I'm having trouble quitting Marijuana

Originally posted by ElectricBugaloo
wow, you guys have a very, very messed up and wrong view on addiction.

Yes, you can be addicted to marijuana. It is becoming more and more commonplace, and many addiction medicine specialists say it is the biggest addiction around out there.

There is a strong genetic component; if you have family members who are alcoholics or addicted to drugs, you might have inherited that gene. Being "weak-minded" has nothing to do with it. That's just something that people say when it is obvious they don't understand addiction.

then produce evidence of studies which found physical/chemical addiction. i have yet to see any confirmation of such.

as far as genetics i'd like to see the connection found there as well.
i have found from the many potheads that i've known that the ones who are 'addicted' are not in the habit for the sake of smoking pot, but rather to escape reality. of coarse by doing so they shut themselves out from the world and ultimately all there is to do is sit around and smoke more pot...become more and more reclusive, alienate themselves from theoutside world...and rot basically. but thats an issue which goes far beyond a dime bag and more into a person's lack of ability to cope with sober life. not sober from pot, but sober from ANYTHING.

if there is no pot they will drink, if there is no booze they will do hits of nitrus, and whatever else. thats the illusion of the so called 'gateway drug'. its not. the issue is the individual and their weakness to cope.

you ever know a compulsive gambler? i have. try dragging one out of a casino when it was time to go home 4 hours ago and you'll see what i mean. is it genetic? is there some chemical in those slot machines? or are they just compulsive to begin with?. i also notice that most 'addicted' potheads have other annoying compulsive habits, like constant nail bighting, knuckle cracking, fidgiting, and a complete lack of ability to just relax without their mind in an altered state. and thats what its all about.

its all about escapism and filling voids. the reasons for which are up to freud

Originally posted by PVS
then produce evidence of studies which found physical/chemical addiction. i have yet to see any confirmation of such.

as far as genetics i'd like to see the connection found there as well.
i have found from the many potheads that i've known that the ones who are 'addicted' are not in the habit for the sake of smoking pot, but rather to escape reality. of coarse by doing so they shut themselves out from the world and ultimately all there is to do is sit around and smoke more pot...become more and more reclusive, alienate themselves from theoutside world...and rot basically. but thats an issue which goes far beyond a dime bag and more into a person's lack of ability to cope with sober life. not sober from pot, but sober from ANYTHING.

if there is no pot they will drink, if there is no booze they will do hits of nitrus, and whatever else. thats the illusion of the so called 'gateway drug'. its not. the issue is the individual and their weakness to cope.

you ever know a compulsive gambler? i have. try dragging one out of a casino when it was time to go home 4 hours ago and you'll see what i mean. is it genetic? is there some chemical in those slot machines? or are they just compulsive to begin with?. i notice that most of them had other annoying compulsive habits, like constant nail bighting, knuckle cracking, fidgiting, and a complete lack of ability to just relax without their mind in an altered state. and thats what its all about.

its all about escapism and filling voids. the reasons for which are up to freud

heres breif details of one study 🙂 loads more exist

Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction for some people; that is, they use the drug compulsively even though it often interferes with family, school, work, and recreational activities. According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an estimated 5.6 million Americans age 12 or older reported problems with illicit drug use in the past year. Of these, 3.6 million met diagnostic criteria for dependence on an illicit drug. More than 2 million met diagnostic criteria for dependence on marijuana/hashish.57 In 1999, more than 220,000 people entering drug abuse treatment programs reported that marijuana was their primary drug of abuse.58

Along with craving, withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop using the drug. People trying to quit report irritability, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety.59,60 They also display increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after they last used the drug.61

That aside I think it's only the level of giving up smoking 🙂

double post

nope

still i see no signs of anything physically/chemically addictive, but rather compulsion. habit. which is what i said. if you read the post you quoted you would have known that.

Originally posted by PVS
nope

still i see no signs of anything physically/chemically addictive, but rather compulsion. habit. which is what i said. if you read the post you quoted you would have known that.

There seems to be a receptor linkage, I will try and find it for the weekend as I am away with work most of this week. I remember reading about it about a year ago that a specific dependant receptor had been found.

Well physcological addiction is still addiction.......................if it alters your "normal" state then an addiction can form.

