Interesting... just read an article describing the "marijuana Withdrawal syndrome" characterized by irritability, anxiety, marijuana craving, poor sleep quality and less sleep hours and reduce food intake. since medical researchers have discovered this withdrawal syndrome for marijuana, does not that make Marijuana at addictive substance?Marijuana at addictive substance?
The marijuana withdrawal syndrome: diagnosis and treatment
[link.springer.com]
The 2 page report from 2007 does not cite physical addiction to marijuana but psychological issues related to giving up a habit. This is nothing at all like physical withdrawal symptoms from a chemical dependency although the wording in the report tries to blur the lines on this. I wonder which of the big corporations paid to have this study done. Tobacco? Alcohol? Pharma? All stand to lose from the decriminalization of marijuana.
I don’t think it’s an addictive substance in itself; any addiction would be pschyological. Sugar is addictive in the same way. Or gambling; or sex.
I think it’s important to find out who’s paying for research into any subject, because it is rarely unbiased.
I saw on FB the other day - that "hurt" is responsible for any addiction. I know this to be true.
You touched on what I was thinking; who funded the research. It is always my first question.
@Hobartian true for you not everyone. Your comment is much too subjective. I am addicted to cigarettes. I drink alcohol but i'm not addicted to it. I work with people who are addicted to alcohol. They may have used alcohol to deal with 'hurt' but they then became addicted. Some people are addicted to sugary drinks. Some people are addicted to 'hurt'. A very complex subject that requires more than a simplistic 'fits-all' statement.
Agreed.
@patchoullijulie Follow the money. Truth.
@tony6149 Of course, not for everyone. I'm addicted to tobacco also. So the ppl you mention who use alcohol to deal with hurt - I read it as hurt and addiction being so closely linked as to be indivisible. The article I saw on FB - (I quoted that) and related immediately to - because it hit the nail on the head. So It was simplistic to me.
I remember having poor sleep when I stopped smoking for a while but at the time I was smoking throughout the entire day. At night that was my routine was to get very high and go to sleep. Know that I'm older and I only smoke on my free time out weekends it's nothing like that at all. The amount you smoke has everything to do with that. It does start in your mind tho. There are a few people to experience withdrawals from it but they smoke a tremendous amount
Marijuana is not chemically or physically addictive. This has been proven. It is habit-forming, and like any habit, can be difficult to break. This is just more anti-pot propaganda to try and prove it's dangerous and that we shouldn't legalize it. It's a total load of crap.
Bingo.
In excess anything can become an addiction. If you're smoking enough pot to cause withdrawl then you have been smoking too much
If you apply that logic to other drugs prescribed by your doctor, would you not take SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, et al every day? Would you not take diabetic or cholesterol medication or meds for chronic pain every day?
Went throught the same thing when i quit coffee.
You QUIT COFFEE????
Are you insane?!?
@bigpawbullets insane, I hope so, cause being insane gives me a great many excuses. Now, abstain from coffee? I tried, but my friends gave me an option, either drink coffee and be nice or be miserable and coffee free friendless.
It's a drug and like others, moderation of use is the key. Hydro is downright dangerous - knock you sideways - ppl don't realize that and use as usual which it is not. The best weed is the bit you can grow at home - a nice, friendly domestic strain. A last warning - ppl who use alcohol and weed, then drive? - judgment and reflex are severely impaired, That user becomes dangerous and his vehicle? a weapon - kill yourself if you like but spare the innocent users of the road..
You mean like caffeine widthdrawl
Other substances besides marijuana only come into conversations to create a red herring, and draw attention away from the necessary conclusions and data in question. Caffeine and other substances have nothing to do with marijuana, and that is an attempt to hop from description into action, which is not proper logical discourse.
No different to sugar withdrawal then.
There been that done. They say psychologically not physically. The mind craves but the body doesn't. Afaik it's similar to quitting a heavy coffee drinking routine.
I see... That makes sense. So there's the withdrawal symptoms, but not the physical withdrawal symptoms, like for heroin, that can actually be dangerous if not monitored.
@Miamagoo Sounds right. I have 0 experience with heroin.
I do wonder if modern, very strong strains might be psychologically addictive. I stopped smoking cannabis around 15 years ago (not out of concern; I just got bored after being stoned for most of the time since I was 14) when relatively mild forms of weed and (my preferred choice) resin were the norm, and I had no difficulty in doing so at all - giving up tobacco (which I fully believe is a far, far more harmful drug) was harder by orders of magnitude. However, I have seen friends who continued to use cannabis as the stronger strains such as skunk came in and gradually became the most common types experience difficulty when they tried to give up - not due to physical addiction but, as others have already stated, a psychological addiction to getting stoned.
I am not a fan of the very strong strains, and the fact that it was becoming difficult to get the weaker traditional strains probably contributed to my decision to give it up. I view it as being similar to the difference between having a couple of glasses of wine and drinking ten cans of super-strength lager: the first loosens the tongue and you have a good time, the second just turns you into a zombie - the stuff I used to smoke made us talk bollocks, laugh, form bands and draw stupid pictures, the newer stuff like skunk blots out the world. This, I feel, is especially bad for young people - while the cannabis probably isn't doing any major harm, sitting indoors smashed out of their heads to the point of being unable to interact with other young people probably isn't going to help their emotional development.
Wow, well said!
Ask yourself this question: if you applied this same logic to any other drugs that your doctor had prescribed to you, would you say it was 'withdrawal syndrome' or that it was you body's reaction to not having a medicine that your body needs?
If the body is having a reaction to a medicine that it needs, it is, but not exclusively, either a physical dependency, or it is a disease that is being treated, so you're not really paying attention to the subject matter.
The bottom line is, if someone has a mental or physical dependency on something, it's addiction, because that's just how the english language works.
