As Marijuana Use Rises, More People Are Seeking Treatment for Addiction
By KEVIN HELLIKER
May 2, 2006
People are aware of the addictive potential of alcohol, cocaine, heroin,
even gambling. But the perception persists that marijuana isn't
addictive.
The doggedness of this myth may be attributable to the campaign to
legalize the drug, as well as the comparatively subtle costs of
marijuana addiction. But there is virtually no debate among American
researchers, who have been documenting and studying marijuana addiction
for more than two decades. Now, Cambridge University Press has combined
the results of their federally funded studies -- most already published
in peer-reviewed journals -- in a new book called "Cannabis Dependence."
Email [email protected], and read Tara Parker-Pope's responses in
Health Mailbox.The book offers substantial scientific evidence of what
Marijuana Anonymous members know firsthand -- that the euphoria induced
by THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be addictive. Studies
show that between 2% and 3% of U.S. marijuana users become addicted
within two years of first trying the drug, which is scientifically known
as cannabis. About 10% of those who try it become addicted at some
point.
Now, addiction-treatment statistics are showing dramatic growth in
marijuana-related problems. A study issued last month by the University
of Maryland's Center for Substance Abuse Research examined the drug of
choice for Americans seeking treatment for addiction during the decade
that ended in 2003. It found that the percentage of addicts who cited
marijuana as their primary problem more than doubled to 16% from 7%,
while alcohol fell to 41% from 57%. Among illegal drugs, only opiates
ranked higher than marijuana as a problem for treatment seekers.
Marijuana's rise in the ranks of problem drugs may reflect a big spike
in usage. The number of Americans age 12 and older using marijuana at
least once a month jumped to 14.6 million in 2004 from 10.1 million in
1996, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, which adds that some of that jump may be
attributable to a change in surveying methods.
To study marijuana addiction, the contributors to "Cannabis Dependence"
-- a group of researchers at universities across the U.S. -- published
newspaper advertisements offering treatment to people unable to quit
using the drug. Invariably, hundreds stepped forward. The typical
volunteer was a white-collar man in his thirties who smoked marijuana
daily and didn't much abuse alcohol or other drugs. "Their substance of
choice is marijuana," says Roger A. Roffman, an editor of "Cannabis
Dependence" and a University of Washington professor of social work.
The researchers found that the overall rate of addiction among marijuana
users is slightly lower than for imbibers of alcohol. But among people
who use marijuana daily, the rate of addiction is significantly higher
than among daily drinkers. Addiction is diagnosed when a person
experiences at least three of seven indicators, such as failure to
control usage, preoccupation with the drug and withdrawal symptoms.
The addictiveness of marijuana is underappreciated in part because
legalization advocates tend to play down the problem. But a bigger
factor may be that marijuana addiction typically doesn't kill, wreck
careers, ruin health or otherwise wreak the sort of tragedies that make
headlines. Although studies suggest that marijuana can cause
neurological and cardiovascular damage, that evidence remains
inconclusive and largely connected to smoking the drug, which isn't
necessary. Marijuana-enriched olive oil can deliver a powerful high.
Yet if marijuana addiction were benign, thousands of Americans wouldn't
be seeking to kick the habit each year. In treatment, many express a
sense of being unable to move forward in their personal and professional
lives while in a constant state of marijuana intoxication. Often,
marijuana addiction damages relationships. Its illegality can get a user
arrested.
Then there are the symptoms of withdrawal: "irritability, anger,
nervousness, sleep difficulty, change in appetite, physical discomfort,"
says Alan J. Budney, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
addiction specialist.
The typical absence of dramatic consequences can make marijuana
addiction difficult to break. The memory of brushes with death, jail and
destitution can help keep a heroin user or alcoholic from relapsing. But
the more-subtle costs of marijuana addiction are easier to forget.
Research shows that staying clean is just as hard for marijuana addicts
as for heroin addicts, says Robert S. Stephens, chairman of psychology
at Virginia Tech University and "Cannabis Dependence" editor.
Initially, meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
provided little help to a Chicago marijuana addict named Bob, who asked
that his last name not be used for this article. "I would hear people
talk about liver damage, job losses, broken marriages -- stuff that had
never happened to me," says Bob, a white-collar worker in his late 20s
at that time.
On the surface, his life appeared to be well-managed. He was pursuing a
college degree at night and competing in triathlons on weekends. But his
sense of accomplishment was utterly undermined by his incessant need to
sneak off and smoke joints. He even bought a car expressly for the
purpose of having a private place to get high on his lunch hour in
downtown Chicago. For an entire decade, he got high about four times a
day.
Ultimately, he came to realize he was no less an addict than is the
alcoholic or the heroin user. His last toke came in November of 1998.
Soon afterward he started a Chicago meeting of Marijuana Anonymous.
After seven clean years, he says, he still has cravings: "I'll catch a
whiff of pot on the street, and my mouth starts watering."
* Email: [email protected].
|
ABOUT US
