MrFixit
June 15th, 2007, 02:04 PM
M is for Marijuana
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By Carla Amurao (http://www.independent.com/staff/carla-amurao/)
Rich Powell, who teaches in UCSB's Department of Exercise and Sports Studies, sat for questions from Carla Amurao, a student of film and of sociocultural linguistics. Powell is a member of the UCSB Drug Task Force, which provides information to students on "the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic action of psychoactive recreational drugs."
What medical use does marijuana have?
In terms of medical applications, there are all kinds—some of them are more anecdotal, others have been proven to be effective in terms of health applications. People use [cannabis] for insomnia, anxiety, controlling spasms, migraines, headaches. Supposedly it relieves glaucoma, you know, with pressure behind the eye, controls pain and nausea with certain types of cancer, and it’s used as an appetite stimulant for people with AIDS. Those are the main ones.
So what is the difference between abuse and dependence, if there is one?
There are some issues related to physical dependence, but they don’t tend to be as apparent as with drugs like alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Over the last decade we’ve seen increases in the THC content of cannabis, and as a result of that we’ve seen more of our students and more people in the community coming in for help in terms of withdrawals and trying to stop use. But for the most part we would have to say that cannabis produces dependence in a different way than other kinds of drugs; basically it’s more of a psychological thing, though there are some physical components—sleep disturbances, anxiety, some depression.
So one of the questions probably you have to ask is, “Does the drug produce dependence?” Absolutely. “Addiction” is another term that I don’t think works quite as well with this drug as “dependence” does.
http://www.independent.com/news/2007/jun/13/m-marijuana/
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By Carla Amurao (http://www.independent.com/staff/carla-amurao/)
Rich Powell, who teaches in UCSB's Department of Exercise and Sports Studies, sat for questions from Carla Amurao, a student of film and of sociocultural linguistics. Powell is a member of the UCSB Drug Task Force, which provides information to students on "the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic action of psychoactive recreational drugs."
What medical use does marijuana have?
In terms of medical applications, there are all kinds—some of them are more anecdotal, others have been proven to be effective in terms of health applications. People use [cannabis] for insomnia, anxiety, controlling spasms, migraines, headaches. Supposedly it relieves glaucoma, you know, with pressure behind the eye, controls pain and nausea with certain types of cancer, and it’s used as an appetite stimulant for people with AIDS. Those are the main ones.
So what is the difference between abuse and dependence, if there is one?
There are some issues related to physical dependence, but they don’t tend to be as apparent as with drugs like alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Over the last decade we’ve seen increases in the THC content of cannabis, and as a result of that we’ve seen more of our students and more people in the community coming in for help in terms of withdrawals and trying to stop use. But for the most part we would have to say that cannabis produces dependence in a different way than other kinds of drugs; basically it’s more of a psychological thing, though there are some physical components—sleep disturbances, anxiety, some depression.
So one of the questions probably you have to ask is, “Does the drug produce dependence?” Absolutely. “Addiction” is another term that I don’t think works quite as well with this drug as “dependence” does.
http://www.independent.com/news/2007/jun/13/m-marijuana/