Cannabis Can Help Fight Alcoholism

I grew up in an era when Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign proliferated through the airwaves, proclaiming marijuana would sap my motivation, destroy my relationships and prevent me from leading a life of purpose. But after nearly two decades of excessive drinking, lost jobs and homelessness — along with multiple attempts to permanently get off the sauce — I realize that Reagan couldn’t have been more wrong: Cannabis saved me. Marijuana use has proven immensely positive for me, and it has allowed me to refrain from staring at the bottom of a bottle ever again. However, a majority of folks in the recovery community refer to cannabis as “dangerous,” a “trigger for relapse” and a “stumbling block.” Anne Lewis, an addiction counselor and clinical psychologist at Indiana University Health, told US News that cannabis “lowers your inhibition, so you don’t care,” which she said could lead to relapse. “We don’t make good decisions when we’re drunk or high,” she said. Foundations Recovery Network, a Tennessee-based clinic which treats what they call a “dual diagnosis of substance addiction and mental health disorders,” also believes that cannabis use is detrimental to alcohol recovery. Citing the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior, they say people using cannabis as a treatment technique “are somewhat sedated and calm… [and] less inclined to handle tasks associated with addiction recovery,” like going to meetings and attending therapy sessions. And though it’s also commonplace for physicians and psychiatrists to prescribe benzodiazepine (among other drugs listed as Schedule IV narcotics) to curb alcohol addition, I wondered why my more natural approach was frowned upon, at best — especially if it was working so well for me. Joe Schrank, founder of High Sobriety, a controversial recovery clinic in Southern California that uses cannabis as a component of its therapy…

READ MORE BELOW
Source : MJEU
Link to original : Cannabis Can Help Fight Alcoholism
reposted by Cannabis News World