«Марихуана и мозг, часть 2: Фактор толерантности»

Скачать 125.99 Kb.

Название	«Марихуана и мозг, часть 2: Фактор толерантности»
Дата публикации	09.07.2013
Размер	125.99 Kb.
Тип	Документы

100-bal.ru > Астрономия > Документы

«Марихуана и мозг, часть 2: Фактор толерантности»

Jon Gettman

July 1995 /High Times/
Адепты запрещения марихуаны долгое время утверждали, что толерантность к канабису означает то же, что и толерантность к вызывающим привыкание наркотикам, типа кокаина или героина – дескать, употребляющие ее люди нуждаются все в больших и больших дозах для прихода, что толкает их на преступление и обрекает на безумие. Теперь, собственные исследования федерального правительства показывают, что ровно противоположное имеет место. Наука, наконец, въехала в то, что торчки знали всю дорогу: в случае с марихуановой толерантностью, требуется курить меньше для получения эффекта! Корреспондент High Times Джон Геттман объясняет, как последние открытия дискредитируют политику государства в отношении наркотиков.

One of the safest qualities of THC, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana, is the natural limit the body places on the drug's effects.

It has long mystified scientists how most individuals can consume enormous quantities of marijuana with few or no obvious ill effects. But the explanation will not surprise regular marijuana users.

Early researchers were often alarmed by this, believing that this

tolerance was a warning sign of dependence or addiction. Tolerance

generally describes the condition of requiring larger doses of a drug to

attain consistent effects. While tolerance to marijuana has never

exactly fit the classic definition, some form of tolerance to pot does

develop.

Regular users of marijuana frequently claim that this tolerance reduces

troublesome side effects, such as loss of coordination. They also claim

that tolerance to marijuana develops without risk of dependence.

Cynics have argued that tolerance to marijuana is proof of dependence,

and proof that the drug is too dangerous to be used safely and responsibly.

Science has finally proven otherwise. The cynics have been wrong, the

pot-smokers have been right. Tolerance to marijuana is not an indication

of danger or dependence.

This conclusion also adds credence to anecdotal accounts of marijuana's

therapeutic benefits by patients suffering from serious illnesses.

Одним из главных достоинств ТГК (дельта-9 тетрагидроканабинол) – первичной активной составляющей марихуаны – является естественный предел, накладываемый телом на эффекты применения наркотика.

Долгое время ученых озадачивало, как большинство индивидуумов могут потреблять огромные количества марихуаны, не испытывая никаких или заметных болезненных эффектов. Опытного же курильщика марихуаны объяснение не удивит.

Ранние исследователи часто бывали встревожены этим, полагая, что толерантность это признак надвигающейся зависимости или привыкания. Обычно под толерантностью понимают необходимость употребления больших доз вещества для достижения того же эффекта. И хотя толерантность к марихуане никогда не подходила под классическое определение, некоторая форма ее развивается.

Регулярные курильщики часто заявляют, что эта толерантность снижает неприятные побочные эффекты, как-то, потерю координации. Они также утверждают, что толерантность не ведет к зависимости.

Циники возражают, что толерантность доказывает зависимость, из чего следует, что наркотик слишком опасен, чтобы быть использован компетентно.

Наконец, наука доказала обратное. Циники посрамлены, планокуры торжествуют. Толерантность – не признак зависимости от марихуаны.

Этот вывод также добавил правдоподобия эпизодическим сообщениям о терапевтических свойствах марихуаны от пациентов, страдающих серьезными заболеваниями.
*YOUR BRAIN IS PROGRAMMED TO PROCESS POT*
The recent discovery of a cannabinoid receptor system in the human brain

has revolutionized research on marijuana and cannabinoids, and

definitively proven that marijuana use does not have a dependence or

addiction liability ("Marijuana and the Human Brain," March 1995 /High

Times/). Marijuana, it turns out, affects brain chemistry in a

qualitatively different way than addictive drugs.
Drugs of abuse such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol and

nicotine affect the production of dopamine, an important

neurotransmitter which chemically activates switches in the brain that

produce extremely pleasurable feelings. Drugs that affect dopamine

production produce addiction because the human brain is genetically

conditioned to adjust behavior to maximize dopamine production. This

chemical process occurs in the middle-brain, in an area called the

striatum, which also controls various aspects of motor control and

coordination.

