Self-Medication with Cannabis in the Czech Republic from an Anthropological Perspective

Bd.8,Nr.2(2017)

Abstract

Th is article is focused on the self-medication with cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) in the Czech Republic, exploring subjective perception of this treatment by ill persons and its sociocultural framework. It describes a situation when the state fails to eff ectively regulate medical cannabis and patients oft en seek practices of self-medication, which remains illegal in the country. An online questionnaire was done from January 1, 2017 to May 1, 2017, in deliberately selected volunteers approached via organizations providing comprehensive information about the issue. The study sample consists of 107 subjects, who used cannabis and its derivatives for self-medication. Using the Grounded theory approach, the results indicate that people who seek cannabis for self-medication in the Czech Republic consider it current legal regulation objectionable. Cannabis plants for self-medication are usually grown at home and people gain information about the treatment primarily online. Considering the experience of respondents, there are common practices of cannabis self-medication described in this article and their impact on the health status of the participants. It contains information useful for the organizations working with medical cannabis patients.


Schlagworte:
Self-medication; Medical Anthropology; Cannabis; Marijuana
Autor/innen-Biografien

Barbora Bláhová

Legalizace.cz

Nezávislá výzkumnice, místopředsedkyně Legalizace.cz, z.s.

Miroslav Horák

Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Fakulta regionálního rozvoje a mezinárodních studií, Ústav jazykových a kulturních studií

Odborný asistent

Nahanga Verter

Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Fakulta regionálního rozvoje a mezinárodních studií, Ústav jazykových a kulturních studií

Odborný asistent
Literaturhinweise

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Anthony, J. C. (2006). The epidemiology of cannabis dependence. In Roffman, R. A. – Stephens, R. S. (Eds). Cannabis dependence: Its nature, consequences and treatment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 58–105.

Backes, M. – Weil, A. – Kozák, J. (2016). Konopná lékárna: praktický průvodce světem léčivé marihuany [Cannabis pharmacy: A practical guide the world of healing marijuana]. Olomouc: Fontána.

Bernard, H. (2006). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Lanham: Altamira Press.

Blenkinsopp, A. – Bradley, C. (1996). Patients, society, and the increase in self medication. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 312(7031), 629–632.

Bennadi, D. (2013). Self-medication: A current challenge. Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy, 5(1), 19–23.

Branch, M. N. (2011). Drug addiction. Is it a disease or is it based on choice? A review of Gene Heyman’s Addiction: A disorder of choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 95(2), 263–267. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2011.95-263

Brody, T. – Larner, M. – Minneman, K. P. (Eds.) (1998). Human pharmacology. Molecular to clinical. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Buclin, T. – Ammon, C. (Eds.) (2001). L’automédication: pratique banale, motifs complexes. Genève: Médecine et Hygiène, Cahiers Médico-Sociaux.

Budney, A. J. – Hughes, J. R. (2006). The cannabis withdrawal syndrome. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 19(3), 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.yco.0000218592.00689.e5

Corey-Bloom, J. – Wolfson, T. – Gamst, A. – Jin, S. – Marcotte, T. D. – Bentley, H. – Gouaux, B. (2012). Smoked cannabis for spasticity in multiple sclerosis: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. CMAJ, 184(10), 1143–1150. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.110837

Dingle, G. A. – Cruwys, T. – Frings, D. (2015). Social identities as pathways into and out of addiction. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(NOV).

Devinsky, O. – Cilio, M. R. – Cross, H. – Fernandez-Ruiz, J. – French, J. – Hill, C. – Katz, R. – Di Marzo, V. – Jutras-Aswad, D. – Notcutt, W. G. – Martinez-Orgado, J. – Robson, P. J. – Rohrback, B. G. – Thiele, E. – Whalley, B. – Friedman, D. (2014). Cannabidiol: Pharmacology and potential therapeutic role in epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Epilepsia, 55(6), 791–802. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.12631

Englund, A. – Freeman, T. P. – Murray, R. M. – McGuire, P. (2017). Can we make cannabis safer? The Lancet Psychiatry.

Etkin, N.L. – P.J. Ross. (1982). Food as medicine and medicine as food: An adaptive framework for the interpretation of plant utilization among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria. Social Science and Medicine 16, 1559–1573. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(82)90167-8

Fainzang, S. (2005). Religious attitudes toward prescriptions, medicines, and doctors in France. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 29(4), 457–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-006-9003-5

Fainzang, S. (2017). Self-medication and society: mirages of autonomy. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Hall, W. – Degenhardt, L. (2000). Cannabis use and psychosis: a review of clinical and epidemiological evidence. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(1), 26–34.

Hall, W. – Degenhardt, L. (2008). Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder. World Psychiatry, 7(2), 68–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2051-5545.2008.tb00158.x

Hendl, J. (2008). Kvalitativní výzkum: základní teorie, metody a aplikace [Qualitative research: Basic theories, methods and applications].Praha: Portál.

