science

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For some opioids withdrawal can be life threatening. There's a distinct contrast between chemical and psychological dependence.

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.

The only thing that TLC has taught me is that people can get addicted to anything.

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.

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.

Are you suggesting that the scientific method involves more than an anecdote about Courtney's feelings?

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.

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.