Dr. Miles Herkenham of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

and his research teams have made the fundamental discoveries behind

these findings, and finally contradicted well-known marijuana cynic

Gabriel Nahas of Columbia University. Supported in the 1980s by the

antidrug group Parents Research Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE),

Nahas has long argued that marijuana affects the middle-brain,

justifying its prohibition.
Now Herkenham and his associates have proven that marijuana has no

direct effect on dopamine production in the striatum, and that most of

the drug's effects occur in the relatively "new" (in evolutionary terms)

region of the brain - the frontal cerebral cortex. There is now

biological evidence that far from being the "gateway" to abusive drugs,

marijuana is instead the other way to get high - the safe way.

Ваш мозг запрограммирован на обработку косячка!

Недавнее открытие в человеческом мозгу канабиноидорецепторной системы революционизировало исследование марихуаны и других канабиноидов и решительно подтвердило, что использование марихуаны не влечет за собой зависимости или привычки ("Marijuana and the Human Brain," March 1995 /High Times/). Оказывается, марихуана воздействует на химию мозга качественно иным способом, нежели наркотики.

Вещества, допускающие злоупотребление, такие как героин, кокаин, амфетамины, алкоголь и никотин, влияют на производство допамина - важного нейротрансмиттера, химически включающего в мозгу центры удовольствия. Человеческий организм генетически запрограммирован на максимизацию производства допамина. Этот химический процесс имеет место в среднем мозгу – в области называемой стриатум, которая, кроме того, осуществляет различные аспекты моторного управления и координации.

Однако, после этого вывода доктор Майлз из Национального института здоровья мозга (NIMH) и его исследовательские команды совершили ряд фундаментальных открытий и, наконец, опровергли широко известного «марихуанового циника» Габриэля Нахаса из Колумбийского университета. При поддержке в 1980х антинаркотической группы Parents Research Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) долгое время утверждал, что марихуана воздействует на средний мозг, обосновывая тем самым ее запрещение.

Теперь же Херкенгэм и его сторонники доказали, что марихуана не оказывает непосредственного влияния на производство допамина в стриатуме, и большинство эффектов ее применения имеют место в относительно «новой» (в эволюционных терминах) области мозга – фронтальной церебальной коре. Это биологическое свидетельство того, что марихуана – не «калитка к тяжелым наркотикам», а новый, безопасный способ «торчать».
*THC: DOSE AND EFFECT*
The effects of marijuana share certain properties with all the other

psychoactive drugs - stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers and

hallucinogens. Scientists are just now figuring out how marijuana users

manipulate dosage and tolerance to manage those effects.
Small doses of THC provide stimulation, followed by sedation. Large

doses of THC produce a mild hallucinogenic effect, followed by sedation

and/or sleep. The effects of mild "hypnogogic" states produced by THC

are often undetected, contributing to mood variations from

gregariousness to introspection.

ТГК: доза и эффект

Эффекты применения марихуаны совпадают по определенному набору свойств с другими психоактивными препаратами – стимуляторами, успокоительными, транквилизаторами и галлюциногенами. Ученые пытаются выяснить, как курильщики манипулируют дозированием и толерантностью для достижения этих эффектов.

Малые дозы ТГК вызывают возбуждение, сменяющееся успокоением. Большие дозы оказывают мягкий галлюциногенный эффект с последующим успокоением (обезболиванием) и/или сном. Эффекты мягких «гипногогических» состояний, производимых ТГК, часто остаются незамеченными, выражаясь в изменениях настроения от общительности до погружения в самоанализ.
The effects of marijuana can be sorted into four categories. First,

there are modest physical effects, such as a slight change in heart rate

or blood pressure and changes in body temperature. Tolerance develops to

these effects with familiarity and/or regular use.
Tolerance next develops to the depressant effects of marijuana,

particularly to its effects on motor coordination. However, tolerance to

these effects depends on the quality of the marijuana consumed as well

as the frequency of use. THC is one of several cannabinoids in

marijuana. While it is the only cannabinoid to produce the psychoactive

or stimulative effects, another cannabinoid, named cannabinol (CBN),

produces only the depressant effects. CBN is generally present in

low-potency marijuana, or very old marijuana in which the THC has

decayed; it accounts for the generally undesirable effects of bad pot.

While cannabinol gets someone "stoned," THC gets them "high."
Эффекты применения марихуаны могут быть классифицированы по четырем категориям. Во-первых, имеются умеренные физические эффекты, как-то слабое изменение пульса или кровяного давления и изменения в темепературе тела. Толерантность вызывает эти эффекты при достаточном знакомстве и/или при регулярном употреблении.

