--Original published at Pisacane Perspectives

The leagalization of marijuana in some states has understandably received mixed reactions. Although it’s been widely used, there are still a lot of things to worry about now that it’s becoming more accepted. Will there be more legislation passed to control it or will laws become even more accepting? Will the same limitations apply to smoking cigarettes in public places apply to smoking joints? There’s a lot to consider and worry about since these laws are still relatively new.

When it comes to recreational marijuana, I think leagalizing it is okay, as along as the users can be safe. If we apply the same thinking to marijuana as we do to cigarettes and alcohol, I think it will be easier for people to accept. Making sure the participants get it from a reputable place (such as a business, and not off the street), and giving limitations as to where it can be used (similar to the limitations for smoking cigarettes), will ensure that the users and those around them can be safe and have boundaries.

One might argue that it’s not smart to leagalize a class one drug. I would agree with this, but I would also argue that if regulated, and used correctly, marijuana could get off of the drug schedule. Another thing that would help with this is the medicinal use of marijuana. Unlike other pain killers, it’s not addictive, and patients may be more open to using it now that it’s becoming legal, it’s familiar, and because they may already know the effect it has on them.

It’s understandable that marijuana has been met with resistance, but if more action is taken to regulate and keep people safe, it may become as common as alcohol and cigarettes.

--Original published at Max'sPHY105blog

For this week’s first impression post, I choose to comment on option 2, abstinence versus harm reduction. Both of these methods are used to treat drug addictions. According to the prompt and the provided web page, abstinence involves keeping the drug away from the addicted user. Harm reduction involves removing the problems associated with addiction. I have never gotten addicted to a drug before, but my dad told me about a time where he has gotten addicted to caffeine when he was a college student. He is able to describe what happened and how hard it was to get over. He told me that he started getting splitting head aches that would only stop after he consumed caffeine. Upon realizing this, he tried very hard to stop consuming caffeine so the addiction would go away, but it was not easy. Over and over, his head aches would become so bad that he was compelled to consume caffeine again. Eventually, he was able to stop consuming caffeine long enough for his head aches to go away. He was able to solve his problem through abstinence.

For this reason, I feel that abstinence is a better idea in treating addictions than harm reduction. Abstinence might not be easy, but it will remove the addiction, which will be a lot better in the long run. Harm reduction does not sound like it really removes the addiction. It only suppresses the effects of the addiction. I do not think this is the best way to treat addictions as they create something to become dependent on. If a drug user becomes addicted and used harm reduction to solve his problem, he probably would continue consuming the drug expecting his harm reduction treatments to keep him covered. However, what happens if he suddenly cannot afford these harm reduction treatments? The only way to treat his addiction would be with abstinence, which would now be harder because he has been consuming the drug so long. So, if I had a loved one who needed help with an addiction, I would tell this person to try to refrain from consuming the drug, because this is the only way to actually remove the addiction.

--Original published at Emily's Blog

I have chosen the first prompt about marijuana to discuss this week. Marijuana use is a popular topic of discussion today because more people are gaining access to it and using it. A few states have already made it legal which causes some people to wonder why it is not legal throughout the whole country. Many feel as though it should be legal in every state while others are strongly opposed to the idea.

People who favor the use of marijuana would argue it is not as harmful as other substances and it is used to heal many medical issues. Others who do not agree with the legalization of marijuana believe it can be hurtful to the next generation and it is addictive.

Some also think, the legalization of marijuana will cause teenagers to use it more and more. The rate of teenagers using marijuana increases every year. Marijuana is dangerous for children because their brains are not fully developed at this stage of their life. The negative effects of marijuana use can include decreased concentration, difficulty problem solving, and a lack of attention in school. Though there are not enough research supporting these as facts.

On one hand, many believe marijuana is addictive. Even the smell of marijuana in the room can cause an addict to crave it. While it does take numerous uses over a large amount of time, people start to desire the “high” feeling they receive from it and it will soon become a part of their daily life.

This can of course be compared to other legal substances which have shown worse effects from being abused. On the contrary, marijuana is not as dangerous as tobacco or alcohol. There is not one reported case of death by overdose of marijuana. Many people have died from overusing alcohol and prescription drugs. It is also important to point out it is safer than most substances which are already legal. Marijuana has caused zero deaths and alcohol causes thousands a year.

Marijuana is also used to help with many mental and physical ailments. This would be the medical use of marijuana. People also wonder if it could be recreationally to treat people suffering from depression or anxiety. It has proven to help with these issues. This may only last for a short amount of time and using marijuana is not shown to completely treat these problems.