Same with Steroids, depressants etc etc etc

It's a NIDA study i'm thinking of - I may have to do a deep search to find it

brief mention of it here

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9370.shtml

Originally posted by Sir Whirlysplat
heres breif details of one study 🙂 loads more exist

Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction for some people; that is, they use the drug compulsively even though it often interferes with family, school, work, and recreational activities. According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an estimated 5.6 million Americans age 12 or older reported problems with illicit drug use in the past year. Of these, 3.6 million met diagnostic criteria for dependence on an illicit drug. More than 2 million met diagnostic criteria for dependence on marijuana/hashish.57 In 1999, more than 220,000 people entering drug abuse treatment programs reported that marijuana was their primary drug of abuse.58

Along with craving, withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop using the drug. People trying to quit report irritability, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety.59,60 They also display increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after they last used the drug.61

That aside I think it's only the level of giving up smoking 🙂

Marijuana isn't addictive. It also promotes prosperity and a healthy lifestyle.

Haven't you read all the anecdotal evidence on the KMC?

It is my 3rd day without any and I slept last night, but I have to admit for the first time in about 2 yrs, I found it a lot more easy to get out of bed as I still weren't half stoned from the night before, At work it does not bother me,but I'm finding it's when I get home from work the craving starts..........

Originally posted by K.Diddy
It is my 3rd day without any and I slept last night, but I have to admit for the first time in about 2 yrs, I found it a lot more easy to get out of bed as I still weren't half stoned from the night before, At work it does not bother me,but I'm finding it's when I get home from work the craving starts..........

hardly a sign of physical withdrawal, right?
no pain, no cold sweat, so shivering, right?
and i dont think you'll have to frequent any n.a. meetings either.
(not aimed at you. that was aimed at the 'experts'😉.

and feceman, although your post gave me a chuckle,
twisting my words to mean something else means nothing.

and ill say it again. yes a psychological dependancy is also
an addiction. i never argued that. but so is gambling, SEX,
video games...etc. ANYTHING that feels good and offers an
escape can be addictive, and can overtake your life and knock
all priorities out of whack, and even lead your life to ruin.

as far as receptor dependancy, who the hell knows. maybe a rare bunch
are somehow genetically predisposed to become addicted physically to thc.
but...maybe not.

Experts? WOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Originally posted by K.Diddy
Thats grown up of you

Never claimed to be.

Originally posted by PVS
oh boo hoo

reminds me of 'half baked'

"Marijuana is not a drug!!! I used to suck d*** for cocaine!!! Now that's an addiction!!! Did you ever suck some dick for marijuana?"

One of the best scenes in a movie ever

Originally posted by K.Diddy
😉 Tell your pot head friends they are addicted,they just wont ADMIT there addicted

😉 Nearly ALL my mates are on pot and most of them agree, if you use it to much, it IS addictive

I notice you also say ''After 4 years''........Have they stopped smoking long enough to know there addicted?

Oh humankind....

Originally posted by PVS
and feceman, although your post gave me a chuckle,
twisting my words to mean something else means nothing.

I didn't even have you in mind when I wrote that. I haven't even read the thread.

Originally posted by FeceMan
Errr...**** the what?

I didn't even have you in mind when I wrote that. I haven't even read the thread.

Yeah...what he says....plus "And I haven't even read this post"

Originally posted by FeceMan
I haven't even read the thread.

ok, ill accept that it may have been cooincidence,
so long as you accept the glaring irony of your last post 😛

Addiction is a speciality of mine. For me, it started with pot in high school. And I can assure the forum members here who want to descend into symantics are wrong that pot isn't addictive. It doesn't matter if you become addicted to it based on the substances addictive qualities or because of the persons proclivity for addiction. The fact remains that one can become addicted to it. After I moved to NYC, it became easier to drink before I went out, rather than to smoke pot. So, after a few months in NYC, I became addicted to drinking. The bottom line in regards to my personal story is that I have an extremely addictive personality. (And you know, one of the off topic things I've noticed in this thread is that several of the people here who want to talk about genetic proclivity towards alcoholism and addictions are the same pepole who refuse to admit the possiblity of homosexuality being genetic. But, that's another thread.)

As far as my personal issues with pot, PVS is right in one sense. It is a desire to escape from reality. Now, in my case, it didn't effect my social life or my job/school, but when it wasn't around, or I knew I was out, I would turn into a total nightmare for everyone around me. I would pace when I had to wait for my dealer to show up. And sleep was totally dependant on being high. Eventually I replaced the dope with the drinking, and it produced the same results as the pot. When I didn't have it, I was hell to be around. I couldn't sleep. But, unlike the pot, the drinking did effect my life. I had a social life and a job, but that was all I had. There was substance to either of those. My job sucked and my socail life was basically just a string of one night stands. And the long story short, was that I had to learn how to be comfortable with myself. I had to figure out that if you aren't happy with the person you're alone with, you'll never be happy with anything.

