For decades, weed’s deleterious health effects were exaggerated, experts said, leading to excessive criminalization
This line fron the article is exactly why I’m skeptical. I had to sit through tons of middle school and high school programs that lied to me about the physiological effects of marijuana. This article itself opens with an anecdote about one individual, but fails to identify any academic study suggesting physiological addiction because… There is none.
Psychological addiction is real. There’s a reason that in most places any gambling advertisements have to include a warning and a hotline. The problem is that these sensationalist articles never make the distinction between psychological and physiological addiction. This article mentions when the case study first tried marijuana, but fails to detail the circumstances of her life, her personality, and other factors that can contribute to psychological addiction.
Add in that the medical marijuana industry is trying to replace the very physiological addictive (and profitable) pain medications… Add that to the years of lies in schools and media… Forgive me for not trusting this BS at all.
I had hoped there would be a significant study I could read but it’s just the same reefer madness we’ve seen for decades.
It will be great when it’s finally fully legal and we can do real science on it.
You’re right not to trust this BS at all. It’s straight up reefer madness propaganda. It’s widely acknowledged that anything pleasurable can be addictive, that doesn’t mean we need to ban gambling or alcohol or weed.
Nah fam. I’m addicted, trust me. Trouble eating, sleeping, keeping food down. Have to titration down super slowly or get intense cravings. It sucks.
After about 8 years of daily smoking (and slowly smoking more and more because of tolerance building up) I decided to quit for various reasons.
I’m at about 10 days off cold turkey and I’m still struggling a lot. At the beginning was a big loss of appetite, trouble going to sleep and obviously the psychological desire to smoke. The worst part for me though is the intense anxiety, irritability and the lack of motivation to do anything. It feels like falling back into depression and slowly try crawling out of it.
Really disappointing to see so many people in here denying what I’m going through. Yes there’s always been propaganda against using, but there’s still some truth to it. I’m still glad that it’s legal here in Canada because it did help me at one point, but like every drug, you have to be careful.
All of these things you describe are very real but they’re not physical withdrawal symptoms, but indeed psychological. The mind is a very powerful thing, so these effects can be very powerful, I’m not trying to dismiss your experience. However they are not the same as for example withdrawal from heroin or heavy alcoholism, both of which create actual physical pain and potentially death.
Every individual is different too, so people sharing how they can be heavy smokers and stop while on vacation for a few weeks without issues aren’t trying to dismiss your experience, just like how you shouldn’t dismiss theirs.
I’ve known physical withdrawal in the past and am a daily smoker now, I’m also one of those that can just stop on vacation no big deal, but I seldom skip a day at home.
They’re downplaying them possibly because you can’t die from marijuana withdrawal. It’s physically impossible, you can experience nasty side effects but you will live. Compare that to a heroin addict, pain pill, or alcoholic who has a high chance of literally dying if they stop cold turkey.
Talk to those with withdrawal symptoms from “real” problem drugs and it won’t even sound like the same experience. The other side is too, you’re approaching this pretty unscientifically. It’s possible you actually ARE depressed and aren’t use to feeling it full force because you were self medicating for years.
@RatMaster
I once read that nicotine was more addictive than heroin. I don’t know whether that could be true, but as a former smoker myself, I can believe it.Good luck.
@AngrilyEatingMuffins
I’m not the biggest smoker, but still a few grams a day and withdrawal is real. There is a physical side to it, it’s pretty mild like with coffee but it’s certainly unenjoyable.
I vape daily, but I don’t really get withdrawal. If I go away on holiday or whatever having several weeks off is a breeze. However if it’s there at home and I have nothing else on, I will get high, so I accept I’m probably psychologically addicted, but I’ve made peace with that since I still work full time and pay my way so who’s it hurting.
I smoke half an ounce a day. People expect me to be lazy, but I’m fully functional. I just can’t get out of bed if I DONT smoke lol.
You need one of those coffee mugs that’s like “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” but with coffee marked out and replaced with weed.
Lmaooo facts
Addiction is addiction. Whether you’re addicted because you took a drug that your brain now depends on, or you’ve gotten used to doing something that makes you happy and your brain depends on the stimulus to make the happy juice, addiction is a physiological response. The effects on your brain are chemical. Your addiction is marked by the changes in thinking to seek and obtain your particular “high” in whatever form your brain needs, and you will experience withdrawal if you stop.