Затем толерантность развивается в эффекты депрессивного характера, в частности влияет на моторную координацию. Однако, толерантность к этим эффектам зависит от качества употребляемой марихуаны и частоты использования. Это единственный канабиноид, производящий психоактивные или возбуждающие эффекты. Другой канабиноид - канабинол (КБН) – производит только деперссивные эффекты. КБН присутствует главным образом в легкой или очень старой марихуане, ТГК в которой уже разложился; КБН полагается виновником всех нежелательных эффектов плохого косяка. КБН «грузит», ТГК – «прет».
After a while, tolerance develops to even the stimulative effects of

marijuana. Experienced users learn that there is an outer limit to how

high they can get. Paradoxically, this limit can only be exceeded by

lower consumption.
Patients who require marijuana for medical purposes generally discover

what dose provides steady maintenance of therapeutic benefits and

tolerance to the side effects, both depressant and stimulative.
Через некоторе время толерантность развивается даже в возбуждающие эффекты марихуаны. Опытные курильщики обнаруживают существование верхнего предела эйфории. Как ни парадоксально, но этот предел может быть преодолен только снижением дозы.

Пациенты, которым прописана марихуана в медицинских целях обычно открывают дозу, обеспечивающую как стабильный терапевтический эффект, так и толерантность к побочным эффектам – депрессивным и стимулирующим.
*MARIJUANA TOLERANCE: EQUILIBRIUM, NOT ADDICTION*
Research into drug tolerance is in its infancy. There are actually three

forms of tolerance. Dispositional tolerance is produced by changes in

the way the body absorbs a drug. Dynamic tolerance is produced by

changes in the brain caused by an adaptive response to the drug's

continued presence, specifically in the receptor sites affected by the

drug. Behavioral tolerance is produced by familiarity with the

environment in which the drug is administered. "Familiarity" and

"environment" are two alternative terms for what Timothy Leary called

"set" and "setting" - the subjective emotional/mental factors that the

user brings to the drug experience and the objective external factors

imposed by their surroundings. Tolerance to any drug can be produced by

a combination of these and other mechanisms.
Brain receptor sites act as switches in the brain. The brain's

neurotransmitters, or drugs which mimic them, throw the switches. The

basic theory of tolerance is that repeated use of a drug wears out the

receptors, and makes it difficult for them to function in the drug's

absence. Worn-out receptors were supposed to explain the connection of

tolerance to addiction. This phenomenon has been associated with chronic

use of benzodiazepines (Valium, Prozac, etc.), for example, but not with

cannabinoids.
An alternative hypothesis about how dynamic tolerance to marijuana

operates involves receptor "down-regulation," in which the body adjusts

to chronic exposure to a drug by reducing the number of receptor sites

available for binding. A 1993 paper published in Brain Research by

Angelica Oviedo, John Glowa and Herkenham indicates that tolerance to

cannabinoids results from receptor down-regulation. This, as we shall

see, is good news. It means that marijuana tolerance is actually the

brain's mechanism to maintain equilibrium.
*THE N.I.M.H. TOLERANCE STUDY*
Herkenham's team studied six groups of rats. They compared changes in

behavioral responses with changes in the density of receptor sites in

six areas of the brain. One group of rats was the control group, which

were given the "vehicle" solution the other five rat groups received,

but without any cannabinoids. In other words, the control rats got a

placebo; the other rats got high. A second group was given cannabidiol

(CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid. The third group was given delta-9

THC. Three other groups were given different doses of a synthetic

cannabinoid called CP-55,940, with a far greater ability to inhibit

movement than delta-9 THC. CP-55-940, a synthetic isomer of THC, was

developed as an experimental analgesic.
First, the study determined the effects of a single dose of each

compound compared to the undrugged control group. Rats receiving the

placebo and the CBD displayed no sign of effects. The animals receiving

the psychoactive cannabinoids, THC and CP-55,940, "exhibited splayed

hind limbs and immobility."
Anyone who has eaten too many pot brownies should have some idea of the

condition of the rats after their initial doses. The human equivalency

of the doses of THC used in this study would be in excess of a huge

brownie overdose.
A single 10-milligram dose of nonpsychoactive CBD for a one-kg rat

actually increased the density of receptor sites by 13% and 19% in two

key areas of the brain: the medial septum/diagonal band region and the

lateral caudate/putamen - both motor-control areas.
A single 10-mg dose of delta-9 THC had no change on receptor-site

density. A single 10-mg dose of CP-55,940 produced a drop in the density

of receptor sites, to 46% and 60% of the control group's levels.
The effect the drugs had on motor behavior was observed daily, and at

the end of the study the rats were "sacrificed" (killed) and the density

of the receptor sites in various areas of their brains was determined.
What effect did the daily injections have on the various rats' behavior?

