cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Is Difficult To Give Up





Cannabis Is Difficult To Give Up
Posted by FoM on July 06, 2000 at 07:25:33 PT
Many cannabis smokers miss their regular 'high'
Source: BBC
Most people who stop smoking cannabis take up cigarettes in an attempt to suppress cravings for the drug, a study has found. A survey of 49 regular cannabis smokers found that many find it difficult to give up the drug. Three quarters had cravings after they gave up and 70% switched to tobacco in an attempt to stay off cannabis. 
Like people who attempt to give up cigarettes, most increased their intake of coffee and alcohol and many returned to the drug, saying they missed their regular high and the relaxed feeling they gained. Almost half said they became irritable after they gave up and a slightly lower proportion said they were bored as a result of not smoking cannabis.  A handful complained of depression, loss of appetite and poor memory. The survey was carried out by Dr David Gorelick, a researcher with the American National Institute of Drug Abuse. He said the findings may help doctors to provide better treatment for people wishing to stop smoking cannabis. "Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance world-wide. This research gives us a better understanding of why and how people quit and may lead to better prevention and treatment," he said. Dr Gorelick presented his findings to doctors attending the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists on Thursday. Thursday, 6 July, 2000, 11:40 GMT 12:40 UK Copyright: BBCRoyal College of Psychiatristshttp://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/National Institute on Drug Abusehttp://www.nida.nih.gov/Legalise Cannabis Alliancehttp://www.lca-uk.org/CannabisNews Cannabis Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by withheld on January 19, 2001 at 11:21:04 PT:
puff
i have regular user of smoke 15 years everyday i look good ifeel good im very healthy and live a full vigourous life in and out of real estate.cheers to the hash             ps. anybody got a mars bar.
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Comment #8 posted by bcg on July 07, 2000 at 06:16:36 PT:
I think perspective is important`
Whenever I go to meetings like the one this research was presented at, I see all sorts of cool new ideas and findings. But, I always leave the presentation with the thought, "that was cool, can't wait to see it published." The truth is that in science, a study doesn't really exist until it is peer reveiwed. The press doesn't understand this, and they jump all over the newest blockbuster research presentation. This leaves the public with the impression that this is the final word. But it isn't even a citable reference to me, so it is really off of my radar until it is published.
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Comment #7 posted by ananda shivaganjah on July 07, 2000 at 02:55:59 PT:
addiction
I have used Ganjah to help me off the nicotine. IT is excellent for beating many addictions, from alchol to heroin. As for giving up the sacred weed itself, smokers are addicted to the movement of Qi (trad. Chinese Med.) which is caused by the inhalation of hot smoke of ANY burning plant material. By using small amounts of strong ganjah this helps to restore the natural flow of Lung Qi.The need for something to do with the hands must also be addressed (crochet anyone?) and to realise a change of lifestyle is being embarked upon, so if you sit in front of the stereo listening to Zappa like I do you need to replace it with going for a walk, baking a cake or whatever. 
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Comment #6 posted by zion on July 06, 2000 at 20:04:27 PT
Anecdotal Data
Well, I've quit alcohol and tobacco and cannabis and coffee over the years and would qualify as an "addict" to each at different times. Alcohol by far was the most destructive and the hardest to escape from. Tobacco was the physically the roughest one to break, because it was bound to so many daily habits -- after dinner, during boredom periods, taking a break, etc. Not much jonesing with cannabis, certainly not like the picture NIDA's study is painting. It was about like giving up coffee, except no headaches.I don't know where they plucked these 49 people from, but I would suggest that it's not an accurate representation of average cannabis user as most average cannabis users have been driven underground and are in fear of jeopardizing their livelihood by identifying themselves to a zero tolerance, zero compassion government.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on July 06, 2000 at 17:41:02 PT:
Trying to prove addiction, again
They never give up. They remind me of a guy I used to know. He always told the same story to everyone he met. The problem was, he had about as much credibility as Baron Munchhausen. Because it was painfully obvious that this literally pencil-necked geek was never a mercenary. No one believed him except the very gullible.The folks at NIDA just never stop. Like that guy, they keep peddling their BS in hopes that someone will buy it. The problem is, someone always does. Never mind that such consumers of said BS probably have IQs in the room temperature range; there's enough of them that it makes life difficult for rational debate to take place. Which is just what the DrugWarriors want.As to the study itself; I wonder just how many of those cannabis users were nicotine addicts *before* they began using cannabis? No word, of course. As anyone who has been successful in kicking the habit will tell you, once that craving is there, it never goes away. Who's to say that they weren't doing *both* drugs at the same time?Poor NIDA; like the rest of the DrugWarriors, they've run out of original lies to tell; now they are trying to wrap old lies in new packaging in hopes you won't be able to tell the difference.