God, how cliche.

so you were addicted to being in an altered mental state,
as opposed to pot specifically. the proof is in the way you
were able to jump from one drug to another. for a physically
addictive drug thats impossible.

"And I can assure the forum members here who want to descend into symantics are wrong that pot isn't addictive."

(unless i glazed over anyone's post) nobody really said that pot isnt habit forming a.k.a. addictive, but rather that the idea of physical withdrawal is ridiculous. its all in your mind, as you seem to have agreed with in regards
to escaping reality.

the tell tale sign of a physical/chemical addiction is when a person takes the drug not to feel altered, but to feel normal. i believe thats a cigarrete in your avatar, so you probably know first hand, as well as i.

regardless of how someone may feel they need pot, and regardless of how crazy they may go without it, its not true addiction. but rather an obsession with escaping sobriety and the threat of having to confront life. in other words, i highly doubt that you can take a perfectly happy person, content with their life (ok i know he/she doesnt exist, but you know what i mean) and give them a bag of weed,
chances are they may smoke some with friends, have some fun with it, and put the rest away and never touch it until some day when they think "hey, wouldnt it be fun if...". someone who is obsessed with escaping will smoke when they wake up in the morning and whenever they feel sobriety creeping up. so again, its an addiction to escapism and altering one's mind by any means. thus i feel that pot is not the cause of this 'addiction' but rather a symptom of other life issues.

Originally posted by PVS
so you were addicted to being in an altered mental state,
as opposed to pot specifically. the proof is in the way you
were able to jump from one drug to another. for a physically
addictive drug thats impossible.

"And I can assure the forum members here who want to descend into symantics are wrong that pot isn't addictive."

(unless i glazed over anyone's post) nobody really said that pot isnt habit forming a.k.a. addictive, but rather that the idea of physical withdrawal is ridiculous. its all in your mind, as you seem to have agreed with in regards
to escaping reality.

the tell tale sign of a physical/chemical addiction is when a person takes the drug not to feel altered, but to feel normal. i believe thats a cigarrete in your avatar, so you probably know first hand, as well as i.

regardless of how someone may feel they need pot, and regardless of how crazy they may go without it, its not true addiction. but rather an obsession with escaping sobriety and the threat of having to confront life. in other words, i highly doubt that you can take a perfectly happy person, content with their life (ok i know he/she doesnt exist, but you know what i mean) and give them a bag of weed,
chances are they may smoke some with friends, have some fun with it, and put the rest away and never touch it until some day when they think "hey, wouldnt it be fun if...". someone who is obsessed with escaping will smoke when they wake up in the morning and whenever they feel sobriety creeping up. so again, its an addiction to escapism and altering one's mind by any means. thus i feel that pot is not the cause of this 'addiction' but rather a symptom of other life issues.

I was agreeing with you, I thought. I still smoke pot, drink and yes, that's a cigarette in my hand. So, I'm no stranger to chemical dependancy. In regards to the pot addiction, I agreed that it wasn't the substance itself I was addicted to, rather the escape it provided. Now, I would consider the irratic behavior, the sleeplessness, the mood swings a physical reaction to not smoking. However, the real side effects came from the drinking. When the drinking was at it's worst and I would go a day or two without, my palms would sweat, there were times I would begin to feel like I had a hangover, but hadn't been drinking, things like that. I still smoke cigarettes, however I used to be a pack-a-day (or more) smoker but now I smoke maybe 8 or 9 a day.

So, to sum up my feelings, I don't think pot is physically addictive, rather it is emotionally addictive. Alcohol is also emotionally addictive, but can be physically addictive. And smoking is clearly addictive..both emotionally and physically.

These days, I can go for long periods of time without drinking. I can go months without pot. But I can't go more than a few hours without a cigarette.

And my comments about the symantics of physical v. emotional addiction still apply in my opinion, and my experience. Being emotionally addicted to a substance is still a tough thing with which to deal. Your body going through heroin withdrawl is terrible, but not totally unsimilar to your mind telling you it needs something. I've called them mind sweats.

Originally posted by Capt_Fantastic
And my comments about the symantics of physical v. emotional addiction still apply in my opinion, and my experience. Being emotionally addicted to a substance is still a tough thing with which to deal. Your body going through heroin withdrawl is terrible, but not totally unsimilar to your mind telling you it needs something. I've called them mind sweats.

well this is the part im in disagreement with.
i dont think its a simple matter of symantics, since its
not a matter of psychological vs. physical but rather
a matter of psychological vs. psychological + physical.

i agree that a psychological addiction is powerful,
but it in no way compares to the power of a substance
required by both mind and body, a combination which
seems to make an addiction exponentially worse.