According to the researchers, "The animals receiving the highest dose of

CP-55,940 tended to show more rapid return to control levels of activity

than did the animals receiving the lowest dose, with the middle-dose

animals in between."
The groups receiving CBD showed no changes in receptor-site density

after 14 days. All the other groups exhibited receptor down-regulation

of significant magnitudes.
The changes consistently followed a dose-response relationship,

especially in regard to CP-55,940. The high-dose animals had the

greatest decrease (up to 80%), the low-dose animals had the lowest

reduction (up to 50%), and the middle-dose group exhibited an

intermediate reduction (up to 72%). The delta-9 THC group exhibited

receptor reductions of up to 48%, comparable to the lowest dose of

CP-55,940.
The conclusions of the researchers: "It would seem paradoxical that

animals receiving the highest doses of cannabinoids would show the

greatest and fastest return to normal levels [of behavior]; however, the

receptor down-regulation in these animals was so profound that the

behavioral correlate may be due to the great loss of functional binding

sites." In other words, when the rats had had "enough," their receptors

simply switched off.
*HOW TO STAY HIGH: LESS IS MORE*
The NIMH tolerance study confirms what most marijuana smokers have

already discovered for themselves: The more often you smoke, the less

high you get.
The dose of THC used in the study was 10 mg per kilogram of body weight,

a dose frequently used in clinical research. What is the equivalent of

10 mg/kg of THC in terms of human consumption?
While most users are familiar with varying potencies of marijuana, many

are only vaguely aware of differences in the efficiency of various ways

to smoke it. Clinical studies indicate that only 10 to 20% of the

available THC is transferred from a joint cigarette to the body. A pipe

is better, allowing for 45% of the available THC to be consumed. A bong

is a very efficient delivery system for marijuana; in ideal conditions

the only THC lost is in the exhaled smoke.
The minimum dose of THC required to get a person high is 10 micrograms

per kilogram of body weight. For a 165-pound person, this would be 750

micrograms of THC, about what is delivered by one bong hit.
The THC doses used on the NIMH rats were proportionately ten times

greater than what a heavy human marijuana user would consume in a day.

Assuming use of good-quality, 7.5% THC sinsemilla, it would take

something like 670 bong hits or 100 joints to give a 165-pound person a

10 mg-per-kg dose of THC.
Obviously, the doses used are excessive. But the study indicates that

the body itself imposes an unbeatable equilibrium on cannabis use, a

ceiling to every high.
According to Herkenham's team: "The result [of the study] has

implications for the consequences of chronic high levels of drug use in

humans, suggesting diminishing effects with greater levels of consumption."
Tolerance and the quality of the marijuana both affect the balance

between the two tiers of effects: the coordination problems, short-term

memory loss and disorientation associated with the term "stoned" and the

pleasurable sensations and cognitive stimulation associated with the

word "high."
The distinction between the two states is nothing unique. Alcohol,

nicotine and heroin can all produce nausea when first used; this symptom

also disappears as tolerance to the drug develops. To conclude that

marijuana users consume the drug to get "stoned" would be as accurate as

asserting that alcohol drinkers drink in order to vomit.
One result of the NIMH study is that there is now a clinical basis for

characterizing the differences between these two tiers of effects. In

clinical terms, the effects of one-time (or occasional) exposure are

referred to as the acute effects of marijuana. Repeated use or exposure

is referred to as chronic use.
In addition to the now-disproved claims of dependence, opponents of

marijuana-law reform always refer to the acute effects of the drug as

proof of its dangers. Prohibitionists believe that tolerance is evidence

that marijuana users have to increase their consumption to maintain the

acute effects of the drug. No wonder they think marijuana is dangerous!
Marijuana-law reform advocates, more familiar with actual use patterns

and effects, always consider the effects of chronic use as their

baseline for describing the drug. "Chronic use" is just regular use, and

there is nothing sinister about regular marijuana use.
Most marijuana users regulate their use to achieve specific effects. The

main technique for regulating the effects of marijuana is manipulating

tolerance. Some people who like to get "stoned" on pot, which (unlike

the initial side effects of other drugs) can be enjoyable. These people

smoke only occasionally.
People who like to get "high" tend to smoke more often, and maintain

modest tolerance to the depressant effects. But this is not an

indefinite continuum. Just as joggers encounter limits, regular users of

marijuana eventually confront the wall of receptor down-regulation.

