Marijuana Addiction
Get drug rehab help for addiction to marijuana - Call 1-877-212-2070 now!
Contrary to some popular belief, marijuana can be addictive and does have a very definite set of dependency and withdrawal characteristics. It is the most widely used illicit drug in the nation, and its use is somtimes promoted in certain pop sub-cultures.

Based on SAMHSA's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.8% (1.7 million) youth aged 12 to 17 used marijuana in the past month and 3.5% (891,000) smoked "blunts" (cigars with marijuana in them) in the past month.

In 2005, about half (52%) of past month marijuana users aged 12 to 17 also used blunts in the past month with males more likely than females to have smoked blunts (55.6% vs. 47.5%).

Among past month marijuana using youths, rates of smoking blunts in the past month were highest in the Northeast (62.5%) and the South (54.4%) than in the Midwest (48.3%) and West (43.1%).

The criminal justice system was the principal source of referral in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) for substance abuse treatment admissions reporting marijuana as their primary substance of abuse. The proportion of criminal justice referred treatment admissions increased from 48% of all marijuana admissions in 1992 to 58% of all marijuana admissions in 2002.

 

• Read More »

Watch for signs of drug use. Hopefully you are able to prevent drug use altogether, but you should also watch for signs such as depression, falling grades, isolation, and change in friends and find help if you suspect your child is using drugs.
Keep all prescription drugs put away. If someone in your family does take prescription drugs, be sure that your teen cannot get their hands on them. So many young people today have easy access to all sorts of drugs in their parents' medicine cabinets. Don't make it easy for them to try drugs.
Keep your child active. Students that have a goal they are working toward in life or are busy with sports or music are much less likely to get involved with drugs.
Take care of their emotions. Teens today are under a lot of pressure with school, sports, and relationships. Be careful that they are not too worried or stressed about these things. Teach them good techniques to handle stress.
Model good behavior. If your teen sees you doing things like getting drunk, smoking, or self-medicating somehow, they will be more likely to do so themselves, and sometimes this can lead to worse habits, like drug or alcohol abuse.
Don't leave your child unsupervised for long. In a world where many families require 2 incomes or single parents are raising children, this may be difficult, but it is so important to not just leave your child to fend for themselves after school. The time when most teens get into trouble or start a harmful behavior is the time between school letting out and when their parents get home.
.Know your child's friends. If you are suspicious of whom your teen is spending time with, talk to them. Invite the friends over to your house to get to know them. If you have concerns about their friends, talk to your child about it.
Know where your teen is. Teens should follow household rules about curfew and keeping you informed about where they are going. If something doesn't seem quite right, don't be afraid to question your child about where they've been. You are the adult and the sooner your child sees that you are going to check up on them, the better.
Talk to your child about drugs, and do it early. An ongoing dialog is the best way for your teen to know that you have an understanding of the temptations they face, and are going to do what you can to help them.
Know your child. If you work on your relationship with your child when they are young, it will be easier to talk about drugs and know what they are up to when they are older. Build a bond early so it can survive those tough teenage years.

• Read More »

Texas Drug Rehabs

There are a wide variety of different types of methods, environments and philosophies associated with drug detoxification, and it is absolutely imperative that each program be assessed and reviewed before you make any set decision on what type of rehabilitation facility or addiction recovery program you will enter into. You need to make sure that you find an Texas drug detoxification program coupled with a drug rehabilitation program in order to allow for the smoothest possible transition from one into the other.

Although you will find that there are a variety of very different methods when it comes to  drug rehab and there are an increasing number of philosophies surrounding alcohol addiction recovery - the goal of each of these drug rehabilitation and alcohol rehabilitation programs in Texas is actually exactly the same: To remove the toxins and drug residues from the body that have accumulated throughout the years of drug abuse, and to teach the recovering addict exactly what they need to know in order to prevent a relapse in the future.

Most rehabilitation facilities and the people who are running them agree completely that one of the most effective of all forms of drug rehabilitation and alcohol rehabilitation begins with treatment that is administered medically. What this treatment essentially entails is that the recovering addict will taking their drug of choice cold turkey and the withdrawal symptoms that come as a result will begin to kick in. In order to lessen the effect of these withdrawal symptoms, and in order to make the entire detoxification process a great deal simpler and less uncomfortable overall, medicines are administered that counteract the drug's effects, making withdrawal less painful.

