The Marihuana Question
No PA drug rehab facility fighting drug abuse can ignore the marihuana question. More than any other substance, marihuana (or cannabis) has generated controversy because of the tremendous numbers of young persons involved.
The challenge of its use to society at large, uncertainty over the appropriateness of legal penalties, and the unknown long-term risk of chronic smoking. In addition to legitimate public health questions regarding acute and chronic adverse effects and the ethical and mental health implications of felony convictions for possession, marihuana has really become a moral and political issue.
In surveys of three consecutive classes at a major northeastern medical school, fully 50 percent of the entering class acknowledged some marihuana use. From any single report it is difficult to form a clear picture of the public health implications of marihuana usage. The best reviews of the present situation have been presented by the National Institute of Mental Health and more recently by Hollister.
In general there are five general areas which have generated concern regarding marihuana and the public health. These include the effects of chronic smoking on physical health; the question of the role of marihuana in the progression to stronger drugs; the possibility of habituation or other adverse chronic behavioral concomitants or sequelae of use (such as the amotivational syndrome); the relationship between cannabis smoking and crimes of violence; and, the problem, treatment, and consequences of acute adverse reactions to marihuana use including psychoses and panic states. To see the most affordable PA drug rehab centers, contact us today!
A number of surveys have noted several patterns of marihuana use in this country. Many persons experiment with cannabis and fail to experience the effects of the drug. This is largely because they have not learned the subtleties of smoking.
There is a second group who have experienced the drug effects of marihuana to a mild degree and generally restrict their smoking to group situations. In these settings, cannabis is used in much the same way as alcohol at cocktail parties. The marihuana experience here consists of mild degrees of sedation and euphoria.
There is a third group who irregularly and casually smoke cannabis, and encounter dissociative reactions which appear to be pleasurable. While these reactions can occur in persons smoking alone or with others, this response turns the individual on to his own thoughts whose perceived value far exceeds their true worth. Moreover, there is generally some degree of sensory distortion (or “enhancement”) including time-sense impairment which usually leads the person to feel that time appears to be dragging. Finally, there is a group of individuals who use marihuana every day or nearly so and seem generally to be seeking hallucinogenic effects from it. This group usually employs other drugs as well to alter internal state. It is my impression that this group is a more disturbed population whose search for (‘better living through chemistry” has taken them to hallucinogens, amphetamines, and in some cases heroin. They are multiple drug users who eschew the traditional work ethic and find it impossible to make commitment to other people or some life course.
Some of this group seem to be suffering from an amotivational syndrome which mayor may not include a sojourn in the counterculture. The role of chronic, heavy marihuana use in the genesis or facilitation of “dropping out” is unclear. It does seem, however, that the passive solution to internal conflict, supported by repeated drug use, must encourage this transition. Contact us to find a PA drug rehab near you!