Motivation and Marijuana

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Motivation and Marijuana
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What motivates people to smoke marijuana?

• Possible reasons
• Elevates mood
• Causes drowsiness
• Stimulates appetite
• Eases nausea
• Social situation
• Medical reasons
• Used as an escape

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Who smokes?

• http//www.mentalhealth.com/book/p45-mari.htmlHea
  d_4
• Among students surveyed yearly, one in six 10th
  graders report being marijuana users
• Used in the past month
• Fewer than one in five seniors report being
  current users

• http//teens.drugabuse.gov/drnida/drnida_mj1.asp
• One in five 10th graders reports being a
  marijuana user
• Fewer than one in four high school seniors report
  being current users

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Some motivations behind smoking marijuana

• Euphoria
• Some people smoke for the pure enjoyment of the
  mood elevation
• Some believe that THC acts in the brains reward
  center, much like other drugs of abuse, by
  stimulating brain cells to release dopamine
• Dopamine causes the person to feel high
• This high can make you feel more relaxed and
  happy

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Motivations cont.

• Smoking marijuana can cause drowsiness and
  sedation.
• Some people might smoke before they go to bed or
  when they cant sleep

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Cont.

• Escape
• As with other drugs, some people use marijuana to
  escape
• Whether it be a problem with a peer/parent, a
  problematic feeling, or a responsibility the
  person wants to escape from, marijuana can be
  that outlet
• Marijuana can change a persons outlook on
  things, such as their problem. They may forget
  about their problem for the time being or it
  might feel less important causing their mood to
  be uplifted.

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Cont.

• Fun
• A lot of people smoke purely for social reasons
• As with drinking alcohol, people smoke with
  friends to have a good time
• Smoking marijuana changes the way a person reacts
  to things that happen around them
• It also changes how a person can react to things
  a person might laugh at things that a sober
  person might not

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Cont.

• Peer pressure
• Some users even report that they were pressured
  into smoking by a brother or sister that smoked

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Medical Marijuana

• Only thirteen states allow medical marijuana.
• Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
  Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont,
  and Washington have legalized medical marijuana.
• Arizona and Maryland have passed laws in favor of
  medical marijuana, but have not yet legalized it.

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Medical Marijuana cont.

• Who uses medical marijuana?
• THC is said to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic,
  anti-emetic, anti-convulsant, anti-tremor,
  anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, and appetite
  stimulant properties.
• (skunked.co.uk/articles/medicinal-marijuana.htm)
• Marijuana is reported to ease pain associated
  with chemotherapy as well as muscle spasms caused
  by multiple sclerosis.
• Experts from NIH say that marijuana is an
  effective, safe, and inexpensive alternative for
  treating nausea caused by AIDs medications and
  cancer treatment.
• AIDs patients use to stimulate their appetite
  because of loss due to meds

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The Munchies

• Marijuana is an appetite stimulant.
• How?
• We have speciality proteins called cannabinoid
  and endocannabinoid receptors (most well known
  THC) that work like neurotransmitters. They are
  produced as part of the built in apparatus by
  which peripheral parts of the body inform the
  brain that it is lunchtime.
• These receptors are found in the hypothalamus,
  which is the region of the brain that plays a
  pivotal role in appetite regulation.
• In other words, when you smoke dope, you are
  replicating an effect the body produces naturally
  for itself.
• Research with cannabinoids.
• Cecil Adams

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Internet Survey

• Participants Over 4400 users and non-users
  participated
• Procedure Compared those who consumed marijuana
  daily, once a week or less, or never in their
  lives.
• Results Daily users reported less depressed
  mood and more positive affect than non-users
• Separate analysis for medical vs. recreational
• medical users reported more depressed mood and
  more somatic complaints, suggesting that medical
  conditions clearly contribute to depression
  scores and should be considered in studies of
  marijuana and depression
• These data suggest that adults do not increase
  their risk for depression by using marijuana

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Our survey
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What is Marijuana?

• What we know as pot is the dried leaves and
  flowers of Cannabis Sativa- the common hemp plant

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What is in Marijuana?

• THC and CBN
• There are also about 80 other cannabinoids
  (chemicals of the same class as THC) that are
  mostly found in a sticky resin covering the
  leaves and flowers of the plant
• THC (delta-9 tetrahhydrocannabinol)
• Psychoactive constituent of marijuana
• Produces an altered sense of reality and euphoric
  feelings
• CBN (cannabinol)
• Produces depressant effects

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How does it work?

