Using marijuana to fight substance abuse

[The Straight Story]

Using marijuana to fight substance abuse

BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Substituting marijuana for more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance abuse, a U.S. researchers says.

A study, published in the Harm Reduction Journal, of 350 marijuana users indicates 40 percent used marijuana to control their alcohol cravings, 66 percent as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26 percent for other, more potent, illegal drugs.

Amanda Reiman of the University of California, Berkeley, conducted the study at a medical marijuana dispensary.

"Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol," Reiman said in a statement.

"This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use in the British Isles -- people might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side-effects, if it were socially acceptable and available."

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/12/03/Using-marijuana-to-fight-substance-abuse/UPI-42081259860038/

[MH1]

1. Kind of a no-brainer.

"Attachment" to m.j. is much weaker than other substances such as alcohol and nicotine. If m.j. can be a diversion and help reduce intake and craving of the others, that seems clearly like it would be a good thing.

[montanto]

2. Works for me.

three or four hits at bedtime beats a bottle of vodka anyday.

[reggie the dog]

3. I used to drink every day for a couple of years when

I was 14 to 16, then I switched to cannabis. My grades went up, I was not depressed anymore, I got into less fights. I quit tobacco when I was 18 by "investing" in a half pound and getting a free quarter pound to smoke on instead of tobacco. I have been 100% alcohol free since I was 21, so that is 9 years now, and tobacco free since 18 so 12 years. Only drugs I do are cannabis and perhaps LSD or MDMA or shrooms once a year.

[Fly by night]

4. Re: "Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol,"

Maybe not so much. That recommendation was incorporated into the literature of the Women's Christian Temperence Union in the late 1800s.

In addition, my Indian elders have shared with me that the medicine people of many Plains and Southwestern tribes have been recommending cannabis as an alternative to alcohol since the first white men showed up to enslave their tribal members with "fire water." I recently watched Ken Burns' documentary on the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, and was struck by one Indian chief's response when L&C offered whiskey as a trade good. "Why do white men insist on trying to trade us something that only makes our people weak, sick and crazy?"

On the other hand, the peace pipe has been a useful tool for centuries.
And it wasn't always filled with tobacco.

[Fly by night]

5. There's this from a recent news article on PA's effort to establish a medical marijuana program

Pane to tout merits of medical marijuana

By JILL WHALEN (Staff Writer)
Published: December 1, 2009


The head of Serento Gardens Alcoholism & Drug Services will appear before Pennsylvania lawmakers this week to speak in favor of medical marijuana.

Ed Pane, president and chief executive officer of the Hazleton organization, said he'll deliver testimony Wednesday when the House of Representatives' Health and Human Services Subcommittee holds its first hearing on House Bill 1393, the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.

"These hearings on medical marijuana are the first of their kind" in Pennsylvania, Pane said.

Pane said he supports the use of marijuana as medicine only - and not as a recreational drug.

"My testimony is several pages," he said, noting he pulled information from scholarly research - all of which is cited and endorsed. "My specific area is to dispel the myth that this is a gateway drug to other drugs - that the medical use of it would lead to a spate of other addictions."

Pane was one of the first drug and alcoholism counselors to publicly support marijuana's medical use, but noted there is "tremendous" support among the majority of addiction counselors.

Pane said that about 20 other drug and alcoholism counselors from across the state will travel to the Capitol to speak in favor of the drug's use. In addition to those representing the clinical end, patients who have used medical marijuana will be there, too.

Pane isn't sure how lawmakers will react.

"It's an interesting subcommittee," he said. "It's a mixed bag. One or two members are completely and adamantly opposed."

House Bill 1393, sponsored by Majority Caucus Chairman Mark B. Cohen, was introduced to the House on April 29. The legislation, if passed, would allow registered patients to purchase marijuana through "compassion centers."

According to text in the bill, "Modern medical research has discovered a beneficial use for marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain or other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions, as found by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in March 1999."

Under the bill, those with "debilitating medical conditions" like cancer, glaucoma, AIDS or chronic pain would be permitted to use marijuana to treat symptoms including pain and nausea. The patients would need approval from a doctor, who would assess the patient's medical history and find that the "medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient and would likely be superior to treatment without the medical use of marijuana," according to the bill.

Marijuana sales would be taxed, and those using the drug with a doctor's approval would not be arrested or penalized, the bill states.

"Although federal law currently prohibits the use of marijuana, the laws of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and in Arizona doctors are permitted to prescribe marijuana. Pennsylvania joins this effort for the health and welfare of its citizens," the bill states.