cannabisnews.com: Realities of Breaking a Marijuana Habit





 Realities of Breaking a Marijuana Habit
Posted by FoM on November 28, 2000 at 07:43:37 PT
By Eric Nagourney
Source: New York Times
Within 24 hours of quitting, the subjects reported symptoms: irritability, anxiety, and physical tension, to say nothing of other changes in mood and appetite. Had they given up cigarettes? Caffeine? Alcohol? Try marijuana, instead.It was all part of a study organized by researchers at McLean Hospital, a Harvard affiliate near Boston, to see how dependent chronic marijuana smokers become on the drug.
Writing in this month's Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, the researchers said the findings undercut the notion that marijuana is benign. The researchers used newspaper ads to recruit 30 men and women, ages 30 to 55, who were heavy marijuana users. They then had them stop smoking the drug for 28 days, during which time the subjects were asked to record their feelings in a diary and were examined in person.To make sure that the subjects had really stopped using the drug, the researchers required daily urine samples.The study found withdrawal symptoms were significant in 60 percent of the people studied. They were strongest for the first 10 days, and then tapered off.But because irritability and physical tension were reported throughout the study, the researchers said it was possible those symptoms were not the symptoms of withdrawal but the users' personalities.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Eric NagourneyPublished: November 28, 2000Copyright: 2000 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comAddress: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036Fax: (212) 556-3622Website: http://www.nytimes.com/Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/Related Article & WebSite:Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacologyhttp://www.apa.org/journals/pha.html Study Says Chronic Users' Withdraw From Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7785.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by david williams on January 16, 2002 at 17:58:20 PT:
not all pleasures are pot
What can one possibly say about pot. It's a fantastic drug that rid me of a certain amount of anxiety and depression for sometime. It makes watching terrestial television a pleasure rather than a chore and it can lead you down some very creative paths. 
However, I have recently quit for a variety of reasons. The main reason, and for anybody considering quitting, the only reason you need to convince yourself to stop is that it halts almost all aspects of your life. If you have no apparent career aspirations and as a result possibly work in a job you dislike then smoking pot can be a heavenly saviour. But I think a lot of people have a view that they can do something with there lives and I'm afraid, talking from personal experience, getting high puts paid to that. When it comes to a point when answering the telephone is a task you'd rather avoid, or you realise you can't remember your mothers birthday then it may be time to calm down. I'm not suggesting everybody quit, as there are many people that I am sure are capable of simply having a smoke in a evening or at weekends, but lets face it; that's how we all started. I truly miss the smoking, but to put it into perspective, 2 months ago I would rarely leave the house unless I was forced. The weekend passed, I was out Thurs, fri, and sat. All different people, different places, doing different things. It does make a real difference. If you want it to.
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Comment #5 posted by Jay on November 29, 2000 at 11:16:17 PT
Sort of true
I smoke everyday, but, a few months ago, I had to go away for about a week. for the first 3-5 days, I really, really wanted some weed, but then "cravings" died down by the end of the week. Not nearly as bad as quiting every other drug.(BTW, I was happy to get back home)
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Comment #4 posted by Frank on November 28, 2000 at 19:55:37 PT
 Research Swears The World is Flat
I have never read such bull*&^% in my life. This propaganda is almost getting slapstick. It verges on the absurd. I asked a physician who was the director of a psychiatric hospital in the area, how dangerous is marijuana?  His reply was “Never was so much money spent to prove so little. The problems with marijuana are legal not medical. If you want to smoke pot do it on weekend and don’t dive a car.” It’s hard to believe that “Scientists” would publish garbage like this. The truth doesn’t matter to these people; where the next federal grant is coming from does. These people would say anything. Next they will swear that the world is flat.
