[cryptolab]

Hello Denizens,

The Introduction
People who use cannabis regularly:
(a) are statistically more successful in quitting alcohol
(b) have less severe alcohol-cold-turkey symptoms
(c) less likely to become alcoholic compared to matched non-toking controls.

So why is there this inverse relationship between cannabis and alcoholism ?

It turns out that the main addiction contingency in alcoholism is actually your own, endogenous, opioid receptors. These are the receptors involved in the brain's own reward mechanism which are triggered artificially by morphine and heroin and a variety of other opioids.
It turns out that alcohol is hugely more toxic than most people realise. Every time you get drunk you do a vast amount of damage across your entire body. Your body senses this damage and responds by activating it's own analgesia mechanisms, these involve activating those opioid receptors. The same ones artificially stimulated by heroin and morphine. So the alcoholic basically gets a shot of opioid every time he/she drinks. The majority of the addictive power of alcoholism... comes from the body's natural triggering of these endogenous opioid receptors.... not 100% ... since there's a contribution from 'habit', 'social drive', 'sexual drives' (sometimes), escape from depression and/or anxiety etc.

Why are cannabis users less susceptible to alcoholism ?

There are constituents in cannabis that also bind to these opioid receptors to render an analgesic effect for those suffering chronic pain: rheumatism, arthritis of various kinds, spinal problems, etc. This is especially true for those smoking the medical MJ strains with their higher levels of CBD.CBD also has a hugely positive effect on the central nervous system. And ameliorates depression and anxiety symptoms, which in turn are associated with increased neurogenesis and improved mood and emotional state.

How does Naltraxone come in ?
Naltraxone is an opioid receptor blocker. It binds with the receptor but does not activate it. There is no opioid hit when you give someone Naltraxone. The scenario here is that you take a Naltraxone tablet 1 hour before drinking. The previous association between drinking alcohol and receiving an opioid hit, is no longer valid. One does not lead to the other. It breaks the contingency.

Drinking somehow doesn't work any more. You drink the alcohol and it simply doesn't supply the rewarding opioid spike that it previously delivered. Drinking becomes dull and pointless. Further, because those toxic 'damage' signals are no longer being neutralised, the drinker begins to feel uncomfortable and unpleasant. Drinking alcohol becomes increasingly aversive.

This method of beating alcoholism has a claimed efficacy rate of 80%. If it's even 1/4 of that, just 20%, then it's worth trying. Google for 'Dr Sinclair Naltraxone' for more on this. Or... look on youtube for 'Claudia Christian TED' (She provides a TED talk on her experiences with TSM (The Sinclair Method)). There's also a PDF version of the book: 'The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction'... that's freely available on the internet. However, maybe this is a book that deserves to be bought so that the author is financially incentivised to continue his good work in bringing this method to the people. It's only $14. But if you google for the PDF version you can probably find the book for free... I did.

Please 'pass it forward'
if you have friends or relatives or loved ones with an actual or developing problem with alcohol. Simply tell them about this method. They obviously will not immediately stop drinking and take up using Naltraxone. But if you inform them about this treatment, they can pick up this option in the future. Knowledge is power.I can't help speculating that an approach that mixes both medical cannabis and Naltraxone, would be better than either Naltraxone or Cannabis alone. I imagine it would work like this: Begin by having a nice Medical MJ spliff/vape (this will have anti-anxiety & anti-depression effects and ipso facto will trigger neurogenesis). One hour before you're due to hit the bottle, take your naltraxone tablet. Then re-dose the naltraxone according to it's half life.
Vitamin B3
The other thing, that has a reputation for being highly effective with beating addictions... is niacin & niacinamide -- 2 forms of vitamin B3. Google for 'Niacin therapy for alcoholism' or go on youtube and search for 'Dr Saul niacin' or 'Dr Abraham Hofer additions B3'. Abraham gave 3000 mg of B3 to alcoholics, most of whom were able to successfully quit. This includes the guy that started the AA (his name escapes me for the moment).

Perhaps the best combo would include both niacin (3,000 mg), plus medical MJ plus Naltraxone. There maybe entourage effects, ie. synergies, between these 3 approaches that provide a total efficacy in excess of the sum of the efficacies of each of the 3 methods (cannabis, naltraxone & niacin).

best wishes

cryptolab

[coldcanna]

Intersting article- had never heard the relationship between opiod receptors and drinking. As far as pot and alchohol go I can agree from personal experience. On nights I don't smoke I'll usually have 6-8 beers after work, if I do smoke I tend to stop after 2

[hazyfontazy]

i'm a toker/drinker ,,i like the 2 together ,but ,i am addicted to alcohol and would have no problem quitting weed,, where as quitting alcohol would be a totally different ballgame :(

[cryptolab]

Originally Posted by coldcanna

Intersting article- had never heard the relationship between opiod receptors and drinking. As far as pot and alchohol go I can agree from personal experience. On nights I don't smoke I'll usually have 6-8 beers after work, if I do smoke I tend to stop after 2

Hi coldcanna,

yes, it's the same with me too: I would ordinarily drink more if i'm not smoking weed. Somehow the drink is less interesting, and actually less fun, than the weed. (i.e. for me personally. Apparently i'm not typical of either my friends or my relatives).

Interestingly, I recently read a quote about the relative toxicology between alcohol and ecstasy (In the UK, they're now researching the utility of giving alcoholics ecstasy prior to alcohol counselling therapy). The statistic is that ecstasy is 93 times less toxic than alcohol; hence this statistic justifies giving ecstasy to alcoholics.

I suspect that figure exaggerates the 'true' figure, but nonetheless it leaves me thinking that perhaps we've generally underestimated the real toxic impact of alcohol.

best wishes

cryptolab

[cryptolab]

Originally Posted by hazyfontazy

i'm a toker/drinker ,,i like the 2 together ,but ,i am addicted to alcohol and would have no problem quitting weed,, where as quitting alcohol would be a totally different ballgame :(

hi hazyfontazy,

I can't help wondering, now, just how different the experience is, drinking alcohol with Naltraxone, and drinking alcohol without Naltraxone. If you decide to do that experiment, i'd be interested to hear your feedback.

best wishes

cryptolab

PS.. You might enjoy this band, from 1982, with a name
very similar to your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jknkXd7VKGA

[hazyfontazy]

Originally Posted by cryptolab

hi hazyfontazy,


PS.. You might enjoy this band, from 1982, with a name
very similar to your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jknkXd7VKGA

oh god dont remind me ,trying to forget 1982 lol,now i know where i got the idea for the name from lol

[St. Phatty]

I notice the "energy drinks" are basically caffeine and B-vitamins.

[stoned-trout]

I have quit both cold turkey before...dark days...yeehaw..

[cryptolab]

Originally Posted by hazyfontazy

oh god dont remind me ,trying to forget 1982 lol,now i know where i got the idea for the name from lol

Hi hazyfontazy,

I've had that 'John Wayne is Big Leggy' tune wandering around in my head for the last few days. At first i thought the lyrics were just random cowboy nonsense. The more i listened to it, the more i became convinced some of the lyrics were talking about John Wayne's dick.

So i did some hunting around on the internet to find out if this song is actually about sex. And my hunch was right, this song is actually about anal sex: John Wayne with an indian Squaw.

There is a wikipedia page devoted to this very song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Is_Big_Leggy

best wishes

cryptolab

[GreyPaws]

Would love to see some links citing the sources for the studies establishing the inverse relationships mentioned by OP.