A phenomenological study was carried out to find out from patients with a history of cannabis use. admitted at Bophelong Psychiatric Hospital, reasons or factors that caused them to use/abuse cannabis. An original sample of 30 male patients between the ages of 16-30 years was selected from chronic (rehabilitation) wards of mentally stable patients awaiting discharge. Out of the 30 subjects, 10 protocols were selected for phenomenological explication. An unstructured type of interview was conducted to aid data collection. According to the data obtained and analysed, youth drug taking is being influenced by peer pressure, the need to escape from reality problems, the need for cognitive enhancement, the desire for improved sell-confidence and modelling of parental drug behaviour. Other significant associated findings were that adolescents who come from single-parent families and low socio-economic status backgrounds are at a high risk of developing cannabis use problems. Male gender was also shown to be a predictive factor towards the abuse of cannabis. Finally. there is an on-going need to identify causative and curative factors of adolescent drug use in an effort to reduce this tremendous loss of our resources. particularly the youth. Therefore, in the development of suitable programmes for assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention, it is Important riot to emphasise any one particular factor as the main and only cause of drug abuse, but to view the different reasons and factors as related to and interacting with one another and forming part of a bigger whole. / M.Soc.Sc. (CP) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-81). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Este trabalho entende a cultura como elemento central nas investigações e análises sociais contemporâneas. Além de fazer circular sentidos e significados socialmente compartilhados, a cultura, conforme importante teórico dos Estudos Culturais, Stuart Hall, constitui uma forma de governar a população. De acordo com esta abordagem, a educação não é um fenômeno que ocorre exclusivamente nas instituições escolares. O trabalho considera a mídia como importante operador de um dispositivo pedagógico, que contribui na educação dos indivíduos, agindo nos modos como conduzem suas condutas. A partir de acontecimentos como as recentes experiências de legalização da maconha no Uruguai e em alguns estados dos Estados Unidos, o trabalho investiga o que chama de discurso antiproibicionista da maconha no jornal Folha de S. Paulo e como o tema das drogas e da maconha é transformado em pauta do jornal e em crítica à racionalidade estatal de governo. Os textos editoriais da Folha constituem a principal fonte através da qual é possível analisar discurso antiproibicionista da maconha. Sendo as drogas uma questão da cultura, o que se diz sobre elas induz as opiniões e as formas como os sujeitos se relacionam com elas. Para Michel Foucault, a racionalidade liberal, que emerge no século XIX e aprofunda-se no século XX, é um desdobramento da governamentalidade consolidada na razão de Estado que, entre os séculos XVI e XVIII, aprofundou a arte de governar com a noção de que se deve estender o governo a todas as esferas da vida e de que nunca se governa o suficiente. O estudo procurou expor a mudança de uma racionalidade de tipo estatal, que busca garantir segurança e bem-estar (manifestada, dentre outras formas, através das políticas de controle e repressão das drogas) para uma outra racionalidade, que procura atribuir um novo significado à maconha, a partir de pressupostos que questionam o dispêndio do Estado na forma de governar em relação às drogas. / This work presents culture as a central element in contemporary social research and analysis. In addition to bringing about socially shared meanings, culture, as the renowed Cultural Studies theorist, Stuart Hall says, “is a way of governing the population”. According to this approach, education is not a phenomenon that occurs exclusively through school as an institution. The media is here perceived as an important operator of a pedagogical device, contributing to the education of individuals and in the ways they carry out their conducts. Analyzing events such as recent marijuana legalization experiments in Uruguay and in some states of the United States, this work investigates the anti-prohibitionist discourse of marijuana in Folha de S. Paulo and how it presents the theme of drugs and marijuana as news and critics of the state's rationality of government. Folha's editorial texts are the main source through which it is possible to analyze anti-prohibitionist discourse on marijuana. Since drugs are a cultural matter, the way they are presented forms the opinions and the ways in which subjects relate to them. According to Michel Foucault, liberal rationality, which emerged in the nineteenth century and deepened in the twentieth century, is a development of governmentality consolidated through the reason of state which, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, deepened the art of governing from the notion that government should be extended to all aspects of life and that its presence is never enough. The study sought to expose the change of a state-type rationality, which seeks to guarantee security and well-being (manifested, among other ways, through policies of drug control and repression) to another rationality, which seeks to give a new meaning to the marijuana, from assumptions that question the expenditure of the state in the government policies on drugs.

Este trabalho entende a cultura como elemento central nas investigações e análises sociais contemporâneas. Além de fazer circular sentidos e significados socialmente compartilhados, a cultura, conforme importante teórico dos Estudos Culturais, Stuart Hall, constitui uma forma de governar a população. De acordo com esta abordagem, a educação não é um fenômeno que ocorre exclusivamente nas instituições escolares. O trabalho considera a mídia como importante operador de um dispositivo pedagógico, que contribui na educação dos indivíduos, agindo nos modos como conduzem suas condutas. A partir de acontecimentos como as recentes experiências de legalização da maconha no Uruguai e em alguns estados dos Estados Unidos, o trabalho investiga o que chama de discurso antiproibicionista da maconha no jornal Folha de S. Paulo e como o tema das drogas e da maconha é transformado em pauta do jornal e em crítica à racionalidade estatal de governo. Os textos editoriais da Folha constituem a principal fonte através da qual é possível analisar discurso antiproibicionista da maconha. Sendo as drogas uma questão da cultura, o que se diz sobre elas induz as opiniões e as formas como os sujeitos se relacionam com elas. Para Michel Foucault, a racionalidade liberal, que emerge no século XIX e aprofunda-se no século XX, é um desdobramento da governamentalidade consolidada na razão de Estado que, entre os séculos XVI e XVIII, aprofundou a arte de governar com a noção de que se deve estender o governo a todas as esferas da vida e de que nunca se governa o suficiente. O estudo procurou expor a mudança de uma racionalidade de tipo estatal, que busca garantir segurança e bem-estar (manifestada, dentre outras formas, através das políticas de controle e repressão das drogas) para uma outra racionalidade, que procura atribuir um novo significado à maconha, a partir de pressupostos que questionam o dispêndio do Estado na forma de governar em relação às drogas. / This work presents culture as a central element in contemporary social research and analysis. In addition to bringing about socially shared meanings, culture, as the renowed Cultural Studies theorist, Stuart Hall says, “is a way of governing the population”. According to this approach, education is not a phenomenon that occurs exclusively through school as an institution. The media is here perceived as an important operator of a pedagogical device, contributing to the education of individuals and in the ways they carry out their conducts. Analyzing events such as recent marijuana legalization experiments in Uruguay and in some states of the United States, this work investigates the anti-prohibitionist discourse of marijuana in Folha de S. Paulo and how it presents the theme of drugs and marijuana as news and critics of the state's rationality of government. Folha's editorial texts are the main source through which it is possible to analyze anti-prohibitionist discourse on marijuana. Since drugs are a cultural matter, the way they are presented forms the opinions and the ways in which subjects relate to them. According to Michel Foucault, liberal rationality, which emerged in the nineteenth century and deepened in the twentieth century, is a development of governmentality consolidated through the reason of state which, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, deepened the art of governing from the notion that government should be extended to all aspects of life and that its presence is never enough. The study sought to expose the change of a state-type rationality, which seeks to guarantee security and well-being (manifested, among other ways, through policies of drug control and repression) to another rationality, which seeks to give a new meaning to the marijuana, from assumptions that question the expenditure of the state in the government policies on drugs.

It has been noted that many pregnant women in East Tennessee are THC+ during routine urine drug screenings and/or at the time of delivery despite associations between poor fetal health outcomes both at delivery and neurodevelopmentally later in life. The purpose of this study is to assess beliefs and reasons for marijuana use during pregnancy, informational sources that influence beliefs, likelihood of use in future pregnancies, comfort level in talking with doctors, and associations with age, prior tobacco and/or prior marijuana use. Anonymous surveys consisting of 13 simple questions were distributed to female patients 18+ at three regional university-affiliated clinics. Of the 165 respondents, women less than 40 were three times more likely to perceive marijuana use while pregnant as safe and three times more likely to have used while pregnant. Patients with a history of both marijuana and tobacco use were more likely than any other category of respondents to perceive marijuana use during pregnancy as safe and to have plans to use in future pregnancies. The highest reasons for usage were nausea or vomiting (44%) and anxiety (44%). 45% of respondents felt comfortable talking with their doctors about marijuana use in pregnancy. Patients cited “family and friends (21%), “scientific articles “(21%), and “other” (24%) as sources of information on this subject. These results demonstrate an increased need for research and public information dissemination regarding marijuana use in pregnancy, as well as improving the physician-patient relationship to encourage evidence-based methods to relieve medical complaints during pregnancy.

Cognitive behavior theory indicates that situational determinants may have a substantial impact on substance use and relapse into use. The present study described situational use of marijuana in dependent individuals, analyzed relationships among various constructs in existing theory, determined their effects on treatment outcomes, and explored interactions with self-efficacy. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses. Use in negative affective situations was independently associated with psychological distress, maladaptive coping strategies, and poorer outcomes post-treatment. Additionally, negative affective use interacted with self-efficacy for psychologically distressing situations to produce differential outcomes. This study adds to the existing literature on situational marijuana use by establishing relationships with motives for use and lending support to the cognitive behavioral theory model. / Master of Science

Theory and previous research indicate that a person's broader set of life goals may have motivational properties for specific behavior change efforts. The present study examined the types of life goals and ratings of life goal attributes as predictors of marijuana treatment outcomes in a sample of marijuana dependent individuals. Results were generally not consistent with hypotheses. It was expected that ratings of conflict between life goals and marijuana use would be associated with less marijuana use and fewer related problems and dependence symptoms following treatment, but results indicated few associations between life goal ratings and treatment outcome variables. Similarly, types of goals expected to be associated with better treatment outcome were not significantly correlated with reductions in outcome variables at follow-up assessments. Some support was demonstrated for a causal model in which goal conflict with marijuana use influenced posttreatment symptoms of dependence via indirect associations with outcome expectancies and readiness to change. / Master of Science

The involvement of significant others in substance abuse treatment has been shown to be beneficial in the alcohol and cigarette literatures. However, these findings have not been extended to treatment for other substance abuse, particularly marijuana. This study examined whether partner involvement leads to improved outcomes for people seeking treatment for marijuana abuse. In addition, we examined what possible mechanisms can account for a partner's contribution to positive treatment outcomes. Hypotheses were only partially supported. Treatment conditions did not lead to differential changes in partner behaviors. However, there was some evidence that these partner behaviors do have impact on treatment outcomes. In particular, negative partner behaviors were associated with poorer outcomes. / Master of Science