Marijuana addiction: those struggling often face skepticism
I am not sure where to start with on this article. There are a lot of extraneous and tired points being trotted out that really clouds the underlying point.<p>Essentially the point I took is some people could use serious help, and they get laughed at by society and the drug treatment programs they find because their problem is cannabis (and not say meth).<p>I don&#x27;t think this is a surprise or that profound. Drug treatment in the US has been generally &#x27;jail&#x27; (and still is for most drugs, and for cannabis as well in many regions). Actual drug treatment in the US is something of a joke for any substance, whether you are taken seriously or not. Drug treatment programs are expensive, often not covered by health insurance (if you have health insurance), often not effective - and that is the tip of the iceberg.<p>US medicine severely struggles for holistic treatments. Drug addiction treatment needs holistic treatment.<p>For example, detox centers will help a person come down and get over the most intense part of withdrawal. This is super important for alcohol as that withdrawal can kill you. But, this is symptomatic of how US medicine works - treats the chemical and biology, but not the person.<p>Read further on the updated rat-park experiment for why &#x27;treating the person&#x27; is so important:
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.psychiatrictimes.com&#x2F;view&#x2F;what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.psychiatrictimes.com&#x2F;view&#x2F;what-does-rat-park-tea...</a><p>A couple of other notable points I&#x27;d like to raise:<p>&gt; “You smell it in the air when you’re sitting at a stoplight,” Courtney said.<p>This made me laugh.  Try to quit smoking tobacco... Try to give up alcohol. Both are _everywhere_<p>On a serious point, giving up any substance can be a real challenge, no matter what it is.<p>&gt;  and the potency of the drug has been increased —<p>This is such a boogeyman. Total amount of drug ingested is quantity times potency. Old school people made up the low potency with quantity. What is more though, there always was high potency strains available (just not as prevalent today). Thai sticks, hash oils, they have been around for a long time. So, the high potency stuff has been around, that is not new, and most people compensate for the high potency by ingesting less.