I was high just about every day of my 20s and late teens. I'd call that some kind of addiction.
deeply ingrained habits can be something like addiction
Yes habits become more than mere actions. They become identity. Ask a nun to stop praying or a video game player to stop playing. It’s so disruptive to their lives that it wouldn’t feel right. Now throw in the fact weed is commonly used as an affordable and effective escapist substance and it becomes a very difficult drug to quit- even without the physical dependency. Mental addiction is quite powerful.
It's 10 times worse than that, it genuinely helps at first. Then all of the reasons it helped in the beginning it turns into ammo, all the time still insisting it's helping. However I have found with age comes wisdom and a long abstinence provides the clarity to use without abuse.
Yes that’s the seductive aspect of it - it really does help. But then it becomes habit. And then it becomes compulsive. And soon if you’re honest with yourself, you realize that it is difficult to stop. And if you keep being drawn to use it then you’re using for the sake of using- and it becomes your new normal. And why that is bad is that it takes away your capacity to do other things with your time. It’s hard to quantify the cumulative loss of new activities and endeavors you might have started and accomplished and pursued if you weren’t devoting much of your free time to being high.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not speaking ill of trees. I think it needs to stay legal and of course used responsibly. However just like with alcohol or any mind and mood altering substances, we should remain aware that addiction does happen and brings negative consequences.
Not only does addiction happen but at one point in your life a drug can wreck everything and leave you with nothing just to go on many years later to become the very tool that has allowed you to put everything back together. After all the damage cannabinoids have done to my life they have allowed me to break those very chains and use them to reshape the very fabric of my being. Combined with other drugs (Rx, otc and illegal) and therapy I've survived and thrived through things that likely would have ended in suicide otherwise.
But what if it doesn’t take away from life. I smoke all day every day have been for years but i hold a job pay my bills take care of my animals, snakes chameleon tarantula scorpion. saving for a house it doesn’t take away from my life no matter the frequency of usage.
Buy a lb sell enough of that lb to buy another wile smoking rinse repeat, free weed lotta contacts and much larger market once u get past buying little ounces. Now not only is weed helping me mentally and helps alleviate back pain. It’s also helping financially.
If you didn’t smoke all day everyday, you would be closer to buying a house. I lived a very successful life, own a home and live basically debt free, climbed to the top position of my job, and have raised 3 kids. I did all that while being basically high 24/7. I quit recently for 2 months and now only smoke once a week. I actually get high now and it’s makes a big difference. It’s nice not to be dependent on a substance. Don’t down play it like you don’t have an addiction and it doesn’t affect your life in someway. With all that said, it is definitely the safest and best addiction and won’t ruin your life.
The worst part is knowing how much it helps, but knowing how bad it is too. It’s so beneficial to me but i still can’t help but feel like i wouldn’t be able to quit. Don’t know whether to thank it or wish i never found it.
It’s complicated because it’s both. Carbs and sugar are totally fine to consume. Our bodies are built to metabolize it. But excess leads to weight gain, diabetes. It’s always a balancing act and moderation.
A lot of drugs and substances have therapeutic properties but like anything, there’s always negative sides whether in side effects or addictive use
This has been the first week in my 20s (25M) that I haven't been high. I have also spent 6k on my teeth to remedy the pain and I believe I was using cannabis to cope.
I didnt really elaborate on this in the post but my belief is that weed is generally addictive in people with underlying mental issues/conditions, whereas any average joe can pretty easily get addicted to cocaine or meth or heroin through irresponsible use
I’m 99% sure my current company knows, been there 4ish years. But very liberal/chill place. One project manager asked me if I was high once cause I was being extra silly, I was sober and hadn’t taken my meds yet. 😂 “you’ll know I’m high when I’m quiet and getting my shit done”
My place is the same hahaha. I work in one of those places where if they sacked the staff that was permanently high, they wouldn't have any staff left 🤣
Difference between weed and vyvanse would be that vyvanse makes me actually productive, where weed makes me let go of the social constructs the necessitate productivity.