• Contradictory ideas in the literature- does THC
  act on dopamine pathways?
• PRO- some say that THC acts on the brain reward
  system much like other drugs of abuse
• CON- others say that the structure of the active
  constituents and their physiological and
  behavioral effects bear no resemblance to those
  of the other narcotics (I.e. cocaine, opiates)
  and therefore are not associated with these
  pathways
• Evidence cannabinoids generally do not lower the
  threshold needed to get animals to self-stimulate
  this system in laboratory studies (Office of
  Technological Assessment)

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THC Receptor

• In the last 20 years, the THC receptor was
  discovered
• Why does the brain have these receptors?
• In 1992 a substance called anandamide (internal
  bliss) that naturally acts on these receptors
  was found, although its exact function is still
  unknown
• (the brains own THC, similar to how endorphin
  is the brains own morphine)

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THC Receptors

• Are found in
• Hippocampus memory
• Cerebral cortex (including sensory portions)
  concentration and perception
• Cerebellum, substantia nigra, globus pallidus
  movement
• Basal ganglia voluntary motor responses

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Cerebellum
Hippocampus
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• The mammalian brain creates an equilibrium by
  manipulating the number of active THC receptors
  to put a ceiling on the drugs effectiveness (the
  more you smoke, fewer THC receptors remain
  active)
• To maximize desired effects moderate use must be
  maintained
• whitman.edu

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Possible Harmful Effects on the Brain

• Some evidence suggests that
• The pituitary gland is damaged
• Regulates hunger, thirst, blood pressure, sexual
  behavior, and release of sex hormones
• The accumulation of THC in the synapses slows and
  impairs the transfer of critical information
• Studies using MRI, SPECT (single photon emission
  computed tomography) show
• White matter changes (info. transmission)
• hypofrontality of the frontal ctx.
• (national center for biotechnology information)

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Continued..

• R.G. Heath et al.
• 1979 study of rhesus monkeys
• Anatomic changes in brain tissue including
• Widening of synaptic cleft
• Clumping of synaptic vesicles
• (whitman.edu)

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Effects on Lifestyle

• Evidence suggests that chronic marijuana use can
  cause problems in daily life or make existing
  problems worse
• Linked to depression, anxiety, and personality
  disturbances (still some debate)

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Continued

• Smoking can compromise ability to learn and
  remember info.
• Heavy users are more likely to fall behind in
  accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills
• (National Institute on Drug Abuse)

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Some evidence of

• Disruption in attention
• Altered sense of time and space
• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Impaired memory
• Disorientation
• Tremors
• Nausea

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Evidence

• A survey of over 2000 college students suggests
  that users have more difficulty deciding on
  career goals, lower school averages and higher
  dropout rates
• druglibrary.org

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Evidence continued

• A study among workers suggests that marijuana use
  can be hazardous to working or to a motivation to
  work
• Users had 55 more accidents, 85 more injuries,
  and a 75 increase in absenteeism
• (National Institute on Drug Abuse)

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Evidence continued..

• Despite these claims, the Mendelson experiment
  may disprove the idea that marijuana causes a
  loss of motivation
• Subjects hospitalized volunteers (casual users
  and heavy users)
• Method asked participants to work on an operant
  task to earn money and marijuana for 26 days
• Results the dose of marijuana smoked did not
  influence the amount of work done by either the
  casual-user group or the heavy-user group
• all remained motivated to earn and take home a
  significant amount of money in addition to the
  work they did for the marijuana
• (druglibrary.org)

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What is Amotivational Syndrome?

• Amotivational Syndrome is a theoretical condition
  that proposes the heavy use of marijuana may
  alter a smokers motivations, goals, and possibly
  personality.
• Better put, this syndrome may cause "... apathy,
  loss of effectiveness, and diminished capacity or
  willingness to carry out complex, long-term
  plans, endure frustration, concentrate for long
  periods, follow routines, or successfully master
  new material. Verbal facility is often impaired
  both in speaking and writing. Some individuals
  exhibit greater introversion, become totally
  involved with the present at the expense of
  future goals and demonstrate a strong tendency
  toward regressive, childlike, magical thinking.
  McGlothin, W.H.

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History of Amotivational Syndrome

• The 1960s are associated with an explosion of
  the use of marijuana.
• Peak use was surveyed in 1979 with 24 million
  smokers.
• Before this time, any record of amotivational
  syndrome was completely nonexistent.

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Case Histories

• The concept of this syndrome first appeared in
  the 1960s with a few case histories.
• However, these case histories were unable to
  show
• How common amotivational syndrome is.
• Whether marijuana caused the change in
  motivation.
• If a change did occur, did it effect all facets
  of motivation or is it specific only to certain
  forms of motivation.
• What do you think?

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What is the culprit?

• The big question is which comes first, the
  marijuana or the loss of motivation?
• Lets look at a few surveys conducted on college
  and high school students.

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Survey Research

• A survey was conducted on 2000 college students
  in 1974 by Brill, N. et al.
• The researchers concluded that there was no
  difference in grade point average or academic
  success between smokers and non smokers.
• However, the marijuana smokers surveyed did have
  more trouble deciding on career goals and many
  did not pursue professional degrees.

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Cultural Issue?

