From: lamontg@milton.u.washington.edu (Lamont Granquist)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.drugs
Subject: Re: Partial Legalization
Date: 24 Jul 92 07:49:09 GMT
Organization: 'Operation: Mindcrime'

billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>lamontg@milton.u.washington.edu (Lamont Granquist) writes:
>: 
>: Jesus Fucking Christ.  Is there one single fucking person on this goddamn
>: net that has half the brain to realize that not only is our mind
>: *psychological* but its also *biochemical*?  
>
>Certainly, but then we are not talking about immediate addiction to a drug.
>We are talking about an attempt, usually unconscious, of these people to 
>cure a biochemical imbalance in their body. I would not call that being
>addicted. Of course, if this attempted cure last long enough, then addiction
>could occur - and frequently does (some alcoholics are a good example).

Well, you see the thing is that I consider this situation addiction (which
perhaps is simply where I disagree with the current definition of
addiction).

A person in recovery is still going to be addicted.  They are going to
be suffering from temptation, etc and will need to use will-power to stay
away from the drug.

I would consider them cured of addiction when they no longer have temptation
to abuse the substance and no longer needs will-power to stay away from
the drug.  Most likely this could only happen if some underlying
psychological problem was cured, and the person could go back to usage
patterns that most of us (well, me anyway) enjoy.

A person, however, who feels "normal for the first time" when they
try a drug due to its effect at self-medicating a neurochemical disorder
will (IMHO) immediately feel temptation to use it again, and will need to
use will-power to stay away.  I see a real parralel between this person
(that you think is not *yet* addicted) and a person who is in
recovery.  The only difference I find is that the person in recovery
consciously understands the drug->effect relationship, wheras the person
who has just taken it for the first time will need to do some
experimentation to understand the drug->effect relationship.  What I'm
trying to say, I guess is that "subconsciously" and "neurochemically"
these people are going to be already addicted which is IMHO the important
bit.  The only thing that remains is for the person to consciously learn
how to express that addiction.

>: You've got some truely fucking brilliant opinions.  Ah, so someone who
>: has a genetically inherated metabolic disorder (specifically something that
>: is related to gamma-ammunobutric acid in some way, and most likely something
>: like an anxiety disorder) has "the power to change their beliefs and
>: consequently their behavior".
>
>Certainly, they do. But, in this case, it wouldn't help them any. They still
>would be suffering from the disorder. That means they need to see a doctor
>about getting the chemical aid that is going to be necessary for them to lead
>a relatively normal life.

That was actually what I meant.  My point was that beliefs really didn't
have much to do with their behavior -- self-medication was the primary
driving force.

>: Thats just really really brilliant.  They don't have any kind of psychological
>: way to change their behavior.  The only way their going to change their
>: behavior is through a chemical mechanism because their problem is entirely
>: 100% chemical.  They're going to be alcoholics.  And there is no goddamn
>: way they are going to stop giving importance to the beliefs that motivate
>: that behavior.  "Anxiety attacks?  Ah, I think they're actually not
>: important and not a problem in my life...  so, I think I'll just stop
>: using alcohol and have fun with my anxiety attacks..."  Yeah, right.
>
>As you say, it is likely that they will become (and remain) alcoholics. 
>It is unfortunate that so many people consider alcoholism to be only a
>psychological problem. That may be true for a large majority of cases,
>but not all. Because of the belief that it is a "mental weakness" that
>causes a person to abuse alcohol, many will not seek the medical help
>which could help them control this problem. 

SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS MY POINT AND WHY I'VE BEEN GETTING SO TENSE IN THIS
DISCUSSION!  AMAZING!  =)



-- 
Lamont Granquist  lamontg@u.washington.edu  (anon: ap.2187@cupid.sai.com)
University of Washington, Seattle.    Disc: if UW ever finds out what I post... 
alt.drugs FTP site: ftp.u.washington.edu[128.95.136.1] dir:/public/alt.drugs
               For quotes and other useless info see my .plan
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.drugs