Some substances and activities are highly addictive, because they are designed to be. Marijuana is more potent than ever, and the experience of shopping for different strains and trying all the “flavors” is itself a little reward system.
People want to make distinctions between chemical addiction and psychological addiction, and there are differences, but addiction is addiction.
I think you may be trivializing a pretty complex subject a bit too much
There is a major difference between our coloqual addictions (sugar, caffeine, our phones) and a substance use disorder. It’s worth talking about where on that spectrum marijuana lies
For my part, I suspect that marijuana is much closer to the former than the latter.
I’ve worked with a lot of people in recovery over the years, and while some ex-stoners will tell you how hard it was for them to quit, anyone with a real habit will tell you quitting weed isn’t anywhere near the same level as opiates, benzos, amphetamines, alcohol, or even nicotine
So addiction is a word so broad as to be practically meaningless, is what you’re saying.
Maybe start by not assuming everyone has normal brain chemistry. As someone whose brain couldn’t make “happy juice” on its own for years (I have a problem processing folate, which is an ingredient in a bunch of brain chemicals), if I hadn’t smoked weed before I found out what was wrong, I wouldn’t have lived long enough to do so.
I honestly have no idea what version of what I said you’re arguing with.
Very anecdotal, but I know multiple people who are addicted. Could very well be psychological, but if they go more than a day or two without smoking they are terrible to be around. Which sucks because I’m stuck with
A) don’t be around them
B) be around them while they are baked and smell
C) be around them while they are terrible
I’ve been sticking with A for the time being, but it sucks because I feel like I’ve already lost a few friends when I stopped smoking and it seems like that is their whole life.
In an era of readily available vapes, theres no need to smell of weed all the time and as a fellow stoner I apologise on behalf of the community.
Crazy that you’re getting downvoted for this. I smoke occasionally, but used to smoke daily and had to quit cold turkey for over a year. I now (almost 3 years since I first stopped cold turkey) refuse to have any marijuana on me and only smoke on the occasion that I’m out with friends and it’s offered to me. That ends up being about one toke a month. Irritability and bad mood for chronic smokers when they haven’t smoked enough to get withdrawals is common enough (anecdotally from my own experience quitting and seeing others around me struggling with it as well).
Especially if someone has quit and finds the smell off-putting or doesn’t like to be around people who are either constantly baked or very irritable, this point of view is perfectly valid and adds to the conversation. Don’t downvote just because you personally disagree.
I’ve got nothing against smoking. I I have friends who still smoke, and the ones who aren’t addicted it isn’t a problem. A toke here and there to catch a buzz is no issue. It’s when it’s all the time, they can’t go without it, and they always smell like you just hotboxed something. I just don’t wanna be around that.
Honestly, if I found out one of my friends saw me this way I’d rather they just get out of my life.
If the only way you can live your life is to be stoned 24/7, and you are a grouch going off the handle at every little thing without it, it would probably be best.
I’ve got nothing against smoking weed, but just like I don’t want to be around someone piss drunk all the time I don’t want to be around someone who is blitzed all the time. There is a time and a place.
That’s not me, but I don’t really feel like it’s particularly helpful to be in someone’s life if that’s the way you look at it. Especially if it’s a situation where your own standards have changed while theirs haven’t.
Honestly, I don’t really want to be spending my time around people who look down on me at all, full stop. Whatever the reason they may have, why have people in your life socially whose company you don’t enjoy? I used to put up with a lot of that, largely when I was broke and directionless, but it’s not really worth it. There are so many people out there, why not find some who are on the same page?
That doesn’t have to attempt to be a position of moral superiority or putting your nose up about lack of responsibility. It can just not be a good fit. Lots of people aren’t a good fit for one another.
It’s just a support network… peers that believe in you to do better things.
If you can’t take criticism then you have every right to shut out people who are concerned about you and toke instead.
I personally felt bad about myself when I was using weed to medicate. What was freedom became something I couldn’t escape from. Many people might not want to be where they are and want help to function. You never know if that person needs support.
On the other hand if you are functioning and know that you’ve earned what you enjoy, you can probably handle someone voicing concern.
I used weed to medicate when every drug my doctors gave me failed for years. Because of smoking weed every day for years, I lived long enough to take things that actually treat my problem, and was immediately able to drop my weed consumption as much as I liked. I do it maybe 2-3 times a week now. How do you tell someone who’s addicted from someone using it to medicate something else when nothing’s available, from the outside?
