Cannabis and hard drug addiction. Does it help?

i was addicted to opiates and my doctor recommended that i continue smoking marijuana in combination with suboxone to treat the withdrawal symptoms. unfortunately he wasn't able to prescribe the bud because i live in a state where medical marijana is not approved.

 

Smoking weed really helped me kick tobbaco. Well, kind of. I don't really smoke a whole lot anymore but EVERY ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE I might puff on a cigg. But that is only when I haven't had any bud in a long time and I just want too smoke something. I hate the Tobacco Industry so maybe I should try too quit for good!! I know weed will help!!

 

From my personal experience (My wife and I had a roommate a while back who got out of rehab [early] for Cocaine and alcohol usage. He lived with us for about two or three weeks, the time during which he ate nothing but pop tarts, slept in our mattress-floored smoke shed, pissed in the back of a movie theater [the back row, inside the movie theater... While watching the Dark Knight... Only highlight of that movie], got a job as assistant manager at Vans, but never went to a day of work, smoked my whole roach stash [about 50 to 60 roaches in the course of a five hour work day for me], blew hundreds of dollars on staying ridiculously blazed at all times [Though he shared the wealth, so I don't complain], and in the end, accidentally burned our shed down and moved back to California) no.

But he was so funny.

 

Yeah, I totally I agree, and I in no way doubt that he would have indeed gone wrong again. I'm not complaining though, he bought some of the best herb, his own food (PopTarts) and was never a financial burden to us, he hardly even slept inside (the shed had power).

I just chose to relate an amusing personal story in lieu of scientific study, as there has not been too much in the way of that.

 

Yeah, but my point is this.

He was a cocaine addict, and had been for a few years. He was at his second round in treatment when he left it, and while he may not have resumed his old addictions, he projected his habitual usage personality onto marijuana, spent too much money on it, and smoked it wastefully. He did indeed want to change, stopped smoking Cannabis, and went back to rehab, but only after he stopped toking.

Using Cannabis to "cure" a hard-drug addiction will never be a panacaea, and never something I would reccommend to anyone. When it comes down to it, Cannabis is a drug and intoxicant, and I would not reccommend using it to treat addiction to hard drugs, just like I would not reccommend smoking Cannabis to "cure" depression. Depression and addiction are too complex to be treated using another manipulative chemical.

And the reality of the matter is that Cannabis is in no way comparable to the usage of Methadone for treatment of heroine addiction, as it is used to lessen the effects and intensity of withdrawal.

 

I agree, it can help some people, although one subject was addicted to tobbacco, which is not a hard drug. The other used Cannabis in conjunction with legitimate medical treatment, in this case, Suboxone.

The unfortunate predicament of drug treatment is that most addicts tend to have addictive personalities.

 

Before prohibition, cannabis was one of the preferred ways of detoxing addicts. Cannabis was regularly used to get people off of morphine addiction which became common after the Civil War- addiction to opiates was SO common that it was referred to as the "soldier's disease". I have also used it with alcoholics who were "coming down". My hubby used it to help him off tobacco.

Here are a few studies for you.


Crack heads and roots daughters: The therapeutic use of cannabis in Jamaica (cocaine)
Clinical Studies and Case Reports

Role of cannabinoid receptors in alcohol abuse
Role of cannabinoid receptors in alcohol abuse, study

Cannabidiol, Antioxidants, and Diuretics in Reversing Binge Ethanol-Induced Neurotoxicity
Comparison of Cannabidiol, Antioxidants, and Diuretics in Reversing Binge Ethanol-Induced Neurotoxicity -- Hamelink et al. 314 (2): 780 -- Journal of Pharmacology And Experimental Therapeutics

Cannabis substitution (alcohol)
Clinical Studies and Case Reports

Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol
CCRMG

Intermittent marijuana use is associated with improved retention in naltrexone treatment for opiate-dependence.
Unbound MEDLINE | Intermittent marijuana use is associated with improved retention in naltrexone treatment for opiate-dependence. Journal article

Effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist AM 251 on the reinstatement of nicotine-conditioned place preference by drug priming in rats.
Unbound MEDLINE | Effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist AM 251 on the reinstatement of nicotine-conditioned place preference by drug priming in rats. Journal article



Hope that helps-

Granny

 

Great post!
+rep

 

Addiction is a brain disease, and is caused when the drugs alter the balance of certain neurotransmitters as well as physically change the brain. Hemp oil seems to be effective at alleviating or curing any mental disorder, and since smoked cannabis has been shown to be helpful with it, I am very certain that the oil would alleviate it within a month.

 

Ha ha! Did it ever. That was quite the list. I stand corrected, and my position has been changed.

Thanks for that! +Rep!

 

Cool! I LOVE to educate folks!

Now for a REAL education, try clicking a link in my sig!

There's enough there to blow your mind!



Granny