Relationships and AddictionWhether it's drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, pornography, or anything else, addictions can be detrimental to the health of a relationship.
Here's one article on pot and cervical cancer. It's unfortunate they can't use more human studies because of political BS. It could potentially save lives... Or help someone's quality of life if they are ill.
Sorry got carried away with the posting, but here is my observation:
For you, pot is addicting. It takes a hold over you. It has negative consequences. You have decided to not smoke it. Your struggle is mentally overcoming the addiction, with a slight physical discomfort. Same with me and alcohol.
For my H, who has gone through crack withdrawal, experienced physical withdrawals that made it difficult to stop as well as mental withdrawal... The primary reason he got hooked on crack to begin with.
The struggle for the crack addict to stop would be somewhat double (technically) at first.
None of this diminishes an individual addicts own struggle with their sobriety. I think we are saying the same things, just in different ways
Yes, and I pointed that out with my own alcoholism, and I didn't see anyone dispute the fact that it affects people differently.
I am curious what your physical withdrawal symptoms were and how long they lasted. Do you consider it as severe as say heroin or oxycontin? I was in rehab with a lot of pill heads. Their physical withdrawals were horrendous. My physical withdrawal was nothing more than aggravation (after drinking more than 20 years, averaging 6 beers a night). I imagine physical weed withdrawal could be similar to coffee withdrawal? I don't know though, that's why I'm asking what your experience was.. I do think your withdrawal was much more psychological, mental.. like mine.
On a side note... I believe if something has control over someone (pot, alcohol, shopping, crack, gambling, exercising even, etc), it is unhealthy and needs to be addressed.
But you started this thread specific to pot being physically addicting and that is not something that has been proven either way at this point. Pot is a fairly new drug, as it relates to regulations and studies. It was squashed and made illegal before it ever had a chance to be fully studied. Many of the studies I have read about (and I've read a ton geared towards both sides of the argument) indicate it has potential, however the biases and regulations make it difficult to determine its full potential. Pot has been known to shrink cancerous tumors, pot has been known to alleviate fatal withdrawal symptoms for other drugs, pot is a natural pain reliever, an appetite stimulant, etc.. the list of potentials for this natural herb is endless. Of course, and with everything, it affects people differently.
The following were physical effects that I experienced for about a year after I quit cold turkey as an everyday pot smoker, that did cause me to eventually seek medical attention:
- Could not sleep very much for the first month.
- Started experiencing extreme anxiety and panic attacks that I never had before, that were very very frightening for me!
- Paranoid; thought people everywhere were out to get me!
Hi everyone,
I have been reading these posts on TAM for a while ,and I found this " Marijuana thread " this morning to be quite " addictive."
[LOL ].
I live in the Caribbean where Marijuana use is quite " normal " in all socio-economic sectors of societies throughout the Caribbean. In fact some people look at it as " sacred" [ Rastafari religion ] and hence it is part of their worship rituals...Yes it is illegal , but usually most offenders get is a slap on the wrist from or pay a small fine for possession.
I have never smoked Marijuana,and I have never seen a Marijuana
" addict" selling his / her body for a " joint." I have never heard of a fatal vehicular accident blamed on Marijuana, but I have seen the deadly result of drinking and driving. [ LOL.] We, in my country probably have the highest per capita drunk driving mortality rate in the world! Yet Alcohol is legal.
My point is a person can be addicted to anything,I love fine wines,and spend a lot of money it, but I am not addicted to it.I love the wine tasting parties,wine & cheese ,man sometimes [DW ] likes me to pour wine on " the small of her [ DW's ] back" during foreplay...
However,I know many [especially women] who are addicted to strong drink,making a mess of their lives.
I don't think Marijuana is the culprit that it is made out to be,Tobacco is far worse in effect than Marijuana. Like everything else,it can be abused.
BTW ,Although I don't smoke Marijuana....
I absolutely love the taste of Marijuana wine!!
Hi everyone,
I have been reading these posts on TAM for a while ,and I found this " Marijuana thread " this morning to be quite " addictive."
