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Harmful cannabis use on the rise

thestudent14

thestudent14

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Harmful cannabis use on the rise

By Lindy Kerin

Updated 2 hours 45 minutes ago
New research has shown a dramatic increase in the number of long-term cannabis users being admitted to hospital.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has found the number of Australians seeking treatment with cannabis-related problems has jumped 30 per cent since 2002, with the incease in the rate of harmful use mostly among those aged over 30.

Overall, the rate of cannabis use has been dropping. Around 9 per cent of Australians have smoked the drug in the past year, down from 11 per cent in 2004.

But researchers at the University of New South Wales found that people using the drug are using more, and more often.

The study has been published online in the health journal Addiction.
Amanda Roxburgh, senior researcher at the university's National Drug and Alcohol Centre, says the rate of harmful use has dramatically increased particularly among 30 to 49-year-olds.

"We're seeing an increase in cannabis-related harms, particularly hospital admissions, for things like cannabis dependence in particular," she said.

"And we're seeing particularly in 30 to 39-year-olds, the admissions have increased quite a bit, as have the 40 to 49-year-old age group.

"What we think that reflects is a longer-term use over a long period of time."

Ms Roxburgh says hospital admissions are usually for treatment for cannabis dependence, but a small number are for cannabis intoxication or cannabis-induced psychosis.

She says older users are twice as likely to report daily use compared to the 14 to 19-year-old age group.

She says the rate of harmful use among younger people is also worrying.

"When you look at that frequency of use for that group, they're actually much more likely to report the really, really heavy periods of use," she said.

"So they might be smoking 10 or more joints or cones per day and they're doing that more than the older users.
"Potentially, we might see in five or 10 years - that might be borne out in them presenting to hospital."

David Templeman, the chief executive of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, says the study suggests older users of cannabis are still failing to understand the consequences of long-term use.

"We've got to really do some more work in terms of getting people to understand the impact of cannabis on people, particularly people who might have a predilection to mental health illness and the like," he said.

"We now know so much in relation to it. It's the secondmost drug of concern now, behind alcohol.

"We've got older population groups who've grown up - if I can use that word - using cannabis, and [if we could] get the message to them to understand what sort of concerns they could be inflicting on themselves, we'd probably see some significant improvement."
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/29/2858599.htm
 
umm reading that article, it seemed quite fair and true... stating only the statistical evidence that disproves weed as a lesser drug.

Cannabis dependence is really serious guys. The people i know who smoke daily, have withdrawals worse than I do from heroin if they don't have weed, and thats only after a few hours - and these people range in age from 19-49. It's just not cool - and to think we have so many people who believe it should be legalized - only as much as every other recreational substance on the planet. If MDMA should be illegal, then weed should be even more so.
 
am going to say my old boy has smoked his entire adult life, is close to sixty, and he says he agrees with the perfect haze

i dont chop that much anymore, that way i really enjoy its psychedelic good effects, as i find daily chuffin a bit blase, i just dont get any tracks finished!! let alone the housework!
 
umm reading that article, it seemed quite fair and true... stating only the statistical evidence that disproves weed as a lesser drug.

Cannabis dependence is really serious guys. The people i know who smoke daily, have withdrawals worse than I do from heroin if they don't have weed, and thats only after a few hours - and these people range in age from 19-49. It's just not cool - and to think we have so many people who believe it should be legalized - only as much as every other recreational substance on the planet. If MDMA should be illegal, then weed should be even more so.
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If you didn't have 868 posts, I would think there's no question that you're just trolling, but I guess you're serious. How you could be serious about that, I can't imagine. I agree, cannabis "addiction" and "withdrawal" are, in fact, a fucking joke. Neither truly exists to any significant degree. Yes, if you stop smoking after smoking 15 joints a day, you'll feel like shit and won't be hungry and won't sleep well, but it's not dangerous, it only lasts a very short time, and is very mild compared to any real physical addiction.

"We've got to really do some more work in terms of getting people to understand the impact of cannabis on people, particularly people who might have a predilection to mental health illness and the like," he said.

"We now know so much in relation to it. It's the secondmost drug of concern now, behind alcohol.

"We've got older population groups who've grown up - if I can use that word - using cannabis, and [if we could] get the message to them to understand what sort of concerns they could be inflicting on themselves, we'd probably see some significant improvement."
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They clearly don't know much at all in relation to weed and it's quite hilarious how serious of a problem they see cannabis use as. They keep mentioning the serious health impacts on people from cannabis use, but then cite only cannabis intoxication or cannabis psychosis as the problems. Psychosis is relatively infrequent and nearly always acute with no long-term effects. Intoxication is not really a health problem. Seriously, people need to chill the fuck out. There's nothing terrifying about being high, hungry, and lazy and extremely few cases of serious negative effects.
 
^ I don't think my credentials need to be called into question around here, and ime 1 post or 860 mean jack shit, as the more senior members around here have over 10,000 - doesn't make them any more or less correct.

I'm serious because, as an outsider, and not a big weed fan all round - i've witnessed alot of it's abuse over my years - particularly within my family - where it has played a pivotal role in ruining the lives of many.

I myself, am infact an ex heroin addict, yet somehow, i am able to deal with 'withdrawal' a hell of a lot better than my female 19yo housemate, who turns absolutely ballistic if not in the presence of weed. I find this fact enough to demonize weed along with every other drug that carries with it an addiction stigma, if we are to demonize drugs at all.

The article was well rounded, factual, and explained that people in large numbers, particularly the older (like my mother for instance) are seeking help for their addictions to this seemingly harmless herb. It's not about the serious negative effects, it's about the long term addiction to the substance, and from what we can see - quite clearly, is the drug carries with it much longer terms of use/abuse than most other common recreational substances. Also to this end, there are several well researched SERIOUS negative side effects to smoking pot on the regular, by joint or bong.

