Relationships and AddictionWhether it's drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, pornography, or anything else, addictions can be detrimental to the health of a relationship.
All those reports over the years about smoking pot is NOT addictive is all a bunch of crap, and I know this first hand from back in my late teens to mid 20's when I was completely HOOKED on it and had to have it just like any other addictive drug. Because if I had $20 in my pocket back then at least $10 of it would be spent on weed(a dime bag), and the other $10 would go to cheetos(munchies) - mountain dew - and a pack of cigarettes. And I knew of many many others like this who would spend their last dollar to get high back then, so if that is not addictive then I don't know what is.
Now today at 46 I have proudly been sober and clean for 17 years now, after literally ruining parts of my younger life for weed. And in a very IRONIC twist I now work as a lab tech for a drug screening company - & we're drug tested twice a year.
you can be addicted to either drug
but you won't get physical dependent on weed like you will with heroin or cigarettes
Not true in some cases, because my body actually CRAVED it when I woke up everyday much like it did with nicotine as well. And if you tell me that cigarettes are not addictive I can give about 100 examples of people who were willing to DIE rather than give up smoking, and that's how I was with weed back then.
When the heroin has lost its effect the withdrawal symptoms show up: the user feels sick, sweaty and cold, has goose bumps, a running nose, stomach ache, and pain in arms and legs. Possible symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms disappear as soon as heroin is used again. That is how the user easily ends up in a vicious circle. Mental dependence means that the user anxiously wants to use the substance and doesn't feel comfortable without it anymore.
So if you're saying those are "ADDICTIVE" traits then what does the title of this thread say, that weed is ADDICTIVE to some. It's just like with alchohol which is very very addictive and ruins lives; I can have a few drinks with friends and not touch another drop for 3-4 months no problem, but to those "addicted" to it they have to get drunk repeatedly to feel normal and that's how me and many others I knew were with........weed(if we weren't high we didn't feel normal).
*Don't forget this is what I now do for a living as well as someone who has experience with weed, cocaine, and qualudes back in my younger days*
you can get addicted to most anything that increases your dopamine/serotonin levels
gambling
shopping
affairs
etc
but there are certain chemicals that when you do them you get a physical dependence almost immediately and when you stop doing them it will cause you to get physically sick
heroin
nicotine
meth
morphine
cocaine/crack
weed/THC is not one of those chemicals
I am not saying that people can't develop a serious problem with smoking weed, I'm saying that the likelihood of addiction is significantly less than other drugs including alcohol due to the lack of physical dependence
you can get addicted to most anything that increases your dopamine/serotonin levels
gambling
shopping
affairs
etc
but there are certain chemicals that when you do them you get a physical dependence almost immediately and when you stop doing them it will cause you to get physically sick
heroin
nicotine
meth
morphine
cocaine/crack
weed/THC is not one of those chemicals
I am not saying that people can't develop a serious problem with smoking weed, I'm saying that the likelihood of addiction is significantly less than other drugs including alcohol due to the lack of physical dependence
Heroin is thee very very worst bottom dwelling drug when you have hit ROCK BOTTOM, so yes of course it is a lot worse than weed. Buuuuut in the end wether it's a physical or mental addiction to something, it's ALL still very bad and very destructive and can destroy someone's life just the same like it was doing to mine & others around me.
Not true in some cases, because my body actually CRAVED it when I woke up everyday much like it did with nicotine as well. And if you tell me that cigarettes are not addictive I can give about 100 examples of people who were willing to DIE rather than give up smoking, and that's how I was with weed back then.
I think this is one of those things where there simply isn't enough real, true studies on to determine the age old question "is marijuana physically addictive?". And there are studies contradicting each side of the argument. Each MJ user can answer the question for themselves and how they perceive being physically dependent on something.
I am a recovering alcoholic. I wasn't physically dependent on it, yet, and I drank for 20 years. Others who drink for 10 years or less can physically become addicted, others never do or in my case, quit before that happens. For me, weed is psychological and if I'm having a stressful day, it certainly takes the edge off for a few hours and enough for me to wind down to the point where I'm good for the rest of the night, high or not, when that high wears off I do not need to smoke another bowl just to make it through the rest of the night, in fact I seldom recognize when the high is gone as I've decompressed pretty good before that happens and I finally develop a freaking appetite for that day (continuous battle for me). Alcohol, holy crap... give me as much as you got and I will drink it all night long til I pass out, and I purposely would not eat so as to not affect my buzz!
I'm just sharing my experience. And certainly to each their own as well as each person experiences different reactions to different things.
ETA: H is a recovering crack addict, he would steal you blind to get his next high... I wouldn't do that with alcohol, we won't do that for pot... every addict has their DOC (drug of choice) that can control them more than any other thing in their life, if they allow it to. I can't just drink one drink, my H can't just smoke one crack rock, but both of us can just smoke one joint.
I smoked a lot of pot when I was young and never had a problem NOT smoking it.
Cigarettes however.............that's another story.
Cee Paul I am glad you have things together today and aren't experiencing the troubles you did in your youth any more. Congratulations on pulling your self out of it! And you are only a year younger than me
I've decided that it doesn't matter. You can call it addiction or you can call it "abuse." The effects on your psyche and relationships are the same. My stbxh would rather smoke pot than do just about anything else. He lied about it, he justified and rationalized it; it was his mistress and in the end I could not compete with it.
you can be addicted to either drug
but you won't get physical dependent on weed like you will with heroin or cigarettes
Yea. I was going to say this, but now I don't need to! thanks!
I studied drugs and alcohol in college and i smoked some. lollll Quit pot the day I graduated, never went back. No big deal. Now, cigarettes on the other hand....yea...
when you stop doing them it will cause you to get physically sick
If that's the case, then how come my H had physical symptoms just like he was quitting nicotine??? I think a new study is due since the level of THC has skyrocketed with the development of hydroponics. In the good ol' days i don't think it was, but it is now.
At the end of the day, the addiction is the problem that needs to be fixed for a relationship to work. Physical dependence adds another level without doubt, but the root cause is the need for escape/coping with emotions etc.
I've decided that it doesn't matter. You can call it addiction or you can call it "abuse." The effects on your psyche and relationships are the same. My stbxh would rather smoke pot than do just about anything else. He lied about it, he justified and rationalized it; it was his mistress and in the end I could not compete with it.
And my H wonders why I struggle constantly with putting our marriage back together now that he has quit!! 21 years is a long time to have the green mistress!
See I could say the same thing about alchohol that it's not addictive or not a problem...........but that would be a big lie, because I have seen it destroy many many lives and continues to do so. But with me I have never become attached to it and can go out and have a few drinks socially or at a ball game, and then not touch it or crave it again for months. Now if it was weed that is a whole other story and the effect it has on me is one of a very addictive nature.
As someone has already pointed out, there is a difference between psychological and physical (chemical) addiction. Marijuana falls into the former, not the latter. I forget the author, but there is a very informative academic book on pharmacology and addiction that you can read through google books. I know that mj has been demonised in the US, so we should all refrain from spreading misinformation based on anecdotal evidence. Posted via Mobile Device
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Marijiuana IS addictive.....to some. 
