cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Research Project Seeks Treatment 





Marijuana Research Project Seeks Treatment 
Posted by FoM on June 26, 2001 at 08:56:04 PT
Treatment for users of marijuana is effective
Source: AScribe
The results are partially in: treatment for chronic, heavy users of marijuana is effective. In fact, the longer the treatment - up to nine weeks - the more effective it is. Now the question to be answered is: What will be more helpful to heavy users who want to become abstinent - focusing treatment on their life problems, on their motivation, or on their lack of coping skills? Scientists at the University of Connecticut Health Center are addressing these questions in a research program titled Marijuana Treatment Project-2. 
The project, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, builds upon what was learned from the original Marijuana Treatment Project, a three-year, $1.5 million study of the most effective treatments for adults who are dependent on cannabis. Ronald Kadden, Ph.D., a psychologist, and professor of psychiatry at the Health Center is the study's principal investigator. "The focus of the new five-year study is to look at methods to induce abstinence in chronic cannabis abusers," said Dr. Kadden. "These methods include a variety of interventions - counseling, monitoring, and even incentives - and weekly visits to the Health Center." Chronic pot smokers are those smoking several joints almost every day, and getting high for at least several hours each time they use. The average participant in the first marijuana treatment project smoked three joints each day and was high for about six hours per day. Chronic pot abusers range all the way up and down the social spectrum, Dr. Kadden said. Participants have been businessmen, lawyers and teachers, executives and white collars of all sorts, tradesmen and blue collar men and women, and people who are unemployed. "Chronic marijuana smokers - who are dependent on pot - are higher functioning on average than alcoholics or drug addicts," said Dr. Kadden. "They're not functioning as well as they could be in their jobs, and they're surely not living up to their potential, but they are less likely to be unemployed or impoverished like many heroin addicts or acute alcoholics." Things aren't going as well as they might for the chronic pot user, and in many cases that's because they're high when they should be sober and paying attention to living, said Elise Kabela, Ph.D., a Health Center researcher and Marijuana Treatment Project-2 investigator. They often have relationship problems, Dr. Kabela said, as well as low energy, and they are given to procrastination. "They do less of the things they would have done if they weren't high on pot," she said. Chronic pot smokers fall into limbo when it comes to quitting smoking. There are a variety of reasons. One of the most important reasons springs from their belief that there is no such thing as cannabis dependence, a belief that is contradicted by facts and by medical science. Yet the myth persists. Pot is addictive; the proof of that is seen in the signs of dependence among heavy users that mirror the classic withdrawal symptoms of alcohol or drug addiction. These include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, nausea and more. Treatment for marijuana dependence differs from other addictive treatment because there are no medications involved. Motivation to quit smoking is paramount; treatment consists of counseling, support and providing information about both the problem and the recovery process. Part of the treatment is addressing and soothing the very real anxieties the chronic user is apt to feel and display. "By the time they come to us, using marijuana is deeply entrenched in their lives," Dr. Kadden said. "They use it to deal with stressful situations, at work and at home and they realize it has become an impediment to the full enjoyment of life. In many cases, they are using it just to feel normal. They are ready to become abstinent from pot," he said. "We help them move from the theoretical to the practical." The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the UConn School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. Complete Title: Marijuana Research Project Seeks to Find Most Effective Treatment for Chronic UseFarmington, Conn.Source: AScribePublished: June 25, 2001Copyright: 2001, AScribe NewswireWebsite: http://www.ascribe.org Related Article:Marijuana: a Gateway Drughttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10113.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Addictionhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=addiction
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Comment #19 posted by VitaminT on August 28, 2002 at 20:33:02 PT
Mikey
Sounds as though you're no more qualified to daignose an addiction than you are the other conditions you mention.go see a doctor
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Comment #18 posted by Mikey on August 28, 2002 at 17:51:55 PT:
pot addictive
ive used weed for 29 years and now ive got anxiety,sleep apnia,shock..and its so darn addictive when the nor-cal weed is truly as strong as heroin...help me....mikey4_20 yahoo.com
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Comment #17 posted by Toker00 on June 27, 2001 at 07:53:15 PT
Good to the last drop...ummm...toke!
Hippie coffee. Freak java. Head mud. Flower child moe joe. Gotta go make me a cot of pippie hoffy. Fire up my Ray-Dia-Tor and get motivated.Peace. Realize, then Legalize.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 26, 2001 at 20:46:25 PT
Thank You!
