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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1. An Overview of
The First Time
Because our Puritan-based society has traditionally been uneasy
Addiction and
At the same time, marijuana is an attractive activity for
Strategies of Smokers
There are some smokers who are convinced that "good
Stopping
Notes
14. Looking Ahead:
Smokers of this persuasion speak of marijuana being grown by
In the event of legalization, it is unlikely that names will
The Moment of Awareness
Appendix
On the other hand, I very often have magnificent creative
2. A Denver high school
I don't know if you're interested, but the reason I started
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Addiction and
Dependency
The
other way smokers measure their relationship to marijuana is in terms of
frequency of use. Here, too, Zinberg and Harding dissent. "You don't
expect the once-a-month smoker to be in trouble with the drug," observes
Wayne Harding. "And the ten or twenty joint-a-day person probably has a
problem But what about the great bulk of smokers in the middle?" The real
issue, he insists, is not frequency at all. The real issue is dependence.
Among marijuana smokers and researchers, dependence is a
controversial term. Despite serious attempts to do so, no scientists have been
able to demonstrate that marijuana is addicting in human beings or even in
animals. Nor does marijuana necessarily lead to larger doses; more commonly, in
fact, smokers notice a "reverse tolerance," whereby they find that
they can get stoned by smoking less rather than more. Finally, there is no
indication that the cessation of marijuana use results in any significant
physical effects or problems of withdrawal for the vast majority of smokers.
This brings us to the issue of "psychological
dependence." Marijuana may not be physically addicting, concede its modern
opponents; surely, however, it is—or can be—psychologically addicting. But to
those who have considered the question, the notion of psychological dependence
is meaningless unless it can be shown that marijuana actually causes the
dependence. That marijuana can be and is misused by some smokers goes almost
without saying; these people can be said to be psychologically dependent on it.
But this is different from saying that marijuana is a dependency-inducing drug.
As Andrew Weil writes, "Psychological dependence is simply a negative way
of describing the behavior of someone who does something repeatedly because he
likes it."[3]
Zinberg and Harding measure dependence among marijuana users by
asking smokers not how often they use marijuana but rather what they do when
their supply runs out. Harding elaborates:
If
a smoker tells me he can't keep the drug around, but has to use it as soon as
he gets it, I'd say he's in trouble with it. If a person runs out of pot, I'm
not interested in how he feels about it; I want to know what he'll do. I
want to know how much discomfort the user will tolerate, and how far he is
willing to go to relieve that discomfort. You have to look at it flexibly;
after all, many people will walk a dozen blocks to get the Sunday paper, so a
certain amount of discomfort has to be expected. I want to know where the
marijuana user will draw the line, and whether he will be able to function if
he can't get more pot.
Most smokers, when they run out of marijuana, are able to go
without smoking for as long as necessary, with only a minimum of discomfort. If
forced to do so by circumstances, many users can abstain indefinitely. A high
school student who is concerned about her own dependence on marijuana writes:
"It is not so severe as I have heard. The typical user does not go berserk
when he is out of grass. He just wishes he had some."
Indeed, many users, concerned about their relationship to
marijuana, and fearful of being dependent on it, will test themselves
periodically on their ability to go without smoking. This exercise usually lays
to rest any lingering fears about dependency and also, according to some
smokers, "cleans out the system." A college student from Maryland speaks for
many users:
I
smoke daily, because I enjoy it, and not because I feel a need. Well, you might
ask, if I smoke every day, how can I be so sure it isn't addicting? Because
about a year ago, I stopped smoking for six months. And last summer, when I
went on vacation with my family, I didn't get high at all; I didn't even miss
it. Through my five years of smoking I have had to stop at different times for
various reasons, and never did I feel a craving for it or a panic without it.
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marijuana
smokers
"herb"
stoned
high
Иглоукалывание от курения
жизни
врача
«душа»
зрения
анализ
извне
people
some
drugs
about
there
were
their
smoking
Time
Other
like
feelings
experienced
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