Harm Reduction For Alcohol

Just as some people are allergic to penicillin, others are allergic to Alcoholics Anonymous, If AA is not for you then harm reduction may be your answer. For more information about safe drinking and harm reduction for alcohol please visit: http://hamsnetwork.org

Alcohol abstinence the HAMS way means that you quit drinking because YOU chose to do so--because YOU made a conscious decision that quitting was in your own best interest--NOT because you felt that you had some sort of hypothetical disease or genetic defect. Quitting alcohol the HAMS way is all about personal empowerment. Are we powerless? HELL NO! POWER ON!!

HAMS is a support group for people who want to reduce the harm caused in their lives as a result of drinking alcohol. HAMS is based on the principles of harm reduction. The acronym HAMS stands for Harm reduction, Alcohol abstinence, and Moderation Support. HAMS supports goals of safer drinking, reduced drinking, moderate drinking, or quitting. We support every positive change--better is better.

You might be saying to yourself, why do we need to use medical marijuana for alcohol dependence--can't we just send everybody to a 12 step program and make them quit completely? The answer to this is a simple no. Although 12 step programs are great for the people that they work for, the simple fact is that 12 step programs fail to help the majority of people with alcohol problems. According to the National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, only one out of every fourteen people with an Alcohol Use Disorder will ever seek treatment for it. And according to Doctor Jeffrey Brandsma and others who have researched the effectiveness of treatment programs, over two thirds of people who enroll in 12 step treatment programs will drop out without finishing them. Twelve step programs are great for the people that they work for, but something else is needed for the majority of problem drinkers who are failed by them. Fortunately, medical marijuana can fill that need for many people suffering from alcohol use disorders. Some people might view the use of medical marijuana to treat alcohol dependence as simply substituting one addiction for another. However, when we view things from a public health perspective, we find that there is a tremendous difference in the impact of alcohol dependence when compared to marijuana use. Severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome is accompanied by seizures, hallucinations, tremors, irregular heartbeat, and spikes in blood pressure. Untreated severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome leads to death in one out of every three cases. By way of contrast there is NO physical withdrawal from cannabis. People who are subject to alcohol withdrawal syndrome can benefit greatly by substituting medical marijuana for alcohol. The same is true for people who become violent or otherwise lose control of their behavior when drinking--pot might make you mellow but it won't make you violent. People who have suffered liver damage from alcohol abuse can also benefit from medical marijuana because cannabis is not toxic to the liver. Some people might think that if you give medical marijuana to alcoholics they will both drink and smoke pot and have a double addiction. However, ALL of the research contradicts this assumption. In every single case where medical marijuana has been used as a treatment for alcoholism patients have reported either major reduction in alcohol consumption or complete abstinence from alcohol. Doctor Tod Mikuriya has been prescribing medical marijuana for a number of conditions including alcoholism for many years. In 2004 he published his research on the use of medical marijuana to treat alcohol dependence. Doctor Mikuriya prescribed cannabis to 92 patients suffering from Alcohol Use Disorders. Every single one of these 92 patients reported a major reductions in alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems. Nine patients reported that they managed to abstain from alcohol completely for a year or longer. All attributed this to the effects of medical marijuana. Research on Medical Marijuana published in 2009 by Amanda Reiman of the School of Social Welfare of the University of California, Berkeley gave similar results. Patients who were prescribed medical marijuana showed great reductions in their consumption of alcohol or other drugs as well as great reductions in drug or alcohol related harms It all goes to show that the substitution of cannabis for alcohol or other drugs is one of the most successful harm reduction strategies ever invented. Medical marijuana is now legal in 14 states. If nothing else works for your alcohol problem, then give medical cannabis a shot. The life you save may be your own. For more information on cannabis for alcohol dependence and other forms of alcohol harm reduction, please visit us at hamsnetwork.org. That's hamsnetwork.org. Thank you. REFERENCES: Brandsma JM, Maultsby MC, & Welsh RJ. (1980). Outpatient treatment of alcoholism: A review and comparative study. Baltimore: University Park Press. Burns M, Price J. Lekawa ME. (2008). "Delirium Tremens: eMedicine Critical Care". emedicine.medscape.com. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/166032-overview. Mikuriya TH. (2004) Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol: A Harm-Reduction Approach. Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics. Vol. 4(1) http://www.mikuriya.com/cw_alcsub.pdf NIAAA Five Year Strategic Plan FY07-11 http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/StrategicPlan/NIAAASTRATEGICPLAN.htm Reiman A. (2009). Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol and Other Drugs. Harm Reduction Journal. 6(35). PubMed Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19958538 Free Full Text: http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/6/1/35