I also think the word “addiction” is so broadly used as to be practically useless at this point. I could stop weed, no problem. If I try to get off lithium, withdrawal city. But you don’t hear people talking about lithium addiction. Plus, if we’re using the same word for responses to heroin, weed, and porn, we need better vocabulary.
Yeah keep away from people who look down on you or others, they’re doing it because they’re angry at you/the world and they will take it out on you every chance they get - doesn’t matter if their excuse is that you smoke, don’t dress how they like, listen to the wrong music for them, aren’t green enough or are too green… If they look down on you they will work to make their emotions reality by pushing you down.
So are you the same with people who need to be caffeinated 24/7 and are irritable asshole if they dont get their coffee?
I’ve met much fewer people like that, and when they do get their coffee they aren’t acting stupid and smelly.
I think this is your bias showing. Coffee addictions is way way way way WAY more comment than cannabis addiction. And yes, people on a caffeine high do act stupid and yes coffee fucking stinks. I’m guessing you drink coffee yourself?
This this this.
Also, rat studies indicate that environment plays a large role in the symptoms we see as addiction - the inability to stop, constantly seeking more of the drug, etc. These symptoms tend to stop when the rats had adequate engagement, weren’t overcrowded, etc. Even when they continued to have access to the drug, they tended to stop.
We saw something similar in humans after Vietnam. The soldiers over there were doing any and everything to avoid the horrors of war. Even when they came back with PTSD, we didn’t see a huge uptick in drug addiction. This requires a lot more study, but there are some pretty good indications that people get addicted when their lives suck and they don’t see any workable options available to change their situation. Addiction may be a disease based in despair more than an innate status in the brain.
Yeah man. We have people like Cheech & Chong, Willie Nelson or Snoop Dogg who for decades consume Marihuana. Did it destroy their life? Did it destroy their careers? Did it destroy their bodies? Nope! Nothing.
But artists who excessively drink alcohol or consume other drugs? They are wasted within years, broken bodies and souls who need years to get healthy again - if they don’t die before.
They are wasted within years, broken bodies and souls who need years to get healthy again
And then there’s Keith Richards…
Yes, but we’re talking about humans, not whatever Keith must be.
A lot of people don’t realise this but he lives in a mansion and mostly does art every day, he’s not living a party lifestyle anymore and hasn’t for quite a while - it’s just the same equation we’ve seen time and time again; rich = great healthcare + relaxation = longevity and health. Like how Elon looks younger and healthier than he did 25 years ago, it’s just money.
The other thing that’s kind of questionable was that she was able to stop during her pregnancy. Like, when she knew she really had to stop, she did. This is basically in the same level as video game addiction. It’s not the drug. It’s the situation. Sure, she should be able to get help, but it’s not really marijuana specific help she needs
Marijuana is considered physiologically addictive.
From UpToDate:
In a national survey of 1527 cannabis users who reported at least three times per week use, the most common symptoms of withdrawal were sleep difficulty (14 percent), irritability or anger (14 percent), anxiety (13 percent), headache (12 percent), and depressed mood (11 percent). Other symptoms such as restlessness, decreased appetite or weight loss, abdominal pain, shaking or tremors, sweating, and fever or chills have been described.
I agree. From my personal experience, I smoke daily and each time I’ve travelled internationally, where I can’t bring my legal weed, I always suffer from poor sleep for a good week or so. It’s nothing serious but it’s noticeable.
Do you think that could have just been jet lag?
I know for sure one of the flights was 1hr 15min and just 1 time zone away so I don’t think jet lag was an issue that time but it could have made it worse. When I went to Cuba which was 6+ hours and 2 time zones away, yeah, I can jet lag being more an issue but I’m certain it’s a lack of weed.
It’s a “gateway” drug is my personal favourite. Yeah marijuana may not be as bad a heroin but it leads to heroin so you know, don’t do it!
Hey don’t eat that carrot! Why? It’s a gateway food to candy!
