>> Only 10 percent of drug users have a problem with their substance
My politics generally agree with the author's main point, but this statistic seems disingenuous. Surely the percentage varies significantly depending on the drug. I know plenty of people who smoke marijuana and don't have a problem with it. Yet the only people I've known who had problems with methamphetamine or heroine have all ended up hitting rock-bottom or dying. Granted, people are more open about marijuana use than those other drugs, so my observations are biased. But I'm skeptical of the author's statements in that regard... I haven't read the full article yet, but she doesn't seem to address this.
> Surely the percentage varies significantly depending on the drug.
It actually doesn't, which is one of the key findings of addiction research. The reason is that people don't abuse drugs because of the physical discomfort of withdrawal, but rather because they have a psychological dependence on drug use. And that psychological dependence is caused by things like previous life trauma; any given drug is just an interchangeable object that's being fit into a slot.
The one drug-related variable that is important though is route of administration. Because addiction involves linking an action with a reward, the faster a drug takes effect the more likely a user will form a problem with that substance. So basically in terms of addictiveness:
By this reasoning smoked marijuana is equally as addictive as nicotine and more addictive than snorted cocaine or orally ingested opiates (i.e. prescription painkillers). That seems pretty suspect to me.
That rule applies JUST within the same substance. And only generally, some exceptions exist for poor bioavailability due to absorption differences and particular metabolic pathways.
The idea is that the shorter it takes to get into the bloodstream/brain, the peak effects are stronger, and the downregulation of neuron receptors is more acute and lasts longer (therefore requiring redoses to activate them).
Any links to such research? It's hardly presented in a scientifically rigorous way, but take this for example: http://bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/whats-the-most-addictive-drug/. It supports the notion the delivery significantly impacts behaviour, but it also cites highly variable addiction rates - not a consistent 90%. Still Googling for better research, but suffice it to say I'm a bit skeptical of the claims...
Not sure about primary sources, but the professor talks about the routes of administration in the Drugs and Behavior class that's available on iTunes. In terms of addiction rates, this is something that Carl Hart researches and has been talking a lot about recently. He has written a bunch of articles and given some TED talks on the topic.
In terms of quoted figures for the addictiveness of various substances, you need to look at whether the studies you're looking at correct for the characteristics of the users. E.g. people who use heroin are much more likely to become addicted to drugs, which makes heroin look more addictive than it actually is. There certainly is some variance between drugs, but it's relatively small... like 9% vs 13%, but not like 2% vs 90%.
> Yet the only people I've known who had problems with methamphetamine or heroine have all ended up hitting rock-bottom or dying.
Have you known anyone who hasn't had a problem with either of those drugs but still used them at some point in their life?
I would recommend reading TFA, the statistic isn't something the author made up, its from a leaked copy of a United Nations Office on Drug Control report.
For those interested in the statistic:
"Only 10 percent of drug users have a problem with their substance. Some 90 percent of people who use a drug—the overwhelming majority—are not harmed by it."
So, I've read TFA, I see no citation, and I'm still Googling to track down the original research. They may not have made it up, but they may have taken it out of context or omitted details.
>> Have you known anyone who hasn't had a problem with either of those drugs but still used them at some point in their life?
No, I haven't. That's why I'm curious about whether the statistic is uniformly true, or averaged, or what. I'm not saying they made it up, I'm saying I'd like to see more details about how they arrived at that number.
edit: for instance, let's say 90% of "drug users" are marijuana users. Okay, then I'm not surprised, but that would only speak to the danger of marijuana compared to other drugs. Or is it 90% of the users of any given drug? I'd be surprised about the latter. Coming from the United Nations is not a shining banner of truth and unbiased facts.
"Globally, it is estimated that in 2012, between 162 million and 324 million people, corresponding to between 3.5 per cent and 7.0 per cent of the world population aged 15-64, had used an illicit drug — mainly a substance belonging
to the cannabis, opioid, cocaine or amphetamine-type stimulants group — at least once in the previous year.
The extent of problem drug use - by regular drug users and those with drug use disorders or dependence remains stable at between 16 million and 39 million people."
Thanks - that report contradicts the quote in question. Their data shows that opiate consumption is relatively low world-wide compared to marijuana and other drugs, yet they state in the initial paragraphs that opiates are responsible for the majority if "problem drug users".
I don't think that's true. I think in most western countries the kind of people who end up taking meth are already people who have a drug problem, making the makeup of meth users be generally people with serious issues.
New Zealand has been particularly good at prohibiting the import of drugs like MDMA and Cocaine, which has made them prohibitively expensive. As a result, if you're a drug user you either smoke cannabis, take pills which are generally a mix of mephedrone and meth or just straight up take meth. There's no middle ground.
As a result the kinds of people who would normally take MDMA on a night out in London would take Meth on a night out in Auckland. I know a good number of young professionals who take it from time to time without it being a big part of their lives. Strangely the meth snorters stigmatise meth smokers in the same way a normal person would stigmatise a meth user.
My politics generally agree with the author's main point, but this statistic seems disingenuous. Surely the percentage varies significantly depending on the drug. I know plenty of people who smoke marijuana and don't have a problem with it. Yet the only people I've known who had problems with methamphetamine or heroine have all ended up hitting rock-bottom or dying. Granted, people are more open about marijuana use than those other drugs, so my observations are biased. But I'm skeptical of the author's statements in that regard... I haven't read the full article yet, but she doesn't seem to address this.