According to the National Association for Children of Addiction, one in four youth under age 18 lives in a family where a person abuses alcohol or suffers from alcoholism. Based on data from the combined years of 2009 to 2014, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health concluded, about 1 in 10 children (7.5 million) lived in households with at least one parent who had a past-year alcohol use disorder in the United States. This blog is dedicated to bringing awareness to alcohol addiction and the possible benefits of cannabis as a therapeutic tool.
In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a comprehensive report on the health risks associated with cannabis and concluded that “these risks are small to moderate in size.” The report added that “In aggregate they are unlikely to produce public health problems comparable in scale to those currently produced by alcohol and tobacco….on even the most worst-case scenario, it is unlikely that the public health effect of cannabis use would approach those of alcohol or tobacco use.” WHO also made the following findings:
“There is good evidence that chronic, heavy alcohol use increases the risk of premature mortality from accidents, suicide, and violence. There is no comparable evidence for chronic cannabis use.” Consequently, “In large doses alcohol can cause death by asphyxiation, alcohol poisoning, cardiomyopathy, and cardiac infarct. There are no recorded cases of overdose fatalities attributed to cannabis, and the estimated lethal dose for humans extrapolated from animal studies is so high that it cannot be achieved by recreational users.” A major difference between [alcohol and cannabis] is that withdrawal symptoms are either absent or mild after dependent cannabis users abruptly stop their cannabis use, whereas the abrupt cessation of alcohol use in severely dependent drinkers may produce a well-defined withdrawal syndrome which can be potentially fatal.
These findings by the WHO, led Philip M. Boffey, the former science and health editor of The New York Times, to conclude that there is a “vast gap between antiquated federal law enforcement policies and the clear consensus of science that marijuana is far less harmful to human health than most other banned drugs and is less dangerous than the highly addictive but perfectly legal substances, such as alcohol and tobacco. Cannabis cannot lead to a fatal overdose. There is little evidence that it causes cancer. Its addictive properties, while present, are low, and the myth that it leads users to more powerful drugs has long since been disproved.”
According to a 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 51.7% of people age 12 and older reported drinking in the past month, 24.5% of people age 12 and older binge drank in the past month (4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more drinks for men on one occasion), and 6.1% engaged in heavy alcohol use over the past month.
One group hoping to make a difference is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA group has become synonymous with the concepts of recovery and lasting sobriety and has been instrumental in changing the conversation surrounding addiction since its inception roughly 80 years ago. As the science and psychology of addiction evolve, the role of Alcoholics Anonymous may change somewhat, but is likely to remain a cornerstone of many people’s aftercare efforts, if not their overall recovery journeys.
AA’s 12-Step approach follows a set of guidelines designed as “steps” toward recovery, and members can revisit these steps at any time. The 12 Steps are:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
In a study, titled the Comparison of the Effects of Marihuana and Alcohol on Simulated Driving Performance, the authors found the effects of marihuana, alcohol, and no treatment on simulated driving performance were determined for experienced marihuana smokers. Subjects experiencing a "social marihuana high" accumulated significantly more speedometer errors than when under control conditions, whereas there were no significant differences in the accelerator, brake, signal, steering, and total errors. The same subjects intoxicated from alcohol accumulated significantly more accelerator, brake, signal, speedometer, and total errors than under normal conditions, whereas there was no significant difference in steering errors. Impairment in simulated driving performance does not seem to be a function of increased marihuana dosage or inexperience with the drug.
Concordantly, according to a 2018 report by the Colorado Department of Public Safety, alcohol is solely responsible for the vast majority (79.6 percent) of impaired driving cases.
As concluded by doctor Tod H. Mikuriya, It would appear that for selected alcoholics the substitution of smoked cannabis for alcohol may be of marked rehabilitative value. The drug effect of cannabis, as compared with alcohol, while having a sense of euphoria and detachment in common, lacks any other similarity except the intent for which it is taken. Excessive alcohol use produces a predictable weakening and dissolution of various superego and ego functions, whereas cannabis does not seem to have this attribute, providing, if anything, any increase in ego strength. Because cannabis does not facilitate ego alien behavior as seen with alcoholic excess, a great burden of guilt is removed, thus freeing the individual for more constructive pursuits.
The fact that cannabis does not produce symptoms of irritability upon withdrawal, nor effects on the gastrointestinal tract, as compared with alcohol, also assists in the rehabilitation of the individual. Since the individual is not physically sick anymore, he is thus free to begin resocialization and to perceive the subtleties of the world beyond his needs for immediate gratification or succor. Certainly, cannabis is not a panacea, but it warrants further clinical trials in selected cases of alcoholism.
United States spending on addiction treatment will surpass $42 billion annually as of 2020, according to estimates from the National Institutes for Health. Substance abuse costs the United States over $600 billion annually according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
More recently, The American Journal of Psychiatry found that drug abuse is not determined by preceding use of cannabis, but rather a user’s individual tendencies and environmental circumstances. The environment, including a youth’s social group and exposure to drugs in the neighborhood, are key indicators of illicit drug use. Shared characteristics among cannabis users, such as a tendency toward deviance or a risk-taking personality, explain why some individuals go on to use harder drugs.
RAND’s Drug Policy Research Center suggests “that it is not marijuana use but individuals' opportunities and unique propensities to use drugs that determine their risk of initiating hard drugs.
Cannabis is safer and less addictive than both cigarettes and alcohol. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan found that cannabis has one of the lowest dependency rates among ten of the most widely used substances in the United States. Additionally, the health costs and risks associated with cannabis are also substantially lower than those associated with alcohol and nicotine. Based on the aforementioned information and statistics, one must consider cannabis as a substitution or as an additional therapeutic tool in the treatment of alcoholism.
A 1999 study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) states that stigma is “the most formidable obstacle to future progress in the arena of mental illness and health.”
SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.
Also, you can visit the online treatment locators here.
Works Cited
Crancer, Alfred, et al. “Comparison of the Effects of Marihuana and Alcohol on Simulated Driving Performance.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 16 May 1969, science.sciencemag.org/content/164/3881/851.
Dispelling Myths The Facts About Cannabis Regulation, WeedMaps Policy, 2019, wmpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Cannabis-Myth-v-Fact-6-22-20.pdf.
Mikuriya, Tod H. Marijuana: Medical Papers, 1839-1972. Symposium Publishing, 2007.
“SAMHSA's National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357): SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” SAMHSA, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2021, www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline.