Chat: Ask your drug questions to the experts

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Direct report · Ask your questions about drugs

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18 min08.30

Hello and welcome to this chat with

, chief physician, and

, curator, at the addiction medicine clinic at Akademiska.

SVT · Christoffer Urborn

1 min08.49

According to a report published in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers show that alcohol is three times as harmful as cocaine and tobacco, and they believe that a more aggressive policy against alcohol harm is both relevant and necessary.

Numerous other studies and research show that the brain is only damaged if you are young.

It is next to impossible to overdose on cannabis so that you die.

Alcohol is a much bigger problem, why is this so accepted and why are Swedish researchers so silent about this truth?

Anna

Hi Anna,

The researchers are not silent!

However, it is not always so noticed in the mass media.

Alcohol is what kills the most people and what I, as an addiction doctor, work with the most.

We need to work with both cannabis and alcohol!

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician

4 min08.44

What is the risk of relapse after weaning from a strong cocaine addiction?

Is the risk of relapse greater if you have stopped "on your own" and not with eg 12-step programs?

Martin

Hello Martin,

It is more likely that there will be a lasting freedom from drugs if you take the help of the programs that exist and have evidence, ie shown in research that they work.

Of course you can succeed on your own but why not take the help of professionals where the probability of success is so much greater!

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician

8 min08.41

What about MDMA-based drugs like ecstasy.

Suppose the drug is clean and there is not a lot of rubbish in it that makes you sick.

What is the risk of overdose and related injuries?

Carl

Hello,

The drugs you mention are in themselves debris that harms the body without the help of anything else.

Ecstasy can cause brain cells to collapse with permanent brain damage as a result.

These drugs have in common that they can cause high fever, muscle breakdown and organ failure.

People die from these drugs without having mixed food otherwise!

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician

10 min08.38

What drugs do you not have to worry as much about if your child usually does?

I understand that benzos and opiates are a big warning flag, but how much should you be on your child if he sometimes smokes weed or takes mushrooms with his friends?

Jesper

All drugs have their harmful effects, so instead of comparing these, one should look at the risks of each individual drug.

Talking to your children about drugs is important.

Try to have an open attitude when you talk, and try to understand the context in which the person is.

What fills the drug for function in the person's life.

Avoid argumentation as it will be easy for the person to take a defensive position instead of focusing on what you want to say.

But still be clear where you stand in the question, why it worries you.

Caroline Carlsson, curator

15 min08.34

Hi, do you know why young people today are so drug liberal.

I went to school in the late 60's when there were a lot of drugs, but also many efforts against drug use.

Gets desperate about this development in society.

Eva-Maria

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician: I probably have to defend the majority of young people here.

Most people probably behave better than you..and I .. did in our youth.

You drink less alcohol.

However, it is a small group that quickly ends up in a heavier use and mixes drugs, which is unfortunate.

SVT · Lotta Sandhammar

19 min08.30

Do you think that Sweden's drug policy is good?

Elias

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician: Drug policy can be better.

Most people who work in the care of addicted patients want to see that it is treatment that is given to the person concerned.

A punishment can of course mean just treatment, but it will be unfortunate if the punishment gives resignation and not a content that according to research works.

SVT · Lotta Sandhammar

21 min08.28

Is there a specialized ward at the University Hospital for patients with a mixed addiction and at the same time mental illness?

Anna

Caroline Carlsson, curator: There is a 24-hour ward at the University Hospital, 4B.

It offers, among other things.

abstinence treatment for patients with substance dependence.

In connection with an admission, the patient's other mental disorders are also treated.

It is also done by a survey and assessment of the need for efforts and support after discharge.

Often a referral is sent to an outpatient clinic for continued support.

SVT · Christoffer Urborn

22 min08.27

Why does Sweden have such an extreme drug policy, where they hunt and punish users, which seems to hurt more than help?

Richard

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician: As a physician, I see addiction as a disease and that it is treatment that is the priority.

SVT · Lotta Sandhammar

24 min08.25

Many people say that you do not become addicted to cannabis in the same way as other drugs and alcohol.

Is that so?

What is true about cannabis addiction?

Wondering

Tobias Eriksson, chief physician: Cannabis is highly addictive, and it also has harmful effects that are not often mentioned.

In young people, the brain can be permanently damaged and there is a risk of developing psychosis.

SVT · Lotta Sandhammar