Comments below from David Evans Esq., a lawyer and special adviser to the Drug Free America Foundation, re the suggestion that marijuana could assist in treating opiate addiction.
WHAT ARE THE PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADVERSE EFFECTS OF USING “MEDICAL” MARIJUANA WHILE IN OPIATE TREATMENT?
Memory defect (short and long term) – how are they to remember compliance issues and new problem solving? Masks other mental health issues – anxiety, PTSD, Bipolar
Marijuana use impacts the brain, creates a delay in learning skills to NOT have substance use in life.
In order for change to occur, person must acknowledge loss of control – how can someone do this when control is still lost with marijuana?
Changes in coordination, mood swings, memory/learning problems
Marijuana use deters the return to normal brain functioning and the continued drive for more substances and stimuli in the pleasure seeking area of the brain.
Marijuana use is A-motivational – knocks out drive and ambition
Continued use maintains Arrested Development – low emotional maturity – the maturity level is stumped when start using substances
Recovery – means not using drugs
THC suppresses neurons in information processing system of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is crucial for learning memory and integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Learned behaviors, which depend on the hippocampus, deteriorate after chronic exposure
· Because marijuana use impacts learning a person falls behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. This can directly translate to need for more treatment both with intensity and length
Users have trouble sustaining and shifting their attention in and registering, organizing and using information.
Increase risk of motor vehicle/work accidents
For more detailed information log on to a paper in Support of the UN Drug Conventions: The Arguments Against Illicit Drug Legalisation and Harm Reduction also by David Evans.
Source: https://nationalallianceformarijuanaprevention.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/2009-un-drug-conventions-the-argument-against-legaliztion.pdf