🤦♂️
i started smoking because i have mucle pain every day (muscular disbalance) basecally my mucels are to short and i because i liked the affect. it’s been around a year and a half in that time i noticed beleave it or not (i don’t care) my memory got better and i’m much happier mostly because i don’t have to take pain killer that often. if i don’t have any other than not being able to be very active(because of pain) i don’t notice it to much of curse i sometimes then think it would be nice to smoke one but that dosen’t happen to often. at least for me being a stoner and being lazy dosen’t apply at all i’m a mechanikalengeneer (i did an apprenticeship) and now i’m doing a second one as a programmer.
Not too surprising. A good rule of thumb is, anything that gives you joy, happiness, or helps with pain & sadness, can be addictive. It can definitely be used as crutch vs. dealing with the underlying issues (such as anxiety).
However, there’s a difference between that kind of addiction and chemical addiction which I don’t see mentioned in the article. It seems to focus on the crutch aspect, not things like physical ailments from withdrawals and that sort of thing. It’s hard to tell.
Generally, moderation should be the key and if you are using it to avoid things that maybe therapy would help with - that’s not ideal.
For some opioids withdrawal can be life threatening. There’s a distinct contrast between chemical and psychological dependence.
exactly
Absolutely right! It can be a pretty great crutch, used sporadically, but constant use signals something else to work on. And depending on the issue, constant use can just make it slightly more comfortable to stay in that crappy state. (Ask me how I know, lol)
People can get addicted to literally - as in really - everything.
Stop selling soda, people get addicted. Stop selling McDonald’s, people get addicted, etc
People need to learn self control. Period.
I’ve always looked at ‘marijuana addiction’ as more of a symptom of bigger problems such as depression. if you’re not depressed quitting weed should be no problem. If they weren’t going to self medicate with weed they’d likely do it with something much worse anyway so we should stop blaming weed for people’s problems.
It’s definitely self medicating and as long as it doesn’t disrupt your life and goals, have at it. I started consuming again recently due to depression and it has helped me immensely.
100%. Weed kept me alive when no legal drugs worked. The second something else worked, I dropped my consumption significantly without a problem. After 15 years of daily use.
The only thing that TLC has taught me is that people can get addicted to anything.
I don’t know how I feel about this. I regularly smoke/use edibles, and I get that it can easily become habitual. You get home afterwork, smoke a bowl, and get on with your life.
But not once have I ever felt that I NEED to smoke. I’ve been using for over 4 years now. I grow my own. I make my own oils and edibles. I’ve never felt that it’s something that I need to do. For example, I can very easily stop for a few weeks and suffer literally zero withdrawal from it. So, I don’t really understand what’s so “addicting” about it.
You can be addicted to the feeling of mellow and high that marijuana gives you, that’s psychological addiction. It’s the same as how you can become addicted to eating oreos. You can stop eating oreos or smoking weed and physically be fine, no withdrawals. But psychologically, you may feel the need to go back to it.
If you can be “psychologically addicted” to anything, then why label marijuana specifically as “addicting”? We don’t label wintergreen mints as psychologically addicting, even though some people will routinely crush a bag of them in one sitting. It seems that we’re misattributing the human, habit-forming parts of ourselves (or possibly our need for pleasure) as a negative-characteristic of marijuana, and I don’t think that’s being genuine to the problems.
Articles like this only further the demonization of marijuana and give cause to ban it.
Because it’s still a thing. Gaming addiction and porn addiction is only psychologically addicting, yet nobody ever argues against those terms.
That last bit is not accurate. Search those terms with “is x real?” or “x controversy.” There is absolutely a debate rn about what constitutes addiction, and those things are regularly brought up.
the same that leads to the harder to beat parts of nicotine addiction: A mixture of having a habit and using it as a coping mechanism. If putting the green glasses on becomes how you deal with negativity in your life, cutting the stuff loose will be incredibly hard. If you always dealt with shit that went on by making yourself chemically happy, how are you supposed to know how to deal with shit that goes on without that? This is the main issue with most mind-altering things, be it nicotine, caffeine, or even fitness exercises. The other part is that an addiction is often just a habit that has gotten too far. This can make an addiction out of literally anything.
By your argument then, it’s not the weed thats addicting. It’s a human, habit-forming mechanism. You said it yourself, that you “can make an addiction out of literally anything.”
So, I’m still at the same impasse. Why blame weed for what is clearly a human issue? It seems to me that we need to figure out better coping mechanisms, and how to break bad habits. Articles like this will only demonize cannabis, especially in a time when things are about to change for the better.