Smoking more pot doesn't increase the effects of the drug; it diminishes

them.
The ideal state is right between the two tiers of effects. One of the

great ironies of prohibition is that most marijuana users are left to

figure this out for themselves. Most do, and strive for the middle

ground. Some just don't figure it out, and this explains two behaviors

which are identified as marijuana abuse.
First is binge smoking, often but not exclusively exhibited by young or

inexperienced users who mistakenly believe that they can compensate for

tolerance with excessive consumption. The second behavior these new

findings on tolerance explain is the stereotype of the stoned, confused

hippie. According to this NIMH study, tolerance develops faster with

high-potency cannabinoids. People who have irregular access to

marijuana, and to low-quality marijuana at that, do not have the

opportunity to develop sufficient tolerance to overcome the acute

effects of the drug.
Another popular misconception this study contradicts is that

higher-potency marijuana is more dangerous. In fact, the use of

higher-potency marijuana allows for the rapid development of tolerance.

Earlier research by Herkenham established why large doses of THC are not

life-threatening. Marijuana's minimal effects on heart rate are still

mysterious, but there are no cannabinoid receptors in the areas of the

brain which control heart function and breathing. This research further

establishes that the brain can safely handle large, potent doses of THC.
Like responsible alcohol drinkers, most marijuana users adjust the

amount of marijuana they consume - they "titrate" it - according to its

potency. In the course of a single day, for example, the equilibrium is

between the amount consumed and the potency of the herb. Tolerance

achieves the same equilibrium; over time the body compensates for

prolonged exposure to THC by reducing the number of receptors available

for binding. The body itself titrates the THC dose.
*TOLERANCE, DEPENDENCE AND DENIAL*
Herkenham's earlier research mapping the locations of the cannabinoid

brain-receptor system helped establish scientific evidence that

marijuana is nonaddictive. This new tolerance study builds on that

foundation by explaining how cannabinoid tolerance supports rather than

contradicts that finding.
"It is ironic that the magnitude of both tolerance (complete

disappearance of the inhibitory motor effects) and receptor

down-regulation (78% loss with high-dose CP-55,940) is so large, whereas

cannabinoid dependence and withdrawal phenomena are minimal. This

supports the claim that tolerance and dependence are independently

mediated in the brain."
In other words, tolerance to marijuana is not an indication that the

drug is addictive.
Norman Zinberg, in 'Drug, Set and Setting' (Yale, New Haven, CT, 1984),

explained that the key to understanding the use of any drug is to

realize that three variables affect the situation: drug, set and

setting. It is now a scientific finding that the pharmacological effects

of marijuana do not produce dependency. The use and abuse of marijuana

is a function of behavior - interrelated psychological and environmental

factors.
Addictive drugs affect behavior through their effects on the brain

"reward system" - the production of dopamine, linked to the pleasure

sensation. This brain "reward system" has a powerful influence over

behavior. Dependence-producing drugs - drugs that, unlike marijuana,

affect dopamine production - eventually exert more influence on the

user's behavior than any other factor. The effect of addiction on

behavior is so profound as to create a condition called denial, in which

someone will say or do anything to continue access to the drug.
Denial is a characteristic of drug abuse, and it is largely cultivated

by the effects of various drugs on the brain reward system. Herkenham's

research provides a clinical basis for claims that denial is not a

characteristic of marijuana use.
*THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS*
This is devastating to opposition to the medical use of marijuana, which

is solely based on challenges to the credibility of personal

observations by patients exploiting marijuana's therapeutic benefits.
John Lawn, then-administrator of the DEA, had this to say in 1989 about

the credibility of marijuana's medicinal users when he rejected the

recommendation of Administrative Law Judge Francis Young that marijuana

be made available for medical use: "These stories of individuals who

treat themselves with a mind-altering drug, such as marijuana, must be

viewed with great skepticism...These individuals' desire to rationalize

their marijuana use removes any scientific value from their accounts of

marijuana use."
As a result of this new research at the National Institute of Mental

