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May 13 - July 14, 2019
Tolerance is one of the hallmarks of physiological dependence. It occurs when repeated use of the same dose no longer produces as dramatic an effect.
The second symptom of dependence is withdrawal. Withdrawal refers to discomfort associated with the absence of the drug.
Many
assert that marijuana does not produce any withdrawal at all.
People who smoke marijuana a few days in a row report more anxiety without the drug (Haney, Ward, Comer, Foltin, & Fischman, 1999b). Thus, marijuana can lead to withdrawal and therefore dependence.
A third symptom of dependence involves use that exceeds initial intention.
The fourth symptom of dependence is failed attempts to decrease use or a constant desire for the drug.
A fifth symptom of dependence involves loss of time related to use.
The sixth symptom of dependence is reduced activities because of drug use.
The presence of this symptom suggests that the drug has taken over so much of daily life that the user would qualify as dependent.
The last symptom of dependence requires continued use despite problems.
Recurrent use regardless of continued occupational, social, interpersonal, psychological, or health trouble obviously shows dependence.
A subset of individuals may experience negative consequences from drugs that do not qualify for dependence but still lead to the diagnosis of substance abuse. This diagnosis requires significant impairment or distress directly related to the use of the drug.
The diagnosis requires only one of the four symptoms that appear in the current criteria (APA, 1994). These symptoms include interference with major obligations, intoxication in unsafe settings, legal problems, and continued use in the face of troubles.
The first symptom of abuse, interference with major obligations, requires impaired performance at work, home, or school.
The second symptom requires intoxication in an unsafe setting.
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML, 1996a) clearly states that driving after smoking is unacceptable.
Note that no negative consequences actually need to occur; their increased likelihood can qualify for abuse.
The third symptom included in the diagnosis of substance abuse concerns legal problems.
The fourth symptom of drug abuse concerns consistent use despite problems.
Thus, more than four out of five people who had smoked marijuana in the previous year reported no problems related to the drug, but 15% might improve their lives by limiting their consumption (NIDA, 1991).
Other research supports the idea that a percentage of marijuana users experience troubles with the drug. Approximately 9% of one group of smokers followed for 5 years developed negative consequences (Weller & Halikas, 1980).
These included negative effects of the drug, problems controlling use, and interpersonal difficulties. They also included unfavorable opinions about use. The negative effects of the drug included physical health problems, blackouts, or a subjective feeling of dependence. Problems controlling use consisted of 48-hour binges, use in the early morning, or an inability to limit consumption.
Descriptions in popular culture create the impression that marijuana intoxication produces an insatiable urge for more and different drugs, something similar to the way eating salt makes people thirsty. Data do not support these ideas.
The cannabinoids, however,
have their own receptor that does not react directly to drugs like heroin and cocaine.
The lack of evidence for an obvious, biological stepping-stone inspired theorists to formulate ideas about marijuana as a gateway drug.
Hume emphasized that a cause creates an effect only under certain
conditions. The conditions are association, temporal antecedence, and isolation.
No animal experiments have found that exposure to THC increases the likelihood of using other drugs or of even working for more THC (Schenk & Partridge, 1999; Wiley, 1999). Thus, gateway theory’s only support comes from correlational studies.
Because only the users of hard drugs serve as participants, the data neglect the many, many people who consumed cannabis but no other illicit drugs.
The use of marijuana also does not always precede the use of harder drugs, limiting the support for temporal antecedence.
Many people who abuse hard drugs used marijuana first, but few people who smoke marijuana go on to consume other intoxicants. One study found that 75% of men who used marijuana between 10 and 99 times never used any other illicit drug (Kandel & Davies, 1992).
Another alternative explanation of drug sequencing concerns problem behavior theory.
Essentially, cannabis does not cause cocaine consumption, but a subset of people who like marijuana also like cocaine.
In addition to statistical independence and problem behavior theory, a third set of findings also supports arguments against marijuana as an isolated cause of hard drug use.
Studies that show personality traits correlate with the use of...
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may mean that a personality characteristic led to both marijuana u...
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One potential path for marijuana’s impact on substance abuse concerns an individual’s identity as an illicit drug user.
Another pathway may involve exposure to the illicit drug market.
Finally, perhaps marijuana users would be more likely to try other drugs during intoxication.
There is no evidence that cannabis creates physiological changes that increase the desire for drugs.
People think and remember differently during cannabis intoxication. Chronic consumption of the drug might change aspects of cognition, too.
People who are high show obvious problems concentrating, attending to details, focusing on goals, performing two actions simultaneously, and learning new, complex information.
In some studies, marijuana intoxication impairs the ability to react quickly, show restraint, and...
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Intoxicated people should probably avoid any task that requires fast reflexes...
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In addition, chronic exposure to cannabis may change cognition. Some studies reveal cognitive problems associated with long-term use of cannabis, but many others do not.
These studies suggested that chronic smoking of marijuana likely does not produce major changes in general cognitive abilities like intelligence, memory, and the ability to learn.
Cannabis intoxication alters thoughts.
Generally, marijuana does not alter performance on easy tasks but impairs complex ones.