You omitted one really crucial thing of what I said:
This is the main issue with most mind-altering things,
The level of mind-altering a substance can achieve determines the extent of this effect. So THC is bound to be more addictive than -say- caffeine or melatonin supplements. That’s not “demonizing”. Your reflex to downplay the issue in order to defend the status of THC in society is - at least in part - responsible for the issues for people who suffer from an addiction to THC, since their fellow users will be the greatest sceptics if they are told one has gotten addicted. Yet not, because they can’t fathom that weed might be a thing one can get addicted to, but because they don’t want to jeopardize the legality of weed.
You didn’t spell out any reason why that’s exceptional. You literally used working out as an example. At that point, any form of self-soothing is a mind altering addiction. Tapping your foot while waiting would fit that definition if exercise does.
There’s nothing exceptional between being addicted to marijuana, just like fast food or gambling. It’s purely habit, not the item itself. It’s psychological, not physiological. Physiological addiction exists. That’s why withdrawal is a thing for certain addictions and I don’t just mean “aw, they’re in a bad mood cause they stopped smoking weed” or “oh, they went on a diet so they’re cranky.”
Gambling isn’t the core problem when someone is addicted to gambling. Theyre filling a void with the wrong thing. It’s, again, something for emotional therapy. But it says nothing about marijuana.
You make several good points, and apologize for omitting your crucial point. I agree that anything that provides some “effect” could become psychologically addicting (for example, you could become addicted to NSAIDs). And I agree that I downplay THC addiction due to my personal anecdotal experience. But I’m hesitant to believe that the THC (or cannabis, in general) is the root cause for the addiction, and not the human that uses it. Would we treat someone for THC addiction, specifically? Or would it be better to treat the habit-forming characteristics of said person?
I think searching for “The root cause” is moot. Imagine a car that has a construction flaw in the driver side door. A strut in the door breaks easily when rammed and forms a spike towards the driver. If you are driving this car, you are more likely to be injured in a crash than in a car that does not have this flaw, right? Yet, the “root cause” of your injury would not be the construction flaw, but the force applied to the door by the other vehicle. Now imagine fans of the car after this had lead to a tragic accident, telling everyone that it wasn’t the flaw in the car, the driver of the other car should have been more careful. They are right, technically. Yet, denying the higher likelyhood of inflicting such an injury due to the specific characteristics of the car would be missing the point somewhat either, woudn’t it? I think it’s the same here.
We have to acknowledge that weed will be more likely to cause an addiction (not only of the habit variety) more easily than other things. Going off on the “but weed itself does not form addictions” bandwagon only belittles those who have an addiction from it from the perspective of the addicted themselves.
By that logic, nicotine is hardly addictive, neither is cocaine nor caffeine. When talking about addiction, we sometimes tend to only count the physical addiction formed by things like Heroin as “caused by the drug” and to blame psychological addictions on the user’s psyche. That’s what the war on drugs taught especially Americans. Yet, psychological addiction is the more prevalent type of addiction and it is way more likely to form - regardless of one’s tendency to form addictions in the first place - in substances that get you high in some way.
Nicotine addiction isn’t the same. That’s physiological. Same with alcohol. It’s literally changing your body chemistry and that creates the addiction. This is emotional/psychological addiction. It’s like video games or sex. You can become addicted to it, but it’s the exception, not the rule.
That’s a good point. I guess I have an issue with labeling psychological addictions to specific things then as I dont think it’s so much the “this thing” that’s addicting as it’s something that you’ve psychologically latched onto.
Treating a generalized psychological addiction seems like it would be pretty straightforward in terms of treating vs a chemical or physiological addiction. But I’m not a therapist, and I’m sure there is a great reason as to why these things are labeled the way they are. Apologies for my stubbornness on this subject.
deleted by creator
So, where’s the science in this article? I just read a bunch of fear mongering and feels. …and a whole lot of stories and sources from red states.
Why would you post such a bland panorama piece on a science channel? There was nothing scientific in that drivel.
Are you suggesting that the scientific method involves more than an anecdote about Courtney’s feelings?
Having smoked cannabis for over two decades, I can certainly tell you there were times where I smoked a lot tougher then I do these days.
Back when I was at my peak usage, I tried to quit by going cold turkey. I went through periods where I would wake up in cold sweats. While I didn’t have gnawing urges like an alcoholic, I definitely had some physical withdrawal symptoms that weren’t super pleasant.