Holden, T. (2012). Addiction is not a disease. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 184(6), 679. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.112-2033

Horák, M. (2014). A brief history of drug abuse, addiction concepts and community treatment. In Human And Social Sciences at the Common Conference 2013. Žilina: Publishing Society, 157–160.

Hugh-Jones, S. (1993). “Food” and “Drugs” in Northwest Amazonia. In Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Applications to Development. Carnforth, Lancs: UNESCO, 533–548.

Katzung, B. G. (1994). Základní a klinická farmakologie [Basic and clinical pharmacology]. Praha: H&H.

Lachenmeier, D. W., & Rehm, J. (2015). Comparative risk assessment of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach. Scientific Reports, 5(1), 8126. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08126

Lecomte T. (1999).Chiffres de l’automédication en France et à l’étranger. In Queneau, P. (Ed.) Automédication, autoprescription, autoconsommation. Paris: John Libbey, 49–56.

Light, M. – Orens, A. – Rowberry, J. – Saloga, C. W. (2016). The economic impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado. Denver: Marijuana Policy Group. URL: https://goo.gl/TxHcgm

McLaughlin, H. (2009). What’s in a name: ‘Client’, ‘patient’, ‘customer’, ‘consumer’, ‘expert by experience’, ‘service user’—What’s Next? The British Journal of Social Work, 39(6), 1101–1117. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcm155

Melamede, R. (2005). Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic. Harm Reduction Journal, 2, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7517-2-21

Molina, N. (1988). L’automédication. Paris: PUF (Coll: Les champs de la santé).

Montastruc, J. L. – Bagheri, H. – Geraud, T. – Lapeyre-Mestre, M. (1997). Pharmacovigilance of self-medication. Thérapie, 52(2):105–10.

Morral, A. R. – McCaffrey, D. F. – Paddock, S. M. (2002). Reassessing the marijuana gateway effect. Addiction, 97(12), 1493-14504. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00280.x

Morgan, C. J. A. – Das, R. K. – Joye, A. – Curran, H. V. – Kamboj, S. K. (2013). Cannabidiol reduces cigarette consumption in tobacco smokers: Preliminary findings. Addictive Behaviors, 38(9), 2433–2436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.03.011

NIDA. (2016). The science of drug abuse and addiction: The basics. URL: https://goo.gl/CbGfiK

Nutt, D. J., King, L. A., & Phillips, L. D. (2010). Drug harms in the UK: A multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet, 376(9752), 1558–1565. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6

Pierron, J. P. (2007). Une nouvelle figure du patient? Les transformations contemporaines de la relation de soins. Sciences Sociales et Sante, 25(2), 43–66.

Pokrywka, M. – Góralska, J. – Solnica, B. (2016). Cannabinoids – a new weapon against cancer? Postepy Higieny I Medycyny Doswiadczalnej (Online), 70(0), 1309–1320.

Pope, H. G. – Yurgelun-Todd, D. (1996). The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use in college students. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 275(7), 521–527. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1996.03530310027028

Raynaud, D. (2008). Les déterminants du recours à l’automédication. Revue Française Des Affaires Sociales, (1), 81–94. URL: https://goo.gl/CEgEXy

Reichel, J. (2009). Kapitoly metodologie sociálních výzkumů [Chapters of the social research methodology]. Praha: Grada.

Schweim, H. – Ullmann, M. (2015). Media influence on risk competence in self-medication and self-treatment. German Medical Science: GMS E-Journal, 13, Doc10.

Sheble, L. – Wildemuth, B. (2009). Research diaries. In Wildemuth, B. (Ed.). Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, 211–221.

Shrivastava, A. – Johnston, M. – Tsuang, M. (2011). Cannabis use and cognitive dysfunction. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 53(3), 187–91. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.86796

Strauss, A. L. – Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research techniques and procedures for developing Grounded Theory. London: Sage Publications.

Thompson, C. L. (Ed.). (2015). Self-medication in the nineteenth century. In Patient Expectations. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 33–48.

Van der Geest S. (2010). Patients as co-researchers? Views and experiences in Dutch medical anthropology. In Fainzang, S. – Hem, H. E. – Risor, M. B. (Eds.) The taste for knowledge:Medical anthropology facing medical realities. Copenhagen: Aarhus University Press, 97–110.

WMA (1981). Declaration of Lisbon on the rights of the patient. URL: https://goo.gl/JThs4Z.

Yasukawa, K. (2014). Cannabinoids as seed compounds for the cancer treatment. Forensic Toxicology, (32), 189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-014-0234-9

Zábranský, T. (2003). Drogová epidemiologie [Drug epidemiology]. Olomouc: Palacký University Olomouc.

Zavázalová, H. (1992). Vybrané kapitoly ze sociálního lékařství [Selected chapters from social medicine]. Praha: Karolinum.

Metriky

0


1326

Views

392

PDF (English) views