Health, there is no scientific basis for that sort of prejudice on the

part of our public servants. Just as marijuana users have been accurate

in describing the tolerance and dependence liabilities of marijuana for

over 20 years, patients who use marijuana medicinally are accurate in

describing the therapeutic benefits they achieve with their marijuana use.
Constant therapeutic use of marijuana represents a third tier of effects

from the drug, a tier once thought unimaginable because of the

now-discredited fear of addiction. At this level, tolerance compensates

for virtually all marijuana-related impairment of motor coordination and

cognitive functions. The result is a therapeutic drug with wide

applications and few debilitating side effects.
The outer limits of being high are reached when natural systems decide

that the needs of the body supersede the wants of the mind. The third

tier represents the most noble effects of marijuana: comfort, care and

treatment for people with genuine needs.
The discovery of the cannabinoid receptor system was a revolutionary

event of profound significance. These new findings on tolerance may

presage further revolutionary developments from the laboratories of NIMH

in the next few years - such as the natural role of the cannabinoid

receptor system and the brain chemical which activates it.

Meanwhile, advocates of marijuana-law reform must learn to use the

latest research as a tool to demonstrate that marijuana users have been

right for a long, long time. The remaining challenge is to confront the

irrationality of America's current public policy.
Reprinted without permission from /High Times/

(though we did send them a message about

it). For subscription or other information email hightimes@echonyc.com.

More important information about marijuana and the human brain:

In his book, "Mind Matters" (Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, 1988), Michael S.

Gazzaniga, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School,

summarizes current scientific thinking on addiction. Here are some

excerpts from his chapter on "Addiction." (p. 140ff)
"....Most of what we hear is hyperbole, and it is encouraged by those

who profit from a continuance of the drug hysteria. It is hyped by

medical researchers who get paid to study drugs. It is hyped by the

social service industry that gets paid to help rehabilitate the addict.

It is hyped by politicians who get elected by showing they have a social

conscience.
"This urgency to solve the problem loses some of its force once we

realize that addiction, in the sense of physiological need, is very

limited and relatively easy to fix. Most so-called addicts are not

suffering from physiological needs; their cravings are psychological,

and one has to wonder whether all the helping agencies that concentrate

on the physiological dependencies are not in fact serving the function

of reinforcing various forms of dependent or fatalistic physchologically

driven behavior. Consider a study by Professor Stanley Schacter of

Columbia University.
"Schacter spent years studying why it was so difficult to wean smokers

from their cigarettes. He examined all the data from rehab services and

observed that no matter what the treatment had been, 60 to 70 percent of

the participants returned to smoking. As he puzzled this fact and

unearthed relations between nicotine levels and cigarette use, he also

wondered why he no longer knew anyone who smoked. Years before, a

seminar room would be so filled with smoke that the blackboard was

barely visible. Now, not only was the air clear, but a maverick smoker

incurred the wrath of all those around him when he lit up. What was

going on?
"Schacter formally surveyed his highly educated colleagues at Columbia.

He also polled residents of Amagansett, a middle- to upper-middle- class

community on Long Island where he summered. He first determined who were

smokers and who had been smokers. he took into account how long they had

smoked, what they had smoked, and all the other variables he could think
of for such a study. It wasn't long before the truth began to emerge.

Inform a normally intelligent group of people about the tangible hazards

of using a particular substance, and vast majority of them simply stop.

That's all, they stop. They don't need treatment programs, support

groups, therapeutic drugs - nothing. People who had been smoking for

years on a daily basis abruptly quit. This suggested that the rehab

centers were attracting only those people who were unable to stop. As a

consequence, the rehab patients are not a random sampling of the

population with an addiction. They are a subculture that cannot easily

give up their addictions. Yet it is the patients from these centers who

make up most of the studies about addiction and how hard it is to kick

the drug habit. Clearly, the Schacter study strongly suggests that the

world is getting a distorted report about the addictive process.
"About 10 percent of the population fall into addictive patterns with

drugs....Similar conclusions can be made from a large drug study on

returning Vietnam vets ordered by Richard Nixon.
"Nixon, who rarely relied on the powers of social science research,

thought the country should know how many vets returned as addicts. This

was in response to an outcry from Americans who seemed to regard all

returning veterans as junkies. The director of the study, Dr. Lee

Robbins of Washington University, had a large sample to draw on. She

chose those soldiers returning to the United States in 1971. Of those

13,760 Army enlisted men who had returned, 1,400 were found to have

urine that tested positive for drugs (narcotics, amphetamines, or

barbiturates). In short, these 1,400 men were unquestionably drug users.

