20. A Psychiatrists View on Marijuana

MARIJUANA - A PSYCHIATRIST'S VIEW

Dr. Harold Voth, 901 Garfield Street, Topeka, KS 66606
(913) 254-0545

In my experience there is only one certain way to be cured from marijuana smoking. The user must be totally isolated from the drug for a minimum of three months. Only after a period of sustained abstinence will the user become aware of the profound effects the drug has had on him and, at the same time, become free of its addictive effects.

The inability of the user to perceive himself or gain insight into what has happened to him over time is one of the truly pernicious and remarkable aspects of the effects of the drug. Talking rarely works; forthright decisive action by someone willing and able to take responsibility for the fate of the user is necessary. The chronic and heavy, and probably even moderate user, cannot take responsibility for himself.

How the person or persons exercise their responsibility to the user depends on the age of the user, his life circumstances, the severity of the retrogressive changes and deterioration of the user, and so on. I recommend sparing no effort whatsoever in achieving this objective. Searches are in order, use of police to back up parental authority if necessary, hiring a companion for the user, confinement to the home and hospitalization are all methods that I have recommended and have seen used.

Someone who cares must intervene, totally, consistently and with unrelenting perseverance. Efforts short of an all-out effort generally fail.

In summary, I believe chronic marijuana use affects judgement, motivation, perception, cognition, and will. In addition, the drug causes an overall deterioration of personality; it leads to an estrangement from the mainstream of life; it lowers performance in all areas; and it leads to a social phenomenon in which users bond together into both loose and tightly bound subsocial groups. The effect on the user's family life is frequently devastating.

Harold M. Voth, M.D.
Senior Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, The Menniger Foundation, Topeka, KS
Associate Chief of Psychiatry for Education, Veterans Admin. Medical Center, Topeka, KS
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City,KS
Rear Admiral, Medical Corps, United States Naval Reserve.

Recommended Reading:
How to Save Your Child from Drugs
by Harold Voth, M.D. and Gabriel Nahas, M.D., Ph.D
Published by Paul S. Eriksson, Middlebury, VT (1987)
$12.50 (Includes postage)
Available from Committees of Correspondence or Publisher April 1992

Our thanks to DRUG WATCH INTERNATIONAL.

Drugs are illiegal because they are dangerous - They are not dangerous because they are illegal.