Also, people with pre-dispositions to mental illness are quite commonly heavy smokers as well - and as we know, psychedelic substances quite frequently cause psychosis or increase the negative effects of their disorders.

So no, i'm not trolling at all, and im quite aware that most of this community are probably smokers, and not inclined to agree with me on the topic. It is also not like i don't smoke pot from time to time, i just choose to not do so on a daily basis as it can cause some serious anxiety.

I'm just stating the facts as i see them.
 
Different substances affect people in different ways. Some people will have issues and others may not.
 
i've been a 'daily' smoker for about 4 years now, and i have to say i agree with mr. Ibis all the way. I think the problem is people who can't accept the detramental effects of pot are just plain ignorant. It doesn't come down to a physical dependance, it's the fact that you're caught up in that lifestyle. It brings out paranoia and anxiety, and pot itself becomes the bandaid for it's own causes. Of course everyone is different though. I'm not trying to say pot is bad, just that like everything, it has its downfalls.
 
I myself, am infact an ex heroin addict, yet somehow, i am able to deal with 'withdrawal' a hell of a lot better than my female 19yo housemate, who turns absolutely ballistic if not in the presence of weed. I find this fact enough to demonize weed along with every other drug that carries with it an addiction stigma, if we are to demonize drugs at all.
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I'd say that has less to do with the drug and more to do with your housemate not being able to cope with sobriety. I've known plenty of people the same, it's not that they're addicted to weed, they just hate being sober, so they smoke constantly, then get shitty when it isn't around.
 
Ms Roxburgh says hospital admissions are usually for treatment for cannabis dependence, but a small number are for cannabis intoxication or cannabis-induced psychosis.
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Seriously? I can't imagine someone turning up in the emergency ward for cannabis dependence or even being admitted to hospital for that matter. I mean what's the treatment going to be - swap it for an opiate dependence?

Methinks the figures were so small to begin with that any rise in them can be construed as large (ie. it was 3 people, and now its 4 = 30%!!!! panic!!!).

I should watch out tho - i'm in the danger zone. 8)
 
I don't believe there to be any negative effects if it is respected. Even WHEN abused i personally have not seen any negative effects on myself after many years of heavy, daily smoking!

It works wonders for me..and provides none of the negatives listed above! But there are just some people that will swear black and blue that it is harmful for you no matter what. But i have seen countless non goverment funded studies that show that there are very limited if ANY negative effects. Infact quite the opposite, many studies have shown cancer cells to be destroyed upon contact with THC. New cell growth is encouraged by THC...etc etc.

I am liteally in a debate every day with people trying to inform them of the wonders of the plant, and the propaganda they have been fed.
 
To everyone who either agrees with my ideals or disagree's; i'm not trying to push my views on anyone else, just plain put into focus the idea's formed over the short time i've lived, and the amazing amount of things i have been witness to.

I think anyone who is a regular user of cannabis, needs to sit back and think about the whole ordeal before they bash on you for naysaying Mary Jane. It's not quite so simple as "hey this guy hates my precious bud"

TrippAR; whilst i agree with you - there is also evidence that many of the other chemicals present when weed is smoked (particularly those in the tobacco it is commonly mixed with) are carcinogenic.
 
I'd be less worried about any carcinogenic effect, and more worried about the impact on mental health.
 
I have to say that none of these findings surprise me.

Given what I've seen & what I know....

no alarming, lefto-of-field info being brought to the table here.
and long term effects = no doubt psychotic episodes
 
TrippAR; whilst i agree with you - there is also evidence that many of the other chemicals present when weed is smoked (particularly those in the tobacco it is commonly mixed with) are carcinogenic.
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I literally never would mix cannabis with tobacco, it'd ruin the cannabis. Really what you're talking about is the fibrous matter of stems and leaves and buds. When smoked, it creates polycyclic aromatics and lots of nasty things that are carcinogenic or are metabolized into something carcinogenic. That's common to any plant matter you smoke (or root, bark, etc). It is a consideration to any cannibis smoker to understand that smoking anything brings about carcinogenicity. But no active chemicals in cannabis are carcinogenic, and some are in fact anticarcinogenic.

I think anyone who is a regular user of cannabis, needs to sit back and think about the whole ordeal before they bash on you for naysaying Mary Jane. It's not quite so simple as "hey this guy hates my precious bud"
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I think you need to sit back and realize that many people here have "[sat] back and [thought] about the whole ordeal." The plant has many medicinal properties that need to be accepted by society, especially due their potency. And yes, there are drawbacks to smoking the plant, in terms of carcinogenicity, but it's positive, medicinal and recreational properties outweigh the negatives, which are minimal if it's smoked relatively infrequently. But eating it in basically any form is almost completely devoid of negative side effects and completely devoid of permanent side effects.

Its accepted medicinal properties allow for marinol, synthetic THC, to be sold as a pharmaceutical, Schedule III, which states that it has reviewed, replicated, and finally accepted medicinal properties. But marijuana is Schedule I. Schedule I is defined as "The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." Why? Why is it illegal when THC is proven to be medicinal? THC is the most abundant active component in the plant and also the most active per mg, so marijuana is a great supplement specific to delta-9-THC. I beg you to rethink your prejudice against it.

That said, I don't disagree that there are isolated cases of severe life-changing events and likely toxicity from very heavy, long-term use of cannabis. Like any other drug or chemical taken in massive amounts, there can be severe negative effects.

But truly, cannabis is one of the safest drugs used by man, as well as almost completely devoid of physical dependence/withdrawal and no toxicity due of the active components, just chemicals produced by smoke.

Sorry for the long post, I just have a lot to say about this and the only difference it could make is a positive one.

-Jaguraguguru
 
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