Drugs in American Society Erich Goode

1. Drugs in American SocietyErich Goode Marijuana, LSD, and Club Drugs Prepared by James Roberts University of Scranton

2. Chapter Outline • Marijuana: An Introduction • Acute Effects of Marijuana • Chronic Effects of Marijuana • Who Uses Marijuana?

3. Chapter Outline (cont.) • The Gateway Hypothesis: The Progression to More Dangerous Drugs • Marijuana as Medicine • LSD and the Hallucinogens: An Introduction • Subjective Effects of Hallucinogenic Drugs

4. Chapter Outline (cont.) • Genetic Damage • LSD: Continuance Rates and Frequencies of Use • Club Drugs

5. Marijuana • Marijuana = dried buds, flowers, leaves of the marijuana plant • Cannabis sativa = scientific name for the marijuana plant • Hashish = the dried resin of the cannabis plant; usually more potent than marijuana • Main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) – produces the high

6. Marijuana (cont.) • Cannabis plant contains 400+ chemicals • Two are carcinogenic – cause cancer (tar and benzopyrene) • Marijuana less frequently used than cigarettes • On the other hand, marijuana smoke inhaled more deeply and held for longer periods of time • Difficult to categorize marijuana – effects vary

7. Marijuana (cont.) • THC is stored in the body (fatty tissue) for long periods of time; takes 2-3 weeks for drug to be completely eliminated from the body • Lingering traces/slow rate of elimination good and bad • Bad = drug never leaves the system of chronic users; may impair learning coordination long after use • Good = abrupt discontinuation of marijuana does not produce classic withdrawal symptoms unlike alcohol and heroin

8. Marijuana (cont.) • Patterns of use? • MTF survey reports massive increase in teenage use during the 1990s; between 1991 and 2002 all levels of marijuana use increased for all grades • NHSDA survey reports similar increase in teenage use (12- to 17-year-olds) for this time period although increase less steep • Young people are beginning use at an increasingly young age

9. Marijuana (cont.) • What explains recent upsurge in marijuana use among the young? • Baby Boom Echo – tolerant parents raise tolerant children • Should we be worried? • Harmful medical consequences – personal health • Larger number of kids being drawn to slacker lifestyle • DUI and associated accidents/fatalities • Increased use of harder drugs

10. Acute Effects of Marijuana • It is almost impossible to die of a marijuana overdose; one of the least toxic drugs known to humans • Acute physical effects: • Reds eyes, increased heart rate, dry mouth • Self reported marijuana experiences: • Most (but not all) users report positive/pleasurable experience • Used to enhance pleasurable experiences

11. Chronic Effects of Marijuana • In 1974, Senator James Eastland conducted a series of Senate committee hearings on Marihuana-Hashish Epidemic and Its Impact on United States Security • Studies have linked marijuana use to: • “Cerebral atrophy” – shrinking of brain • Lower testosterone level & impotence • Chromosomal damage, birth defects • Lung damage

12. Chronic Effects of Marijuana (cont.) • Problems with existing research? • Possible 3rd factor influence • Recent research? • Some scientist suggest that marijuana may produce a dependence greater than we think; may also prime the brain’s pathways for harder drugs

13. Who Uses Marijuana? • 3 interrelated sets of variables related to use: • (1) Structural variables = sociodemographic factors; age, sex, social class, race, etc. • (2) Social-interactional variables = interpersonal relationships; associating with marijuana users • (3) Attitudinal variables = views about the drug itself, user’s willingness to break the law, etc.

14. Who Uses Marijuana? • Age • Structural variable most strongly correlated w/ use of marijuana • Use typically low in early teenage years, rises through teen years, peaks in late teens to early 20s, declines steadily after that – very unlikely in 40s • Why the decline as one leaves early 20s?