As you probably know, both safety and effectiveness are crucial elements in choosing the right drug rehabilitation program or alcohol rehabilitation program that will put you on the road to recovery in Texas.

Most medical drug rehabilitation programs involve twenty four hour on call nursing service, on call physicians who are ASAM certified and trained in addiction medicine, and a full set of 24 hour on call addiction treatment staffers who are capable of supporting the recovering alcoholic or drug addict in a variety of different ways. This way, the recovering addict can make a relatively smooth and seamless transition from the detoxification portion of the treatment into the rehabilitation portion of the treatment. The rehabilitation portion of the treatment has to do with teaching the addict how to overcome the chance of relapsing.

It is vital that all Texas detoxification and rehabilitation programs have the ability to assess the individual patients and their needs for ongoing rehabilitation, or even residential treatment. Research has demonstrated in the past that people who do not enter into programs for drug rehabilitation or alcohol rehabilitation eventually end up in relapse no matter how dedicated they seem to be to recovering. This is not actually a reflection on the effectiveness of the drug detoxification programs in Texas; it simply demonstrates how difficult it is for people in recovery to completely beat drug abuse and alcoholism without rehabilitation.

Call 1-877-212-2070 today to speak to a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor.

• Read More »

The path to drug addiction begins with that first act of taking drugs. Over time, a person may need more of the drug to get the same effect. Drug seeking becomes compulsive, in large part as a result of the effects of prolonged drug use on brain functioning and, thus, on behavior. Drug addiction makes drug use a compelling need, not a casual choice.

Why can't drug addicts quit on their own?
Nearly all addicted individuals believe in the beginning that they can stop using drugs on their own, and most try to stop without treatment. However, most of these attempts result in failure to achieve long-term abstinence. Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use drugs despite adverse consequencesÑthe defining characteristic of addiction.

Long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs.

Understanding that addiction has such an important biological component may help explain an individual's difficulty in achieving and maintaining abstinence without treatment. Psychological stress from work or family problems, social cues (such as meeting individuals from one's drug-using past), or the environment (such as encountering streets, objects, or even smells associated with drug use) can interact with biological factors to hinder attainment of sustained abstinence and make relapse more likely. Research studies indicate that even the most severely addicted individuals can participate actively in treatment and that active participation is essential to good outcomes.

Call 1-877-212-2070 Today for more information on Understand Addiction and findig a solution.

• Read More »

Rapid, loud talking and bursts of laughter in early stages of intoxication.
Sleepy or stuporous in the later stages.
Lack of concentration and coordination.
Forgetfulness in conversation.
Inflammation in whites of eyes.
Odor similar to burnt rope on clothing or breath.
Distorted sense of time passage - tendency to overestimate time intervals.
Craving for sweets.
Increased appetite.
Use or possession of paraphernalia including roach clip, packs of rolling papers, pipes or bongs.

Some immediate physical effects of marijuana include:

A faster heartbeat and pulse rate.
Bloodshot eyes.
Dry mouth and throat.
No scientific evidence indicates that marijuana improves hearing, eyesight, and skin sensitivity.
Marijuana use increases the heart rate as much as 50 percent, depending on the amount of THC.

It can cause chest pain in people who have a poor blood supply to the heart - and it produces these effects more rapidly than tobacco smoke does.

Scientists believe that marijuana can be especially harmful to the lungs because users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs as long as possible. Therefore, the smoke is in contact with lung tissues for long periods of time, which irritates the lungs and damages the way they work.

Marijuana smoke contains some of the same ingredients in tobacco smoke that can cause emphysema and cancer. In addition, many marijuana users also smoke cigarettes; the combined effects of smoking these two substances creates an increased health risk.

"Burnout" is a term first used by marijuana smokers themselves to describe the effect of prolonged use. Young people who smoke marijuana heavily over long periods of time can become dull, slow moving, and inattentive. These "burned-out" users are sometimes so unaware of their surroundings that they do not respond when friends speak to them, and they do not realize they have a problem

Laboratory studies have shown that animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and anxiety after cessation of oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal psychoactive component. Now, NIDA-supported researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Columbia University in New York City have shown that individuals who regularly smoke marijuana experience withdrawal symptoms after they stop smoking the drug.

Studies at Columbia University in New York City have demonstrated that, in addition to aggression, marijuana smokers experience other withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, stomach pain, and increased irritability during abstinence from the drug. "These results suggest that dependence may be an important consequence of repeated daily exposure to marijuana," says NIDA.

 

 

• Read More »