‘Mary Jane’ is one of the many street names for marijuana, which is by far the most commonly abused illicit drug in the world. Grass and hashish have been in the society since the early 16th century. The introduction of jazz music caused in increase in the number of pot smokers. In the present era, the association of the word ‘cool’ with pot smokers, Rastafarians and hippies has prompted kids to smoke joints on a daily basis. It should be noted that marijuana may not be addictive but is definitely a stepping-stone to higher drugs like cocaine and heroin.
The Climb up the Ladder from Marijuana to Something Stronger
There is a hike in office employees who smoke joints during office hours or come to the office stoned. Marijuana might give you a high the first few times you smoke it but within a few months your tolerance increases and you stop getting those kicks you got the first few times and hence you start the search for something stronger. You keep smoking more joints per day until you are introduced to acid or heroin or cocaine or meth.
Once you’ve found that stronger drug, you would start getting heavier ‘kicks’ again but then again these kicks would be short lived and your tolerance to a drug like cocaine would increase as well and thus you’re stuck in a cycle where you simply administer more drugs in your body in the search for that same old buzz. When the drug in use is cocaine or heroin, you are at a great danger of losing your job, your loved ones and even your life.
Concern among Employers
The drug problem has touched big offices and various firms and employers are struggling to keep their offices safe and clean. Therefore, plenty of firms have created drug and alcohol policies as per the OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) system. These policies help the owners to run drug and alcohol screening tests on a monthly basis. These tests help in understanding the loopholes in the company and help in finding out the reasons for low productivity of a particular department.
If an employee were found guilty of using drugs in excess, he would get proper help from his company. He might have to spend some time off work in a rehab centre or he might have to go through a short detox program in order to be fit for duty again. Detox programs and rehab plans help the addicts to break their habit and resume normal lives. The period in question depends on the nature of the drug and the duration of the habit.
What Doesn’t Kill You…
If a person has been smoking joints on a daily basis for a whole year, he would not be spending a lot of time at a rehab or he might not even have to visit a rehab centre because marijuana not that strong a drug in nature. However if a person has been a cokehead for 6-8 months, he would have to go through a few weeks of rehab. The withdrawal symptoms would be more intense and he would have to struggle hard to keep his craving down but with medical help at a rehab centre, his addiction can end. The treatment process can extend more than a few months but once completed, can provide the ex-addict with a better and sober life.
If you have employees using marijuana consider an onsite screening programme from Mediscreen 1300 797040
References:
http://www.nida.nih.gov/Marijbroch/Marijteenstxt.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/29/1035683407043.html