After thinking through and discussing the negative and positive impacts of marijuana, I believe that it should not be legalized. I think it is addictive and could be very harmful to an individual whether it be physically or emotionally. I also believe legalizing it would cause people to drive while under the influence. I think driving when high could cause some of the same issues as drunk driving. Both will cause the driver to be distracted and not in their right state of mind. It could also cause an innocent person to be killed. I believe it should not be legal, but I do see the possible benefits for medical use just not recreational use.

--Original published at Emily Garvin's Psych Blog

Recently, several states have legalized recreational use of marijuana and even more are considering it. This has lead to both celebration and condemnation depending on who you ask. Medicinal use of marijuana is still controversial as well. In your blog post, take a position on both medical and recreational use of marijuana. Should they be legal or not? Make sure to point out pros and cons to both arguments.

The legalization of marijuana is a heavily debated topic among society today. Many people have varying opinions on the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medicinal use. I believe that there are pros and cons to each perspective. Those who support the recreational use of marijuana validate their claims with the physiological effects that it brings and the social benefits it reaps as well. For example, marijuana has been proven to heighten senses, increase creativity, and make people feel more energized. Supporters of legalization also advocate for the social aspect of the drug. They claim that the drug brings friends together and allows them to freely speak their mind. Contrary to these claims, those who do not support the legalization of recreational marijuana say that marijuana has detrimental effects on one’s physical and mental health. Some of the health risks include heightened anxiety, psychosis and delusions, red shot eyes, dry mouth, problems with balance and coordination, decreased sperm count in males, and menstrual flow disruption in females. Another controversial topic among today’s society is the legalization of medical use marijuana.  Those who support the legalization say that marijuana can treat side effects of medications, greatly reduce pain suffered from chronic illnesses, and has a minimal risk of addiction.  Cancer patients are often referenced as those who would greatly benefit from the legalization of marijuana. When a patient consumes marijuana their side effect of nausea that they experience from chemo treatments usually subsides.  Those who do not support the legalization of medicinal marijuana say that the drug causes issues concerning vision, there are alternative drugs that are as just as effective, and only alleviates pain for a short period of time.

I am not very opinionated on the use of recreational marijuana, but I do support the legalization of medical marijuana. I believe that people should have the ability to choose if they want to take part in the recreational use of marijuana. Despite the legal status of the drug, marijuana is still going to be present in today’s society. Therefore, the legalization of the drug will just make marijuana easier to obtain. In my opinion, medicinal marijuana should be legalized because the benefits outweigh the risks. The people who are to be prescribed with this drug suffer immense pain on a daily basis and if this drug can relieve some of their constant pain I am all for it!  The consumers however, should be made aware of the risks and they can decide for themselves if it is a drug they would like to try.  Overall, our society is evolving and becoming more accepting of issues that were considered taboo so I think that it is good that it is being discussed.

References:

https://testcountry.com/pages/all-you-need-to-know-about-recreational-marijuana-use

https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000141

--Original published at Rachel's Blog

Addiction is a serious problem in today’s world, and I feel as if these people should receive as much help as possible in order to better themselves.  To receive help, there are two ways in doing so.  The first is the abstinence model and the second is the harm reduction model.  When comparing the abstinence model and the harm reduction model, the abstinence model will make people get away from drugs/ alcohol, but with the harm reduction model, it is not stopping the addiction, it is just reducing it.

When answering the question of which model I would recommend if a loved one needed help, I would definitely pick the abstinence model.  I would pick this model because people will be completely stopping alcohol/drug use in order to turn their life around.  They could attend the AA meetings, and with this in mind, the goal for the person is to recognize that they have a problem, and realize that they need to make an effort to fix it.  These meetings will help by talking to these people in order to help them realize that drugs/alcohol are not the answer.  With this in mind, I would not recommend the other model because the addiction is not being stopped, and drugs/alcohol are still being used, but not as intensely, and the goal is for them to not use these anymore.

--Original published at MaddiesCollegeBlog

This week I chose to write about the second prompt which talks about the 2 methods of treating addiction.

Addiction is something I am very familiar with (which is unfortunate at my age) but I am going to incorporate my personal experiences to my post to show the severity of addiction and how I feel that one method is definitely better than the other, but neither are good enough for this epidemic.

