This article is based on research, which aimed to uncover the meanings behind the experience of cannabis use. Six participants were recruited and asked to keep a diary for 15 days. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four master themes emerged and were explored in detail. These were: `Withdrawing from everyday life', `Indulging in the here-and-now of the emotional body', `The containment of the sacred space' and `Living the addiction'. The author draws on the theoretical insights of Analytical Psychology in an attempt to capture and explain the dynamics emerging from participants' experiences. Throughout the narratives the use of cannabis, commonly regarded as a risky practice, appears to incarnate an attempt to reconnect with the here-and-now of the emotional body, as a way to escape from a convulsive consumeristic society. However, as the author argues, the lack of a conscious integration of the same convulsive consumeristic aspects within the psyche, leads participants into being `possessed' by these same forces, ultimately leading to a repetitive and compulsive addictive behaviour.
Andréasson, S., Allebeck, P., Engström, A. and Rydberg, U. (1987). Cannabis and schizophrenia: A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet, 2(8574), 1483-6. In Zimmer, L. and Morgan, J.P. (1997). Marijuana myths marijuana facts: A review of the scientific evidence. New York: The Lindesmith Center.
2.
Baudelaire, C. (1996 [1860]). Artificial paradises. Trans. S. Diamond. New York: Citadel Press Book.
3.
Beaulieu, P. and Rice, A.S. (2002). The pharmacology of cannabinoid derivates: Are there applications to treatment of pain?Annales françaises d'anesthèsie et de reanimation, 21(6), 493-508.
4.
Becker, H.S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance . New York: The Free Press.
5.
Block, R.I. and Ghoneim, M.M. (1993). Effects of chronic marijuana use on human cognition . Psychopharmacology, 110(1-2), 219-28. In Hart, C.L. , van Gorp, W., Haney, M., Foltin, R.W. and Fischman, M.W. (2001). Effects of acute smoked marijuana on complex cognitive performance. Neuropsychopharmacology, 25(5), 757-65.
6.
Bolger, N., Davis, A. and Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary methods: Capturing life as it is lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 579-616.
7.
Brand, P. and Pertile, L. (Eds.). (1999). The Cambridge history of Italian literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Brinton-Perera, S. (2001). Celtic Queen Maeve and addiction. York Beach: Nicolas-Hays.
9.
Crawford, J., Kippax, S., Onyx, J., Gault, U. and Benton, P. (1992). Emotion and gender: Constructing meaning from memory. London: SAGE. In Willig, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Buckingham: Open University Press.
10.
David, J. (2007). Myth and metaphor: Five lectures by Julian David . Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
11.
Eatough, V. and Smith, J.A. (2006a). `I was like a wild wild person': Understanding feelings of anger using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. British Journal of Psychology, 97(4), 483-98.
12.
Eatough, V. and Smith, J.A. (2006b). `I feel like a scrambled egg in my head': An idiographic case study of meaning making and anger using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 79(1), 115-35.
13.
Eatough, V. and Smith, J.A. (2008). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In C. Willig and W. Stainton Rogers, The handbook of qualitative research in psychology, pp. 179-94. London: SAGE.
14.
Gannon, R. (1968). The truth about pot. Popular Science , 192, 76-9. In Zimmer , L. and Morgan, J.P. (1997). Marijuana myths marijuana facts: A review of the scientific evidence. New York: The Lindesmith Center.
15.
Giorgi, A. and Giorgi, B. (2008). Phenomenological psychology. In C. Willig and W. Stainton Rogers, The handbook of qualitative research in psychology , pp. 165-78. London: SAGE.
16.
Hart, C.L., van Gorp, W., Haney, M., Foltin, R.W. and Fischman, M.W. (2001). Effects of acute smoked marijuana on complex cognitive performance. Neuropsychopharmacology, 25(5), 757-65.
17.
Hayes, N. (2000). Doing psychological research: Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open University Press.
18.
Heishman, S.J., Stitzer, M.L. and Yingling, J.E. (1989). Effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol content on marijuana smoking behavior, subjective reports and performance. Pharmacology Biochemmistry and Behavavior, 34(1), 173-9. In Hart, C.L., van Gorp, W., Haney, M., Foltin, R.W. and Fischman, M.W. (2001). Effects of acute smoked marijuana on complex cognitive performance. Neuropsychopharmacology, 25(5), 757-65.
19.
IPA Official Website. http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/ipa
20.
Jacobi, J. (1968). The psychology of C.G. Jung. Oxon: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
21.
Jung, C.G. (1947). Modern man in search of a soul. London: Lund Humphries.
22.
Jung, C.G. (1966). Collected works 7: Two essays on Analytical Psychology . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
23.
Jung, C.G. (1971). Collected works 6: Psychological types. London: Routledge and K. Paul.
Jung, C.G. (1977). Collected works 18: The symbolic life: Miscellaneous writings. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
26.
Kerényi, C. (1976). Dionysos: Archetypal image of indestructible life . Chichester, West Sussex: Princeton University Press.
