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Marijuana is the most controversial drug as to the danger for dependency, physical health and mental problem. Don't get mislead! Most of the hard drug users have started their addiction with marijuana.
Drug rehab centers can be really confusing with all the different programs and philosophies in Massachusetts. There are different school of thought on marijuana. We will try to teach you what the drug really is. Remember if Marijuana would be so "innocent", you would not be reading this website now. Drug rehabilitation is a process with different phases that will bring the individual to a drug free life.
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Marijuana use in Massachusetts
The cannabis menace in Massachusetts is generally perceived as lower than that posed by heroin or cocaine because marijuana users do not often seek treatment for marijuana substance abuse or commit violent crimes. Nonetheless, marijuana is easily available in the state, and there could be more marijuana users than all other drug users combined. Moreover, marijuana trafficking and sales have much stronger relations with violent crime than does cannabis use. Overall, the costs of marijuana abuse to the user and to society are less than that of heroin or cocaine abuse, and, therefore, most treatment providers and law enforcement authorities think it to be a lower menace. In some rural regions of the state (e.g., Plymouth, Franklin, and Hampshire Counties), law enforcement authorities ranks the marijuana threat second behind cocaine. Most cannabis distributed in Massachusetts is of Mexican source, but some cannabis is cultivated in Massachusetts.
According to the Massachusetts DPH, drug abuse treatment centers in Boston in the first three quarters of FY1999 provided the following information for admissions reporting marijuana as their primary drug:
- 76 percent were male, a percentage slightly lower than the previous year but the same as in FY1997.
- 42 percent were African American, a percentage lightly lower than the previous year; 28 percent were Caucasian, down for the second straight year and 9 percent lower than in FY1997; and 25 percent were Hispanic, up for the third straight year and 7 percent higher than in FY1996.
- The average age of admissions was 25. The percentage of admissions aged 19 to 29 increased for the second straight year from 43 percent in FY1997 to 47 percent in the first three quarters of FY1999. The percentage of admissions under 19 years of age decreased to 28 percent, the lowest level in 3 years, and 25 percent of admissions were aged 30 or older, a percentage consistent with the previous 2 years.
- 86 percent earned less than $10,000 per year, a percentage constant with the previous 4 years.
- The percentage of admissions with some involvement with the criminal justice system increased for the second straight year from 47 percent in FY1997 to 62 percent in the first three quarters of FY1999.
- The percentage of admissions reporting a mental health problem decreased for the second straight year from 41 percent in FY1997 to 27 percent in the first three quarters of FY1999.
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