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Comment #3 posted by observer on November 28, 2000 at 09:38:30 PT
Calling Anything ``Withdrawal''
Ethan Russo writes, The 90 day cannabis study allowed heavy use, followed by minimal "withdrawal symptoms." No one died, no one went into DT's, no one had seizures.Yes, this looks to be a made-for-propaganda study that, determined to find some (any!) cannabis "withdrawal symptoms", lowered the bar for what is considered "withdrawal symptoms". Anything people who like much cannabis reported after being forced to stop cannabis use, was then taken to be a "withdrawal symptom". The general propaganda pattern is this: (a) agree that what happens when people go cold turkey from alcohol or heroin is bad (it is); (b) call that "withdrawal", then, (c) -- bait and switch -- apply the term "withdrawal" to whatever "irritation" heavy cannabis users experience when it is suggested to them that they should emphasize disphoric feelings in this study. This old bait and switch lets the propagandist associate all the nasties of classic heroin withdrawal with cannabis. Nicely "on message" with the drug warrior's need to confuse cannabis with any other drug that suits the propagandist at the time.Classic WithdrawalCompare "irritability, anxiety, and physical tension" (supposeded cannabis withdrawal) with classic "withdrawal symptoms" from . . .withdrawal of opiates: "the classic opiate withdrawal symptoms: nausea, muscle spasms, cramps, anxiety, fever, diarrhea. . . . " http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/brain/"an opiate user becomes physically dependent in the sense that abstinence will cause severe and well-documented physical symptoms. These include restlessness and drug craving, followed by yawning, lacrimation, runny nose, perspiration, fever, chills, vomiting, panting respiration, loss of appetite, insomnia, hypertension, general aches and pains, and loss of weight. "http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/dwda/staff1.htm withdrawal of alcohol: (looks to be more dangerous than heroin!) "delirium tremens (DT) . . . Stage I - Early withdrawal consists of mild anxiety and alcohol craving.Stage II - Intermediate severity at 24-36 hours is characterized by excessive adrenergic effects including tachycardia, hyperventilation, systolic hypertension, diaphoresis, low-grade fever, hallucinosis with clear sensorium, intense anxiety, tremor, and insomnia.Stage III consists of tonic-clonic seizures and occurs at 12-72 hours.Stage IV consists of DT, often occurring immediately following a seizure, typically within 48-72 hours after alcohol intake stops. Only 5% of patients who experience alcohol withdrawal progress to delirium tremens. . . . Alcohol withdrawal seizures ("rum fits") may be experienced by 23-33% of patients with significant alcohol withdrawal. . . . Status epilepticus may occur in 3% of alcohol withdrawal seizures, yet should prompt investigation for other causes as alcoholics are prone to head injuries, chronic epilepsy, and meningitis. Indications for investigation of the seizure by CT/lumbar puncture (LP)/EEG include seizures that occur after the onset of delirium, focal seizures, multiple seizures, high fever or meningismus, focal neurologic deficits, or associated head trauma.Delirium tremens, the most intense form of alcohol withdrawal occurs 48-72 hours after the last drink.DT includes all early and intermediate symptoms, but with the additional feature that the patient has a profoundly altered sensorium.Many enter DT immediately after a seizure, but DT may develop without having a seizure.Severe autonomic derangement may be seen.Physical as well as chemical restraints may be required to the patient and caregivers.Significant dehydration is possible because of the intense diaphoresis, hyperventilation, and restricted oral intake. . . .Tachycardia is common and expected during alcohol withdrawal. . . . Alcohol withdrawal results in a progressive sequence of increasing agitation, confusion, disorientation, visual and auditory hallucinations, tremor, seizures, dysphoria, panic, and potentially violent attacks on others. Central adrenergic storm that occurs during alcohol withdrawal results in hyperventilation, tachycardia, tremor, and diaphoresis. Low-grade fever is common from increased motor activity. Reflexes are hyperactive and clonus may occur. . . .Mortality rates from pure, full-blown alcohol withdrawal and DT historically have been as high as 20%. ... "http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic643.htm Compared to all that, people who like cannabis greatly and report that they enjoy its effects, and yet who report "irritability" when they stop using it, doesn't really seem remotely like the classic withdrawal symptoms reported above. It looks, instead, like ever-expanding definitions of "withdrawal" are tailor made for the forced "treatment" racket, to bolster statements that this breathless latest research "undercuts the notion that marijuana is benign". 
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Comment #2 posted by Kanabys on November 28, 2000 at 08:34:27 PT
Oh Yeah??
I just recently quit coffee after being a 5 cup/day person for about 10 years. Man!!! The freakin' headaches and inability to concentrate was tremendous! Now, after 3 weeks the headaches are finally gone and I can actually perform routine tasks. I have to say that the so-called withdrawls that they state here seem VERY minor! They need to study some of the LEGAL drugs too and then compare. I would dare to hazard a guess that cannabis 'withdrawls' would be far less devastating, but they wouldn't admit it, now would they?
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on November 28, 2000 at 08:05:22 PT:
Nothing Worthwhile Here
This is not news. This is not even new. The 90 day cannabis study allowed heavy use, followed by minimal "withdrawal symptoms." No one died, no one went into DT's, no one had seizures. This will get maximal press play when it deserves a "harumph."
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