27.
Kirk, J. and Miller, M.L. (1986). Reliability and validity in qualitative research . London: SAGE.
28.
Lancet. (1995). Editorial: Deglamourising cannabis . Lancet, 346(8985). Available at http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/lancet.htm
29.
Langdridge, D. (2007). Phenomenological psychology: Theory, research and method. Harlow: Pearson Education .
30.
Larkin, M., Watts, S. and Clifton, E. (2006). Giving voice and making sense in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology , 3(2), 102-20.
31.
Lawrence, L. (1990). On the theory and application of third person analysis in the practice of psychotherapy. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 11(1), 97-104.
32.
Lie, S. (2004). Without your breath on my words, there will not be any Mimosa: Reflections on translation. In M. Diocaretz and M. Segarra (Eds.), Joyful Babel, pp. 93-100. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi.
33.
Lopez-Pedraza, R. (1989). Hermes and his children. SwitzerlandDaimon Verlag.
34.
Lopez-Pedraza, R. (1990). Cultural anxiety. Einsiedeln , Switzerland: Daimon Verlag.
35.
Lopez-Pedraza, R. (2000). Dionysus in exile. IllinoisChiron.
36.
Marchalant, Y., Rosi, S. and Wenk, G.L. (2007). Anti-inflammatory property of the cannabinoid agonist WIN-55212-2 in a rodent model of chronic brain inflammation. Neuroscience, 144(4), 1516-22.
37.
Masters, R.E.L. and Houston, J. (1967). The varieties of psychedelic experience. London: Blond.
38.
Otto, W.F. (1965). Dionysus: Myth and cult. IndianaIndiana University Press.
39.
Paris, G. (2003). Pagan grace: Dionysos, Hermes, and Goddess memory in daily life. Putnam, CT: Spring Publications.
40.
Peräkylä, A. (1997). Reliability and validity in research based on tapes and transcripts. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research: Theory, method and practice, pp. 201-20. London : SAGE.
41.
Perrot, S. (2004). Cannabis: The analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication of the future? Joint Bone Spine, 71(1), 7-8.
42.
Pope, H.G., Jr and Yurgelun-Todd, D. (1996). The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use in college students. Journal of the American Medical Association, 275(7), 521-7. In Hart, C.L., van Gorp, W., Haney, M., Foltin, R.W. and Fischman, M.W. (2001). Effects of acute smoked marijuana on complex cognitive performance. Neuropsychopharmacology , 25(5), 757-65.
43.
Reis, H.T. (1994). Domains of experience: Investigating relationship processes from three perspectives. In R. Erber and R. Gilmore (Eds.), Theoretical frameworks in personal relationships, pp. 87-110. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
44.
Rohde, E. (1987). Psyche the cult of souls and belief in immortality among ancient Greeks. New York: Ares.
45.
Ruck, C.A.P. (1982). The wild and the cultivated: Wine in Euripides' Bacchae. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 5(3), 231-70. In Rätsch, C. (2001). Marijuana medicine: A world tour of the healing and visionary powers of cannabis. Rochester, VT: Healing Art Press.
46.
Schwartz-Salant, N. (1982). Narcissism and character transformation. Toronto: Inner City Books.
47.
Smith, J.A. (2003). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. London: SAGE.
48.
Smith, J.A., Osborn, M. and Jarman, M. (1999). Doing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis . In M. Murray and K. Chamberlain (Eds.), Qualitative health psychology: Theories and methods, pp. 218-40. London: SAGE.
49.
Turnbull, L. (1997). Narcissism and the potential for self transformation in the Twelve Steps. health:, 1(2), 149-65.
50.
Ware, M.A., Doyle, C.R., Woods, R., Lynch M.E. and Clark, A.J. (2003). Cannabis use for chronic non-cancer pain: Results of a prospective survey. Pain, 102(1-2), 211-16.
51.
Weil, A. (1972). The natural mind. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. In Pollan, M., Chapela, I., Gallangher, C. and Unterman, P. (2002). Cannabis, forgetting, and the botany of desire. Occasional Papers of the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities, 27.
52.
Wiesbeck, G.A., Schuckit, M.A., Kalmijn, J.A., Tipp, J.E., Bucholz, K.K. and Smith, T.L. (1996). An evaluation of the history of a marijuana withdrawal syndrome in a large population. Addiction, 91(10), 1469-78. In Zimmer, L. and Morgan, J.P. (1997). Marijuana myths marijuana facts: A review of the scientific evidence. New York: The Lindesmith Center.
53.
Willig, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Buckingham: Open University Press.
54.
Yardley, T. (2005). Sacrificing the rational body: A phenomenological approach to voluntary intoxication. Unpublished PhD thesis.
55.
Zimmer, L. and Morgan, J.P. (1997). Marijuana myths marijuana facts: A review of the scientific evidence. New York: The Lindesmith Center.
56.
Zoja, L. (2000). Drugs, addiction and initiation: The modern search for ritual. SwitzerlandDaimon Verlag.
