From: [p w h] at [bradley.bradley.edu] (Pete Hartman) Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs Subject: Re: Legalization would not put the drug lords out of business Date: 10 Apr 1994 20:00:15 -0500 [m--a] at [cbnewse.cb.att.com] (mark.e.anderson) writes: >I've known quite a few cocaine addicts in my time. The powder that gets >sold on the street is not good for you at all. Your not going to win >many points by defending cocaine as being non-addicting. let's try this again: [j p k] at [Ingres.COM] (Jon Krueger) writes: >I wrote: >> There is a class of substances whose mere exposure leads to addiction. >David Vessell inquires: >> so WHAT IS IT >Pretty much what you'd guess. For example, cocaine. Surprise. >There's also an interesting subclass: substances that the organism >self administers. This subclass is also pretty much what you'd guess, >e.g. cocaine also makes this list. Anyone surprised? Not surprised that you'd contend this. However, I still beg to differ. To quote extensively from _The Case for Legalizing Drugs_, the chapter entitled "What Drugs Do to Users": Horror stories about "instant" crack addiction are unconfirmed by scientific research. In the early 1980s, researchers at a California clinic gave the drug to 200 volunteers. None became addicts or even turned into abusers. A study of 175 illicit crack users in Los Angeles found none with a compulsive habit; all used the drug in moderation. (74) Monkeys allowed to smoke crack will limit their intake. (75) [...] Cocaine was studied for a century without anyone detecting resonance or physical dependance among users of the drug. Only after politicians decried cocaine in the 1980s did a handful of scientist claim that dependence develops. The claim became widely believed and merits consideration here. [ note: Mr. Miller defines "resonance" as the more traditional "physical" addiction, where the body is dependant upon the drug for normal operation. This dependance is what leads to withdrawal upon removal of the drug. ] Proponents of the dependence concept used innovative terminology to change attitudes toward long-observed effects of cocaine. For example, not until 1986 was a three-stage "cocaine abstinence syndrome" proclaimed. (94) The [ interesting how this syndrome sounds like the previously mentioned depressant dependancy cycle cited by Mark from Canada ] first stage was called the "crash," likened to an alcohol hangover, (95) in which a person who stops a cocaine binge feels exhausted and depressed. Cocaine and other stimulants work by using up energy stored in the body. At the end of a binge a person will feel like someone who has done hard physical labor for days without food or sleep. Those symptoms do not mean a person has a metabolic need for such punishment [as would be the case if it were truly "withdrawal" from resonance/physical addiction --pwh]. Nor are they evidence that physical resonance has been established with cocaine, any more than a hangover is evidence of physical resonance with alcohol. If cocaine resonance existed, a user could quickly resume normal functioning by taking another dose of cocaine. But such a dose would worsen the user's condition, not restore it to normal; a maintenance dose is impossible because cocaine resonance does not exist. Although the second stage in "cocaine abstinence syndrome" was called "withdrawal," proponents of the concept admitted that "this does not mean that a classic drug abstinence syndrome formally occurs"(96) and admitted that the second stage was "dissimilar [to] 'withdrawal' in alcohol, barbiturate, or opiate abuse."(97) Indeed, these promponents declared, "Withdrawal has ... assumed a clinical meaning, independent of its pharmacological definition, that derives from the postdrug syndromes for which drug users seek treatment.... Strict pharmacological use of the term can cause clinical treatment errors."(98) In other words, "cocaine withdrawal" has no pharmacological component. That is, it is not caused by the drug. [...] Proponents [of claims of "cocaine dependence" --pwh], however, achieved a victory in 1987 when the American Psychiatric Association invented a new disease called "cocaine dependence" that did not require resonance of physical dependence for the diagnosis. (100) An "epidemic" of "cocaine dependence" appeared overnight because the symptoms had never been classified as disease until then. Even the APA admitted this, albeit with hedging: "*Because of the broadened criteria* for Dependence included in this manual, and because of the definite increase in use in recent years, the prevalence of Cocaine Dependence is believed to be har higher" than formerly (emphasis added). (101) The APA's action gave the term official medical and governmental recognition even though the APA itself conceded "Continuing use of cocaine appears to be driven by persistent craving and urges for the substance rather than attempts to avoid of alleviate withdrawal symptoms."(102) Even a prominent "cocaine dependence" proponent concurred, "This craving...can be understood as a memory of the stimulant euphoria."