I am from Hanover, PA, it is relatively a small town with a suburbs side and a “city” side. My high school was very interesting because we lie right between the city and suburbs part of town, so we get a mix of the upper-end people and the city people. Being in a school so diverse, it was really eye-opening to see how things spread so easily. My high school was always known for being a bunch of druggies, it got to the point where it was so bad people knew it as “heroin high” and called it that for years. There would always be police and drug sniffing dogs searching the lockers, people doing drugs in the bathroom, and so on. I knew it was bad, but it never truly effected me until my junior year when one of my closest friend started to become an addict.

His father had stage 4 lung cancer, and was basically put into hospice, but they were giving him Oxycontin so he would be in less pain. My friend discovered these pills, and started popping them but, only every so often. Before a party, before going to football games, and sometimes just for the hell of it. then, as his father progressively got worse, I started to notice that he was popping them more frequently and becoming less like himself, I started to get concerned. By the end of my junior year he was now taking them everyday before school, when he would get home from school, and so on and then I had realized that he was truly getting addicted to this opioid. So, I expressed my concerns, and we anonymously told the head counselor at the high school that something needed to be done because the issue was now bigger than us just telling him to stop. Thankfully, they had sat him down in a meeting with the school board, the 3 principals & all the counselors and basically scared him enough to never touch it again. His father ended up dying that November. Since then, from my knowledge, he hasn’t touched it since.

I feel that choosing a method definitely depends on the severity of the case. Each person has their own battles, some harder than others, and therefore I feel like we can not generalize what approach would be better for everybody. although, I do feel that each approach is beneficial so anyone who faces addiction could go through abstinence or reduction model and most likely get similar results.

Now about a month or two ago, I had very close friend who happens to also be my co-worker, overdose on heroin at the age of 18. She never showed any signs that she was using, she had some other problems going on (Home life, boyfriend, etc) but never seemed to let it get to her. She always came into work smiling and cracking jokes. I wish I could have noticed a change, but she never reached out for help, she held everything in I assume. She was loved by many, and I wish I could have done something.

In her case, I would have recommended going to AA, but also partaking in the reduction model because of how bad her case was. Also, heroin is a very addictive drug so I feel that just attending AA meetings would not have completely gotten her to stop.

I think overall, Most people should partake in AA to completely try to stop using the drug, but I understand that it is tough. So maybe by taking on both treatments would be beneficial to all.

--Original published at Manda's College Blog

I chose to write about whether abstinence or the harm reduction treatment would benefit more than the other. I’m going to approach this with my personal experiences and what I am currently dealing with.

My loved one is an addict. It wasn’t unknown to anyone it was actually what defined him. Everyone looked at him as the fun guy that knew how to party. He was an addict since he was 13 years old. He didn’t believe he had a problem, abusing at work, while driving, seeing his family, using whenever he went out on a outing. You tell him he’s an addict and he’d only laugh at you and ask you to then be one with him. His abuse and depression was getting worse to where he would have no money, lost his home, and lost a lot of his families support, including mine at the time.

That is when he started to cut off cold turkey seeing that he was losing a lot for this reason. He really liked the person he was being sober, and he began to get his life back together gaining the trust and love again that he once had; then he started to make money again. Not long after he tried to replace the addiction with something else. I believe that term “addictive personality” is more real and should actually be a logical term if it isn’t; because he became addicted to something else. Then eventually he went back to his first choice and now has another form of addiction. He relapsed and the consequences were a lot worse.

This is where we both realized he couldn’t do this alone. He admitted he had a problem but it was the matter I always questioned was “How badly do you want to stop?” This is where a lot of addicts tend to fail at whatever type of treatment they approach, because most of the time they truly don’t want to stop. So my loved one trying abstinence tried, but he didn’t seek his full potential.

He started to go to AA meetings, church every Sunday, a individual councilor and we paid for a $500 pill (just ONE pill, and I believe it was called Naltrexone) that could decrease his cravings. He would take another pill every three months. He continued to abuse only 3 months later even though he was doing all of the right things. In between his back and fourth cycles of sobriety he would use the excuse that weaning himself off the drugs would help him stop completely. I believe when someone wants to use this method, it’s only a poor excuse to keep on using the drug, but to try to comfort their loved ones by giving it a title of “harm reduction” treatment. Anyone could do this type of treatment whether they want to get better or they do it to make their loved ones happy, and both WILL fail unless they truly want to get better. I don’t believe this method would help even under a doctors supervision. They won’t always have doctors to monitor them. Im not saying abstinence is a definite fix either, though it is a better chance for recovery. It’s honestly if they really want to get better, and I strongly believe the first approach to getting sober is going to a inpatient facility and to be carefully monitored with whatever type of treatment you or they chose to approach. Thats why the next step we took for my loved one was a treatment center. He will be practicing abstinence and learn coping skills and work on a plan of recovery when he gets out….so all in all addiction will never end. He will always be an addict, but if the right steps and resources (and money) are taken, there is a higher chance of success. But again, its if he truly wants it.

