Substance Abuse - why call it that?

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Frosty
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11 Feb 2010, 6:43 pm

Okay we all heard the term and I wondered today - why substance abuse.

I mean the substance is abusing our bodies if we use it - not the other way around right?

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M_p_furo
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11 Feb 2010, 7:23 pm

I had to think about that for a minute. I looked up the definition of "abuse" to be sure. Here's what I got:

Quote:

to use wrongly or improperly; misuse:

So I guess they are saying that you are using a substance wrongly or improperly or something other than for what it was intended.

It gets a little confusing if the substance doesn't have an intended use though. :lol:

Blindspot149
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11 Feb 2010, 9:59 pm

Frosty wrote:

Okay we all heard the term and I wondered today - why substance abuse.

I mean the substance is abusing our bodies if we use it - not the other way around right?

Spot on

Same with the term 'Near miss' (used when planes DON"T crash into each other)

THAT is a NEAR HIT (i.e. nearly hit but DIDN'T)

A NEAR MISS IS a HIT (nearly missed but DIDN'T) :!:

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Last edited by Blindspot149 on 11 Feb 2010, 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kenjuudo
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11 Feb 2010, 10:20 pm

Stop abusing the substances. Poor substances.

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Frosty
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12 Feb 2010, 1:31 am

lol

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auntblabby
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17 Feb 2010, 2:17 am

its largely political- in countries where pot/hash is not criminal, it is considered relatively normal, not an "abused" drug but something akin to a latte in the café. nicotine is a thing we americans don't consider an abused substance. maybe they should call it "selected substance abuse" or "politically incorrect substance abuse." just an idle thought.

LonelyJar
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27 Feb 2015, 5:14 am

(holds up a paper bag) "You're short, your neck is too long, and you are an accident!!"
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auntblabby
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27 Feb 2015, 5:32 am

wow 5 years and now it has been reanimated!

naturalplastic
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27 Feb 2015, 6:36 pm

Kenjuudo wrote:

Stop abusing the substances. Poor substances.

Really.

Folks are so insensitive to plywood, aluminum, plastic, and to many other substences that our stuff is made of!

Lol!

That IS the image that would flash through my mind when folks started to use the phrase "abusing substences" around 1990 (some body using a chain to angrily beat construction materials displayed at Home Depot).

But it was a needed expression. For decades you would talk about "abusing alchohol", and "abusing this drug". So they starting lumping: over the counter drugs, under the counter drugs, and booze, under the rubrick of "substences".

auntblabby
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27 Feb 2015, 6:50 pm

meebe they shoulda called 'em "feelgoods" or something like that. :idea: :drunken:

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