Sunday, November 23, 2014

What is the "War on Drugs"?


The war on drugs is one of the hot button issues that is in the news today. With racial bias in stop and frisk cases and states voting for legalization of certain drugs, now more than ever is the time to have discussions about drugs in the States. Many drugs have been made illegal not because of the risks associated with the drugs but because they were aimed at certain people. According to druppolicy.org “the first anti-opium laws in the 1870s were directed at Chinese immigrants” and now African Americans and Latinos carry the brunt of the unfair drug enforcement and sentencing practices.
The war on drugs as we call it now was  declared by President Richard Nixon in 1971, when drugs were seen as symbols of political unrest and youthful rebellion. Nixon made marijuana a schedule one drug, the most restrictive category for drugs. Fast forward to now and though the opinions from politicians has gone up and down we've gotten back to a position where we’re slowly accepting a more health conscious policy on drugs.
One website has calculated that the federal government has spent over $15 billion on the War on Drugs. That money is being spent on arresting people for small amounts of drugs, raiding people’s homes and sending people to prison. The money from taxes in states where marijuana has been legalized for recreational use are being used to help support the communities around them. For a descriptive timeline on the war on drugs you can go to pbs for a graphic. There is also plenty of information about the state of drugs in the United States on the white house website.
The opinion of groups like NORML and even the website psychologytoday agree that they war on drugs is a failure and that there needs to be new ways to have drug reform. Using treatments like rehab and regulating drugs instead of making them illegal and making the problem worse is what we need to be doing in this day and age.
How does this policy put into place by the government affect people on the ground floor? Well access to drugs is completely illegal for schedule one drugs like Heroin, LSD, Marijuana, MDMA, Ecstasy and others. Which means that the government thinks that these drugs have a high potential for abuse, have no currently acceptable medical use, and there’s a lack of accepted safety for the use of the substance. The people using these drugs are at risk for getting arresting, getting diseases from sharing needles and there are so many things that could be done to reduce even those problems. Clean needle programs  and regulating and taxing the drugs will make the war on drugs obsolete and will bring us to a healthier environment for all of us. Education about drugs wouldn't be just scare tactics and therapy, treatment for drug use and drug abuse can be more about finding effective alternatives rather than punishing people for their addictions or for their need for income.
For more information check out this TedTalk about the failure of the War on Drugs by Ethan Nadelmann. What’s you opinion on the War on Drugs and what would you do to change it?

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Discrimination, Trans Issues and Pills


A study done by Benotsch, Zimmerman, Cather, Mcnulty, Pierce, Hack, Perrin, and Snipes (2013) looked at non-medical use of prescription drugs in transgender adults. Drug use in minority communities is an issue that frequently gets swept under the rug. But these researchers have shined a light on some of the reasons for drug use in this specific community. The transgender community is another subject that in the past has not been talked about, but now with trans issues being highlighted in the media more people are adding their voices and experiences to the conversation.

If you don’t already know, someone that is transgender is a person “whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth” (APA).
This study recruited 155 transgender adults  in the Mid-Atlantic region and asked them to fill out surveys. The surveys looked at non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD), other substance use, psychosocial factors, and other things. Results from the study showed that “26.5% of the sample reported lifetime NMUPD” (Benotsch et al. 2013, pg.392). Also that subject who reported that use also reported use of recreational drugs, like some that have been discussed on this blog recently. Then in regards to psychosocial variables, people reported more symptoms of “depression, anxiety, and somatic distress. Meaning that a portion of the respondents qualified as a probable mental health concern.
The researchers mentioned in their discussion that NMUPD in their sample might be an “attempt to cope with emotional distress” (Benotsch et al. 2013) There is a history of discrimination, violence, and even murder for transgender individuals, which could lead to the emotional distress. This study was important because it was one of the first studies that looks at the relationship between non-medical use of prescription drugs, HIV status, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms but as always more research needs to be done.
The impact of this research on the transgender community and all of our communities as a whole is massive. Looking into the reasons for specific drugs use in specific communities helps us to see how issues like discrimination can affect a group. Possibly helping people outside of that groups especially interested scholars to voice opinions of acceptance and the ending of hate. As a community of people that are always willing to learn and accept new information and we need to do what it takes to pass it on and help make the world a better place. More research into the mental health of minority groups and their coping skills can help break the stereotypes that follow them everywhere.
After reading about this article and hopefully looking into the journal article itself, what is your opinion about non-medical prescription drug use in the transgender community? What kind of interventions do you think could help give better coping skills?

It's also important to note that November 20th was the Trans Day of Remembrance where we take the time to honor the people whose lives were ended due to anti-transgender violence.

Benotsch, E. G., Zimmerman, R., Cathers, L., McNulty, S., Pierce, J., Heck, T., … Snipes, D. (2013). Non-medical use of prescription drugs, polysubstance use, and mental health in transgender adults. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 132(1–2), 391–394. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.02.027

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Who studies Psychopharmacology?!


Research about drugs and psychology is limited, especially for illicit drugs like the ones previously talk about on this blog. There are some researchers out there that are trying to deepen the pool of knowledge about drugs and their effects on the mind and body. One of those researchers is Dr.Catherine Harmer, she is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and “the director of the Psychopharmacology and Emotional Research Lab (PERL) at the University Department of Psychiatry in Oxford”. The group focuses on the effects of drugs on human models of emotional processing.  While she mainly focuses on drugs that are used to treat depressions and anxiety and not illicit drugs it’s still good to know how these drugs impact the people taking them and what they do to the people’s emotions. Especially since it’s completely possible that people will abuse prescription drugs in the same way they can abuse illegal drugs.

