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People suffering from opioid addiction are often desperate to quit, but can't get past the difficulties of withdrawal. While maintenance medicines such as methadone are an effective way to treat these symptoms, a new method has started to make an impact in the world of drug rehabilitation: cannabis use. With an increasing number of people turning to marijuana as an opiate withdrawal aide, it's important to examine whether this method is effective or safe.
The Alleged Effects of Marijuana on Opioid Withdrawal Over the years, there has been plenty of testimonial evidence suggesting that marijuana use is a beneficial way of getting through opiate withdrawal. For example, Kevin, a person who suffered from opiate addiction, claims to have used
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The intense back pain, lack of sleep, and severe sickness he'd felt before was nowhere near as problematic. Yes, it was still there, but he claims it was more “tolerable” than without cannabis. Another story focuses on writer Tony O'Neill and his struggle to beat heroin addiction. He claims that marijuana helped eliminate his cravings. With those cravings more or less gone, he could carefully consider the way his life had gone and reflect on ways to change. Pointedly, he states that marijuana was more effective than methadone in curbing his cravings and helping with his withdrawal symptoms. These are just two of the many testimonial stories trumpeting marijuana as an effective opioid addiction treatment. But is there any scientific evidence to back up these claims?
Studies That Seem to Back Up the Claim Surprisingly, there actually does seem to be evidence to suggest that marijuana is an effective way to treat opioid addiction. In a study titled “Impact of cannabis use during stabilization on methadone maintenance treatment,” Thomas Jefferson University scientists studied how well marijuana helped reduce the symptoms of opiate
...o treat many conditions; an ancient Chinese emperor prescribed it to cure conditions such as gout and malaria, soon its healing properties were heard around the world and the use of cannabis as a medicine spread like wild fire to many other regions (Earleywine, p. 168). In fact marijuana was legal in the United States till 1942 when against the medical communities recommendation it was removed from the list of acceptable medications. Today there are numerous studies being conducted on the effects of medical marijuana and scientists have proven its effects on treating many symptoms. According to Dale H. Gieringer in his book Medical Marijuana Handbook he states, Marijuana is proven to be effective as an anti-nauseant and an appetite stimulant for people going through chemotherapy and as an analgesic for patients suffering from chronic pain (Gieringer, p. 39).
Many of the problems associated with early sobriety do not stem directly from psychoactive substances. Instead they are associated with physical and psychological changes that occur after the substances have left the body. When a person regularly uses psychoactive drugs, the brain undergoes physical changes to cope with the presence of drugs in the body. When the drugs are removed from the body, the brain craves the drugs that it has become accustomed to and as the brain attempts to rebalance itself without the presence of psychoactive drugs the person often experiences feelings of confusion, pain, and discomfort. The symptoms that are experienced immediately after stopping drug use are called acute withdrawal. But often the symptoms do not stop at acute withdrawal. After the body makes initial adjustments to the absence of drugs, the changes that have occurred in the brain still need time to revert back to their original state. During this period, a variety of symptoms known as Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) begin to occur. In the book Uppers, Downers, All Arounders, published by CNS Productions, authors Darryl Inaba and William Cohen define PAWS as “a group of emotional and physical symptoms that appear after major withdrawal symptoms have abated” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011).
Opioids are used as pain relievers and although it does the job, there are adverse side effects. Opioids are frequently used in the medical field, allowing doctors to overprescribe their patients. The substance can be very addicting to the dosage being prescribed to the patient. Doctors are commonly prescribing opioids for patients who have mild, moderate, and severe pain. As the pain becomes more severe for the patient, the doctor is more likely to increase the dosage. The increasing dosages of the narcotics become highly addicting. Opioids should not be prescribed as pain killers, due to their highly addictive chemical composition, the detrimental effects on opioid dependent patients, the body, and on future adolescents. Frequently doctors have become carless which causes an upsurge of opioids being overprescribed.
