Going to the gas station – or convenience store, or even tobacco store – shouldn’t be an exercise that jeopardizes someone who’s in recovery from one or another type of addiction. But more and more, it seems that it is. That’s because these retail outlets are legally able to display bongs and glass pipes – paraphernalia primarily used to smoke marijuana – right alongside chips, pop, gum, and miscellaneous other items.
Merchants say that the bongs and glass pipes can be used to smoke tobacco – although whoever does that?
A recent article in a local California paper, The Acorn, quoted a member of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department as saying that such sales are permitted under California law under the notion that they’ll be used to smoke tobacco. The merchant is only required to verify that the purchaser is 18 years of age or older.
But, the veteran law enforcement officer went on to say that in his 25 years on the job, he’s seen thousands of such items – and every one of them has been used to smoke marijuana.
What about glass pipes – which are also sold in some gas stations and convenience stores? These are known to be used to smoke crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, yet they are also sold – as permitted under California law – because people can use them to smoke cigar leaves. Santa Claus must be real, too.
What’s the danger to those in recovery? If selling these items is perfectly legal, shouldn’t those in recovery simply steer clear of such establishments?
This seems to be the difficulty. On the one hand, no one denies that the store owners are allowing what is permissible under the law, even if it’s common knowledge what these bongs and glass pipes are really used for. On the other hand, when such items are sold in the neighborhood gas station, that’s really putting a potentially harmful trigger smack in front of the person in recovery that happens into the station to pay for a tank full of gas or maybe buy a half-gallon of milk on the way home from work.
It’s a temptation that may be irresistible to the recovering individual – especially if he or she is new to recovery. Whether the addiction was for alcohol or drugs — including marijuana — just the sight of the paraphernalia is enough to jumpstart cravings that the brain cannot ignore.
It’s a real problem for some in recovery. The first six months of recovery, say experts, is the most critical and the time when most relapses occur. That’s when the brain is just starting to heal and the individual is fighting to stave off cravings and urges, to learn new coping mechanisms to deal with stresses and crises, and to become more practiced in his or her sobriety. Sometimes, temptation is too much and any little reminder – like seeing a glass pipe or a bong on a shelf next to the peanut butter – is enough to send the individual into a tailspin.
There’s only one solution for the recovering addict and that is to avoid the particular store, gas station or convenience outlet that sells marijuana paraphernalia. That may seem harsh, but the fact is that a recovering addict simply has to avoid the people, places, and things associated with addiction. They have to take responsibility for their own recovery, even if it means going out of their way to patronize other establishments.
Besides, someone in recovery can’t control anyone else’s actions, including that of store owners who choose to continue displaying bongs and glass pipes in their places of business. But the recovering addict can control his or her own behavior, and knows what is best for recovery.
Still, the proliferation of such paraphernalia in neighborhood stores and gas stations is troubling. While it may be a sign of the times or a relaxing attitude toward marijuana in general, the fact is that for someone in recovery, anything that strikes that euphoric bell in their brain is not a good thing. It has to be avoided at all costs.
And this is not an insignificant problem. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. An estimated 16.7 million people used marijuana in the past month in 2009, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Marijuana is also the illicit drug with the highest rate of past year dependence or abuse in 2009, followed by pain relievers and cocaine. Of the 7.1 million persons aged 12 or older classified with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs in 2009, 4.3 million were dependent on or abused marijuana.
That’s a huge number of people who might need to find an alternate route home or make a conscious decision to choose a different store or gas station for their regular purchases.
Too bad some store owners are more concerned with profits from selling paraphernalia such as bongs and glass pipes than any potentially negative effect the sight of such items for sale may have on some of their customers.
http://www.addictiontreatmentmagazine.com/addiction-news/marijuana-paraphernalia-gas-stations/