I also wanted to mention about the gas stations and other places offering harm reduction “zones”…it’s only asking for trouble and I believe it’s only going to make those zones places for addicts to get their fix. I see this strategy as high risk not just to the addict, but the innocent people that are in those areas. Give them less ways and “zones” to abuse. More consequences, more monitoring and send them somewhere to get sober the safe way. With all the money that is being granted to help addicts, I think they can afford to pick up these addicts that are a risk to themselves and society and send them somewhere!

--Original published at CurtisCollegeBlog

When talking about straying away from addiction, I think it would be best to take the abstinence model. The fact of the matter is, in the other model the people are still using the drugs. Sure, it stops the spreading of disease more, but I think it would be more beneficial to try to get people off the drugs in general. In terms of health, toward the general population maybe the clean needle model will help a lot, but I don’t think it is helping at all in terms of taking people off drugs. I’m thinking the main purpose presented in this prompt is to get people off drugs. In the last sentence ending the prompt, it asks how you would treat this toward a family member. Specifically, it says which model would you suggest to a loved one who is fighting addiction. I personally, think in just about every scenario I would recommend the abstinence model. I think it’s better for people to be off drugs, getting clean, making a better life for themselves. I don’t believe giving out clean needles and endorsing the thought of doing drugs will help with that at all. So, maybe it takes going to those AA-type meetings, maybe it takes an intervention or two to get those wheels in the right direction, but it’s doing something. I think the other way just gives the wrong impression and doesn’t necessarily make anyone clean in terms of drug-free, just clean in the way of not spreading disease.

--Original published at Madison's Blog

Addiction is a real problem in our country at the moment, and I feel like more should be done to help those in need. There are two main pathways you can take to help a loved one who is struggling with an addiction, the abstinence method and the harm reduction method. Both can work in many cases, but they are very different. The abstinence method is to quit the habit or addiction for good, in order to better the individual’s life.   In the abstinence method, the science behind addiction is studied and used as a way to treat the illness. It has been scientifically shown that addiction is somewhat genetic, and people can be predisposed to having an addiction prone body.  Over 50% of a person’s predisposition to addiction is genetically linked. The person struggling with addition and using an abstinence method of treatment must retrain their altered brain to think it is powerless to the alcohol and drugs, and therefore cannot use them again. In the harm reduction method, quitting the addiction is not the goal in mind. What the method entails is educating the individual about the risks associated with the behavior. Also, it provides services like, drug replacement therapy, needle exchange programs, designated drivers in certain situations, substituting for “less harmful drugs”, and testing commonly used drugs for harmful additives. These services aren’t aimed to stop addiction from occurring, but it helps reduce the risks involved. It can potentially save lives by providing education and safety measures to those who need it. This method can be used as a stepping stone to abstinence, since sometimes it can be hard to stop an addiction at one time. If a loved one needed help with an addiction, I would recommend the abstinence method. This would be the more reliable method, since it stops the behavior instead of just curbing the risks. I think it is more beneficial to completely stop the behavior in order to be happy and healthy in the future.

--Original published at Nadia's Blog

Abstinence and the harm-reduction method both seem to be effective ways to reduce addiction. The abstinence method seems to be more effective in my opinion and seems to have a much greater result. If someone decides to change their addiction and is dedicated to a program like the 12-step program, this rigorous program will most likely ensure a positive outcome. Although each individual is different, a program like this will give most people the help they need and they will be able to do this with the aid of others. This is a very important aspect in trying to break an addiction. It is so easy to give in to yourself, but when you have someone else to face, you tend to think more about your decisions and the opinions of others. I believe that if there are set guidelines to follow, it will make the process much more manageable and it will be clear what the individual needs to do to become clean. This method also gives the person a specific goal in mind, which is to not use drugs or alcohol. The support of other people who are in a similar position will also continuously motivate them to stick to their goals and accomplish them. The harm-reduction method is also a method that can reduce addiction; however there is no clear goal in mind. Since the goal is to not become clean, this will allow the individual to still use, just not in an excessive amount. No matter the amount, there are still consequences and effects on the brain are physically altered and cannot be reversed. So although this method can reduce the addiction, it will continue to affect the brain. The abstinence method guarantee’s that an individual is capable of sobriety and makes it possible to be clean in the future.