[ql06] Re: CRIMINAL: Pot -- OCA strikes back
- From: mark bumstead <2mab8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 10:59:04 -0400
Hi Dawn,
I agree there needs to be a medical exception. That comes under the
heading of regulation (Who, where, when and why it can be used).
It may not surprise anyone to hear that I have a slightly different
phraseology on addition. I have some experience with addiction, but am far
from and expert. It has been my experience that substances are not
addictive in and of themselves any more than guns or bullets kill all by
themselves. It is the individual human that makes them deadly. It is the
individual that is susceptible to addiction. Substances are not addictive,
people are addictable. People who give up drinking often become addicted
to AA meetings, coffee, sunflower seeds, etc. They are simply substituting
one addiction for another less harmful one.
Once pot is de-criminalized, and I have no doubt it will be shortly, the
number of users will expand and some of those new users will be
addictable. The social safety net needs to expand to accommodate those
people.
It is not a reflection on pot, it is an acknowledgement that some people
are more susceptible to addiction (obsession) than others. Think of it in
terms of Dungeons and Dragons: the game is not addictive, but people get
hooked on playing it. They enjoy how it makes them feel. Others can take
it or leave it. They don't get the same endorphin rush.
Yes, pot does not produce an endorphin rush. Pot smoking is more similar
to the serotonin release that occurs in your brain while you sleep. It is
what makes you relax and what makes sleep so enjoyable. Same effect as
pot. Hence the recreational use of pot. It helps people relax.
I am not saying pot is harmful, only that some people are susceptible to
dependance. They come to rely on it to relax them. The problem arises
when, just like alcoholics who drink to escape instead of dealing with the
issue they are escaping, the pot is being used as a continual means of
escape.
Detox - a subject on which I am well versed - does not just rid the body of
the substance. Its main goal, when done properly, is to assist the
individual in identifying the issue(s) they are escaping from, to help them
face it in a constructive way, and thereby remove the need to escape.
Mark
>Hi Mark,
>
>1. Pot is not physically addictive for anyone. It simply does not act on the
>brain in a way to create a physical dependence. It could become socially or
>psychologically addictive I suppose, but as detox programs work to rid a
>person of physical addiction any program above and beyond the availiability
>of psychological therapy (which already exists) would be nothing but a
>boondoggle to assuage the sensibilities of those with pre-conceived notions
>about marijuana use.
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