The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
Marihuana - A Signal of Misunderstanding.
Chapter II
marihuana use and its effects
Definition of Dependence
Before describing the effect of marihuana, on the user, two additional
definitions are required. They concern the concept of dependence which has so
clouded public and professional consideration of psychoactive drugs. Throughout the
remainder of this report, we refer Separately to psychological and physical dependence,
defined as follows:
Psychological dependence is the repeated use of psychoactive
drugs leading to a conditioned pattern of drug-seeking behavior. The intensity of
dependence varies with the nature of the drug, the method, frequency, and duration of
administration, the mental and physical attributes of the individual, and the
characteristics of the physical and social environment. Its intensity is at its peak when
drug-seeking becomes a compulsive and undeviating pattern of behavior.
Physical dependence is the state of latent hyper-excitability
which develops in the central nervous system of higher mammals following frequent and
prolonged administration of the morphine-like analgesics, alcohol, barbiturates, and other
depressants. Such dependence is not manifest subjectively or objectively during drug
administration. Specific symptoms and signs, the abstinence syndrome, occur upon abrupt
termination of drug administration; or with morphinelike agonists by administering the
specific antagonists.
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