Kickaha and New Mexican, thank you. I think we all are learning something new everyday. The news is the states has been slow but we are learning about the UK and Canada. I hope they keep up the pace for us. I am holding my breath over what Canada will do.
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Comment #15 posted by Robbie on June 26, 2001 at 19:50:06 PT
*shaking wildly*
I didn't read this article, and didn't need to. I know most here would say that things are changing, and I agree. But with the kind of utter crappola being fed to Joe American, they'll be up in arms if anybody even considers legalizing cannabis. Look at the fight we have to go through just to let doctors give pot to whomever needs it, not even mentioning the sick and dying. It's still going to be a long, uphill battle to get this stuff re-legal.Aside to dddd: Hippie coffee? Maybe, but I for one love having coffee and a toke.Now, since I've run out of recreational weed and I don't want to go to the street to get it, I think I'll go knock over a liquor store, since I'm suffering all these horrendous withdrawal symptoms and I need a fix, man!!! I'm jonesin' man!
O'Brien for CA Secretary of State
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Comment #14 posted by New Mexican on June 26, 2001 at 19:31:00 PT
The Cure: Cannabis News!
Thanks Kickaha!I know the cure for stupidity, anxiety, pain, and boredom and it really is Cannabis News. Thanks FOM! A little Cannabis with my news goes a long way for whatever ails me!The tide is turning, look at shrubs poll numbers!
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Comment #13 posted by freedom fighter on June 26, 2001 at 17:03:38 PT
Life is such an addiction
Come to think of it...Does anyone realize that there is a big difference btwn Pot and alcohol withdrawls.. It is possible to die from alcohol withdrawls and it is not so with pot. I am tired of these people playing around with the word addiction.. They do not know a dang thing about it.. The word "addictive" used to mean that once you start something addictive, you cannot stop and you keep increasing the dosage to achieve the desired result. Now it means what kind of withdrawls one may have on different substances.. Talk about addicts, geeixsh! Would they bother look themselves in the mirrorr?
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Comment #12 posted by The GCW on June 26, 2001 at 16:06:06 PT
Yep, dddd,
Esspresso, 4 or 5 doubles! The other day I was out camping w/ my family and did not get my fix! Not the full dosage, w/ instant... This brings on very very bad headaches!!!&!I have quit smoking cannabis cold turkey a number of times and have experienced no problem that is uncomfortable. Cannabis has less withdrawl symptoms, in any stretch of the term, than caffeine. Nobody ever experiences severe headaches from not being able to toke! Excedrine helps w/ withdrawl. It has caffeine.
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Comment #11 posted by lookinside on June 26, 2001 at 14:33:51 PT:
i enjoy coffee...
but, i took a vacation from it while i'm off work...i'menjoying my mid afternoon naps, and the late movies onHBO...withdrawal isn't even a relevent term...there is none..(same with pot)by the way, i make my coffee VERY strong, and drink a fullpot before work in the morning...
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Comment #10 posted by dddd on June 26, 2001 at 13:10:13 PT
subject
bcg....Thanx for the inside info/update...it's good to know.Kickaha....Excellent comments.......I know what you mean.I havenever suffered and significant withdrawal symptoms from coffeeor weed,but I have several friends who are coffee junkies,and itisnt pretty when the cant get their fix.I see Marijuana as being like a "sister drug",of coffee,,,perhaps evenmore harmless??,,or less harmful...dddd
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Comment #9 posted by Kickaha on June 26, 2001 at 12:53:27 PT
Chicken or Egg
"Things aren't going as well as they might for the chronic pot user, and in many cases that's because they're high when they should be sober and paying attention to living"Another researcher who obviously has no experience with her topic. Pot simply does not impair (I've always preferred the term 'enhance', anyway) a person to the point that they stop "paying attention to living". Now if you have already stopped "paying attention to living", I'm sure pot is a tremendous help in coping with the anxiety that produces. Ditto amotivational syndrome- smoking pot makes one's lack of motivation more tolerable to the psyche, it doesn't induce it.Finally, like many people I know, I'm sure a lot of these guys who show up for treatment do so because they have been bullied by social norms that tell them they are bad people. A friend of mine used to get harrassed by her husband because she smoked pot (we won't even go into his habits and bare-faced hypocrisy), and it naturally affected her self-esteem. She's OK now though. The cure? Cannabis News! A place where you can learn that you are normal, there's nothing wrong with you, many others feel the same way, and it really is society that's in the wrong.Aside to dddd:I never experienced any sort of pot withdrawal, but when I quit coffee, it felt like a railroad spike had been driven through my forehead, and it didn't subside for an entire week!
