Recreational Drug Use: Pro/Con

I decided to look into non-academic websites that either supported or condemned recreational drug use. I wanted to compare the information that they had on drugs and see if either pro recreational drug use or con recreational drug use websites had more accurate and useful information on their sites.

The website www.drugwatch.org is dedicated to the promotion of drug-free environments. I found this website through the Google search engine. While exploring this website, I came across many interesting ideas. First I learned that “teens who use drugs or are sexually active are more likely to later become clinically depressed, according to a report from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE),” (1). To verify this information, I read the Patton et al. study on cannabis (2). The findings of this study show that “frequent cannabis use in teenage girls predicts later depression and anxiety,” (2). However, I was unable to find verification that all drugs have this same effect as stated by drugwatch.org. Also, this study is only based on one sex, so implications for males are not applicable. Next, I discovered that “people who take the drug ecstasy are more likely to suffer from long-term memory loss,” (1). To prove this statement was correct, I read the Morgan study on memory deficits associated with ecstasy. According to the study, “the present findings provide the first evidence that deficits in memory performance in recreational ecstasy users are primarily associated with past exposure to ecstasy, rather than with the other legal and illicit drugs consumed by these individuals, and are consistent with reduced serotonergic modulation of mnemonic function as a result of long-term neurotoxic effects of MDMA in humans,” (3). The results of this study are tantamount to drugwatch.org. Drugwatch.org also claimed that “marijuana use can stimulate the symptoms of schizophrenia,” (1). The results from the study done by Aseneault et al. found that “cannabis use confers an overalltwofold increase in the relative risk for later schizophrenia…[cannabis is] neither a sufficient nor a necessary cause for psychosis. Itis a component cause, part of a complex constellation of factorsleading to psychosis,” (4). This is confirmation of what was published on the drugwatch website. Also according to this website, “cocaine abusers are more likely than nonusers to suffer from HIV, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and other infections” (1). Through the Bux et al. study I was able to find that “cocaine use represents a continued source of risk for exposure to HIV,” (5). Lastly, drugwatch claims that “marijuana is known to have a number of short-term effects on the cardiovascular system, including speeding the heart rate, raising or lowering blood pressure, and even elevating the risk of heart attack in the hour after use,” (1). To verify, I examined Jones’ study on marijuana (6), which confirmed the website’s description of the effects of marijuana.

The website http://www.truthtree.com/drugs.shtml is pro recreational drug use and was found through the Yahoo search engine. The site stated that “nicotine, found in tobacco, has been proven to enhance concentration and mental performance,” (7). A study done by Rezvani has results that back up this statement (8). The website also claims that no one has ever died of marijuana alone. Although this statement is true, studies have shown that there is a link between marijuana and premature mortality, (9). The Truthtree website states that the “regular use of amphetamines often produces paranoia,” (7). The results of a study done by Satel et al. shows “the transientparanoid state appears to be a common feature of cocaine dependence anddoes not seem to be simply a result of exceeding a threshold of use,” (10). This is consistent with the information found in the website. The website also concluded that “the intoxicating property in wormwood, thujone, is toxic and causes convulsions and death in high dosages,” (7). The study done by Hold et al. concurs with this statement (11). Finally, the website also claims that “a glass of wine or a mug of beer every day is actually good for health,” (7). Research has shown that “individuals who choose to drink wine in moderation exhibit improved cardiovascular health and, on average, live longer,” (12), and additionally, any alcoholic beverage in moderation is good for the cardiovascular system. Beer also has more protein and certain vitamins than wine, (13). Overall, most information found on these two websites was correct. However, this is not always the case with non-academic websites.

Sources

1. www.drugwatch.com

2. George C Patton, Carolyn Coffey, John B Carlin, Louisa Degenhardt, Michael Lynskey, and Wayne Hall

Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study

BMJ, Nov 2002; 325: 1195 - 1198.

3. Morgan, Michael John. "Memory deficits associated with recreational use of "ecstasy" (MDMA)." Psychopharmacology 141.1 (1999): 30-36.

4. Louise Arseneault, Mary Cannon, John Witton, and Robin M. Murray

Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence

The British Journal of Psychiatry, Feb 2004; 184: 110 - 117.

5. Cocaine use and HIV risk behavior in methadone maintenance patients

Drug and Alcohol Dependence , Volume 37, Issue 1 , January 1995, Pages 29-35

Donald A. Bux, R. J. Lamb, Martin Y. Iguchi

6. Jones, RT. "Cardiovascular system effects of marijuana." Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 42.58 (2002).

7. http://www.truthtree.com/drugs.shtml

8. Cognitive effects of nicotine

Biological Psychiatry , Volume 49, Issue 3, Pages 258-267

A.Rezvani

9. Hall, Wayne, and Nadia Solowij. "Adverse effects of cannabis." The Lancet 352 (1998)

10. SL Satel, SM Southwick, and FH Gawin

Clinical features of cocaine-induced paranoia

Am J Psychiatry, Apr 1991; 148: 495 - 498.

11. Hold, Karin M., Nilantha S. Sirisoma, Tomoko Ikeda, Toshio Narahashi, and John E. Casida. "α-Thujone (the active component of absinthe): γ-Aminobutyric acid type A receptor modulation and metabolic detoxification." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 97.8 (2000).

12. German, J. Bruce. "The Health benefits of wine." Annual Review of Nutrition 20 (2000): 561-93.

13. Denke, Margo A. Nutritional and health benefits of beer .The American Journal of the Medical Sciences:

November 2000 - Volume 320 - Issue 5 - pp 320-326.