Program to offer support group for families of drug addicts
A local drug rehabilitation program will offer a new family-support group in response to a large number of prescription drug and overdose deaths in York County. Colonial House, Inc., at 1 East Market St., in York will host the weekly meetings, set to … Read more on York Daily Record

Indiana loses funds to treat thousands for drug addiction
Indiana is about to lose funding for a program that since 2010 has helped 11,400 Hoosiers battle drug addiction. Access to Recovery, a federal grant that expires at the end of the year, has supported addiction treatment in 11 Indiana counties. The … Read more on Indianapolis Star

NIDA switches to social media monitoring for drug abuse trends, outbreaks
Washington, DC, United States (4E) – The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is replacing its community surveillance of illicit drug abuse trends and outbreaks with monitoring of the social media and Internet for such problem. The new monitoring … Read more on Gant Daily

NIH system to monitor emerging drug trends
The University of Maryland's Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) will receive five years of funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, to develop NDEWS. “NDEWS will generate critically … Read more on National Institutes of Health (press release)

Doctor warns of unpredictable ingredients in Spice that can cause bad trips
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Spice refers to a wide variety of herbal mixtures that produce a high similar to marijuana. It's also called K2, fake weed, Yucatan Fire, Skunk, Moon Rocks, and other names and labeled "not for human … Read more on News Sentinel

Lunch lady rises to teachers union leader and takes on all comers, bluntly
Lily Eskelsen García, 59, a telegenic, guitar-slinging firebrand, has made her unlikely rise to the top of the National Education Association as the union faces the most daunting political challenges in its 157-year history. She is already fighting … Read more on Washington Post

UI study: How stoned is too stoned to drive?
Of course, the large majority of that research has been on the deleterious effects, the harmful effects, on cognition, behavior and so forth,” said Steven Gust, special assistant to the director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which was … Read more on Iowa City Press Citizen

Woodbridge teen dies after drug overdose at Maryland music festival
Police said they believe the most widely used drug at the event was MDMA, popularly known as ecstasy or Molly. MDMA is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that has similarities to stimulants and hallucinogens, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Read more on Inside NoVA

Phoenix House launches new program to help youth with drug, alcohol problems
July 19 — DUBLIN — Area teens struggling with drug- and alcohol-use have a new option for local counseling. Phoenix House Dublin Academy has recently launched a summer outpatient program for teens that need short-term, lower-level care. The non … Read more on Insurance News Net

Teen addicts in Landover, MD Benefit from New Teen Substance Abuse Helpline
A new helpline for troubled teens in Landover, MD is helping adolescents find professional youth rehab. LIGHTNING RELEASES (7/21/2014) – Teenage substance abuse isn't just someone else's problem. It's an important issue affecting young people in your … Read more on Ticker Report

10 things rehab centers won't tell you
And while SAMHSA says only 2.5 million Americans are undergoing treatment, that's already enough to support a sizable industry , with more than 14,500 facilities for drug addiction alone, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In all, rehab … Read more on MarketWatch

Heroin addicts left trapped; families, heartbroken
"I'm sure a certain part of the population doesn't really understand the loss of behavioral control that comes with this particular brain disease," says Melinda Campopiano, medical officer for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at SAMHSA. She … Read more on Mansfield News Journal

mothers and children fight addiction side by side
There were many similar stories during the 18 years she abused drugs and alcohol. Until, in the pre-dawn light one morning in late July 2011, she checked herself into The Women's Treatment Center, a West Side drug rehabilitation facility that … Read more on WBEZ

Drug-Free South Building a Future for Kids Across Tennessee
The goal of the campaign is to mobilize support and inspire people to act against drug use, according to unodc.org. The Foundation for a Drug-Free World has as a goal to educate children and youth across the world to effectively prevent the demand for … Read more on PR.com (press release)

The international mood on drug use and addiction is shifting from punishment …
That hypocrisy was the subject of a discussion featuring Nora Volkow, the director of America's National Institute on Drug Abuse and an expert on how drug addiction affects the brain, at the World Science Festival two weeks ago: Addiction is a disease … Read more on New Statesman

Keystone Church donates funds to Saline task force on drug abuse
Just as Keystone partners with parents, individuals and families to achieve the work of our church, we are excited to provide financial and other support to the Saline Addiction Prevention Task Force as they develop partnerships across our community to … Read more on Heritage Newspapers

Question by Wait! U Mad Bro??!!: OK MARIJUANA AND LSD DEBATE?
Allright, so my friend is a smoker right, he doesn’t smoke ALL the time, but he still smokes. so we were having a debate on LSD and Marijuana effect on the brain when they are ABUSED. I said, if you abuse both substances, they could lead to brain damage, but he insists that only LSD does this. He literally says Marijuana will not have an effect on the brain if it is abused. I told him it will and sited a medical book as my source. He then tells me that the book is biased and that he’s done many research on the drug and is sure it doesn’t effect the brain in any way. DOES THAT MAKE SENCE?!!!
well

Best answer:

Answer by bravozulu
Effect should be modified to negative effect. The word “abused” is subjective and even leading. Damage is also somewhat subjective and the word “could” doesn’t have much meaning either. It could be one chance in a billion or 50/50.

THC most definitely has an effect on the brain and it potentially has profound effects on the mind. The changes are due to activating cannabinoid receptors. Those change other neurotransmitters and it changes how the brain functions. There isn’t much long term change and probably no permanent damage. He probably meant that no permanent or even temporary harm was done. That is probably true unless the dose is far beyond normal usage.

LSD is extremely non toxic. The changes are very temporary. This statement from wikipedia is consistent with statements from all the medical doctors I have heard.
“LSD is non-addictive, is not known to cause brain damage, and has extremely low toxicity relative to dose, although in rare cases adverse psychiatric reactions such as anxiety or delusions are possible.”

The later anxiety and delusions are sometimes described as flashbacks and it is generally believed that they are memories of your altered conscious thoughts. You remember feeling paranoid or whatever you experienced so there is potential for permanent psychological damage. The same is logically true for THC though most people don’t normally react badly to it. There are certainly exceptions though.

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House Votes to End DEA Raids on Legal Medical Marijuana Businesses
The Huffington Post adds that medical marijuana dispensaries have faced the wrath of both the DEA and the Obama administration, with the agency still considering marijuana a Schedule I substance, meaning it has high potential for abuse and no accepted … Read more on Complex.com

What the legalization of marijuana has meant for children
Although she was unhurt, the kitchen was destroyed and the adults who were present have been charged with reckless endangerment and child abuse, according to CBS Denver.Such dangerous environments are tied to recreational use of marijuana. Read more on Wicked Local Hopedale

Mississippi, home to federal government's official stash of marijuana
Researchers can't get anything from the 46-year-old Marijuana Research Project at Ole Miss unless the Drug Enforcement Administration gives the go-ahead. A panel on which the National Institute on Drug Abuse is represented often must sign off too. Read more on Los Angeles Times