The Truth About Pot: Ten Recovering Marijuana Users Share Their Personal Stories, Ph.D. (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Marijuana is the second most popular drug after alcohol in our country today..." (more)
Key Phrases: smoking pot, Twelve Step, San Francisco, Alcoholics Anonymous (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Marijuana is not the benign drug so many believe it to be. The marijuana users whose wrenching stories are told here vividly describe how their own lives were affected by an unhealthy and overpowering dependence on marijuana, how their denial of its effects kept them from leading full and happy lives-but that, through effective treatment, recovery is possible.

About the Author

Joanne Baum Ph. D. is a Board Certified Diplomat in Clinical Social Work, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a Level Three Certified Alcoholism Counselor. She has a private practice in Evergreen, Colorado and is about to embark on a new career as a school social worker.She has worked in the field of substance abuse since 1981. Specialty areas: drug and alcohol problems, family issues, interventions, parenting, school problems, depression, life transitions, aging, and post traumatic stress disorder. Works for the courts as a Special Advocate, Parenting Coordinator, and Parenting Plan Evaluator.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hazelden; 1 edition (September 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562461249
• ISBN-13: 978-1562461249
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #615,532 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some of the previous reviews are to be disregarded., July 27, 2006

By	Mark (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

To make a blanket statement that Pot is not addictive, as some of the previous reviewers have...is discouraging to say the least. To those who do have a problem, it is down right irresponsible. I bought this book to try to find some help for my brother, who admits that he has a problem. It is harder and harder to watch him "toke his life away." Most of his money is spent on pot. He has become more and more listless and unwilling to join in on life. He has become more and more isolated because his buddies have long since grown up and stopped getting high. I was discouraged to see such a low rating for this book. But as I read the reviews, I found they were to be dismissed. They are not intelligent thought. They are written by people who feel the need to defend pot smoking. To me, some are in denial and are threatened by any assertion that pot might be addicted. Some of the other reviewers are just morons who haven't figured out that its time to grow up. Give this book a try if you think you have a problem, or know someone who does.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful for anyone that thinks they may have an addiction to pot, January 19, 2009

By	BrittanyAlexis82 "Britt" (USA) - See all my reviews

I've read this book and personally have found it very helpful. I've been smoking pot everyday for almost a decade. I'd be a liar as well as a moron to try to suggest that I don't have an addiction or problem with it. People don't believe that you can become physically addicted to pot because you don't get the shakes or have physical with drawls. They may be right. I'm not physically addicted, it's all mental. I think or used to think everything was better when I was stoned. Sex, movies, food, everything. I used to think that it didn't effect my life and that I could stop at any time. Then I tried to stop. I would think about being stoned all the time. No matter what I was doing, I would think it would be better to be doing it stoned.
Addiction creeps up on you. Most people don't get addicted to pot just like most people don't get addicted to alcohol or sex or food. But some people do. To make a general statement that it's impossible to get addicted to pot is ignorant as well as idiotic. When you use drugs and it makes you happy, it sends dopamine to your brain and your body associates the drug with happiness and starts to depend on it whether it's alcohol, pot, vicoden, whatever.
There is no community or support for people that abuse pot. marijuana anonymous is a joke. It's basically AA in disguise and if your not into god good luck with that.
It was refreshing for me to read these peoples stories and relate exactly to what they were feeling and going through. I don't really relate to alcoholics and drug addicts. they tell these awful stories about hitting rock bottom and your like "I forgot my friends birthday or was going to do something and got lazy and didn't" and they just kind of roll your eyes at you like you don't really have an addiction because it's not as severe. Well- smoking pot is definitely screwing up my life. I used to be fun and social and go out all the time. Now I stay home most nights watching reruns or when I'm out I'm thinking about going home and smoking pot.
And for all the people that left negative comments about this book stop saying that's it's impossible to get addicted to pot. Your just making yourself sound stupid. It is not impossible. Educate yourself.

23 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Utterly worthless, October 19, 2005

By	Randy Moss "don't believe the propaganda" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

I literally could not get past the first line of this book without finding glaring errors.

"Marijuana is the second most popular drug after alcohol in our country today." (Baum, Page 1)

Aside from being a hopelessly clumsy sentence, this statement ignores caffeine and tobacco, which are respectively, psychoactive and narcotic substances.