The majority of substances which are abused fall into one of the following categories: Opioids or opiates (heroin, opium); stimulants (cocaine and other amphetamine-like drugs), cannabinoids (marijuana, hashish, and THC); hallucinogens (LSD and psilocybin); sedative-hypnotics (prescription drugs like alprazolam and barbiturates); and PCP.
The opiates and stimulant drugs like cocaine are highly addictive and clearly worth avoiding altogether. Other mammals (besides humans) who become experimentally addicted to these drugs in the laboratory will administer such substances compulsively until they die. Since there just isn’t any guarantee that your human mammalian brain will take any differently to the “pleasures” of opiates or stimulants than our mammalian ancestors do when they are exposed to such “delightfully” addictive substances, then we are all well-advised to avoid ever tasting such forbidden fruits as these. Those who have “gotten away with” any amount of opiate or stimulant use or abuse without suffering their potentially destructive consequences sometimes develop the erroneous belief that their somewhat favorable experiences are an indication that they are not destined to run into trouble with these drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth. The more often a person tempts fate by using one of these drugs, the more false confidence he or she develops that it is okay to continue using with impunity. Later if not sooner, the casual user often begins to use habitually, or runs into some kind of unexpected complication, and the illusion of controlled drug use is shattered, often leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
Hallucinogens and PCP may engender psychotic-like episodes of unreality which have been known to precipitate the beginning of chronic drug-induced psychotic conditions which become clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia. Sedative-hypnotic (”downer”) abuse, although not as common as it used to be, remains a bad idea, as it always as has been. The more one uses, the more likely it is that one will develop physical dependence. And there is nothing worse than stopping a drug like alprazolam (Xanax) cold turkey because the unethical or naive doctor who was supplying you or your dealer with the downers has lost his license. Sedative-hypnotic withdrawal is extremely unpleasant, and can lead to grand mal seizures and death not infrequently.
So what about marijuana and its derivatives? Is there really anything wrong with occasional, non-pathological use of cannabis? Well, here goes. Of the various illicit substances, marijuana is, generally speaking, the one which causes the least destruction. Nonetheless, it is an addictive psychoactive substance which does grab hold of some users and refuses to let go. Some of the most despondent long-term drug users were daily marijuana smokers whose lives were going nowhere, who wanted to stop using but could not, and whose daily experiences of depression and anxiety were a clear-cut consequence of their habitual pot smoking. So even though pot generally causes less damage than other ilegal drugs, it imparts sufficient risks to its users that, in general, society is better off discouraging its use, except when medically necessary.
Related Post: Marijuana.
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