This month I draw your attention to the soon to be legalized selling of marijuana in Canada.
In the Jan. 11 edition of the Chemainus Valley Courier, there were two articles on the topic. One was dedicated to the ‘tax revenue sharing’ while the other article, although very humorously written, expressed concerns on how the second hand smoke from marijuana will impact the health of non-marijuana smokers.
Before retiring as a psychologist I had years of experience trying to help individuals overcome the addiction of marijuana usage. I was always surprised with the honesty from marijuana users whenever I asked the question, “Are you aware of having any paranoid ideations?” Everyone I assisted in trying to kick using marijuana answered, “Yes, I am aware of having some paranoid thinking.”
Paranoid thinking that pertains to marijuana usage as opposed to Paranoid Schizophrenia or Paranoid Personality Disorder manifests mainly as mistrusting others. Others more often are: spouse, partner, family members and friends. Paranoid thinking often causes the individual to be estranged from family members and friends.
The individual who is smoking marijuana is not being estranged because he/she smokes marijuana but because the individual has become suspicious of spouse, partner, family members and friends. The type of suspicious behaviours couples and individuals have shared with me are some or all of the following: searching partner’s emails, phones, ipads, and even questioning the partner’s friends to ask if the partner is seeing someone. Consequently, it is often these types of behaviours that isolate the marijuana user from others. Stats Canada recently reported that 80 per cent of drug related deaths in 2017 were with individuals who died alone.
In trying to share the harmful effects of marijuana to clients, I compared marijuana to Passive Aggressive Behaviour and ‘Harder Drugs’ such as cocaine and heroin to Overt Aggressive Behaviour. Generally, when a person is angry some of the following characteristics are present: raised voice, red face, bulging eyes, clenched jaw, arms extended, fist formed. Thus, the reason for calling it Overt (out in the open) Aggressive Behaviour. There is nothing subtle or hidden about the aggression.
I would ask my client(s) “When a person is using cocaine and/or heroin can the individual hide the fact that he/she is using these substances?” Inevitably, I would hear, “No, not for long.” This answer was accurate as these are potent drugs and their effect is pretty evident. Just like the aggression in an Overt Aggressive Behaviour Disorder is fast and furious; so too is the effect of cocaine and/or heroin addiction fast, and strong.
Now, let us look at what behaviours are demonstrated in the person with Passive Aggressive Behaviour Disorder. These behaviours are so subtle and hidden you may not be aware the individual is angry. The person with this disorder may say hurtful things to you while laughing. When you tell him/her that what was just said hurt you the person continues to laugh and says things like: “I was only joking / teasing you,” “Don’t be so sensitive”, “Get a sense of humour..you’re too serious”.
Hence, now you are the one reacting and possibly demonstrating Overt Aggressive Behaviours. Later, you may even be the one apologizing to the person who said the hurtful words to you because the behaviour was so subtle and hidden you did not recognize it as being intentional or coming from someone who is angry with you.
In childhood these behaviours are even more subtle and secretive as the child is afraid of being punished for being angry at the adult. Some types of passive aggressive behaviours in childhood are: bed wetting, constipation, diarrhea, breaking toys and even tearing some new article of clothing while playing. (Note that physical disorders must be ruled out first when physical symptoms are present).
The major similarity between marijuana and Passive Aggressive Behaviour Disorder that I have seen is the initial behaviour is intentional and subsequent behaviours are so subtle they are not recognized until the damage is done. Many parents in a counseling session have told me “I thought my teenage son/daughter was secretive and moody just because he/she is a teenager.”
A real tell-tale sign of smoking marijuana is moodiness.The reason for the moodiness is because marijuana is thought to affect the dopamine (a neuro transmitter in the brain) level. Many of my clients who had just started to smoke marijuana or smoked it ‘recreationally’ recommended marijuana smoking because: “it relaxes me,” “it helps me to sleep,” “I understand math equations”, “trees are so much greener” and “I don’t argue when I smoke marijuana.”
All of these observations are generally true. However, the real problem happens when the individual is not smoking marijuana or when the effects of having marijuana in the body wear off. Now the individual often feels agitated, easily annoyed with others, argumentative and greatly disturbed by normal noise levels.
So while marijuana has a calming, relaxing effect it also robs the person of his/her ability to cope in life. To live life one needs to develop coping skills. No matter where one lives, no matter one’s age, gender, career, social or financial status; there are always stressful situations to deal with on a daily bases; stress is a constant in life. When one is unable to cope with normal stress he/she often feels overwhelmed, discouraged and thinks marijuana will make him/her feel better. Hence, starts an addictive cycle.
But unlike other drug addictions (including prescription and over-the-counter addictions) marijuana is the only drug directly linked with Drug Induced Schizophrenia. What is not known is why some individuals can smoke marijuana and never develop schizophrenia while other marijuana smokers do. Also, it is not known if the marijuana user who develops schizophrenia would have developed it even if he/ she never smoked marijuana.
Before leaving this topic I would like to mention the benefits of ‘medicinal marijuana.’ Some research supports the fact marijuana may be beneficial to patients suffering from certain types of disabling conditions, cancer, and HIV positive. As a Palliative Care RN in San Antonio, Tx, U.S.A., I learned if a potent drug was administered to control physical pain and/or nausea then the patient’s cognitive abilities and personality were not adversely affected. This adverse situation only happened as the dosage and frequency of the drug increased and the patient’s general condition deteriorated due to the illness. The explanation for this phenomena is because the drug is used for its effect and not for its side effects.
Kathleen Kelly is a Chemainus resident and author of the book ‘The Tornadoes We Create.’