Marijuana Can Help Curb Alcohol and Prescription Drug Abuse
A new study published in Harm Reduction Journal by researchers at the University of California, Berkley, suggests that marijuana is a safe and effective substitute for alcohol and prescription drugs.
In the study, 40 percent of marijuana users said they have used marijuana to control their alcohol addictions, 66 percent said they used marijuana instead of prescription drugs, and 26 percent said marijuana helped them stay off other illegal drugs.
According to lead researcher Amanda Reiman:
“Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol. This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use […] People might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side-effects, if it were socially acceptable and available.”
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Why we become addicted often over shadows why someone needs a substance or activity to be happy and the debate on why some people become addicted to drugs and alcohol will possibly rage on for decades to come. Some new studies have seemed to prove that alcoholism can be contributed to genetics. While other studies show how over a period of time our brain chemistry changes from using alcohol or drugs and causes some people to depend on them for happiness. Then of course there are the many studies that have been done on how ones environment and lack of good parenting can cause people to become addicted to drugs and alcohol. Finally there are also studies on process addictions, like sex , gambling , and shopping, that while no physical addiction occurs, explains how some people become just as addicted to these things as people do to drugs and alcohol. I could go on, but for this self proclaimed "High Bottom" alcoholic with over 13 years sobriety, it no longer matters that much to me what the studies show or what some ones opinion is on how to treat alcoholism. I tried the pot route myself back in my drinking days to stop, but it led right back to my favorite drug alcohol. Now of course I realize this was my experience and perhaps it could work for someone else, but all I ask is why do we need any drug or activity like the ones I mentioned to be happy? I attest that it's because of the fears and insecurities one has in life and with themselves, and an underlying reason why they have them. For some people, like myself, they begin at an early age and grow and again like myself, after drinking alcohol it simply sticks. They find that feeling of "every things going to be all right" that had been evading them in life and like it so much that drinking or drugging eventually becomes a way of life for them. The insanity of using drugs or alcohol for any reason may be apparent to those better able to cope in life, but very few people who depend on drugs or alcohol to cope rarely do. Even when it becomes painfully apparent after their lives have been shattered that they need to stop, they still won't and so I ask again why? Because somewhere along the line the alcohol or drug use stuck. They never tried to figure out what the under lying cause was for their drug or alcohol use and even if they knew, many wouldn't ask for help because of the shame and stigma attached to addiction. I know this doesn't necessarily all relate to prescription drug addiction , except I suspect, for the shame and stigma part. However, if I had no choice but to take a prescription drug with addictive qualities do to an accident or illness, I wouldn't be afraid to do so. I changed who I was through the use of The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and found the happiness I had been looking for. But it was the spiritual and personal growth I experienced outside the rooms of AA that eventually helped me become happy with who I was. It doesn’t really matter what avenue we choose to help us change as a person, as long as we strive each day to be better than we were before. It is by doing this that we can find the happiness that almost everyone holds inside and eventually love ourselves enough to be happy with who we are. However, it’s vitally important to first find the under lying reasons for our unhappiness and treat that, but without another drug.
Ask any drug addict what they need to cure their problem, and the answer will ALWAYS be more, better, or different drugs .
This isn't a study, it's a comedy routine. What'd they do, poll winos at detox centers?
I agree that we can redirect ourselves,The drug and alcohol test were positive for over a month while THC was leaving his body. You can find on websites descriptions of physical withdrawal by marijuana addicts who are trying to stop smoking after years. We also had two drug counselors who had been former addicts, with dual addictions to alcohol and marijuana
You really don't substitute one addiction for another. Alcoholics that have never used Mary Jane before have the best results as their body has no tolerence. I've personally seen people with horrible shakes from alcohol withdrawls introduce THC-Marijuana into their systems and the shakes and other negative affects not only lessen, they disappear almost immediately. Argue as you may, marijuana is not physically addictive...the substances that this helps with are. Once the body is over the withdrawls(30 to 45 days), it is supposed to be much easier to get them off the weed than the substance(s) they were previously hooked on. This is not new info, many MD's have suggested this as a way to kick the habit for decades, but they have to also warn the person about the worst affects possible with any sort of marijuana use -wether daily or not-getting caught and prosecuted for posession or use.
BNDD, DEA, ODSAP and all the others don't matter one iota. Whether pot is safe or addictive is immaterial.
There are two reasons why marijuana will not be legalized -
1 - MONEY - A multi-billion dollar government bureaucracy has developed around the the illegal marijuana business. .
. Legions of law enforcement personnel, from cops, to clerks, to judges, to jailers all have a stake in seeing pot remain illegal.
. The manufacturers who produce the helicopters, boats, weapons, surveillance, communications and detection equipment, vehicles, etc. all stand to lose if weed were ignored.
. The medical and health industries would no longer be able to reap rewards from court mandated treatment programs.
. Drug makers would lose sales to self medication with marijuana.
. The liquor industry would lose sales as people found they could relax without drinking alcohol .
. The politician's reelection coffers would not be as full without contributions from those groups that benefit from illegal pot.
2 - OPINION - Not public opinion, but the self-opinion of our politicians.
. After preaching pot prohibition and the need for tough drug policies, it's beyond the scope of our politicians to put their endorsement on anything that might jeopardize alienating those voters who supported that position.
The ONLY way to change the law is to change the lawmakers . Stop voting for the same old, same old. Forget parties and whether they profess to be right, left or lost in space - get rid of ALL of them by voting for candidates with new, fresh faces and a willingness to do what is right for America.