Some of Dr. Harmer’s research is specifically about antidepressants. Her research has lead to the “development of the human experimental models to explore the effects of established and novel drugs for the treatment of depression and anxiety”(Catherine Harmer). She has multiple publications that use this model and various methodologies to support her findings. Results from a series of studies by her team has showed that drugs, specifically antidepressants change emotional processing towards positive things before mood effects can be seen.  Meaning that even though the drug is working in the brain it isn’t as apparent to the person taking it, so that can lead to being disappointed and thinking the drug doesn’t work. Dr. Harmer suggests that to help the recovery process there needs to be a “gradual relearning of non-depressive, emotional associations”.  Research like this can change the way they think about recovery from depression and anxiety. It’s common that people will go off of their antidepressants or antianxiety medications early because they feel like it isn’t working or that they are cured as soon as they start to feel better. But in reality taking these kinds of drugs is a process that needs a lot of time and patience to show a real effect. Taking yourself off of the drugs early can lead to a setback in recovery and not waiting long enough for the effect to catch on can have detrimental effects for the patient.
Recovering is a long and hard road but it is achievable for people that are looking for it. Researching drugs and how they can interact with the brain and the body is something that more people should spend their time looking into. It’s also important to look at all different kinds of drugs. While more research needs to be done on illicit drugs like cannabis, cocaine, heroin and others, there still needs to be research done on the drug prescribed by our doctors and psychiatrists do that we know all that we can about these products we are consuming. Researchers like Catherine Harmer are doing that kind of work for all of us and it is an amazing effort.
If you want to learn more about Catherine Harmer or read any of her publications concerning prescription drugs and neuroscience you can read more at the University of Oxford website.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Your Brain on Drugs...

Arguments about whether smoking cannabis will make you lose your brain cells or make you lose points on your IQ have been debated for a long time. A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) looked at what long term cannabis use does to the brain.  The study used MRI’s and then looked at the images of 48 chronic marijuana users and 62 nonusers. They found that people that  smoked often had less volume in their orbitofrontal gyri, and area important in decision making. The effect of cannabis on that part of the brain also plays a part in the addiction/dependence process associated with that particular drug.

What does that mean for long term cannabis users? Even though there is less volume in the orbitofrontal gyri. there also is an increased amount of activity in the orbitofrontal gyri, compensating for the loss. Now the results of the study don’t actually indicated whether or not partaking in cannabis is bad for you but it does create changes in the brain. The effects of the changes depends on age and length of use and is different for everybody.

All this study points to is that there needs to be even more research focused on the effects of drug use to the brain.  Finding those effects will help us know even more about drugs and helps us to create better policies and laws about those drugs. The myths surrounding what low risk drugs, like marijuana, do to the brain have to be eradicated. It’s important for all of us to know facts so that we can make all the right decisions. Especially when it comes to things like driving under the influence of cannabis. There are some studies, like the one in the New York Times, that have said that marijuana use does not statistically increase the risk of a crash for drivers. But there is still a risk, driving under the influence of cannabis will still put you at risk for an accident, so driving under the influence of any drug including alcohol should not be condoned or advocated.
There are others studies that have been done that shed some light on why people smoke marijuana. In cases of people that deal with social anxiety, marijuana is used to relax or to help them avoid social situations. So researchers know some of the reasons for drug use and some of the effects but we don’t know everything. Knowing more will help use to make laws and policies that make sense in relation to drugs. It will help us make a safer environment for the communities around us.

How does this study change your thoughts around the myth that smoking marijuana can fry your brain cells? If you were researching about issues of drugs and mental health, what would your research question be and how would you go about answering that question?

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

How do drugs affect your daily life?

 

Drug use and it's role in society has been a well discussed topic for a long time. This blog is going to talk about different aspects of drugs, drug use, and psychology.
  • Is addiction the only reason people use drugs?
  • Are there some drugs that improve the mental health of a person?
  • How does communal drug use impact the social bonds of group?
Some drugs that will be talked about in this blog will include Cannabis, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and MDMA. These drugs are represented in popular culture and with drug use being highest for college aged adults and teens (National Institute on Drug Abuse), we need to dissect how those representations are influencing us, especially on a psychological level. To learn about the Nationwide trends and other trends surrounding illicit drug use, the National Institute on Drug Abuse's website, druguse.gov,  has helpful charts and diagrams to go along with recent statistics.

Recently in many states the use of cannabis has been either decriminalized or legalized for recreational use. Before that marijuana was only allowed for medical use to help patients deal with the effects of chemotherapy, seizures and other illnesses. On November 4, 2014 voters in D.C. made the decision to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. People of color, mainly African Americans are targeted and arrested due to the unreasonable laws against that marijuana. According to the Washington Post, “eighty-eight percent of people convicted of marijuana possession in the city in recent years were black”.

Having meaningful conversations about drugs, drug use, the war on drugs, and the connections between mental health and drugs can help change the perceptions people have around that topic. Enabling psychologists, therapists, drug counselors to find more productive interventions for people affected by drug use. It can also help other people to understand how drugs can affect the brain and mental health of people.

The psychological effects of the short and long term, broad and narrow need to be discuss because drugs affect the people and communities around them. People deal with drug addicted family members, people get through in jail over small and large amounts of drugs, there are a lot of significant issues that are associated with drugs. With the opinion about certain drugs changing the public needs to be more aware about more than just the negatives.

What's your opinion on the states that are legalizing or decriminalizing  recreational marijuana use?