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Comment #4 posted by observer on July 06, 2000 at 17:15:19 PT
Reasoning about Reasoning
... said they were bored as a result of not smoking cannabis. ''The term "groves of academe" took on a new meaning in universities, where the spiky-leaved plants grew vigorously and covertly under ultraviolet lamps in dormitory closets. Carl Sagan had been a regular marijuana user from the early '60s on. He believed the drug enhanced his creativity and insights. His closest friend of three decades, Harvard psychiatry professor Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a leading advocate of the decriminalization of marijuana, recalls an incident in the '80s when one of his California admirers mailed him, unsolicited, some unusually high-quality pot.Grinspoon shared the joints with Sagan and his last wife, Ann Druyan. Afterward Sagan said, "Lester, I know you've only got one left, but could I have it? I've got serious work to do tomorrow and I could really use it.Grinspoon's 1971 book "Marihuana Reconsidered" included a long essay by an unidentified "Mr. X," who described his happy experiences with the drug. The essay identified Mr. X as "a professor at one of the top-ranking American universities" but disguised his identity by saying he was "in his early forties."In my interview with Grinspoon, he revealed that Mr. X was Sagan (who turned 37 the year the book was published by Harvard University Press).To Grinspoon, Sagan's use of the drug is dramatic disproof of the popular wisdom that pot diminishes motivation: "He was certainly highly motivated to work, to contribute." . . .''August 22, 1999From The San Francisco Examinerhttp://www.marijuananews.com/at_dinner_with_carl_sagan_the_on.htmsee also:The Uses of Marijuana by Lester Grinspoon http://www.marijuana-uses.com/esp.:Mr. X By Carl Saganhttp://www.marijuana-uses.com/examples/Mr_X.htm 
http://www.google.com/search?q=marijuana+carl+sagan+dragons+of+eden
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Comment #3 posted by Dan Hillman on July 06, 2000 at 12:33:30 PT
NIDA produces free advertising for Cannabis
So this is the type of absurdity that these "scientists" are stooping to to "prove" that cannabis is bad?  But, wait, doesn't this "theory" backfire? Look at what is being said: the use of practically harmless cannabis will replace one's cravings for dangerous, deadly nicotine and alcohol. I imagine that cannabis producers the world over appreciate advertising like this, NIDA, so please keep it up!
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Comment #2 posted by observer on July 06, 2000 at 10:57:22 PT
The NIDA Survey
A survey of 49 regular cannabis smokers...Whoa! A startingly large base ... 49 whole people! Were these people in court-ordered "treatment-or-prison" programs? Did they have to answer in "correct" ways, or risk jail? We aren't told how these huge base of 49 carefully selected people was accomplished. Sounds like a group of captive survey-takers to me.The survey was carried out by Dr David Gorelick, a researcher with the American National Institute of Drug Abuse.NIDA's whole reason for existence is to prove that marijuana is harmful and using it is therefore "abuse", so as to provide plausible rationale in order to continue to throw peaceful adults who use marijuana in jail. NIDA researchers have a reputation for shoddy, politically motivated "we'll-prove-it-is-bad-if-it-takes-us-forever" type "research". This is another example of rushing to the propaganda-media with anything that can be spun as "bad"; the corrections to this after peer review won't be mentioned. Not on message.You let me craft the survey, and I can produce the answers you want (or need for more funding, as is the case with NIDA-doctor Gorelick). I'd love to see the loaded questions used on this US Government survey.
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Comment #1 posted by Frank on July 06, 2000 at 09:19:30 PT
Harm reduction
Although 49 is a pretty small sample, these conclusions were of note: "70% switched to tobacco in an attempt to stay off cannabis. Like people who attempt to give up cigarettes, most increased their intake of coffee and alcohol"So people were exchanging cannabis for more harmful drugs. While cannabis has never killed anyone, the link between cigarettes and alcohol and health problems is irrefutable, and coffee is also addictive and can be toxic in large doses."A handful complained of depression, loss of appetite and poor memory" Once again, the benefits outweigh the negatives. Cannabis is a safe non-toxic depression treatment as opposed to prescription anti-depressants.Cannabis is a safer alternative to coffee, alcohol and cigarettes. Researchers should be exploring the use of cannabis as harm reduction in treating addictions to these drugs. Once again, NIDA is wasting ourr tax dollars trying to find eany evidence cannabis is harmful, when they should be exploring the tremendous potential it has to make this world a better place.
Drug Policy Forum of Wisconsin
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