"Normal" level and frequency of use of cannabis?

February 20, 2009 3:39 PM

Are there any accepted "frequency of use" or level of use statistics for cannabis/marijuana?

I don't want to get into whether they are right or wrong, just are there any out there, and what are they?
More specifically, I'm thinking of cannabis smoked in a joint or cigarette.

I'm also wondering if there are any numbers attached to such possible terms as "casual use," "regular use," "high (!) use," etc.

So 2 parts; statistics on what people actually do, and recommendations on what constitutes safe or normal levels. Don't get too hung up on the words or categories.

I've had a couple of doctors (and I see it in print) that 2 drinks of alcohol a day for a total of 14 drinks a week constitutes "normal" alcohol use. Anything above that and as a rough guideline, you might have a problem. There's a standard definition of what constitutes a "drink", and a frequency. I understand that this is the conventional wisdom on the subject. I'm looking for something like that for cannabis.

posted by feelinggood to health & fitness (7 comments total)

Are you looking for an addiction defination?

To me, your defination of "normal" alcohol use is excessive to me. I don't think normal use can be boiled down to strict amounts by day because I think it is more about the impact the intoxicant has on a person's life as well as social norms. A j or two a day seems normal to me but someone else may think that is too high (or too low). But everyone is different and none of us are normal.
posted by saucysault at 4:09 PM on February 20

If you are looking for a clinical definition of "normal" pot use, your not going to find one.

Keep in mind that with addiction it isn't so much the quantity you use but the results when you do. This is an individual thing. The doctors may say that two drinks a day is "normal" -- for me, two drinks a day is toxic.
posted by cedar at 5:05 PM on February 20

I think "casual," "regular," and "high" use is pretty person specific. I'll try to assign some value to these categories per your question but I think my values are pretty useless.

casual: once in a while, at a party or friend's house, 4 times per year - once a month
regular: weekly to daily usage
high (!): daily usage which impacts one's ability to function in social, academic, or professional realms.

What really matters is the bit about "ability to function in social, academic, or professional realms."

Another trick with pot is to ask yourself if you need to smoke it to make things more interesting or to motivate yourself to do mundane things. For instance, do you need to smoke a j in order to have dinner with your mother? Do you need to smoke a j in order to put away your laundry? Do you need to smoke a j to enjoy your favorite television show? If you answered yes to any of these questions then, IMHO you need to take a break from the devil weed.

I personally think your description of what constitutes "normal" alcohol use is pretty high (!). One thing I've learned about the consumption of substances is that almost everyone fibs about how much they consume. I tell people that I smoke a pack of cigarettes a day but it's more likely that I smoke about a pack and a quarter most days. The same is true for drinking and pot smoking. Anyone who says they drink 2 drinks a day, probably consumes a bit more than that most days.
posted by dchrssyr at 5:09 PM on February 20

Addiction (the DSM dumbly calls it dependence but that will probably change in the next edition if me and the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse have anything to do with it) is defined by compulsive use despite negative consequences.

You could use every day and not be addicted or you could use irregularly and be addicted: it all has to do with what happens when you use. If you use and it makes your life better-- not addicted, despite frequency. If you use and it makes your life worse: quite possibly addicted though obviously, if you are using once a year and every time something horrible happens, you are either an addict relapsing once a year or you have very, very bad luck.

Now, needing weed to function is not necessarily addiction-- some people need antidepressants to function or blood pressure meds or insulin and we don't call them addicts-- but some people aren't comfortable with that, especially because it's illegal and ideally, it's better not to be dependent than to be dependent. But we're all dependent on food, water and air and if it makes your life better, where is the problem, except with interruption of supply?

Btw, puritanical Americans, 2 drinks a day is a perfectly healthy level of alcohol use for a man, one a day is healthy for a woman. Yes, some people will tell others they drink less than they do-- but that's in part because we have this attitude! Americans fear that doing something every day = dependence, but in fact, this drinking pattern is much healthier than binging once a weekend. If you are middle aged or older, daily moderate drinking at these levels is linked with reduced risk of stroke, heart attack and dementia.
posted by Maias at 6:45 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]

Dependency is a valid term, as in psychological dependency. Comparing medicine to recreational drugs? Yeah, thats unconvincing.

I've had a couple of doctors (and I see it in print) that 2 drinks of alcohol a day for a total of 14 drinks a week constitutes "normal" alcohol use.

The problem is that these statistics are cultural and from a society where alcohol is legal. The data is easy to come by. In the US pot is obviously illegal so youre going to skew towards drug culture types, usually kids. The same kids who binge drink. So youre going to get results that dont reflect this underground usage which may not produce the "normal and healthy" equivalent youre looking for. In other words apples and oranges.

Not to mention I can drink two beers and not feel a thing. Two hits from a bong used to be all I needed when I was a kid. Apples and oranges again.

That said, according to this UK study, an ounce a month. It also states that in countries with traditional cannabis use the norm is much, much higher.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:03 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]

Test on cannabis use
The test is from the Dutch Jellinek clinic. Which is the most prominent clinic on treatment of addiction in the Netherlands. So they're not moralistic about cannabis use and they do know a lot about addiction.
posted by jouke at 9:08 AM on February 21

It's hard to come up with definitions of "normal" in a culture where recreational use of marijuana is publicly reviled (and criminalized). Society's moral reaction to drug use has a huge impact on who uses it and how often (and there are, of course, many other factors).

I think it would be more telling to study a culture that hasn't adopted to modern, Western ways and see how often they make use of locally-growing plants such as coca leaves, peyote, and ayahuasca to alter their minds.
posted by Piscean at 3:46 PM on February 21