[LOL ].
I live in the Caribbean where Marijuana use is quite " normal " in all socio-economic sectors of society throughout the Caribbean. Yes it is illegal , but usually most offenders get is a slap on the wrist from or pay a small fine for possession.
I have never smoked Marijuana,and I have never seen a Marijuana
" addict" selling his / her body for a " joint." I have never heard of a fatal vehicular accident blamed on Marijuana, but I have seen the deadly result of drinking and driving. [ LOL.] We, in my country probably have the highest per capita drunk driving mortality rate in the world! Yet Alcohol is legal.
My point is a person can be addicted to anything,I love fine wines,and spend a lot of money it, but I am not addicted to it.I love the wine tasting parties,wine & cheese ,man sometimes [DW ] likes to pour wine on " the small of her [ DW's ] back" during foreplay...
However,I know many [especially women] who are addicted to strong drink,making a mess of their lives.
I don't think Marijuana is the culprit that it is made out to be,Tobacco is far worse in effect than Marijuana. Like everything else,it can be abused.
BTW ,Although I don't smoke Marijuana....
I absolutely love the taste of Marijuana wine!!
That's all I am saying Carribean Man is that something that is harmless to some - can be POISON to others, and weed should not just be casually passed off as being cute and harmless. I have a 19 year old nephew that all he does is smoke weed all night, sleeps until 2:00pm in the afternoon, and wakes up and eats crappy food(cereal, cheetos, etc)and has no desire to look for a job because he's too strung out on..........WEED. Had he not been doing that I am quite sure that his living habits would be a lot different, and I blame my sister for allowing most of this behavior to go on.
I was kind of doing this too at that age but my parents FORBID us not to be working or we were thrown out of the house, because you either had to always have a full time job or attend school full time to live there no matter what you were doing out late at night.
That's all I am saying Carribean Man is that something that is harmless to some - can be POISON to others, and weed should not just be casually passed off as being cute and harmless.
No one has disagreed with that.
They're just saying that it doesn't have the same physically addictive properties as other drugs, so that while it can become a problem, it shouldn't be lumped in with those groups. That's why people are mentioning things like gambling, shopping, etc. that can be VERY addictive, but the cause is more psychological than physiological. That's all anyone is saying.
The following were physical effects that I experienced for about a year after I quit cold turkey as an everyday pot smoker, that did cause me to eventually seek medical attention:
- Could not sleep very much for the first month.
- Started experiencing extreme anxiety and panic attacks that I never had before, that were very very frightening for me!
- Paranoid; thought people everywhere were out to get me!
- Confusion and increased A.D.D. symptoms.
- I nearly doubled my cigarette smoking.
What you experienced was not the norm, and that's why more studies need to be done. Like with alcohol, they can link it genetically on some levels.. as well as guestimate how it may affect an individual differently, based on family history. It's got a long way to go. I just wish they would legalize it here for medicinal purposes now. Put the political fight aside and realize there may be some strong medical uses for this naturally grown weed/herb. But then on the flip side, there are groups of people that keep resisting it because they know someone who doesn't know how to responsibly use MJ.
They're just saying that it doesn't have the same physically addictive properties as other drugs, so that while it can become a problem, it shouldn't be lumped in with those groups. That's why people are mentioning things like gambling, shopping, etc. that can be VERY addictive, but the cause is more psychological than physiological. That's all anyone is saying.
I understand all of that; but it's just sad when you have to stamp "FAIL" on sooooo many drug tests for testing positive for THC(weed), especially when it means that person is either not getting a good job or is losing their current one because of it in this very tough economy. To me that is just as destructive and ruins families as much as does cocaine, alchohol, and heroin.
And anytime you introduce ANY chemical into your body and brain cells and continue putting it there for years.........and then try and STOP, there's going to be physical and mental backlashes from your body on that decision.