I feel like the pendulum of how safe or dangerous weed is has spun back in the opposite direction. At the end of the day weed is a drug. There’s worse things out there’s but it’s not harmless. I know potheads who look at it like it’s another green leafy vegetable that also cures cancer.
Edit: I just realized this is the science community. This article is not science. It’s news or maybe an editorial. There’s plenty of legit studies to post if we want to have this discussion.
I mean, l-theanine is a drug. Caffeine is a drug. So tea and coffee are drugs. Would you approach them with the same caution you do marijuana? Alcohol is a drug.
At the end of the day, the threshold of “is a drug” is fairly low and meaningless on its own.
This article isn’t even that persuasive to make it sound like marijuana is bad.
At least with caffeine I would approach it with caution similar to marijuana. Dosages above 300 mg/day are shown to have negative health effects. In general it is fine. Marijuana is also generally safe, but can have negative effects if you take too much or use too often.
People rarely refer to theanine as a drug. It’s more of a dietary supplement (food). It’s an amino acid.
L-theanine has mind altering effects. I see no reason to not include it in the same category. And that you do, really makes.me wonder why you have arbitrary lines in the sand on things. And your response is absolutely a different take than your initial one. Plus it’s not even technically the same topic, which was addiction.
You very much weren’t arguing “just use weed in moderation” with your “at the end of the day it’s a drug” bit.
The point I am trying to make is that it’s not harmless. There’s positives and negatives. I just know a lot people(and have seen people argue online) who can’t stop talking about the positives and act like there’s literally no risk. It has risks.
They’re not extreme or anything that means it should be banned but there is risk. To argue otherwise would be disingenuous. I think people are either being deliberately disingenuous, or maybe they literally don’t know that there is potential risk with marijuana use.
Everything has the potential to be harmful. But I wouldn’t be warning people against video games unless I knew something about them is susceptible to becoming addicted. The same thing can be said of marijuana. It being harmful is the exception, not the rule. Cigarettes and alcohol are more dangerous than marijuana.
It’s not a competition of what is more or less harmful. I agree that they’re both worse than marijuana. I don’t see reasonable argument for pretending there are no risk though. As you know, we throughly awknowledge the risk of tobacco and alcholol. I think going back to caffiene is fair though. Most people they know there are risk to caffiene and they know that having too much of it can cause issues. Warning or awknowledment of risk isn’t to sway convince people not to do something, it’s to give them informormation to make an informed decision.
here’s the two options to present:
- weed is a healthy plant. it helps people manage cancer and fixed my grandmas glaucoma. Alcohol is worse. There’s no hangover or drawback to weed. (this is legitimatly how weed is often portrayed).
vs
- weed is drug with reletively uncommon and relatively minor side-effects. Most people experiece eurhoria or relaxation with consumption. Marijuana may be helpful for alleviating cancer or chemotherapy symptoms or and may help with other specific conditions. A small percentage of users exerperience anxiety, panic attacks, or pycological dependence with usage.
You’re still missing the point. Marijuana doesn’t have that side effect. The person does. You’re attributing the problem to the wrong thing. They’re addicted not because of the drug but because of other issues in their life. It is not a physiological addiction. Other drugs actually change your body chemistry. Alcohol addiction will change your body chemistry. Marijuana “addiction” is behavioral. Like gambling or video games. The video games don’t have the side effect. It’s the person that has the inherent problem. If they’d become addicted to marijuana, they’d simply be addicted to something else instead of they give it up without getting some sort of therapy.
It’s not harmless, but neither are the vast majority of the products you can buy off the shelf.
Microwaving plastic is terrible. Half the stuff you can buy from home Depot has to have a California reproductive health/cancer warning on it. We actively pump chemicals into the air, water, our bodies, etc. with very little thought to the downstream consequences.
What makes pot special? Alcohol, by nearly every measure, is worse, but we all recognize that banning it doesn’t actually help anything, and criminalizing things based on a maybe health impact is insane.
Like most people pointed out, you can get addicted to anything. But people need to understand that there are drugs that are more chemically addictive and cause larger issues like meth and nicotine and people labeling marijuana with those other drugs is dumb and ignorant.
I was definitely addicted to marijuana when I was younger. I came home from work one night to find my roommates had smoked the last of it and I literally physically attacked them and then cried myself to sleep.