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Comment #8 posted by bcg on June 26, 2001 at 12:48:55 PT
NIDA conference
I just returned from the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependance, where most of the leading scientists in the area of Drug Dependance gather. This was my 2nd conference, and I was amazed at the explosion of cannabinoid research. The curtain really has lifted. Most of the research indicates that THC is a "soft" drug, more like alcohol than nicotine or cocaine. There are cognitive deficts associated with chronic use, but whether these are functionally significant is open. There is also the potential for dependance, in a fashion similar to caffeine. I once had an research advisor who was "down to 5 cups of coffee" before he left the house because his bleeding ulcer prevented him from eating anything but saltines and american cheese. I also saw Gabriel Nahas. He asked some questions (although they were more like soliliquies), and asked around. He is something of a laughing stock among the researchers (and deservedly so). So NIDA continues to push a political party line (since they are so dependant on political $$$), while the researchers getting money from them are beginning to walk a different road. I am beginning to look for post-doctoral jobs since I will be getting my Ph.D. in about 1.5 yrs. One project in San Diego I will interview for is a chronic THC - HIV study in monkeys which will examine effects on cognition and wasting. I just wanted to let people know that even in the stodgy halls of academe, winds are blowing.
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Comment #7 posted by aocp on June 26, 2001 at 12:17:39 PT
lessons
Pot is addictive; the proof of that is seen in the signs of dependence among heavy users that mirror the classic withdrawal symptoms of alcohol or drug addiction. These include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, nausea and more.IOW, this is a reason to keep it illegal, right? Fair enough. However, they put booze in the same category, not me, so i believe booze should be subject to the same rigorous cat-&-mouse game cannabis is. What's that? We already tried that and it didn't work? My, my. What has history to teach us but lessons?
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Comment #6 posted by dddd on June 26, 2001 at 11:17:52 PT
The same
 "Pot is addictive; the proof of that is seen in the signs of dependence among heavy users that mirror the classic withdrawal symptoms of alcohol or drug addiction. These include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, nausea and more."I cant agree with the "nausea and more",part,,,but caffeine withdrawal is identical,;;anxiety, irritability, restlessness...so,,in other words,pot is quite similar to coffee,,,in fact,in a way,I consider it to be like a different version of coffee,and what it does...it's kinda like 'Hippie coffee",,sorta,,,I guess???.....dddd
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on June 26, 2001 at 11:08:13 PT
Motivation to quit smoking is paramount; 
It's good they understand that concept...since although I vaporize instead of smoke, I still do not wish to quit. It may be appropriate for some people to have this type of service if needed.Some of those harms would be gone if it was not profitable to cage humans for smoking or even using our plant preference. It is important for some of our brothers and neighbors to cage others for lack of elementaryness. This info's likely to be used to induce us into regulation, further profits for twisted regulators and the power hungry. They will set up a system that is profitable weather they cage or treat, treat w/ cooperation or treat w/o. Monsters.
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Comment #4 posted by Kevin Hebert on June 26, 2001 at 10:12:07 PT:
Let me be the second, Monvor
When I have to go without pot, I do not experience any withdrawal symptoms. I have never met anyone who experienced physical withdrawal from weed. But if I forget to stick on my nicotine patch in the morning, look out! Of course, cigarettes are legal, so THEY couldn't be bad, right? Yeah, right.
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Comment #3 posted by rabblerouser on June 26, 2001 at 09:49:26 PT
addictive fallacy
Given the motivation for these people to hold such views i.e. their pocketbook, they haveno sound findings whatsoever. Louis Armstrong smoked it everyday along with millions ofothers in this world. There is nothing new under the sun. I experience few problems when I am withoutand I certainly don't crave it to the point where I immediately have to go find more; I just go without for awhile. Crackpots at their finest hour is what we have here.
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Comment #2 posted by Sudaca on June 26, 2001 at 09:40:46 PT
What
"Chronic marijuana smokers - who are dependent on pot - are higher functioning on average than alcoholics or drug addicts," said Dr. Kadden."This you can know since its hard data "They're not functioning as well as they could be in their jobs, and they're surely not living up to their potential, "How do they know this?but they are less likely to be unemployed or impoverished like many heroin addicts or acute alcoholics"So what's the problem?
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Comment #1 posted by Monvor on June 26, 2001 at 09:18:44 PT
Junk Science
"Pot is addictive; the proof of that is seen in the signs of dependence among heavy users that mirror the classic withdrawal symptoms of alcohol or drug addiction. These include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, nausea and more."I would like to be the first one to say that this is BS. 
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