Marijuana Addiction

The dangers and harm done by marijuana use has been under debate for decades and show no signs of lessening. Whether marijuana addiction exists or not is even more hotly debated. Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol or other substances despite adverse social, mental and physical consequences. When addiction exists, the drug controls the individual rather than the individual controlling the usage. Statistics do show increasing numbers of people entering addiction treatment reporting marijuana as their primary drug of abuse. Add to this the much stronger strains of marijuana available and the tendency to mix the drug with other substances such or crack and PCP and the potential for addiction becomes more pronounced. Rather than endlessly debate the issue, one should simply look at the marijuana use of self or a loved one against the above definition.

The term ‘Alcoholic’ is simply the name given to someone addicted to alcohol. Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated and compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances despite adverse social, mental, and physical consequences. All the various formulas regarding how many drinks, how often, are meaningless when reviewed against the above definition. The compulsive seeking and use could be by the minute, hour, day, etc. The key is compulsive seeking and use, despite what it does to self, family, or career. It is not that the alcoholic doesn’t care; it is that the use has become compulsive and the cravings, guilt, and depression keep him or her drinking.

When considering any form of alcohol treatment the following elements of treatment should be looked for in order to insure maximum chance for lasting success without constant reversion or relapse. 1. A safe, gentle cessation and withdrawal from alcohol use. (Medically supervised as needed) 2. A full detoxification of the body to remove metabolites of alcohol or other drugs and toxins from the body. The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program achieves this and many report an end to cravings following this action. 3. Life skill training segments to enable the individual to confront and be freed from feelings of guilt and depression that accompany the alcoholic lifestyle and are very often factors leading up to alcoholism to begin with. 4. The ability to face the present and effectively plan for tomorrow, including repairing what damage one can. When one is feeling better (physically and mentally) and performing better in life without alcohol than with it, then they will cease to require or crave or need alcohol and have a realistic shot at a happy and productive life and future.

With chronic use, tolerance for methamphetamine can develop. In an effort to intensify the desired effects, users may take higher doses of the drug, take it more frequently, or change their method of drug intake. In some cases, abusers forego food and sleep while indulging in a form of binging known as a ‘un’, injecting as much as a gram of the drug every 2 to 3 hours over several days until the user runs out of the drug or is too disorganized to continue. Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, characterized by intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and out-of-control rages that can be coupled with extremely violent behavior. Although there are no physical manifestations of a withdrawal syndrome when methamphetamine use is stopped, there are several symptoms that occur when a chronic user stops taking the drug. These include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and an intense craving for the drug.

We can’t help but wonder what causes one person to become in drug or substance abuse while another person can walk away from it. Drugs or alcohol are use in an effort to handle a problem or physical/emotional pain of some sort. The drug is found to offer short term relief to the problem or pain. What happens in many cases is the individual continues to use drugs and alcohol to mask the symptoms and obtain relief rather than handle the actual source of the problem or pain. Most drugs used have a tolerance factor where it takes more and more of the drug more and more often to achieve the desired results. This leads to abusive and addictive use which adds additional problems and pains and yet at this point the person thinks there is no other solution or relief available. Thus the person enters the downward spiral of abuse drug and substance abuse and addiction.