q and a

Drugs

Hi, i have a 18 year old boyfriend and i stop at his place of a weekend. He goes to work some nights so his flatmate gives me two glasses of wine but twice i have been really sleepy after the wine. Can wine cause this or could he have slipped something into the wine - should i watch him when he is getting me a drink?

Hello and thanks for your question. I can see that you're a bit worried about the wine that your boyfriend's flatmate is giving you to drink. Everyone has different reactions to alcohol, depending upon their age, weight, metabolism, tolerance and other factors. Alcohol, including wine, does make people really sleepy because alcohol is a depressant, which slows down your thinking and reaction times. If you don't trust your boyfriend's flatmate or if you're worried about the wine, you can watch him or choose not to drink it. Drink spiking—where people put drugs or extra alcohol or other substances into your drink—can happen especially if you don't keep an eye on your drink. If you feel yourself getting sleepy, dizzy, disorientated or confused it's a good idea to stop drinking—it could be the alcohol or it could be something else. If you are concerned that your drink has been spiked, stop drinking it and get someone to help you—call your boyfriend, a friend, or the police. It's illegal for someone to spike your drink, and doctors can test your blood for any substances that might have been put in your drink. If you're worried, make sure you get help. Take care and stay safe. The above information has been reproduced from Somazone with permission from the Australian Drug Foundation. www.somazone.com.au Australian Drug Foundation 2009

What is drug dependence?

Drug dependence is a pattern of repeated drug taking that usually results in the need for greater amounts of the drug to get the effect you originally got with smaller amounts. If you stop taking a drug after your body has become dependent on it, you notice "withdrawal symptoms". Sometimes these are pretty mild (like getting anxious and irritable when you quit smoking) or really awful (like if you get dependent on alcohol or cocaine). The other part of dependence is "compulsive drug taking". That means that you keep on taking the drug even though you try to cut down or quit, even though it is causing lots of hassles with your family, friends, at school or at work. Drug dependence is complicated. All sorts of different drugs can lead to dependence, like alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine, but drugs are not the only factors. Drug problems are often accompanied by things like behavioural problems, depression, anxiety and eating disorders. These psychological problems can be used as an excuse for using and they can also interfere with the effectiveness of treatment. The above information has been reproduced from Somazone with permission from the Australian Drug Foundation. www.somazone.com.au Australian Drug Foundation 2009

I have been a daily marijuana user since i first tried it about 2 years ago and have recently reduced the amount i smoke from an ounce a week to about a quarter ounce but i have been drinking more and occasionally snort hydrocodone and take shrooms. I am wondering how this might affect me later in life and what are effective ways with handling cravings. I do not plan on stopping soon but i would like to learn moderation.

The long-term effects of daily marijuana use are still being worked out. Some effects we are sure about but others are still being argued over by medical and other researchers. On the 'still room to argue' list are things like genetic problems, damage to sperm and DNA generally, lasting difficulties with memory, and concentration problems. There's too much evidence to fight the idea that daily pot smokers have higher levels of anxiety and depression than non-smokers, but that doesn't affect every smoker so you might be one of the lucky ones. Unavoidable though are lung and circulation problems including weight gain, mood swings and emphysema. (You will have some fluid in your lungs now. How long it takes to get to the stage of needing medical attention depends on your vulnerability, genetic makeup, overall levels of health and fitness.) You know lots of pot smokers and they don't have any of these problems, right? Cigarette smoking is even more common, but you probably can't personally name anyone with this list of health problems, either. They take a long time to become visible, and people don't like to talk about them. The only 'advantage' that marijuana has over tobacco is that the tars which cause cancers are much more likely to do that if there is nicotine in your system. This advantage is offset a bit by the fact that marijuana has 3 times more of the cancer producing tars; and of course, if you spin your weed with tobacco, or smoke cigarettes too. The best ways to handle cravings? That depends on how severe they are, how often you get them and how long they last. The biggest trigger for cravings once you have the THC out of your system is being around people and activities that are strongly associated in your mind with using. Avoid them! There are medications that reduce craving for marijuana and there are a lot of very effective mental tricks that are a real help (eg. distracting yourself, timing out the cravings, using the craving to prompt an alternative action etc.) When you are ready to quit, call a drug counsellor who can give you some personalised guidance if needed...although most people seem to handle the cravings pretty well without professional help. Good luck. The above information has been reproduced from Somazone with permission from the Australian Drug Foundation. www.somazone.com.au Australian Drug Foundation 2009

submit a question