This country was founded by businessmen and gentlemen farmers, people who worked hard and understood finances. We have abandoned them and their principles and are being ruled by lawyers who make and interpret the rules as they see fit, taking us, the People, from being citizens to subjects in the process.
Take your country back before it's too late.
The addiction level of marijuana is approximately 10%,the reason it is approximate is that not all people tell the truth when asked if they use marijuana . The total number of marijuana users in the US is unknown and only estimated. The withdrawal from marijuana
addiction is"possible" irritability,"possible" lack of appetite,and may cause loss of sleep for some. The addiction to marijuana is a mental addiction,not physical.
The withdrawal from alcohol can cause "possible" death.
And though I have no experience with anyone using the opiates,I understand that it can be wicked and very intense with the possibility of death also.
So trading an addiction of opiates or alcohol for an addiction to marijuana would be considered a step up,with only a 10% chance of being addicted in the first place.
The medical claims for marijuana are so many that it sounds impossible,but before the 1937 Tax Act,there were over 150 medicines that used marijuana in them. Of course,they didn't use the term marijuana,that was slang for cannabis used by negros and is further proof that the original outlawing of marijuana was racially instigated,just as statistics prove today,that it is racially
enforced.
I will give you 1 example of the efficiency of marijuana as a medicine ,and the proof comes from NIDA and the National Institute of Health,the very people whose job it is to fight legalization ,by any means necessary.
If a person ingests too much marijuana,the only side effect is you will go to sleep. Without any danger of physical or psychological damage. It would replace Ambience CR,that has possible death as a side effect.
Ambience CR is the #1 sleep aid in America and costs appx $90
a month for 30 pills. For appx $30,you can grow enough marijuana to put you to sleep every night for a year,in your back yard.
Now do you understand why big pharmacy gives millions of dollars to election funds?
It is more of a psychological one. Replacing alcohol with marijuana is exactly as bad, psychologically, as is replacing over-eating with ecstasy, or crack.
It is not a very sound long-term treatment to replace the substance to which one is addicted with another. Depending on the substance, however, I'll concede that it might be a medically necessary short-term treatment in the case of severe alcoholism or heroin dependency. Only because, like you pointed out, quitting 'cold-turkey' can be fatal in certain cases.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
Humans are animals 'Solar Sanitizer' ( I like that moniker) - and as such we are subject to things that other animals are.
Koala bears are the ultimate drug abusers; the eucalyptus tree- which is all of their diet - has the effect of 'stoning them'.
Elephants like to eat fruits and get drunk.
Black Bears get drunk on honey and fermented fruit .
Birds ( When I was a teenager I ran a sober up clinic' for cedar waxwings) get drunk on berries on a regular basis..
The list of animals that eat and drink things that 'stone them' is long.
WE are animals; we are the human animals; and as animals we share the desire to change our reality. We can do that with drugs including alcohol ; or by buying a new car; going to church ; getting new clothes; getting a different hair cut... whatever - we love to change our reality.
So if one is using alcohol; which is really bad for you in excess- to change their reality; and they could be using something else... you might argue that another drug is not appropriate... but you cannot argue that the need to change our reality can be stopped.
An argument in that direction is led by a lemming - and headed right to a cliff of oblivion.
You are not a lemming and it certainly doesn't sound like you..
As we cannot change this part of our psychological makeup- redirecting it is the most we can ask for. Yes; I think if you can redirect alcohol addiction to Marijuana use... it is a good direction; and one that is more likely to succeed in the long run; than other alternatives.
and you can also make the argument that pot being illegal sometimes causes people to become alcoholics and hard drug addicts.
I personally started smoking pot my senior year of highschool and on into college . I smoked pot every day at least twice/day for 4 or 5 years. Of course i went to the ocassional party and drank and took other harder drugs , but never used alcohol or hard drugs regularlly. But when it came time to get a job that had a drug test i had to quit smoking pot (which i did without the least bit of withdrawal). But since i still wanted to alter my reality as you say I started drinking every day of the week. Then i found out about how good painkillers make you feel and only stay in your system a few days for drug tests and can even be prescribed to you for almost nothing. To make a long story short i ended up becoming addicted to opiates and drank alchohol regularly. I wound up in a methadone clinic because i couldnt handle the opiate withdrawal, which was the worst thing i ever did. I finally got off of methadone after a year and half. It was by far the worst 2 week experience of my life fighting those withdrawls even though I had came down slowly as recomended by the clinic. Less intense effects lasted months and I probably couldnt have made it without smoking pot to cope. Now i smoke pot a few times a week average and when I need to i quit to clean my system for job drug tests (which in my line of work i work for a new company at least once a year) i stop smoking for a few weeks without the least bit of withdrawal and get a new job.
So for all the people that are saying pot should not be used to treat addiction your totally wrong . You should be talking about METHADONE being a bad thing to treat addiction!
I agree that we can redirect ourselves, and even find altered states of mind without chemicals . I do no't agree nor disagree with your assertion that humans "need" to change our reality.
I also am not convinced that we "need" reality-altering chemicals in our lives. Since I know hundreds of people who abstain from such and are perfectly happy, nay, Improving their quality of life daily, I reject that I, or they, are lemmings. I have seen the living proof against your assertion, and it was not a cliff.
But, yes. We redirect ourselves and remove the dependency from chemicals by various methods. Not the least of which is recognizing that we were dependent on the altered state for escape from overwhelming guilt stemming from our past actions. By rectifying those actions to the best of our ability, we became free of the crushing self-loathing one instance at a time until we realized that we have nothing to feel guilty about. Freedom from that emotion, especially for a person ill-equipped to deal with it, is better than any drug I have used.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.