• Cross-cultural studies were done in Jamaica and
  Costa Rica.
• Jamaicans commonly take smoke breaks much like
  Americans take coffee breaks during the day.
• In Jamaica, marijuana is considered an
  energizer.
• Parents in these cultures sometimes encourage
  their youngsters to smoke marijuana to perform
  better in school ! (Duncan, 1987)

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Jamaican Study

• A study performed by Rubin and Comitas 1976,
  examined the effects of marijuana on the
  performance of Jamaican farmers who regularly
  smoked marijuana in the belief that it enhanced
  their physical energy and work productivity.
• They used videotape to track the farmers
  movements and biochemical measures of exhaled
  breath to asses caloric expenditures before and
  after getting high.
• After smoking ganja the workers engaged in more
  intense and concentrated labor, but this was done
  less efficiently, especially by heavy users.
• "In all Jamaican settings observed, the workers
  are motivated to carry out difficult tasks with
  no decrease in heavy physical exertion, and their
  mistaken perception of increased output is a
  significant factor in bolstering their motivation
  to work. -Comitas

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Costa Rican Study

• This study performed by Carter et al. 1980 that
  compared Costa Ricans employment history of
  heavy users to non-users.
• The comparison showed that non-users were more
  likely to have a stable employment history, have
  received promotions and raises, and to be in
  full-time employment
• Users were more likely to spend more than their
  incomes

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Costa Rica cont.

• However, when comparing only users, a
  relationship between average daily marijuana
  consumption and employment presents a conflicting
  amotivational hypothesis.
• Those "who had steady jobs or who were
  self-employed were smoking more than twice as
  many marijuana cigarettes per day as those with
  more frequent job changes, or those who were
  chronically unemployed", indicating that "the
  level of consumption was related more to relative
  access than to individual preference"

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What does this all mean?

• Evidence of Amotivational syndrome from these
  field studies are usually interpreted as failing
  to demonstrate the existance of an actual
  syndrome.
• Here are a few problems with the evidence
• Sample sizes are too small to exclude the
  possibility of an effect occurring among a
  minority of heavy users.
• Cohen (1982) argues that the heavy users come
  from socially marginal groups.
• Therefore, the cognitive and motivational demands
  of their everyday lives were insufficient to
  detect any impairment caused by chronic cannabis
  use.

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Laboratory Studies

• Mendelson et al, 1974, conducted an experiment in
  which 10 casual and 10 heavy cannabis smokers
  were observed for 31 days.
• They were given access to as many marijuana
  cigarettes as they earned through a simple
  operant task which involved pressing a button to
  move a counter.
• The researchers found that all subjects earned
  the maximum amount of points each day and output
  was unaffected by marijuana smoking.
• Mendelson et al concluded that "our data
  disclosed no indication of a relationship between
  decrease in motivation to work at an operant task
  and acute or repeat dose effects of marihuana"

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Laboratory Criticism

• There are a few obvious weaknesses in Mendelsons
  experiment.
• The period of heavy use was only 21 days, which
  is inconclusive with the amount of years that
  many of the subjects in the field studies
  endured.
• The subjects were all healthy, young cannabis
  users with a mean IQ of 120 and nearly three
  years of college education.
• During debriefing, many of the subjects reported
  that they were motivated to perform well to
  demonstrate that marijuana does not have any
  affect on their performance.

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In Conclusion

• The evidence of Amotivational Syndrome is
  extremely vague in all facets of research.
• The small number of field and experimental
  studies were unable to show convincing evidence
  to support such a syndrome.
• In conclusion, if there is such a syndrome, it is
  specific only to a few heavy users and is a very
  rare occurance.

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Your Survey Results

• Legalization of Marijuana
• About 78 of people said Marijuana should be
  legalized
• However 72 of these people are smokers.

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Survey Results cont.

• Graduate School
• About 75 polled reported they wanted to attend
  Graduate School.
• 67 of those that want to attend are smokers.

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Survey Results

• Are people who smoke marijuana lazy and
  unmotivated?
• 39 said Yes.
• 61 said No.
• 57 are smokers.

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• Video disputing the legitimacy of amotivational
  syndrome
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMYC9L24t1c8

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References

• Brown University Health Education.
  http//www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Servi
  ces/Health_Education/atod/marijuana.htm
• Research Report Series - Marijuana Abuse.
  http//www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/marijuana/
  Marijuana3.html
• The Straight Dope How does Marijuana Cause the
  Munchies. http//www.straightdope.com/columns/0
  30516.html
• Medical Marijuana. http//www.skunked.co.uk/artic
  les/medicinal-marijuana.htm
• Marijuana Facts for Teens. http//www.mentalhea
  lth.com/book/p45-mari.html
• http//www.drugwise-droguesoisfute.hc-sc.gc.ca/fac
  ts-faits/marijuana_e.asp
• http//www.druglibrary.org/special/tart/tartcont.h
  tm
• NIDA for Teens. http//teens.drugabuse.gov/drnida
  /drnida_mj1.asp
• http//www.sciencedirect.com/science?_obArticleUR
  L_udiB6VC9-4GFCR48-5_user10_coverDate062F20
  2F2005_rdoc1_fmtsummary_origbrowse_sortd
  viewc_acctC000050221_version1_urlVersion0_
  userid10md57dac506ad701a12cddfe8dd713f77138
• http//www.whitman.edu/biology/Stuproj/YoungB/phys
  io.html
• http//marijuanaaddiction.info/harmful-effects-of-
  marijuana.htm
• http//www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html
• Biopsychology 6th ed. John J. Pinel.