Mind - Altering Drugs: The Science of Subjective Experience

413 Pages·2005·3.12 MB·English

by  Mitch Earleywine

Mind-Altering Drugs:
The Science of
Subjective Experience
Mitch Earleywine,
Editor
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
mind-altering
drugs
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mind-altering
drugs
the science of
subjective experience
Edited by
Mitch Earleywine
1
2005
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mind-altering drugs : the science of subjective experience / edited by Mitch Earleywine.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-19-516531-9
ISBN 0-19-516531-4
1. Substance abuse. 2. Reinforcement (Psychology) 3. Individual differences.
I. Earleywine, Mitch.
RC564.M557 2005
616.86—dc22 2004010568
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Preface
A parsimonious and intuitive theory of substance abuse relies on the
idea that drugs create changes in subjective states that users find re-
inforcing. A clear understanding of individual differences in these sub-
jective changes can help researchers investigate the etiology of
substance abuse. Links between subjective and neurological changes
during intoxication also reveal valuable information about the brain
mechanisms involved in alterations of consciousness. In addition, frank
discussions of these changes in mood, sensations, and consciousness
can help substance abusers sort the pros and cons of their drug con-
sumption in therapeutic ways. Nevertheless, researchers and clinicians
familiar with drugs often do not know the best way to describe or
quantify their subjective effects.
At least a third of Americans have used an illicit drug at least once.
Drugs attract considerable attention in science, legislation, and the
media. Nevertheless, people develop their attitudes about drugs and
drug users based on limited information. Government policies form
without a complete picture of the intoxication experience, too. Research-
ers often find themselves divided into camps based on the drug they
study most often (e.g., the Research Society on Alcoholism), limiting
their ability to benefit from important work done on other drugs.
A thorough and accessible review of the subjective effects of drugs
and the dominant theories behind these effects will help inform read-
ers about the experience of intoxication and help researchers learn from
studies in other disciplines. I sincerely hope that readers will finish this
book with a clear sense of the theories and techniques behind the
investigations of intoxication and how subjective experiences relate to
addictive potential. This work should help people make educated
vi PREFACE
decisions about drug use. It will also help researchers identify ideal
ways to assess a drug’s subjective effects.
In addition, clinicians may understand their substance-abusing cli-
ents better once they gain insight into the intoxication that they seek.
The chapters here reveal that each drug of abuse has its own unique
properties, creating novel sensations, thoughts, emotions, and experi-
ences. In addition, these changes in subjective states appear to moti-
vate consumption in a way that may help explain problematic use. In
addition, the final chapter shows an alternative technique (neuro-
feedback) that can create comparable changes in subjective state. Each
chapter describes the relevant research and explains its limitations.
These concise descriptions of select studies will also help readers un-
derstand the complex interaction of societal, biological, social, and
psychological factors in the creation of altered states of consciousness.
Contents
Contributors, ix
1. Behavioral Theories of Choice
Christopher J. Correia, 3
2. Psychedelic, Psychoactive, and Addictive Drugs and States
of Consciousness
Ralph Metzner, 25
3. Hallucinogens
Rick Strassman, 49
4. Subjective Effects of Alcohol I
Kenneth J. Sher, Mark D. Wood, Alison E. Richardson,
and Kristina M. Jackson, 86
5. Subjective Effects of Alcohol II
Kenneth J. Sher and Mark D. Wood, 135
6. Ethnicity and the Subjective Effects of Alcohol
Travis A. R. Cook and Tamara L. Wall, 154
7. Sex and Drugs
Susan C. Han and Suzette M. Evans, 183
8. Subjective Effects of Opioids
Sandy M. Comer and James P. Zacny, 217
viii CONTENTS
9. Cannabis
Mitch Earleywine, 240
10. Relationships Between Personality and Acute Subjective
Responses to Stimulant Drugs
Harriet de Wit, 258
11. Subjective Effects of Methylphenidate
Scott Kollins, 275
12. Subjective Effects of Nitrous Oxide (N O)
2
Diana J. Walker and James P. Zacny, 305
13. Corporate Highs, Corporeal Lows
David Lenson, 338
14. The Subjective Response to Neurofeedback
Siegfried Othmer, Vicki Pollock, and Norman Miller, 345
Index, 367
Contributors
Sandy M. Comer
New York State Psychiatric Institute
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University
Travis A. R. Cook
University of California, San Diego
Christopher J. Correia
Auburn University
Harriet de Wit
University of Chicago
Mitch Earleywine
University of Southern California
Suzette M. Evans
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Columbia University
Susan C. Han
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Columbia University
Kristina M. Jackson
University of Missouri–Columbia and the Midwest Alcoholism
Research Center
ix