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Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

denverpost.com

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Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#161

Post by hsienmaneja »

Baeocystin wrote: post #107
hsienmaneja wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, drug use isn’t consistently picked up in the aftermath of disaster. It’s often near the beginning, and lubricates destructive behavior, even pot. Pot absolutely catalyzes issues in people’s lives. Many would be far better off not using it at all.

>It’s often near the beginning, and lubricates destructive behavior, even pot I think we are talking past each other. I fully agree that many would be better off never using anything at all. My point is that by the time someone gets to the point where drugs/gambling/addiction can act as a destructive catalyst, they're already well on their way to a negative future due to earlier causes.

A child with an undeveloped mind gets stoned and is profoundly impacted by it. The act of getting into pot in the first place is the divergent event that led to the deteriorated life path in some cases. The pot use itself is a root cause for the child, and they would have been better off never having got into it at all.

As for destructive catalysts, no, not all people are well on their way to a negative future when they take up such habits. The drugs/gambling etc are the destructive behaviors that should be avoided altogether or stopped as a priority.

Considering the well documented effects of high grade pot, it’s fairly easy to see that a normal child can be profoundly impacted by pot. Their entire lives get off track after getting into weed. So, no, not all people that mess up their lives on pot were well on their way to a negative future.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#162

Post by njarboe »

RickS wrote: post #129
zyxwvu wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marijuana abused to self medicate is frankly cheaper than paying for mental health medication and therapy. It's also fast acting and has only minor negative side effects as opposed to taking several weeks to take effect and for any negative side effects (these can be rather bothersome or bad) to go away. Not to mention that's if that particular medication works for you. Going through several types, change in doses, e…

>Marijuana abused to self medicate is frankly cheaper than paying for mental health medication and therapy. This implies that self medication has an outcome comparable to paying for mental health medication and therapy. I would assert that it does not.

Mental health medication and therapy cost more?

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#163

Post by davymac »

njarboe wrote: post #162
RickS wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Marijuana abused to self medicate is frankly cheaper than paying for mental health medication and therapy. This implies that self medication has an outcome comparable to paying for mental health medication and therapy. I would assert that it does not.

Mental health medication and therapy cost more?

Without health insurance, yeah, it’s way cheaper.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#164

Post by beat »

sysalphUS wrote: post #121
beat wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

“I have friends who are "marijuana addicts", who are pretty horrible to be around when they're not stoned, but fine when they are.” Change the word “stoned” to “have-had-coffee-at-least-in-the-morning” and you would be describing a large percentage of the population. It’s interesting which addictions are stigmatized and which ones are normalized.

Oh, exactly. I mean, we make jokes about how bad we are without coffee and no one says boo about how coffee should be banned.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#165

Post by topmonk »

merinowool wrote: post #88
dev_420b wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had basically the same experience, though I think I was closer to a gram or so a day, and I never had trouble eating. But yeah, to the people saying it’s not real, try a few days of insomnia. The feeling of being high is nice, but not terribly addictive or unquittable in itself. But going through the crappy parts of withdrawal, feeling irritable, etc., and on top of that, not being able to sleep? It’s torture. In t…

People have insomnia and are irritable without ever smoking. Maybe cannabis just masking your problem and what you feel as "withdrawals" is not caused by cannabis. People often attribute causal relationship if it fits their limited knowledge.

I agree, maybe he should try another strain

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#166

Post by jonhendry18 »

DanBC wrote: post #145
boomboomsubban wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. This isn't physical addiction. It can cause a mental addiction if you use it for that purpose, and the anxiety over going without can keep you awake. You see it in people with PTSD. edit Curious why people are objecting to this as I have personal experience in the area. Vivid dreams are common any time you go without dreaming for a while, it's not a sign of a physical addiction.

Because you're pushing a distinction (physical vs psychological addiction) that is mostly irrelevant but also untrue. There are many drugs that aren't strongly physically addictive, but most people recognise that the misuse of those drugs can cause severe harm. Cannabis should be in this category.

Misuse of Tylenol (acetaminophen) can cause severe harm. Doesn't mean it's addictive.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#167

Post by Baeocystin »

mimimihaha wrote: post #160
Baeocystin wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree. I think Portugal's experiment has proven that decriminalization is the best path forward pretty conclusively.

This is a genuine question but legalization but still making kind of difficult to get or just all out legalization and selling it wherever?

Legalization along the lines of what we're currently doing with alcohol and tobacco.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#168

Post by Baeocystin »

DanBC wrote: post #139
Baeocystin wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It’s often near the beginning, and lubricates destructive behavior, even pot I think we are talking past each other. I fully agree that many would be better off never using anything at all. My point is that by the time someone gets to the point where drugs/gambling/addiction can act as a destructive catalyst, they're already well on their way to a negative future due to earlier causes.

> My point is that by the time someone gets to the point where drugs/gambling/addiction can act as a destructive catalyst, they're already well on their way to a negative future due to earlier causes. Do you have anything at all to support this?

Sure. Start here and follow the sources. Portugal's results from their drug law shift in particular are strong evidence.

(the first bit of the linked article is, well, clearly written for the huff post. But the meat of it well worth the read)

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6506936

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#169

Post by Baeocystin »

DanBC wrote: post #138
Baeocystin wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever problems drive a person to use pot as a crutch are the source issue. Pot abuse itself (or any maladaptive behavior) is best thought of as a symptom, not a cause.

This just isn't true. Please stop denying that cannabis itself cannot ever be a cause of severe harm. I strongly support legalisation, but for that to happen we must accept that some cannabis users are going to be caused harm.

I did not claim that cannabis doesn't have the ability to cause harm, nor would I. My point is only that drug abuse should be taken as a symptom of a deeper cause.

Re: Marijuana addiction is real, and rising

#170

Post by robdachshund »

What's with these shitty anti drug articles all over HN? I just watched a bunch of armchair intellectuals argue over the ethics of ecigs, and now this.

MJ is not any more addictive than eating good food or jerking off. It's down to you and having good habits. If you don't have any self control, then anything that gives you a dopamine boost is going to give you problems.

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