I understand all of that; but it's just sad when you have to stamp "FAIL" on sooooo many drug tests for testing positive for THC(weed), especially when it means that person is either not getting a good job or is losing their current one because of it in this very tough economy. To me that is just as destructive and ruins families as much as does cocaine, alchohol, and heroin.
And anytime you introduce ANY chemical into your body and brain cells and continue putting it there for years.........and then try and STOP, there's going to be physical and mental backlashes from your body on that decision.
The drug testing thing is another argument in itself. THC is really the only substance one can legitimately test for since it stays in your system so long while others don't. While I agree, if you're on the job hunt and need to get a job and can't because you smoke weed, that's your fault.
But it's also a case of the rules around the substance ruining families rather than the substance itself. If coffee was made illegal and people couldn't get jobs because they kept failing their coffee drug tests, I wouldn't necessarily call coffee a family ruiner, to me it's be a circumstance of the law being what it is. Outside of getting in trouble for doing it, I don't see it being the bonafied destructive family ruiner that crack, heroin, meth or even alcohol can be.
But as long as it is, in anyway illegal, why would a person be so inclined to take a chance? And if it's not addicting in any way, why do it's user's seem to want to keep going back to it?
I'm sorry, but I greatly feel that, like alcohol, it's definitely providing something to the addictive nature of its users!
"........I have a 19 year old nephew that all he does is smoke weed all night, sleeps until 2:00pm in the afternoon, and wakes up and eats crappy food(cereal, cheetos, etc)and has no desire to look for a job because he's too strung out on..........WEED. Had he not been doing that I am quite sure that his living habits would be a lot different, and I blame my sister for allowing most of this behavior to go on........"
Cee Paul,
Sorry about your nephew's condition,but it is my belief that Marijuana addiction is mostly psychological.
When I was 15 yrs old I thought I was addicted to porn. I was hooked on Hustler and Penthouse magazines ,until a lady 10 yrs my senior whom I had met two days before, took my virginity. Then came my "sex addiction ". During my university years , girls were easy,and I never had long relationships because $ex was my only objective.Even after graduating , I never thought I would get married,but then came my wife [ present ] and everything changed!
Life has different " phases." Sometimes people need just the right
" encouragement" to move from one stage to another.I have friends who smoked weed and wasted their time doing absolutely nothing, And I have friends who still smoke weed and are very successful businessmen / businesswomen. I have friends who have gambled away their businesses and destroyed their families by their gambling addiction.The new craze/ addiction down here is the " X BOX 360, Call of Duty ,Black Ops ." Some families / relationships are suffering because the husbands spend the entire night gaming.But that does not make XBox bad. Many married men & women " hook up" on Facebook , and infidelity is rampant. But that does not make Facebook bad.
Addiction to Marijuana, Alcohol ,Tobacco , Porn , $ex ,gambling , Facebook or anything is bad. But it does not necessarily make a person violent , dangerous or even lazy.[ EG; " Pothead "]
Addiction to heroin, cocaine and other such hallucinogenic drug is downright dangerous to the user and the rest of society.
That's all I am saying Carribean Man is that something that is harmless to some - can be POISON to others, and weed should not just be casually passed off as being cute and harmless. I have a 19 year old nephew that all he does is smoke weed all night, sleeps until 2:00pm in the afternoon, and wakes up and eats crappy food(cereal, cheetos, etc)and has no desire to look for a job because he's too strung out on..........WEED. Had he not been doing that I am quite sure that his living habits would be a lot different, and I blame my sister for allowing most of this behavior to go on.
I was kind of doing this too at that age but my parents FORBID us not to be working or we were thrown out of the house, because you either had to always have a full time job or attend school full time to live there no matter what you were doing out late at night.
But as long as it is, in anyway illegal, why would a person be so inclined to take a chance? And if it's not addicting in any way, why do it's user's seem to want to keep going back to it?
I'm sorry, but I greatly feel that, like alcohol, it's definitely providing something to the addictive nature of its users!
Yeah that's why I said it's the person's fault for getting caught or even using it if they have job hunting to do. I just think the system is disingenuous in its intent to have it be illegal, but that's another argument.
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