Department of Questionable Studies: Dude, Where’s My Diary?
In an attempt to “record something as close as possible to the ‘pure’ experience of being a cannabis user,” the journal of Health (London) published a study entitled “Diaries from Cannabis Users: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.” The study was conducted with 6 participants who were recruited to smoke cannabis and keep a diary for 15 days. They were instructed to write in the diary immediately after smoking cannabis.
The participants were also told to write in the third person or make up a character (such as “Il Messaggero,” Italian for “the messenger”) in order to create a distance between the person and their emotions. In theory, this makes it easier to write about yourself; it may also encourage novelistic tendencies in the subjects, rather than objective reports of their experiences.
The study’s author describes three major recurrent feelings and four psychological themes recurring throughout the diaries of the individuals. The authors conclude that the major recurrent feelings in the journal were:
1) The participants had a sense of being different from the rest of society. (The study does not make note of the fact that standing apart from society remains one of the most popular themes in Western art, politics and literature.)
2) The rejected outside world was experienced as permeated by repetitive and soulless social activities, and the stress of having to deal with these activities was often regarded as unbearably suffocating. (The study does not make note of how this is different from non-cannabis users who do not enjoy the office Christmas party or visiting their in-laws any more than chronic cannabis users.)
3) Participants seemed to rebel against a consumeristic society, ‘possessed’ by (removed the) “Titans.” (The study does not make note that criticism of an overly consumeristic society is common among everyone from Pope Benedict XVI to billionaire investor Warren Buffett - neither of whom is known to smoke cannabis.)
The authors placed certain quotes into categories or themes by going through diaries looking for psychological admissions of drug abuse or dependence by the participants. Below are quotes from each of the 4 categories:
Withdrawing from everyday life
“He discovered that [smoking cannabis before going to work] was so much better, that the hours elapsed much quicker. Perhaps it was because [cannabis] made him more detached, distant. And what he needed in that job … the most boring and sterile job ever … was exactly to be detached and to be able to go into his world where, somehow, the time elapsed faster even if with no rush.”
Indulging in the here-and-now of the emotional body
“Dope amplifies his sensations, it’s like a mirror that reflects the image of what you are. It makes you feel the truth; it’s like an oracle. The only problem is that it takes your energies away. In order to look inside yourself you have to be strong … Some people do not see anything. The ability of seeing doesn’t come from the drug, because that ability you either have it or not. The drug can only amplify what you already have inside yourself. That’s why some people can smoke and some others cannot.”
The containment of the sacred space
“[Smoking] in the right situation and with the right people … those that never tried it cannot judge it scot-free … you have to know it very well in order to fully appreciate it. The joint is a ritual and one has to know it very well before getting to fully appreciate it.”
Living the addiction
“Il Messaggero remembered his dream. He was in a swimming pool completely submerged by the water. He looked around at the artificial scene (with very bright neon lights) and knew that the water was fresh but he couldn’t touch it. He was wrapped in a transparent ball, made of a sort of warm and half-solid liquid, like gel. When he woke up he was a bit disappointed … he thought that that gelatinous ball might have been the dope and he remembered that every time he dreamt about water he was happy and he always felt that he could do lots of things.”
This type of progressive study may remind one of Baudelaire’s Hash writing from 1860. An essay written by Allan Ginsberg while smoking a joint also comes to mind. However, regardless of the intentions of the author, this publication was most likely funded to explore drug abuse. Using selective themes will slant research like this towards negative views or findings regarding drug use. Raw data, in the form of numbers or words, should not be filtered through a preconceived theoretical framework. Research needs to be analyzed objectively, that means without fitting the subject material into a political or religious framework.
The author also claims the aim of this study is to provide “insight into the phenomenon of being a cannabis user.” However, given the thousand-plus years that cannabis has been used, and that cannabis is now the single most widely used illegal drug in the world, one wonders whether the study should explore the psychology behind a more compelling phenomenon: People who have never used cannabis.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional for medical diagnosis or treatment recommendations.
