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Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

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Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#71

Post by JeremyBanks »

chimeracoder wrote: post #26
hsienmaneja wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That you experience significant physical withdrawal symptoms from marijuana certainty calls into question the street wisdom that pot isn’t (physically) addicting.

> certainty calls into question the street wisdom that pot isn’t (physically) addicting. This isn't "street wisdom"; there's a massive body of clinical research that's gone into marijuana and investigating its effects on the body and brain. Marijuana is one of the most-studied drugs in existence, far more so than most prescription medication on the market.

Such research is probably improperly generalized or otherwise misinterpreted. I’ve known lots of people who smoked too much weed, and “withdrawal” symptoms were pretty consistent among people who really smoked to excess (multiple grams per day). Judging from this and similar threads, many people will attest to the same. It’s not plausible to me that this is an illusion.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#72

Post by StanislavPetrov »

anaptdemise wrote: post #55
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which speaks to the larger question, why are so many people in our society depressed?

Unsolicited life advice. If you have to drink or do drugs to do your job, you should probably question your career path. If you have to drink or do drugs to feel satisfied with your life, you should probably ask yourself what you have actually done to make your situation better. Good for strippers, accountants, lawyers, anyone.

It seems to me that many people lack the capacity for this sort of introspection, especially those who are depressed. It also begs the question: what about the people who don't have the ability to make their lives better (either because they lack the capacity to make good decisions or that no good decisions are available for them to make given their circumstance)? At what point is it acceptable to take a broader view and note that the structure of our society itself is a major factor in widespread depression, rather than any poor personal choices made by individuals?

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#73

Post by draw_down »

myWindoonn wrote: post #69
evo_9 wrote: post #53

It's hard for me to relate to this. I smoke daily, and probably what most would consider a lot. I however also travel for work and or other reasons and often go days or a week without smoking. It has no noticeable effect on me. It could be because I'm extremely active and fit. I workout basically 7 days a week, mostly because I do a lot of intense stuff 'for fun' (aka, play hockey 3-4 days a week, etc). I'm not sayin…

The article says that this sort of heavy use can be measured in oz/wk, with 1-2 oz/wk being quite a lot. I am the heaviest cannabis consumer of my peers, and I barely consume a quarter oz/wk. It sounds like addicts are much heavier users! On the other hand, tobacco smokers can be addicts at 1-2 cigs/day, but not necessarily chain-smoking 1-2 pks/day like the most-addicted smokers. Perhaps there's a continuum.

Whoa, I’m a heavy user with a high tolerance but an ounce would take more like a month to get through, not a week. 2 oz a week is just nuts.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#74

Post by schrodinger »

evo_9 wrote: post #53

It's hard for me to relate to this. I smoke daily, and probably what most would consider a lot. I however also travel for work and or other reasons and often go days or a week without smoking. It has no noticeable effect on me. It could be because I'm extremely active and fit. I workout basically 7 days a week, mostly because I do a lot of intense stuff 'for fun' (aka, play hockey 3-4 days a week, etc). I'm not sayin…

Just wanted to chime in that I’m the same way. Smoke every night when at home, but I’ve just been out of the country for work for a week and actually didn’t even think about it once until reading this thread.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#75

Post by hutzlibu »

dev_420 wrote: post #6

Throwaway because obviously the stigma. But yes, it's very real. I am addicted to marijuana. I smoke nearly 3 grams a day; what has become a $1000+/month habit. I've always loved weed but the high salary has allowed me to lose control. I can't sleep or eat without it. Within 24 hours without weed I become an intolerable asshole who cannot eat or sleep. When I do sleep without it, it's full of nightmares and I wake up…

There are phases in my life, when I smoke a lot (but never nearly as much as you) and phases with nothing at all. So I regulary start and stop smoking. The trick for me is, not just not do anything anymore - you rather start doing something different. Because your mind is used to the reward of the ganja - if you miss that, there needs to be something else. Other pleasant experiences.

Physical activitys help a lot, or starting to travel. But just stopping ... I believe is very hard on your own. In general, when I smoke a lot, I tend to isolate myself more and more. And when I stop, I socialice again. So that works for me (mostly, transition phase can still be hard, though). If you lack people who could help you, think about professional help...

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#76

Post by [deleted] »

tzar wrote: post #59
evo_9 wrote: post #53

It's hard for me to relate to this. I smoke daily, and probably what most would consider a lot. I however also travel for work and or other reasons and often go days or a week without smoking. It has no noticeable effect on me. It could be because I'm extremely active and fit. I workout basically 7 days a week, mostly because I do a lot of intense stuff 'for fun' (aka, play hockey 3-4 days a week, etc). I'm not sayin…

How long have you been smoking daily? From the article: > Unlike with opioids and stimulants, marijuana dependence tends to develop slowly: Months or years may pass before symptoms begin to affect a dependent user’s life. The case is similar with alcohol dependence: it can take quite a long time.

[deleted]

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#77

Post by ggggtez »

beat wrote: post #65
ggggtez wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Within 24 hours without weed I become an intolerable asshole I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest the underlying problem might not be the weed.

"24 hours without antipsychotics and I become schizophrenic". "I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest the underlying problem might not be the antipsychotics". See the problem with your phrasing? Lots of people deal with anxiety, anger management, and other relatively mild psychological malfunctions by self-medicating (or prescription medicating) with THC. That's why it gets prescribed as medication for these…

Being an asshole isn't a medical condition.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#78

Post by [deleted] »

draw_down wrote: post #73
myWindoonn wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that this sort of heavy use can be measured in oz/wk, with 1-2 oz/wk being quite a lot. I am the heaviest cannabis consumer of my peers, and I barely consume a quarter oz/wk. It sounds like addicts are much heavier users! On the other hand, tobacco smokers can be addicts at 1-2 cigs/day, but not necessarily chain-smoking 1-2 pks/day like the most-addicted smokers. Perhaps there's a continuum.

Whoa, I’m a heavy user with a high tolerance but an ounce would take more like a month to get through, not a week. 2 oz a week is just nuts.

[deleted]

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#79

Post by hsienmaneja »

Physicians often have colloquially considered pot to not be a root cause for some patients, when it should be.

If a child starts self medicating with pot and then their life deteriorates along with their pot usage, there needs to be a focus on cessation of usage, particularly since the child’s brain is still developing.

This has nothing to do with addressing any other underlying issues that the child may be experiencing. Regardless, some people are best off staying away from pot entirely (as well as other substances that are not part of this discussion).

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#80

Post by syntaxing »

Interesting. I always though that Marijuana is not as addicting because THC is stored in your fat. The THC gets slowly absorbed back into your system which lessens the withdrawals symptoms. I wonder if there is a threshold where your THC consumption far exceeds the maximum saturation of THC in your fat which make the person experience withdrawal symptoms similar to opioids.
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