The lows of getting high: one teen's journey from street corner to jail to recovery

Science World, Oct 18, 2002 by Cate Baily

At 18, Podolski was living a nightmare behind bars. He felt he was in constant physical danger. "I saw people get stabbed," Alby says. And he experienced daily indignities. "I couldn't eat the food they served. The potatoes were like blocks and the meat didn't taste like meat," he says.

Believe it or not, getting I arrested was probably the best thing that could have happened to Alby. It got him into treatment for his drug problem.

When we spoke to Alby, he was one month into his recovery at Daytop, a drug rehabilitation center in Westchester, NY.

GRUDGE AGAINST THE WORLD

It all started one summer day on a street corner in Yonkers when Alby was 13. "You need to get your mind right. Hit this blunt," a friend said.

Alby didn't have the strength to say no. He felt he had to smoke the blunt (a cigar hollowed out and refilled with marijuana or a mix of cocaine and marijuana) to fit in. And he desperately wanted to belong.

His parents had never been there for him. They were drug addicts themselves and couldn't handle the demands of parenting. So, Alby bounced from a foster home to his grandmother's to a group home. When he was about 14, his mother died.

"I wasn't supposed to go through this," Alby says. "I had a grudge against the world."

After trying marijuana (also called weed, grass, pot, herb, boom, Mary Jane, and chronic) to fit in, Alby kept abusing the drug because he enjoyed high, or intoxicated feeling, marijuana creates. "It had me in another state of mind," he says. "I was relaxed. All my problems seemed like they were disappearing."

THE ADDICTION QUESTION

"I was definitely addicted," says Alby of his daily use of marijuana over a five-year period. For some people, this is a controversial idea. They argue that marijuana is not addictive.

According to NIDA, addiction is characterized by "compulsive, at times uncontrollable, drub craving, seeking, and use that persist even in the face of extremely negative consequences."

Dr. Glen Hanson, the Acting Director of NIDA, says that marijuana is indeed addictive. "I find it ironic that people say `oh, it's not addictive' and yet it's the most commonly used of our illicit [illegal] drugs," he says.

Although Hanson concedes that not everyone who smokes marijuana becomes addicted, he points out that many people experience cravings for the drug and have withdrawal symptoms when they get off it. "For me, that defines addiction," he says.

THC INVASION

The relaxed feeling Alby describes was caused by THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient (most powerful chemical) in marijuana. But the chemical was also responsible for the negative effects he experienced.

Here's what happens: When a user smokes marijuana, the THC travels quickly through the bloodstream to the brain. That's when the problems start. In everyone's brain, there are special receptors, called cannabinoid receptors. They're located in several important brain regions (shown here in brown), including the area that helps you remember things. THC attaches to the cannabinoid receptors and interferes with the brain's normal functioning.

Trying to remember a phone number? Forget it, if THC has taken over.

THE PRICE

But Alby's problems weren't disappearing. They were getting worse. The good feelings he sought from marijuana would come at a price.

Over the next five years, Alby smoked marijuana every day, several times a day. He went to school high and eventually dropped out. "I was losing focus. My attention went from 100 to 0. I was depressed," he says.

Despite the consequences, Alby kept smoking marijuana. In fact, he was willing to do anything to get high. Eventually, he started dealing drugs to support his habit. That's what landed him in Valhalla Correctional Facility, a maximum-security jail in Westchester.

NEW FRIENDS, LINGERING EFFECTS

Now, at Daytop, Alby has been able to address the real problems in his life by talking them out with counselors and making new friends whom he describes as "positive."

But he still feels some of the effects of his drug use. "Sometimes I want to say things, and I can't get them out. I can't find the word," Alby says. "I never had that problem before I started smoking."

Alby's memory problems may improve with time. But for now, they are enormously frustrating. "I used to know things," says Alby. "But now, it's rusty. I forgot how to do division."

Frustrations aside, he is looking ahead and hoping to create a future for himself. Alby wants to pursue a career as a mechanic.

Tobacco Vs. Marijuana

You've read our report about cigarette smoking and the damage that can do to your lungs. But what marijuana does to your lungs may be news.

Here's some of what science tells us:

* Marijuana smokers can develop phlegm and a daily cough.

* Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke.

* Puff for puff, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than smoking tobacco does.

* People who smoke marijuana are at greater risk for lung infections, like pneumonia.

* Chronic marijuana smokers are vulnerable to bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma.