25 Mar 2014

Many clients come to Suncoast Rehab with a long drug list.  One of the most common drugs on this list is marijuana.  This isn’t the case at just our rehab.  In 2012 alone, 2.4 million Americans tried marijuana.  A recent Yale University study found that marijuana abuse is associated with an increased likelihood of young people abusing prescription drugs.  As the nation gets more and more lax about marijuana abuse, these numbers have escalated.

What is Marijuana? 
Marijuana joint

Cannabis, marijuana, weed, pot, grass – these are all names for the same drug.  This drug comes from plants called cannabis sativa or cannabis indica – or a hybridized strain of both.  It’s commonly smoked in a cigarette called a joint, dub or el – or it’s smoked in a water pipe called a bong.  Pot is also baked into brownies or even concentrated into oil.

The chemical in marijuana that gets people high is called THC.  This is the compound that synthetic marijuana tries to reproduce with illegal chemicals.  THC affects the parts of the brain which influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, perception, and coordinated movement.  Often the effects individuals abusing marijuana are going for are a happy, euphoric state.  Marijuana, especially in high doses, can also make the person smoking it feel extremely paranoid or panicky during their high.

Some additional effects of marijuana are:

  • Dry mouth
  • Impaired judgment
  • Delayed reaction time
  • Poor coordination
  • Hallucinations
  • Anxiety
  • Increased heart rate
  • Infections or illnesses which affect the lungs
  • Heart attack
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Psychotic behavior

THC accumulates in the fatty tissues of the liver, lungs, testes, and other organs.  In fact, a urine test can show that marijuana was smoked for two weeks or even longer after the last puff.  Daily smokers can test positive 45 days after use and even heavier smokers can test THC positive 90 days after they last abused the drug.

Marijuana Facts 
Supportive family

There are adults out there who believe that marijuana is okay for their child to experiment with, because they experimented with it when they were young – some 15-40 years previous.  There is a HUGE misconception about modern marijuana.  Here are the facts:

1. Marijuana’s THC levels can be vastly different than those experienced by the older generation.  In the 70’s, Mexican weed had about 4% THC.  In present times you can buy pot with up to around 35% THC.  This is due to the amount of cultivation that has occurred over the years among drug growers.

2. Cannabis use in the teen years increases the likelihood of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts as an adult.  Additionally, when marijuana is used to treat depression, it has been found that once the drug begins to wear off, the user may experience an even deeper depression than what they started with before the pot.

3. Weed is addictive.  An estimated 9% of users become addicted to marijuana.  This number increases when the users begin at a young age – about 1 in every 6 teen abusers of marijuana will become addicted.  The addiction rate jumps up vastly when individuals use marijuana daily – about 25-50% of daily users will become addicted to pot.

4. Because marijuana is primarily a psychologically addictive drug, with few physical withdrawal symptoms, some people question how addictive it is.  However, withdrawal from marijuana is consistently associated with irritability, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and cravings for the drug. While these are undoubtedly less stressful than the pain experienced during withdrawal from some other drugs, withdrawal from prolonged use of marijuana is definitely uncomfortable and not a challenge to be minimized.

If you or someone you know is addicted to marijuana or to any other drug, contact us today at (877) 850-7355.  Our program is completely holistic and drug-free.

Refs: SAMHSA.gov, CTpost.com, DrugAbuse.gov, PsychologyToday.com, USAToday.com, adai.uw.edu

NARCONON SUNCOAST

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION