[john kane]

thanks for all the replies, ill try to respond to each of them:

luckyjimm, thanks for sharing your story, well done on overcoming your problem and sounds like things alcohol wise have been going well. alcohol clearly had a bad impact on you.

nineinchal, lol nice saying.

alienboy, i first smoked marijuana aged around 16-17, smoke roughly once a week with friends, smoked a fair bit out in oz in my gap year, but quit after 1st year at uni becuase it's not a social drug for me, just mongs me out and makes me fall asleep.

svenson, i dont think i need professional advice, im doing what a lot of the 20-30 age group do, just they don't want to quit.

al mirpuri, errr yeah, you seem a bit extreme in your views. alcohol imo helps you relax and not constantly be worried about success etc, it makes things seem funnier, makes situations more enjoyable, overall, if it didnt have health consequences, its has desirable effects. Sexual performance is worse, but then your far more likely to get some if you go out and have a few drinks, intellectual performance is worse, but you still learn a lot from interacting with others and seeing what they are doing. i'd be far poorer if i didnt drink as i'd never of gotten into online poker. 'You are disgusting', okay....i sense a patrick bateman wannabe.

PLOlover, that sounds great, ill go google that, could really help i think.

eaglebaueri, having fun when drunk and having to be drunk to have fun are two entirely different statements, i think i am the former. i have fun going to watch football, playing sports, playing poker, playing playstation, watching tv, reading (although i dont do this enough), going out for lunch or dinner with friends, reading about the financial markets, and a few other things im sure.

greywolfnyc, if i lived by myself and never spoke to friends, then i'd never drink. i never wake up and think 'i need a drink', i very rarely will instigate going out, its usually someone else persuading me (i am very easily persuaded though). the problem is i guess if im going to not spend time playing online poker and go to go to the pub, i might as well have as fun time as possible i.e. get drunk. but that doesn't mean i want to get drunk all the time, far from it.

anyways, thanks again for all the replies, this is something i really want to try to do. just it's very hard when you have things like having 7 housemates and another few good friends all leaving uni in the next 7 days, all with 'this is my last night, lets go out and get hammered'. to say 'sorry im staying in' when it's your friend's last night ever at uni is kinda hard given you've probably been out with them at least once or twice a week for the last few years.