe I'll try some at some point. Maybe it's better than the anti-anxiety meds I'm taking.

Tried mushrooms twice, it was fun, but no need to try again.

Would never touch anything synthetic or refined (hard stuff) I always thought I'd be the one who freaked out and never came back.

Drink good beer and wine on occasion, but it's not a weekly thing. I went through a short period of binge drinking in my late teens, when I started college. I wasn't diagnosed then but felt that I had considerable impairments of some sort with little family support to back me up, so I decided I better go straight and narrow or I'll get in trouble somehow. I've held to my "three beer limit" since I was 19. I like a little buzz but a hangover is something I never want to feel again.

I used marijuana regularly for about 3.5 years in my mid to late twenties. Liked it but it started to increase my anxiety. Might have been in combination with a lack of sleep and coffee consumption, though. I haven't tried it in 15 years.

Our state passed a medical marijuana law that goes into effect next year, maybe I'll try some at some point. Maybe it's better than the anti-anxiety meds I'm taking. A year and a half ago I went from rarely taking even an aspirin to taking two medications for symptom control and I don't know how comfortable I am about that.

Tried mushrooms twice, it was fun, but no need to try again.

Would never touch anything synthetic or refined (hard stuff) I always thought I'd be the one who freaked out and never came back.

I really do like cannabis, actually does reduce my anxiety but also seems to help with some other things I have issues with like digestive discomfort....and I do really enjoy the high from it. As for alcohol, I do drink I try and limit my intake quite a lot though...though from time to time I still have gotten pretty drunk past couple years but not nearly as much as I was doing when I was like 19-22. I find alcohol makes me more talkaltive and upbeat mood but of course if I drink enough to get a hang over or the next day just kinda sucks it can kinda contribute to feeling lethargically depressed.

I have tried various other substances as well, have tripped on a lot of mushrooms....which I'd still do from time to time, I do think psychdelics have useful properties for the mind, but not when used in excess but psychdelics also have a tendency to give unpleasant effects as if to let you know to slow down and respect it more. I found I did enjoy MDMA, couldn't see what all the hype about cocaine was but I guess it was nice wouldn't go out and buy any though. I also smoke cigarettes, not really thinking of quitting for time being.

I'm attracted to them, although hashish and alcohol are my only indulgences these days. Alcohol definitely makes me more outgoing. Socializing - especially in large groups of people - has never come naturally to me without booze, and that's undoubtedly because of my AS. Hashish helps me unwind and sleep after a long day's work and a two and a half hour daily commute. The fact that relaxation also doesn't come easily due to my over-stimulated brain pan is also a by-product of AS.

So yes - it seems there can be a degree of correlation for some aspies. On the other hand, some are so immune/indifferent to peer pressure that they never feel curious enough to try recreational substances (as evidenced by the divergence of opinions that have been posted in reply to this thread.

Last edited by Bustduster on 24 Oct 2014, 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm underage, but I do occasionally brew mildly alcoholic beverages. I am attracted to alcohol, I wish I could get a better supply of it, but I have to wait another few months for that so I can legally buy it (stupid laws! I can potentially fly planes, drive cars, own guns, buy and take about two dozen different kinds of legal highly hallucinogenic drugs, and I can join the military. But somehow alcohol is more dangerous than all of that combined.) I can't even buy the Sake I use to make Salad Dressing at the moment...

I was sort of straight edge for awhile but I have drank some before that & occasionally after that phase. Alcohol makes me tired & I think I would pass out before getting majorly buzzed or drunk. never done any illegal drugs & have no desire too except I would be willing to try a pill form of marijuana(if they would ever put it in a pill) because I have a tremor disorder that some found smoking marijuana helped. I think drugs in general thou would just make my Aspie things like anxiety worse.