In both these cases, medical cannabis can help reduce opioid cravings. The CBD in medical cannabis interacts with the brain’s serotonin system, which plays a role in addiction. CBD can thus reduce the risk of opioid dependence and overdose, as well as diminish withdrawal
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants (Nahas 8). Since it became illegal in 1967, there have been questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine, other than being a leisure drug. Debates between pro and con groups for the use of marijuana in the medical profession, have been heated and in recent months, referendums have been pasted in a least three states to make it accessible for medical treatment. Personally, I feel that marijuana has the potential to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, more research needs to be done to maximize its potential.
This drug is not that addicting but it sure does lead to using stronger drugs that eventually kill someone. There are so many different ways that patients can be treated without using marijuana so
Author, Andrew Johns, in his journal, “Psychiatric Effects of Cannabis,” analyzes the dangers of the drug to human beings. John’s aims to find out the effects of the drug to its users, the rehabilitation process for addicts, and the subsequent damages caused by addiction. He adopts a resilient tone to encourage determination in fighting addiction and use of cannabis to his readers.
As I attempt to present the psychological effects of marijuana, we must first consider the concept of being psychologically dependant. When you are dependant upon something, you are not necessarily unable to do without it. Rather, you begin to rely on it. That is not to say that dependency is not addiction because I do believe dependency is a form of addiction. However, marijuana does not cause the same physical withdrawal symptoms as with drugs that are considered addictive. Drugs, such as crack and heroine require extreme measures to break the body's dependency or addiction. This is the conventional understanding of what constitutes an addiction to a drug. Given the information that marijuana use lacks the ability for the body to develop a physical addiction in the vast majority of individuals, the concept of psychological addiction (dependency) becomes clearer.
...motherapy, Crohn’s disease, insomnia, glaucoma, epilepsy, migraines, lack of appetite, and arthritis. The effects on these medical issues after consumption reduce the feeling of anxiety and pain. The cannabinoids found in marijuana are scientifically proven to slow the growth of cancer cells.
Substance addiction is becoming an epidemic. While some people can quit using a substance without any help, most people need help to their recovery. Narcotics anonymous is an important support group for our society. There are many different narcotic anonymous programs to join that have meetings throughout the week. The members of the support group all share one thing in common, they suffer from different types of chemical dependency. Members help each other because they have the same problems and worries that everyone in the room has. Though they may be struggling with different stages in their life, for the most part, they all relate to what each is going through. Just as AA, NA focuses on the 12-step program. The members of
Marijuana has many bad side effects that harm the body. According to Szara Braude, marijuana slows down reactions causing problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking, and loss of coordination (Marijuana as a medicine 53). Many people use this drug not knowing wh...
Medically, marijuana has proven to be a productive drug. Studies show marijuana has helped dealing with “pain, muscle spasms, seizure disorders and nausea from cancer chemotherapy.” (Weir) Scientist believes these benefits come from a chemical compound in marijuana called cannabidiol. This chemical is not the active chemical that gives marijuana users the mind-altering effects. With the unce...
It has been frequently reported that experienced marijuana smokers tend to become intoxicated more quickly and to a greater extent than most inexperienced smokers, when they are exposed to marijuana joints with equivalent THC concentrations (Levinthal, 2012). For many years, this observation has suggested that repeated administrations of marijuana have produced sensitization, or reverse tolerance a lesser sensitivity (Levinthal, 2012). In a study, abstinence from smoking marijuana cigarettes with an approximately 2% to 3% THC levels or equivalent oral doses of THC, that’s administered four times a day over a four day period, has resulted in feelings of irritability, stomach pain, anxiety and loss of appetite that began within forty-eight hours and lasted about 2 days after withdrawal (Levinthal, 2012). There are 4 main ideas that can be associated with relapse prevention on why people seek treatment (Melemis, S.M.,
Stanley, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, and John A. Benson. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington D.C.: National Academy P, 1999.
There has been no solid evidence proven showing that patients who have and are using marijuana become addicted like other drugs even though the opposing side disagrees about this, there is no shown proof in the supporting this claim, which t...