There are many people who use drugs and alcohol in order to get through the day to day. They may not have what are commonly referred to as “mental illnesses” but they do use drugs to cope, and that can be a dangerous thing if it leads to “dependence” and all these wonderful clinical terms that psychologists and psychiatrists love to use.
There are many kinds of drugs: stimulants like cocaine, depressants like heroin, depressants like alcohol, smoothing out drugs like marijuana, pills like opiods (known as painkillers), crazy drugs like meth, psychedelic drugs like mushrooms and LSD and much much more. Drugs are used in society often.
Some statistics about drug use in America include that drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015.
Other statistics include:
- The 3 main types of active ingredients in FDA approved medications to treat opioid dependency are methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.
- It is estimated that 23% of individuals who use heroin develop opioid addiction.
- Four in five new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers.
And another just to underscore the point:
Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers and 591,000 had a substance use disorder involving heroin.
Drug use can be a serious issue if a person is so intent on taking them that they lose sight of their ability to function, their general sense of equilibrium, and much more. They lose this in the sight of the drug (or alcohol) and become “dependent” on them to use a psychological term.
But most who use drugs are likely to never get an “addition” or “dependency” to drugs. There are people who use cocaine who are extremely fine and well-functioning, who have jobs worth tens of thousands each year, who do their jobs well and have fun with drugs on the side. There are some that do heavy drugs and seem to manage.
Then there is the remarkable case of marijuana. Marijuana became popular initially during the 1960s when the “Love Not War” movement and other hippie movements became large in that day of society. Marijuana was often smoked because of its peaceful “altruistic” feelings that would lead to “love” and “not war.”
It was outlawed around that time, because of its prevalence among that movement and people in that crowd who opposed the Vietnam War and other important government functions. Today, people are more likely to smoke marijuana, noting that it is less harmful than cigarettes and not as harmful as alcohol, which causes tens of thousands of deaths each year.
In Colorado, marijuana is legalized, leading many people to think it may be legalized in other parts of the country, specifically in the 2018 mid-term elections. Medical marijuana is also legalized in many parts of the country. Medical marijuana is used to treat a variety of illnesses, including epilepsy.
There are many doctors who prescribe medical marijuana in different parts of the country. Those states that offer the legalization of marijuana or the use of medical marijuana to treat illnesses will prescribe marijuana. Doctors who prescribe medical marijuana do it for numerous reasons.
Doctors who prescribe medical marijuana might do it for treatment of “anxiety” or other “mental health disorders.” Doctors who prescribe medical marijuana do so for other conditions, like the aforementioned epilepsy. Doctors who prescribe medical marijuana may do so for an efficient diagnosis and effective results. Some may not.
There are many terms that go along with medical marijuana. They include legal medical marijuana, local medical marijuana doctors, medical marijuana doctors, medical marijuana for children with cancer, medical marijuana card, medical marijuana doctors in Fort Lauderdale (as a location example) and others.
Some doctors who prescribe medical marijuana might do so for pain management, and be called pain management doctors. Medical marijuana is useful for that purpose. It is a very positive experience for many. It can be a good thing for many who suffer from serious illnesses.
Medical marijuana can be a serious issue for many and getting proper care can be a good thing.