Of that sample, she retested 495 men eight to twelve months after their

return home. The results were crystal clear. Only 8 percent of the men

who had been drug positive in their first urine test remained so.

Therefore, 92 percent of those using drugs upon their return home simply

quit, walked away from a dependence on the substance they enjoyed in

Vietnam. It was the remaining 8 percent that were making their way to

the rehab facilities - the hard-core addicts.
"This finding is staggering in its implications. Virtually every study

and every statement made about human addiction is based on the image

that heavy drug users are victims of their substances. Yet Schacter's

work suggests that the vast majority of humans are able to walk away

from a drug should they choose to do so. Those who cannot are not so

much victims of a ravaging physiological need as they are of a certain

psychological character. That psychological profile, no matter how it

might be characterized, is what is at issue - not the substance abuse."
Professor Gazzaniga's summary is reflected in the current medical and

scientific literature. For example, the Sept. 15, 1994 peer-reviewed

'New England Journal of Medicine' (Vol 331, No. 11) reports that

"Treatment, of course, is only part of the picture. The sociologist

Charles Winick presents evidence that 'some people can regularly use

[illicit] drugs without harming themselves or inflicting losses on

others.' Most who try them soon stop, and among those who continue,

recent studies suggest, 'controlled use' may be the norm, even for

cocaine and heroin.'" (p. 749)
[End]
This URL: http://www.pantless.com/~pdxnorml/brain2.html

Добавить документ в свой блог или на сайт

	Стволовая часть головного мозга План Мозг является самым важным и ценным органом человека. С помощью мозга осуществляется восприятие окружающего мира; мозг хранит воспоминания;...		Л. М. Чайлахян искусственный интеллект и мозг (Можно ли моделировать... Программа развития научно-исследовательского и экспедиционного флота Росгидромета на 2010 – 2012 годы
	Доклад Социальная безопасность – неотъемлемая часть национальной безопасности и фактор развития		Исследовательская работа по теме: Роль спорта в формировании толерантности... Их влияние на развитие толерантности с. 8
	Гумилёв Л. Н. Древняя Русь и Великая степь Россия не рассматривается как фактор европейской политики, русская культура – как неотъемлемая часть культуры европейской, русский...		Воспитание толерантности в школе Толерантность являет собой новую основу педагогического общения учителя и ученика, сущность которого сводится к таким принципам воспитания,...
	Физиология двигательных функций на уровне ствола мозга Анатомические характеристики ствола Физиологи анатомически объединяет три отдела головного мозга: продолговатый мозг, мост и средний мозг, совместная деятельность которых...		Уроки толерантности Тема. "Урок толерантности" ...
	Родителям о воспитании толерантности у подростков Акта о толерантности” в Англии в 1689г. Чуть раньше, во второй половине XVI в., понятие толерантность как дозволение, уступка в вопросе...		Марихуана (09 2b) Здесь дана довольно подробная информация о видеокурсе по прикладной психологии на dvd «как стать эффективным практическим психологом:...
	Методические рекомендации по празднованию Дня толерантности (16 ноября... Автор составитель: Т. А. Липаева, канд филос наук, ст преподаватель кафедры профессионального образования огбоу дпо «Костромской...		Методические рекомендации по празднованию Дня толерантности (16 ноября... Автор составитель: Т. А. Липаева, канд филос наук, ст преподаватель кафедры профессионального образования огбоу дпо «Костромской...
	«Формирование толерантности на уроках истории, обществознания и во... Ознакомительная характеристика мастер-класса по формированию толерантности учителем истории и обществознания мкоу сош №15 п. Прикалаусский...		Практическая работа в парах, направленная на применение выявленных правил толерантного общения Данная методическая разработка не затрагивает вопросов этнической толерантности как таковой. Одним из направлений является выстраивание...
	Самостоятельная работа обучающихся наиболее важный фактор, обеспечивающий... ...		Методические рекомендации классным руководителям для проведения единого... Международный день толерантности, взаимопонимания и культурного многообразия народов. В 1995 году Генеральная Ассамблея ООН предложила...

«Марихуана и мозг, часть 2: Фактор толерантности»