I have a personality built for addiction though.
I spent a decade as a heroin addict and I would have killed to cry myself to sleep when I was without. There was no sleep, just ungodly pain.
I’m currently taking a third of my normal suboxone dose right now because I lost several and someone picked them up (don’t blame them). I’m handling it well. I have to deal with this until the 17th. So far 3 days in and I’m just coasting. All this time worrying about tapering off and then this happens and I’m thinking maybe it won’t be so bad. I have to do it like this or go some time without, which is scary af. When I tried to taper I’d experience topical withdrawal symptoms. Constant yawning, chill bumps, fatigue. I swear I think it was all in my head because I could choooooose not to do it.
The addict in me keeps trying to talk me into making it a problem for future me, but I’m not doing that.
As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of sticking with it if it’s not worse by the end. After that I’ll either taper off or go to the shot.
Fuck it. I’m done worrying about it. I’m done being afraid that if I lose my medicine I’m a cripple and the system won’t help me. I’ll have to break the law to be ok. Fuck that.
Thanks for sharing bud. I too am in recovery and I wish you well. Everything gonna be alright.
Fk bro sorry to hear that. Not saying weed isn’t addictive, just that it shouldn’t be compared to harder drugs that form a chemical dependency much faster than weed. I’ve struggled with addiction in the past. I’ve found that working out when you get those urges can help. Good luck going forward bro
Agree. Marijuana creates mostly psychological dependance. I was also addicted but when I decided to stop I had practically no physical side-effects, although I did “crave” it in my mind for a week or two.
Apparently not porn. There’s a thread above discussing how porn addiction is apparently not real.
Well I was sure as shit addicted to it as a teenager. I’m almost certain I did nerve damage to my penis as a youngster.
I quit smoking for a bit over a year at one point, and it was difficult. It definitely took the development of new coping skills and it was hard not to reach for something in those moments when I wanted to sort of fill the gap not smoking left behind. It was also super disorienting.
But probably the hardest part was deciding to quit and finding support for it that wasn’t full on anti-weed. I did find a substance abuse recovery discord that helped in a non-judgemental way, but most of the people encouraging me to stick with quitting were pretty black and white about it.
It didn’t make me feel sick the way quitting tobacco did, though, or leave me with that strained feeling of chemical dependence.
Eventually I started smoking again, deciding I liked the positive effects more than I didn’t like the occasional negative effects. It’s nice to know that I can quit, though, if I decide it isn’t worth it.
If you can stand reddit I can recommend Petioles. And on that subject, really hoping to see a similar community spring up here
A lot of the comments here are great examples of exactly what this article is about.
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Know folks who spend 500+/month on weed and then can’t afford to live. Just because they don’t go trainspotting doesn’t mean it isn’t as fucked.
True
Because they are addicts with money or are they escaping bigger issues? Genuinely curious! (Not challenging you)
Dunno. Got cut out because didn’t approve of lighting up every 30m.
Yeah, but that’s usually escapism. It’s not the weed that puts them in a bad spot. They probably need to fix other parts of their life. I know of folks who ignore health and financial responsibility to play video games too. I wouldn’t blame the video games though.
We agree. Only that one German kid who hates keyboards went trainspotting. People can peacefully play games into unemployment and homelessness same way they can smoke themselves into it.
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Is it supposed to be a competition? What do you get if you win?
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You get sobriety if you win the ‘who got the worse withdrawal symptom’ contest? What?
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You should ask yourself that. You’re the one coming in here trying to downplay weed withdrawal by saying alcohol withdrawal is worse as if it’s a competition.
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You can literally get addicted to anything… even a habit can be addictive.
As with anything you do, do it in moderation. Even too much bananas can kill you.
It’s a shame that studies on marijuana and its effects on users were blocked and considered taboo subjects for so long. The reason we have these types of conflicting messaging about the safety/danger of marijuana use, is because there has not been enough research or longitudinal studies in those regards.
Can you become addicted to marijuana? Maybe. Does marijuana cause cancer? Maybe. Does it cause this or that or the other thing? Maybe.
For now we have to make assumptions. If you’re worried about getting addicted, you should probably stay away. If you’re worried about it being a carcinogen, you should probablt stay away. We’re probably a long ways away from having conclusive evidence to show either way.
