The lid has been blown off pot's popularity ... or, at least dispelled the myth that pot isn't harmful. Boomers who use marijuana for a number of years can become addicted, say researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC). The UCHC study is investigating the characteristics of 130 long term pot smokers who are participating in a three year research project.
Investigators said that when these marijuana smokers aren't using pot, they have a strong craving for it. They think about it. They want it. When they aren't using it they get jittery, restless, and irritable. "It's a common thread that contradicts the widespread assumption that pot is not addictive," said Ronald Kadden, Ph.D., Health Center professor of psychiatry and the study's principal investigator.
"What the participants tell us is they didn't know how hooked they were until they tried to quit." It's a vicious cycle. Because you become tolerant, you need to smoke more to achieve the desired effect, says Dr. Kadden. "The more you smoke, the more you need to smoke. The more you need to smoke, the more you need to stop," he said.
Researchers and health professionals have long maintained that marijuana is psychologically addictive. Research shows that marijuana is also physically addictive, although withdrawal effects are not as debilitating as with alcohol, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine or barbiturate dependence. Users who are familiar with the severe effects of physical addiction to other drugs tend to believe their marijuana use is optional and elective. That's simply not the case.
The psychological and physical addiction of the long term pot smokers interferes with leading a normal life because they can't cope or function adequately without marijuana. Dr. Kadden's study, which began in 1997, is a three-year project consisting of 130 subjects with an average age of 36, and an age range from the teens to late 50s. The subjects come from all walks of life, the unemployed to the six-figure manager, men and women alike.
Source: University of Connecticut Health Center
AgeVenture News Service,
www.demko.com
07-30-2006, 10:56 AM
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