While it is not harmless, marijuana causes less harm and involves less risk of
dependence than alcohol, tobacco and drugs such as benzodiazepines (which are prescribed as sedatives), cocaine and heroin,» says Enzo Tagliazucchi, an addiction researcher at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience.
Not exact matches
But taking this sort of far - sighted attitude - for instance by embedding
alcohol dependence and mental health services in the criminal justice system - requires a more ceberal secretary of state
than the one currently occupying the Ministry of Justice.
Studies show that young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop
alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.
11 Teens who begin drinking before the age of 15 are more likely to develop a
dependence on
alcohol later in life
than those who start when they are older, according to a 2009 study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
In another study, Greenfield found that women tend to go to primary health care physicians rather
than to specialty substance abuse programs for treatment, putting additional pressure on family doctors to diagnose and treat
alcohol dependence in women as early as possible.
Previous work on gender differences in
alcohol dependence has shown that women get drunk on fewer drinks
than men owing to a deficit of
alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme in the stomach lining that breaks down booze.
«Smokers drink more frequently and more heavily
than non-smokers, and are more likely
than non-smokers to meet the criteria for
alcohol abuse or
dependence.»
Researchers also found that synthetic marijuana users were two - and - a-half times more likely to develop drug
dependence than those who used other drugs (but not
alcohol).
As reported in a paper published last year in Drug and
Alcohol Dependence, more
than half of all respondents reported resolving their problem with no assistance.
Why do smokers have a five to ten times greater risk of developing
alcohol dependence than nonsmokers?
Overall, the researchers note, men show «dramatically higher rates of
alcohol - related problems»
than women; they're also «50 % more likely
than women to binge drink and twice as likely to report symptoms of
alcohol abuse and
dependence.»
College students who consume nonalcoholic energy drinks such as Red Bull at least once a week are more
than twice as likely as their peers to show signs of
alcohol dependence, according to a new study.
Inclusion criteria were: 18 — 35 y old; BMI 18.5 — 24.9 kg / m2; habitual sleep time > 7 and < 9.25 h; low — moderate caffeine (< 500 mg / d);
alcohol use (average fewer
than two standard drinks per day per week and five or fewer drinks per day); no drug
dependence; and nonsmokers.
While total abstinence might be an important strategy for those who suffer from a physical
dependence on
alcohol, it excludes the many of us who fit somewhere on the spectrum between what might be considered a low - risk drinker (never drinking more
than the daily recommended amount) and someone experiencing a physical dependency.
In the general population, the most frequent of these is the combination of
alcohol use disorder and depression and / or anxiety disorder.5 — 7 Comorbidity of
alcohol abuse and
dependence is two to three times higher for those who suffer from depression
than for those in the general population.8 Moreover, risky
alcohol use is associated with a higher probability of developing affective disorders
than for not at - risk users.9
The Drug Abuse Screening Test, Short Form (DAST - 10) was used to screen for probable drug abuse or
dependence on a wide variety of substances other
than alcohol.26 Respondents who used drugs other
than alcohol in the past 12 months were asked whether they had experienced any of 10 drug - related problems in the past 12 months.
Exclusion criteria were unconsciousness for more
than 15 minutes after the accident or having no memory of the accident, history of psychosis, current
alcohol or other substance
dependence, borderline personality disorder, severe depression needing immediate treatment in its own right (suicide risk), and treatment or assessments that could not be conducted without the aid of an interpreter.
There are far more non-alcoholic family members
than alcoholics and they are all affected by the relational trauma of
alcohol abuse and
dependence.
The World Health Organization reports that prevalence of
alcohol dependence is more
than twice as high in men
than women, and they are more
than three times as likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.14 One in 20 men suffer from depression, with the highest incidence in men aged 40 — 59.15 Fourteen percent of males experience anxiety disorder, with approximately 75 percent of all suicides committed by men.