(103) [...] Criteria that describe "cocaine dependence" are psychological and not pharmacological. The clinical condition termed "cocaine dependence" may be real, even devastating, but it is caused by a psychological process instead of a pharmacological one. [...] If cocaine abuse is inevitable, we might be making an artificial distinction by saying ailments rarely occur without reckless usage; but abuse is not inevitable. Indeed researchers find abuse is the exception from the norm. (113) A 1984 study concluded that 10 percent of cocaine users might become abusers, (114) about the same percentage seen among drinkers who become alcoholics. A 1985 investigation found an even lower percentage of cocaine users becoming abusers, 2.5 percent. (115) A 1984 study indicated that people can take cocaine for recreation and continue their moderation. (116) Researchers found that most cocaine users in Canada rarely kept a supply of the drug, normally bought only 1 to 3 grams in a single purchase, made no more than 4 purchases a year, and took a dose less than once a month. (117) A study that tracked specific New York cocaine users from 1971 to 1984 found the typical use to be intermittent rather than compulsive, (118) a finding supported by another study that tracked specific recreational users from 1975 to 1983. (119) A survey asked cocaine users if they had ever tried to give up the drug without success; 3.8 percent said yes. (120) That low percentage should be compared to survey resondents who said they had tried to give up tobacco cigarettes without success, 18 percent. (121) Very few cocaine users have an uncontrollable craving. An 11-year study concluded that most careers and lives are not wrecked if people use cocaine. (122) One researcher summarized the findings: "People who have a stake in conventional life don't throw it all away."(123) Such findings do not mean that cocaine abuse should be disregarded. They do mean the problem is not a fearsome crisis. NOTES: 74. Siegel, _Intoxication_, 309-10; Bower, "Drugs," 393. 75. Siegel, _Intoxication, 182-83. 94. Gawin and Kleber, "Abstinence," 107-13. 95. Kleber and Gawin, "In," 298. 96. Kleber, "Cocaine," 1364. 97. Gawin and Kleber, "Abstinence," 112. 98. Kleber and Gawin, "in," 298. 100. Diagnostic, 166-68. 101. Ibid., 179. 102. Ibid. 103. Kleber, "Epidemic," 1364. 113. Nadelmann, "Drug," 944; Graham et al., "Pregnancy," 143; newcomb, Bentler, and Fahy, "Cocaine," 1167; Grabowski and Dworkin, "Cocaine," 1077. 114. Summarized in Smith, "Cocaine," 117. 115. Summarized in Erickson et al., _Steel_, 136-37. 116. Summarized in ibid., 54. 117. Ibid., 76, 118. Cocaine might be offered on social occasions, so even without a personal cache a user could still take a dose. 118. Kandel and Raveis, "Cessation," 109-16. 119. Siegel, "Changing Patterns of Cocaine use: Longitudinal Observations, Consequences, and Treatment," in Grabowski, _Cocaine_ (National Institute on Drug Abuse), 106-7. 120. Nadelmann, "Drug," 944. 121. Ibid. Tobacco smokers are generally considered to be compulsive users of nicotine, but not all nicotine addicts are compulsive users, and not all users are addicts. See Shiffman, "Tobacco," 539-47. 122. Murphy, Reinarman, and Waldorf, "11-year," 427-36. 123. Craig Reinarman, quoted in Raymond, "Researchers," A10. REFS: Siegel, Ronald K. _Intoxication: Life in Pursuite of Artificial Paradise_. New York: Tutton, 1989. Gawin, Frank H., and Herbert D. Kleber. "Abstinence Symptomatology and Psychiatric Diagnosis in Cocaine Abusers: Clinical Observations." _Archives of General Psychiatry 43_ (1986): 112. Kleber, Herbert D., and Frank H. Gawin. "In Reply." _Archives of General Psychiatry 44_ (1987): 298. Kleber, Herbert D. Epidemic Cocaine Abuse: America's Present, Britain's Future?" _British Journal of Addiction 83_ (1988: 1364. Kleber, Herbert D. "Introduction: Cocaine Abuse: Historical, Epidemiological, and Psychological Perspectives." _Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 49_ (February 1988 Supp.): 3. Nadelmann, Ethan A. "Drug Prohibition in the United States: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives." _Science 245_ (1989): 941, 943-44. Graham, K., et al. "Pregnancy Outcome Following First Trimester Exposure to Cocaine in Social Users in Toronto, Canada." _Veterinary and Human Toxicology 31_ (1989): 143-48. Newcomb, Michael D., P. M. Bentler, and Bridget Fahy. "Cocaine Use and Psychopathology: Associations among Young Adults." _International Journal of the Addictions 22_ (1987): 1167. Grabowski, John, and Steven I. Dworkin. "Cocaine: An Overview of Current Issues." _International Journal of the Addictions 20_ (1985): 1077, 1081. Smith, David E. "Cocaine-Alcohol Abuse: Epidemiological, Diagnostic, and Treatment Considerations." _Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 18_ (April-June 1986): 117-18. Erickson, Patricia G., et al. _The Steel Drug: Cocaine in Perspective_. Lexington Books. Lexington, Mass.: C.D. Heath and Company, 1987. Kandel, Denise B., and Victoria H. Raveis. "Cessation of Illicit Drug Use in Young Adulthood." _Archives of General Psychiatry 46_ (1989): 109-16. Murphy, Sheigla B., Craig Reinarman, and Dan Waldorf. "An 11-year Follow-Up of a Network of Cocaine Users." _British Journal of Addiction 84_ (1989): 427-36. Raymond, Chris. "Researchers Say Debate over Drug War and Legalization Is Tied to Americans' Cultural and Religious Values." _Chronicle of Higher Education 36_ (March 7, 1990): A6-A7, A10-A11. There you go. 200 lines more than you ever wanted to see about cocaine dependance. :-) -- Pete Hartman Bradley University [p w h] at [bradley.bradley.edu] "It's the cobblestones."