@DZhukovin Such as medically prescribed marijuana ??? A lot of folks take marijuana for pain or as a sleep aid, much like a pain killer or a sleeping pill. Or not even prescribed, as mentioned in another comment - similar to coffee (caffeine) to stay away.
Not all marijuana use is medical, but neither is it all recreational.
I have a physical dependency on oxygen and water... am I addicted to them?
If that's the case, perhaps not all addictions are as bad as society makes it out to be.
Hmm nope those were all just normal qualities of my life before I started smoking lol. Seems fairly normal to go back to that state without it. If you took away all the negative preexisting conditions that reappear when my stash is dry, the only notable side effect of quitting for me is a certain amount of boredom. At any rate its as psychologically addictive as literally anything that causes pleasure can be. It's not physically addictive like heroin and meth.
I've experienced this sort of withdrawal as an observer of my own child. It isn't harmless. It is probably driven by the stronger weed of the day and isn't the same stuff that my generation grew up with. It is enraging me that so many people think that it is OK to experiment with the effects of widespread overuse on this generation. It's not that bad. OK but what the heck do we really know about the effects it will happen in the long term? And is that really a justified excuse when we are getting a whole generation filled with stoners that are already having a difficult time getting employment and failing to thrive in places like Washington state or Colorado?
Yes, I agree with you although I do use edibles (rarely) to help bring me down from a manic episode and restore my concentration. It is my opinion that some folks (not all though) who use heavily and daily are less motivated, slower and (agree) are less likely to get good employment or education. I could be wrong as I’m basing my opinion on anecdotal evidence.
@Miamagoo Most of my statements are anecdotal too in that I observed it first hand. There are a few studies that suggest that it is fine for adults but seems to arrest development in children. It makes a very long term effect on the neural system. There is also data that suggests that many intelligent youth who use cannabis are actually above average intelligence but they do not observe the actual effects just the end result. That survey is usually the reference that says that weed is harmless. There's no good studies out there that reference strength and frequency in any reasonable unbiased study.
My very biased opinion is that I've seen the effect on an above average student (actually four that are not my own) and it wasn't good.
It’s so funny that we take issue with marijuana when Sugar is far more addicting and damaging to us then marijuana has ever been. Sugar forces the body to stop depending on it’s own natural energy source fat burning to mostly burning glucose. Soon our bodies become altered and we need more and more glucose for it fuel. And, everyone know that glucose is responsible for ever decease in the book. But hey, don’t take my word for it do your homework.
I was going to mention sugar. There are tons of chemicals that humans get addicted to as well. Marijuana is still demonized though.
For some perhaps. But as a schedule A, absolutely not. Alcohol withdrawal can result in death. Not cannabis. Opioid withdrawal is very difficult resulting in severe pain, nausea, cravings. Not cannabis. Cigarette or nicotine withdrawal is usually unsuccessful. Not cannabis. Of course someone will be an exception.
I must be a bit slow - heard only recent what happens with opioids - that the liver converts it to morphine. Now I understand that addiction. I use weed occasionally but am addicted to tobacco. To me, it's a curse - if I could book into a warm, friendly health resort for 3 months I'd try to give it up. BUT - there are intractable emotional issues involved. I don't know how to deal with those. I've given up.
Huh. I have never experienced a withdrawal. In fact, it's one of the things that adds to the appeal of marijuana. It's mild relative to other substances and nothing happens if you stop doing it. Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff we're learning about it in the final days (years) of prohibition.
Nope. I've been taking cannabis oil off and on for almost a year to treat cancer, whenever I can get some.
All it's been doing is making me better..even cured some severe food allergies and diabetes symptoms. The AMA keeps trying to criminalize it so they can sell their toxic synthetic drugs and kill people with chemo and radiation.
Landmark Study Shows Half of Cancer Patients are Killed by Chemo — NOT Cancer [thefreethoughtproject.com]
BBC News - Growing evidence that cannabis oil can cure serious diseases like cancer [bbc.com]
Of all of those cancer patients who undergo chemo treatment, far too many die from the treatment and not the cancer.
Anything can become a habit, including getting herbally stoned. whether the habituation is psychological or physical, the outcome is the same; varying degrees of discomfort. At least with weed, the prospect of sound recovery is greater than with other dependencies.
I'm thoroughly familiar with this withdrawal syndrome. For me, it's not so bad. I have a tendency to smoke too much after I've been smoking regularly for a month or so. I have to stop and let my tolerance to THC drop back down.
I've seen a member of my family become near psychotic from using hydro. I have access to some vry good stuff - but it's lying in a drawere somewhere. My addiction is to tobacco - in my case, more harmful. That's a good idea of yours - to cut down or out for a month to reset.
When my roommate runs out of cash for weed and won't get money for 2 weeks, he paces the floor all day long. Gets on my nerves, but he always pays his rent on time. I can't help him I'm sober.
Ever wonder if your the reason he needs to stay stoned??? Just joking, the devil made me write that.
@Debbera Hisssssssssssssssss!
Semi-addictive. The body gets used to the regular ingestion of whatever. And it will respond to the lack of that substance.
Don't drink that sugar beverage you have everyday at 9 am... and the insulin that had been generated in anticipation will make your body and brain react slower.
Are these withdrawal symptoms. Sorta. I have heard of no instances of stopping pot that have resulted in death, just discomfort.
It's been long known that marijuana is addictive. The finding was that it is less addictive than other substances, that doesn't preclude it from being addictive. I don't know why people haven't realized this, it was obvious without the scientific studies.
How does one differ an addiction with a preference?8
@Morganfreeman
Go talk to a doctor
Since I had most of those before I started smoking it would only follow that they would come back if I quit.