Reader Feedback On Drugs And Gaming

The following comments are from posts on TwitchGuru's game forums or email letters regarding the article Gaming's New Drug Culture: Sex, Drugs and Counter-Strike that was published last week. Again, some comments have been edited for content, grammar and spelling.

Ninjahedge writes: "People who use the drugs to enhance play ability ARE ADDICTED. Maybe not to the game itself, but to competition. They will win at all costs. They are doing the same thing for the game that adults later do in the business world. How is it not comparable to a Wall Street guy snorting coke or taking amphetamines to stay "on his game?" I think it is something that you have to keep an eye on, and it is a problem, but I think this signals more that video games are becoming more of a common factor in people's lives rather than drugs becoming common in video games."

Killz86 writes: "I took Ritalin from the ages of 7-14, and it is a very evil drug. Also people that use this drug for gaming and such are stupid. Ritalin should be banned from anybody using it. I have ADHD and it made me a zombie. It is a very evil drug and the government should ban it because it does not help. It only makes the kids that use it worse, and for the people that use Ritalin, it will mess them up for life. I know this for a fact; I was on it. My family doctor gave it to me and I will never take or use this drug again."

The prescription drug Ritalin, which is used to treat ADHD

Infornography writes: "Really, this is embarrassing. I honestly thought better of you than this, Rob. The first page or two of this sounds like nothing more than your standard fear-mongering that the anti-video game groups have been pushing for years only with the added spin of throwing drugs into the mix. Yes, the following several pages seem to make the point that this is merely the shared cross section of two subcultures spawning a third, but if that is the case, then this is a non-issue. The quack from the game clinic seems to be postulating a new problem getting worse based on nothing more than pure conjecture seemingly supported by some isolated incidents and the anecdotal evidence provided in the last two thirds of the article.

"On a final note, Ritalin is not evil any more than a rock that was used to bludgeon someone's head open is evil. It is a chemical. The lazy corporate shill psychiatrists/psychologists who go with the pill popping method of behavioral correction and the unethical corporations behind them are the evil ones. They are effectively prescribing cocaine (same family of drugs and roughly as powerful as Ritalin) to children and college students."

Ninjahedge writers again: "I think it is complete rubbish. I have no idea what friends this guy had that got him in with a bunch of sniffers that like tub diving, but this was beyond a bunch of techies getting wired on Bawlz or Red bull and playing until the wee hours.

"I do not know why he stayed after seeing people sniff coke and pop pills. My ass and laptop would have been out of there as soon as I saw the little baggies. These guys do NOT represent the mainstream here, or even the majority of tweaked LANers; they are a bunch of f'd up kids that would rather buzz themselves up in front of a game than find anything else to do."

Lordaarvark2 writes: "I personally thought the article was just one of those that make you say, "What's the point?" Because, of course, someone somewhere is going to use drugs and play videogames in conjunction. And, likewise, somewhere, someone is going to play videogames and NOT use drugs. That, of course, doesn't mean that drugs are commonplace at LAN parties. I just hope that people who have never been to any LAN parties and are not experienced on the subject don't get the wrong idea and try to go out and ruin other people's fun. I could see a parent or someone out of the know reading that and going bananas. Yeah, I believe that these people were doping up at a LAN party. But that definitely doesn't mean that everyone at every LAN party does it. And that, to me, was a point that the article seemed to be missing.

If this gets the conversation off topic, I will gladly delete it. But I was just wondering, why is there such opposition to the video gaming culture? WHY? I find people blaming the most random things on videogames. My mom for instance, and this may not be a good example, totally flips out whenever I don't hear her call or am a little late responding or something. I know for a fact, that if I were doing ANYTHING other than gaming, for instance, such as eating broccoli, or doing push-ups or cutting myself; she wouldn't have a problem. And I've noticed similar happenings outside of my own house. Why? Why are gamers still not accepted?"