15. Who Uses Marijuana? • Sex • Males significantly more likely to use marijuana than females; the greater the frequency or level of use, the greater the male edge • Peer Influences • Almost no one becomes involved in marijuana use who does not have marijuana using friends; users tend to be heavily involved in social networks in which marijuana use is prevalent and tolerated

16. Who Uses Marijuana? • Unconventionality • One important attitudinal issues is belief about marijuana’s harmfulness • Other issues include one’s religious and political beliefs • In short, marijuana use is strongly related to psychosocial unconventionality

17. The Gateway Hypothesis: Progression to More Serious Drugs • What we know = (1) marijuana users more likely to use any and all illegal drugs than nonusers; (2) the more one uses, the greater the likelihood; (3) the earlier in life that one uses, the greater the probability that one will try other, harder drugs • What we don’t know is why these things are true • 3 schools of thought • Pharmacological school • Sociocultural school • The predisposition school

18. 1. The Pharmacological School • The pharmacological school = argues that properties of drug itself dictates drug-related behavior; focuses on interaction between marijuana and human brain • Something inherent in marijuana use itself – the experience of getting high on the drug, which is caused by its pharmacology – that leads to the use of and dependence on other drugs • Role of pleasure and tolerance?

19. 2. The Sociocultural School • The sociocultural school = argues that drug-related behavior is influenced by the norms users acquire through contact with specific social circles or groups • Similar to selective interaction/socialization theory • In addition to altering one’s values and identity, using peers also provide opportunities to use harder drugs

20. 3. The Predisposition School • The predisposition school = argues that the connection between drug addiction and criminal behavior is that the kinds of people who are likely to engage in compulsive drug-taking are also the kinds of people who are likely to engage in criminal behavior • Similar to problem-behavior proneness theory

21. Marijuana as Medicine • 1975 – research demonstrates marijuana to be effective in reducing pain in cancer patients; subsequent research showed same for AIDS patients • Government fears “foot in the door” in regards to legalization • Currently, 11 states have legalized medical use (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ME, NV, OR, RI, VT and WA) • Federal law still supersedes state law; doctors/pharmacists can be prosecuted

22. LSD and the Hallucinogens • Hallucinogen = drugs whose effects include profound sensory dislocation; often referred to as psychedelics; include LSD (or acid) and mescaline (chemical found in peyote cactus) • Not easily classified into stimulation or depression • Not reinforcing; a cultivated taste (must learn to enjoy) • Rarely linked to criminal/violent behavior

23. Subjective Effects of Hallucinogenic Drugs • The incidence of psychotic episodes hugely exaggerated by the media • As relatively rare as “freaking out” was in the 1960s, its incidence declined in the 1970s and 1980s • Some suggest that panic reactions and other untoward reactions to hallucinogens was strongly influenced by cultural interpretations, not the intrinsic effects of these substances

24. Genetic Damage • Like psychotic episodes, genetic damage was a supposed effect of LSD • LSD is actually an extremely weak agent of genetic alteration • The media exaggerated the harmful effects of hallucinogens • By the 1970s, the fear and hysteria surround LSD had disappated

25. LSD: Continuance Rates and Frequencies of Use • LSD-type drugs are used extremely infrequently and episodically • They are not chronically or compulsively used drugs • Among recreational drugs, their loyalty is among the weakest • There is no such thing as an LSD addict as there is for alcohol

26. Subjective Effects of Hallucinogenic Drugs • Eidetic imagery = closed-eye visions or eyeball movies • Synesthesia = the translation of one sense to another, such as seeing sound and tasting color • Pseudohallucinogen/virtual hallucinogen = an image, vision, or perception by a user of a hallucinogenic drug that the user knows isn’t real

27. Subjective Effects of Hallucinogenic Drugs (cont.) • Sensory overload = being bombarded by an excess of stimuli as a result of being incapable of filtering out those that are irrelevant

28. Club Drugs • Club drugs = informal term for substances used recreationally during raves, concerts, parties, and clubs; includes Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine, Rohypnol; some also consider methamphetamine and LSD club drugs • GHB = sedative once prescribed as a sleep aid and antianxiety agent – produces state of relaxation and drunkenness; in large doses inhibits breathing and heartbeat

29. Club Drugs (cont.) • Rohypnol = sedative drug and anxiety agent; 10 times as potent as Valium; in high doses produces unconsciousness and short-term paralysis and amnesia • Ketamine = sedative/ disassociative anesthetic; induces hypnotic state; began as drug for both humans and animals; works as a painkiller without inhibiting breathing; produces hallucinations/bizarre thoughts in some; along with Rohypnol and GHB, used as date rape drug

30. Club Drugs (cont.) • Ecstasy = analogue of amphetamine; never manufactured and officially approved for medical use; dominant effect is empathy; linked to the depletion of serotonin