Just Dope: A Leading Attorney's Personal Journey Inside the War on Drugs by Allison Margolin

Author:Allison Margolin [Margolin, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Social Science, Popular Culture, Political Science, Public Policy, Social Policy
ISBN: 9781623176860
Google: WxZSEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1623176867
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2022-08-30T07:00:00+00:00

Discussions about recreational drug use never seem to include information on the importance of routes of administration. Eating a drug will have a different effect from injecting it or snorting it or any other route of administration. When you consume a drug orally by eating or swallowing it, the drug hits the bloodstream very quickly. Depending on the potency of the drug, this rapid release can put people at risk for heart problems or potential overdose.

With a stimulant like cocaine, the blood pressure rises and the heart rate quickens, leading to possible heart attacks immediately or other issues over time. In a 1982 interview with People after John Belushi’s speedball overdose, UCLA professor and drug expert Dr. Ronald K. Siegel commented on the different routes of administration for cocaine and cocaine hydrochloride, or crack. According to Siegel, it takes approximately three minutes for a person to feel the effects of cocaine when snorted, compared to about fourteen seconds when injected intravenously. Crack cocaine can be smoked, providing the quickest hit: six seconds on average.60 For people who have developed a tolerance to cocaine, it’s preferable to find a more potent and quicker hit.

Siegel also mentioned the increased risk of seizure with higher doses of cocaine, caused by changes to the brain’s electrical currents, and he discussed how cocaine had become the “drug of commerce” in the entertainment industry. He explained, “I see slightly more females than males [using speedballs]. They all tend to be in the same professional positions—actors, actresses and movie production people. . . . It is very socially acceptable in [Hollywood] and almost required.”61

The route of administration also affects how dependent an individual becomes on a drug. A 1994 study found that people who injected cocaine had the highest levels of dependence, while those who used cocaine intranasally had the lowest levels of dependence.62 This study did not include a review of cocaine dependence when it is ingested.

We do know that consuming a drug orally has a longer onset time and a longer duration. This is why, when it comes to using marijuana, beginners are encouraged to try smoking the plant first before eating edibles. When you eat an edible, the THC takes longer to cause a reaction because it has to pass through the stomach and liver. But when the THC gets metabolized by the liver, it turns into 11-hydroxy-THC, which has an easier time passing the blood-brain barrier, creating a more intense high that lasts for a much longer time than other routes of administration for marijuana.63 On the other hand, smoking a joint has a more immediate effect, since the THC goes straight to the brain; but it does not create a lasting high (unless, of course, you keep puffing away).

Another important yet rarely mentioned aspect of addiction is the concept of “set and setting.” The set is the mindset or mental state a person brings to the drug experience, and the setting is the environment they are in when they use drugs. Both the set and the setting will affect a person’s high and even their drug tolerance.

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