h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have discovered the secret to immortality:

RED BULL!!!

*bounces off the walls*

It's 0200 and I'm WIIIIIIIIIIRED!!!!

The fiance has forbidden me to ever drink a can of Red Bull by myself. Apparently it makes me a raving psychopath. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE WHEEEEE!

Ah. The wonders of Caffeine and Taurine. And some other chemical I can't remember the name of. Reminds me of the drink 'Bawls' you can get from ThinkGeek. Well, you can get it if you're in the US. For some reason they're not allowed to export it. Not even to Canada, I don't think.

If you like Bawls (and who does'nt?) try Guarana Antarctica. It's a brazillian soda.

Sea, I love Red Bull and Rockstar for just that reason. I love to be alert and energized.

"If you like Bawls (and who does'nt?)"

Me. I've never tasted it, being outside the 'shipping zone'.
There are other sugar/caffeine fixes I can get from ThinkGeek though, which DO ship to the UK. Although without Bawls, I'm missing out. I know it.

I think we have Guarana in the UK, too. Small, slender lime-green can which you pay about £1.50 for. (For which price you could get three cokes.)

Oh yeh. Make with the drugs people. Make with them.

Has anyone ever tried pep pills? I've always wondered whether they work.

anything that effects the brain should be outlawed

Uh, that just about covers everything, BB. From food, sleep, oxygen to even h2g2. So I hope you were being ironic there.

Apparently there's a bloke who buys Bawls in the US, and ships them out as a reseller to non-US countries. Not sure on the legality of all that though.

was on about drugs ok ?

"anything that effects the brain" is less than specific.
I know. Let's have a discussion.

Why do you think all mind affecting substances should be 'outlawed'? If you outlawed caffeine, you couldn't have tea, even. And let's not start on cigarettes and alcohol - nicotine is a noted stress reliever (thus affects the brain) and as for alcohol - well, we all know how that affects our brains. Your take on this, BB?

yeah well i dont drink or smoke .some illegal substances not only effect the brain but in the long run causes serious damage

You old lefty. So what is it to you? Personally I don't worry myself with that too much. If complete strangers want to slowly kill themselves, it has no impact on my life. And if they're doing it with legalised substances like alcohol and cigarettes, even better - they're pumping money into the economy.

Who am I to argue with that? For as long as it's not people who I should be concerned about, anyway.

BB, are you sure you're not already too late?

We have three sources for Red Bull here. Made in Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. Each has a slightly different formula but they all taste about the same. *goes to get bottle* *back* Hmm, I've had it already. I wanted to list the ingredients. It comes in a small bottle here, not a can. Two shades of blue, red, and black lettering. Not carbonated either. It's usually mixed in drinks so you can drink all night and have a wicked hangover the next day, same there?

For the carbonated, canned versions we have Monster, XTC, Hensons, and Silver. That I remember.

why have you taken the time to explain the different varietys of red bull? what use could that possibly have? im on about crack and cocaine users talk about them thinking they are from another planet i dunno some folk

Well, we /were/ just discussing the differences between drinks of its kind between both sides of the Atlantic - I guess that's where it comes in.

I drink red bull (tastes so bad keeps you up all night) usually with Vodka; but as I say both are foul tasting drinks, put them together and it tastes strange but nice.

On mind altering drugs - I smoke - and nicotine lowers the activation potential of nerves. I drink - and that lowers the realisation potential of logic, thought and communication. I have tried illegal substances (comedowns were never worth the highs so never touch now and so not bothered to find out the effects.

The one question I have on it all is if they are meant to slowly kill you how come the last 6 newspaper articles on the longest lived people in the world all listed as drinking (usually 1 a day) and smoking (never given amount) as there reasons for being long-lived.

Just think how long the could have lived if they HADN'T smoked or drunk. And besides, it is just a coincidence. Ask any insurance person whether they would rather insure a smoking, drinking person or a non-smoking, drinking person. The statistics indisputably show that smoking is definately a slow killer, and drinking to excess is too (although taken in small amounts may actually be good for you).

As for the argument that "people slowly killing themselves is no bother to me", and that "since it is with cigarettes and booze it helps the economy" (to paraphrase), well, that is actually wrong. People who smoke and drink are a huge drain on the economy through the inevitable health care bills they run up. The taxes on booze and cigarettes don't come anywhere close to compensating for the burden they put on the economy. So, in fact, what they do to themselves, DOES affect you in the form of higher taxes to pay for their health bills.

It's a bit of a Mum and apple pie issue, isn't it? Drugs are bad, sobriety should rule, but it doesn't so why? No amount of argument is going to change the facts and the *War on Drugs* is a horrible failure. Government providing free injection sites or even legalizing drug use reduces harm by reducing risk and profit makers. Absolute illegality and subsequent harsh penalties like death reduce it as well, but neither make it disappear. If you walk down the street of a foreign compound in Saudi Arabia where alcohol is forbidden, every fourth or fifth house has the smell of a still in the basement. If this thread is just going to endlessly discuss pro and con over the drug issue I for one will move on.

the more who are able to access drugs the more deaths will happen .same with the gun laws in the states .It stands to reason the more guns the more folk shot

Blech. Red Bull. There're caffienated beverages even /I/ won't drink, and I'm an addict.

As for drugs, guns kill /other/ people. Drugs only kill other people when they're illicit and start gang wars. I'm all for legalizing all drugs and banning other forms of deadly weapons... like cars.

More people die in alcohol related deaths than ALL drug related deaths combined. Add the smoking related death figures to it, and it just proves that most people are stupid and don't know the meaning of the word "self-control". Those figures don't mean that drugs are bad. I know plenty of people who take drugs, and although I do not condone the breaking of the law (and never will), I don't know anyone who has died because they walked past a drug and it killed them. People die in substance related deaths through the following things -

*Overdoing it - that is, taking too much of it.
*The drug being mixed with nasty things like rat poison and tar.
*Not knowing what they are doing before they do it.

Taking heroin once will not turn you into a junkie.
Drinking on drink will not implode your liver.
Smoking one joint does not mean you will get schizophrenia.

FACT. And don't try to tell me otherwise. I've done my research. Throwing studies at me is pointless - for every study, there is another that will contradict it.

If a drug kills you, it's because of the above things. However, like with everything, if you act like a moron you're going to be a candidate for the Darwin awards.

End of.