Text: If you are a college student then I am sure that you have had enough people lecturing you on the evils of alcohol to drive you to drink. I have no intention of doing that because there is nothing inherently evil about alcohol. There is nothing diseased or morally wrong about having a few beers now and then. For that matter there is nothing diseased or morally wrong about getting totally hammered now and then so long as you don't harm yourself or anyone else in the process. Abstaining from alcohol, drinking in moderation, or engaging in recreational intoxication are all matters of personal choice--no one else has any right to dictate what you do or do not put into your own body. Of course this also means that you do not have to get coerced by others to get hammered if you do not want to. To drink or not to drink--that is your own free choice. Even if you do choose to get hammered once in a while you don't have to let it interfere with your school or your life if you don't want it to. If you are a neophyte drinker who has little or no experience drinking alcohol then we very strongly urge you to take it slow and easy until you know what you are doing. Every year in the United States over 300 people die of alcohol poisoning. At least ten times this many have their lives saved by getting their stomachs pumped at the emergency room. A Blood Alcohol Content of 0.3 is fatal for the average human. Some people are more sensitive to alcohol than others and could potentially die at a Blood Alcohol level lower than 0.3. The less you weigh, the drunker you get. Women also get drunker than men on the same amount of alcohol because of a difference in enzyme distribution. In other words--the amount of alcohol that is safe for a large man might kill a small woman. If you don't know what your tolerance to alcohol is, then take it slow and easy. Remember that you can put alcohol into your stomach far faster than it hits your brain. That is why, if you drink too fast you will feel the alcohol hit you suddenly all at once, resulting in blacking out, passing out, vomiting, or alcohol poisoning. Some jerk off might think that it is funny to see you bouncing off the walls, throwing up, and passing out--but is that really your idea of a good time? The whole purpose of drinking games is to make you drink fast. If you don't want to play drinking games then no one has the right to force you to. If you do choose to play drinking games, then use caution--the games that use beer are generally safer than the ones with shots. When you have had enough of the game be prepared to quit. Drinking shots can lead to a very rapid consumption of alcohol--so can beer bongs or beer chugging contests. We reiterate: drinking too fast can lead to blackouts, vomiting, passing out, and in the worst case scenario--to alcohol poisoning. Do you really want to end the party in the emergency room getting your stomach pumped? If you are taking medications be sure to be extra careful with alcohol. Nearly 3,000 people in the United States die every year from mixing the wrong drug with alcohol. Whether you choose to drink moderately or to get hammered when you party--here are some tips to help you keep it safe: • Eat well before you drink--this helps to slow the entry of alcohol into the bloodstream. • Drink plenty of water before you drink any alcohol--you will drink slower if you are not thirsty. • Party with a friend--if one of you gets too drunk then the other can help you stay safe. • Be aware that hard liquor or drinking games can get you drunk real fast--either avoid them use caution. • Carry condoms--you won't feel like going out to buy one if you are wasted. • Plan and schedule your drinking--taking a final exam with a raging hangover is a real bad idea--missing it because you are passed out drunk is even worse. • Don't let anyone force you to drink more than you want to--it is your body--you choose how much or how little alcohol you want to put into it. • ALWAYS plan your transportation--never drive to a party or a bar--walk, use public transportation, or have a designated driver that you can trust to stay sober. Don't let "the least drunk person" drive. One more thing. These days most college students are under the drinking age, so what about underage drinking? We already know that a hell of a lot of you are going to do it anyway, and that the more people preach against underage drinking, the more it provokes people to do it. That is why we say that if you are going to drink anyway in spite of the fact that you are underage, it is important that you learn how to practice good harm reduction so that you don't maim or kill yourself or someone else in the process. For more information about safe drinking please visit collegedrinking.org online. That's collegedrinking.org. Thank you.

You may ask yourself

Introduction video for 3rd international Conference on Alcohol and Harm Reduction, Cape Town, South Africa, october 2006

Protestant, Catholic and Jewish Clergy Speak Out Against "The War On Drugs" Produced by Mike Gray, http://mike-gray.org/, of Common ... all » Sense for Drug Policy, http://csdp.org/ with help from Chuck Thomas of Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform, http://uudpr.org/ and the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative. See extended interviews at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3581103485948467390&hl=en For more information, or to request copies of the DVD, please visit IDPI at http://www.idpi.us/