Young Pot Smokers More Likely To Try Hallucinogens

[superjoint]

Source: Daily University Science News

A new study provides the first epidemiological evidence that young marijuana smokers are substantially more likely than non-smokers to be presented with the opportunity to try hallucinogens.

The study was performed by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Once the opportunity for hallucinogen use occurs, marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to actually try it. The study appears in the April issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

"Research in the past has focused on the causal relationships of drugs, but our study is the first to support the idea of two separate mechanisms linking marijuana and hallucinogen use -- that of increased opportunity and increased use once given the opportunity," says lead author Holly Wilcox, a doctoral candidate in the department of mental hygiene at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Insight into this area teaches us about mechanisms that might help guide new progress for prevention of drug problems."

For the investigation, the researchers used self-report data from more than 40,000 young participants in the 1991 to 1994 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). From this data, they were able to extract information about the age at which young people first had the opportunity to use different drugs and the age at which they first tried them.

They focused on the availability and use of two drugs: marijuana (cannabis, reefer, blunts, hash oil, or any other form of marijuana use) and hallucinogens (LSD, mescaline, mixed stimulant-hallucinogens, and PCP).

The results showed that by age 21, almost one-half of the teenagers who had smoked marijuana had a chance to try a hallucinogen, compared to only one in 16 of the teenagers who had never smoked marijuana. Within a time period of one year after the first chance to use a hallucinogen, two-thirds of marijuana smokers actually tried it, compared to only one in six of the teenagers who had never smoked marijuana.

"This large difference between marijuana smokers and non-smokers may be attributed to the social influences in a marijuana smoker's life. Young people who are using marijuana sometimes develop contacts with illegal drug dealers who may try to push other drugs like Ecstasy or LSD," explains James C. Anthony, PhD, a professor of mental hygiene, psychiatry and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine. "Also, marijuana smokers often are members of social circles where drug use and experimentation is more common, and friends are likely to share drugs. In addition to trying to persuade young people to not use drugs, it may be worthwhile for us to persuade users to not share their drugs with friends."

The authors say further research is needed to account for variations in exposure opportunities experienced by marijuana smokers and to understand why some marijuana smokers choose not to use hallucinogens once given the opportunity.

"Such research should lead toward new ideas for prevention of hallucinogen use," concludes Ms. Wilcox.

Holly C. Wilcox, Fernando A. Wagner, and James C. Anthony contributed to the research and writing of the article, "Exposure opportunity as a mechanism linking young marijuana use to hallucinogen use."

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and support from the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico.

[IceCreamKidd]

But, is this a bad thing.

[Merlin420]

I think that if you do smoke pot of course you are going to get offered to try harder material. That dosen't meen that us pot smokers actually try them. Some like my self are herbalists, and thats it all.

[Dreaded1]

Someone should remind these "researchers" that marijuana IS a hallucinogen.

[Dreaded1]

And furthermore...
possibly the world's most potent hallucinogenic plant (Salvia Divinorum) remains legal. Why not others?

[Merlin420]

I think someone needs to tell Dreaded1 that if his weed is hallucinogenic it laced

[POpe On doPE]

Marajuana is sometimes classed as a hallucinogen because THC in high doses is known to give mild, hallucinations, but this dose is quite high and hallucinations are rarely experienced.
Closed-eye hallucinations are more regularly experienced by smoking weed.

[UnevenOne]

Just get the bigger bong you can (mine is 43 cm height), fill it with grade A buds (I prefer krypto) with a drop of hash oil.

Repeat as needed.

If you are like me, 12 hits full chamber will give you an excellent preview of your favorite 3d movies.

[roach]

Statistics..........a study within a study of a test of a hypothesis of a test of a theory.................bullocks !


What I see .........is more young people O.D.'ing on 'E' .

Because .....in school they're taught ,pot is a drug ,and drugs are bad .
Unless of coarse a 'Doctor' prescribes it for you. Like a pill for example. You've taken pills lots of times. Pills can't hurt you .Doctors give out pills........only drug dealers sell "reefer".
But pills ..........pills are probably ok.



That's what I see.


.......................and I'm sticking to it.

[blaze-n-graze]

actually, dreaded1 is correct as long as theres THC in it.which i hope there is or you got scammed.it is an hollucigen.

[roach]

Yep.............If it's any good ,it is

[JahRebel]

my health teacher always put it not in the category of hallucinagin but of cannibus, I think this is either becouse I would have like arguments with him about grass the intire time of the class and have a helll lot more evidence than his propaganda bullshit or becouse he's toked and new it wasnt like a"drug wich in one puff yull be hooked and shoot yourself" but ya espeshially with hash ,espiciallt if you eaqt hash, hash eating has gone out of "style" but a couplple spoonfuls and you jsut sit back and giggle wile tripin

[D9_THC]

i've tripped twice off of weed


obviously, nothing as intense as mushrooms, but still i was seeing spirals flying around me, and could hear something like babies singing.

the other time, i was walking home with my brother, and every time i looked at him, he was carrying a two-handed claymore sword and i thought he wa\s gonna kill me.

good times.

[Spasmolytik]

When I first got started down the drug road I didn't even want pot. I wanted shrooms and acid. Unfortunately, due to the sheer difficulty involved in obtaining those, I started smoking weed.

[NewSalvia]

I have tripped one time off of weed. I saw purple and green swirls in the dark. It was 3 of us, Me, my roommate, and my sis. Me and my roommate tripped, that was some Diggity Dank for the low too. $10/quarter. Thats a deal.