Substance-Related and Impulse-Control Disorders This chapter outlines the major
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Question
Substance-Related and Impulse-Control Disorders
This chapter outlines the major features of substance-related and addictive disorders, as well as other impulse-control disorders. This topic is of particular interest in a university setting, as this is typically the time most folks will first experience these concerns. Many of the drugs discussed in this chapter have effects similar to the symptoms of psychological disorders, such as mood swings and paranoia.
Discussion Questions:
What does this tell you about underlying biological or other factors in drug use? Why is marijuana the most frequently used illegal drug in society? Colorado and several other states have recently legalized marijuana. Now that we’ve had a few years to see this in action, how do you believe it’s worked out for Colorado? What are some pros and cons to this change in law? What are some of the unintended consequences we’ve seen played out? If you could vote on this again today after all that we now know, which way would you vote? How is pathological gambling similar to, and different from, substance use disorders? What have we learned from the treatment of substance-related disorders that may be applied to pathological gambling?
Explanation / Answer
Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. These brain changes can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a "relapsing" disease—people in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased risk for returning to drug use even after years of not taking the drug.
Most drugs affect the brain's "reward circuit," causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again.
As a person continues to use drugs, the brain adapts by reducing the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it. This reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug to try and achieve the same high. These brain adaptations often lead to the person becoming less and less able to derive pleasure from other things they once enjoyed, like food, sex, or social activities.
No one factor can predict if a person will become addicted to drugs. A combination of factors influences risk for addiction. For example:
Reasons why marijuana users use marijuana in the first place. And to ask you what you think about marijuana use:
1. Marijuana as medicine.
2. For the effect of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana.
3. To relieve the stress, anxiety, fear, pain or anger related to personal, psychological or family issues.
4. Popular culture endorses marijuana use.
5. Low perception of harm.
6. The opportunity to try marijuana presents itself.
7. Peer, family or role model influence.
8. People use marijuana because they were born with or develop certain personality dimensions, such as unconventionality, which make marijuana use non-taboo.
9. Curiosity.
10. To relax and many more.
Colorado legalized marijuana possession for personal use by adults ages 21 and older. Colorado, also legalized production for personal use and have created systems of legal production and sale, subject to licensing, regulation and taxation. For those younger than 21, all aspects of marijuana use, possession and sale will remain illegal.These are the laws you need to know to safely, legally and responsibly use marijuana:
If you’re under 21, it’s illegal.
Marijuana use by non-U.S. citizens is a felony.
It's illegal to use in public.
Federal land is off-limits.
Marijuana cannot leave the state.
Driving high can lead to a DUI.
1 ounce is the limit.
Marijuana must be kept sealed in your car.
Dispensaries are the only place to buy.
If you choose to grow, know the laws.
Only medical patients can buy medical marijuana.
1. Legalizing marijuana would allow law enforcement to turn their attention to more serious matters, marijuana legalization seems to have made the job of the police officer more complicated. So-called “drugged driving” is harder to determine because there are no tests for it analogous to breathalyzer tests for alcohol.
2. Another issue is that of marijuana-laced treats. In Colorado, anything from gummy bears to brownies can be found with the drug infused within them, and they look exactly the same as the non-drug-infused counterparts. As a police officer, if you pull someone over and see a beer can in the cup holder, that’s an obvious violation, but there’s just no way of knowing if the candy bar sitting on the dashboard has marijuana in it or not.
3. Marijuana-laced candy and other treats are also causing another, perhaps more alarming problem. Kids are getting a hold of the treats and eating them. Since legalization, there has been an uptick in children admitted to the emergency room after having accidently ingested such products.
4. Marijuana use among teenagers has remained the same since before legalization, though it is still higher than the national average. Yet, some experts worry that increased use of marijuana among adults will inevitably trickle down to the children. These experts worry that marijuana usage will become normalized to kids, and that that, combined with the advertising for marijuana, in the same manner as that for cigarettes, and increased availability of the drug, will eventually lead more and more young people to use it.
Despite all of these relatively minor complications, the legalization of marijuana has so far failed to produce the widespread crime and health crisis that was predicted; most of the adult hospitalizations for the drug have been out-of-staters who are not as used to handling it and the overall crime rates have actually decreased by 2.5%.
I might vote yes after studying this law thoroughly and its impact till now.
Pathological gambling (PG) is classified as an Impulse Control Disorder (ICD) Not Elsewhere Classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) (1). ICDs are characterized by repeated engagement in impulsive behaviors and a diminished ability to inhibit participation in these behaviors despite adverse consequences. PG is described as a maladaptive pattern of gambling behavior that may be associated with serious psychosocial and financial problems. Clinical features of PG overlap with those of substance use disorders (SUDs). Pathological gambling (PG) has been considered as a behavioral addiction having similarities with substance use disorders (SUDs).