04-15-2005, 06:14 PM
I still haven't found the Study but I have found something in this source
Page 136
The agency (The DEA) cites Alaska's experience. Marijuana was legalized there in the 1970s and the DEA states that the Alaskan teenage consumption of marijuana at more than twice the rate of teenagers elsewhere was a direct consequence of the Alaska Supreme Court Ruling. In 1990 there was a voter initiative that criminalized any possession of marijuana
This is true - drug use does not always equal abusing. But the numbers would indicate that the larger the population that is using the larger the numbers will be that are treated for addiction. You can see this in the above source on the charts for First exposure, drug prevalence and drug treatment. Those times when the drug cycle was high showed a larger wave of addiction treatment in the years afterwards. Conversely when those times of drug use was low the cycle remained low for addiction treatment. It should also be noted that in times when the drug cycle was high the crime rate rose at a steady rate. I will grant that this is a tenuous and circumstantial evidence but it certainly bears more investigation.
:)
Page 136
The agency (The DEA) cites Alaska's experience. Marijuana was legalized there in the 1970s and the DEA states that the Alaskan teenage consumption of marijuana at more than twice the rate of teenagers elsewhere was a direct consequence of the Alaska Supreme Court Ruling. In 1990 there was a voter initiative that criminalized any possession of marijuana
ShadowHM,Apr 15 2005, 01:16 PM Wrote:I tried a number of illicit substances in my youth. In some cases, once was enough. In others, the passage of time and my changing lifestyle made me uninterested. And for some, I was fortunate enough to see the effects on others soon enough to not feel that it was worth bothering. (I always did have an aversion to needles, anyway.)
My point is that trying them and becoming addicted/abusive with them are not the same thing. I do not believe that there is a natural flow between trying and abusing. I will admit that if you never try something, you cannot get addicted/abusive. But that does not mean that the converse must be true. ;)
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This is true - drug use does not always equal abusing. But the numbers would indicate that the larger the population that is using the larger the numbers will be that are treated for addiction. You can see this in the above source on the charts for First exposure, drug prevalence and drug treatment. Those times when the drug cycle was high showed a larger wave of addiction treatment in the years afterwards. Conversely when those times of drug use was low the cycle remained low for addiction treatment. It should also be noted that in times when the drug cycle was high the crime rate rose at a steady rate. I will grant that this is a tenuous and circumstantial evidence but it certainly bears more investigation.
:)