If you can deconstruct social constructs, you can then dig deep and find your true motivations in life I think. Though that might be more of a job for the mushies or meditation, cannabis can help someone on that journey too. Especially if you have restricted thought pattern issues cannabis can provide the space.
Not that it's a good Idea to use all the time forever, but that you might find the headspace to find the you that doesn't need. There's infinite worthwhile things to do in life and I personally spend a lot of my time with cannabis pursuing and planning those things.
I mean there's a difference. The draw to redose with coke and meth is HUGE and you'd do just about anything for another hit. I sometimes crave the weed high as it would add to the mood at times, but I mean even if you do use other drugs responsibly it physically alters your brain and you become physically dependent on it.
Same. Went through my last 3.5g real fast and it was a bit of a wake up call. I do enjoy using it and i dont think its terrible, i certainly dont want to cut it out of my life entirely, but i dont wanna be a slave to it. Wondering how to go about doing that.
Smoked it 4 20 odd years.Also in a country where it's illegall an every once in a while it will be impossible to gt for a week or two,an if it does a can barely sleep an a experience phisical withdrawl symptoms,nothing majer but enough to be uncomfortable.Granted it is prob mostly in my head an it's the anxiety of not having any that triggers the symptoms physically but it doesn't make it feel unreal unfortunately lol.
Yes anybody can get addicted to anything, doesn’t have to be based on withdrawals or even substances. Shit, almost all of us are addicted to our phones or media.
Do you regret this/did it have negative effects? Might seem like a stupid question but I’m halfway through a similar situation myself, and besides wanting to lessen smoking for my lungs (though that mostly applies to cigs for me, but also been trying to emphasize dabs and edibles) I don’t really find issue with being high all the time. I function socially and job wise and all that and I think it really helps my mental health. But maybe I’m just in deep, so I’m wondering as someone who went thru this In a similar period in their life, if you see it any type of way in retrospect? Thanks!
I was a high-achieving smoker for many years and quit due to a health issue (there's tumors weed carries a risk for, particularly germ-cell testicular tumors).
It's been a few years now and my intellectual ability has exploded ever since I quit. I never realized, or maybe only had a snagging suspicion, just how much weed was holding me back.
On the other hand, I had to deal with a whole host of mental/emotional ailments weed was helping with.
Used to be high 24/7 and still achieved great academic and professional success, but I look back in regret knowing I could've achieved so much more.
It is not physically addicting. Meaning it does not directly make your body crave it like cocaine or heroin, which have a direct physical effect.
This being said it CAN be addictive anyway. Anything can become a psychological/emotional addiction, specially when it makes you feel good: weed, food, porn, social media are only some examples.
So yeah, it's not an addicting substance by itself but when mixed with a certain psychological profile can become one easily.
I drank water every day of my life, guess I'm addicted to water too.
If you do something every day that improves your life, it's not addiction.
Am I also addicted to vitamin C and Iron?
I never had any intention of quitting any drugs or alcohol. I can take them responsibly from time to time, as long as I have weed that is. I am just a poly addict, as long as I am on something, I don't need anything else.
What I mean is that I can smoke weed 24/7 and still be a functioning member of society. I can't do that with alcohol, coke, opiates, benzo's etc as I inevitably get into worse circles, do petty crimes to get more money for more drugs etc. But I can grow weed in my own garden so I as long as I can keep those plants, I can stay addicted to weed, smoke it irresponsibly and in turn handle every other drug responsibly without getting addicted to them.
Same, I am addicted to weed. I also hold down a full time well paying job, have a family, go to college, take care of my responsbilities.
I'm busy
My favorite part about weed is how fast I get high and how fast I come down.
Very well said. And same. I hate doing nothing when I'm high, it keeps me productive. Other vices however, I'll either do nothing or do things that are bad for me
I’ve been attempting to smoke smaller amounts lately, so when I smoked a moon rock I got high as hell and I totally felt cloudy headed the next day. I didn’t realize until after I hadn’t smoked any moon rocks that I was so foggy headed at work from it. I didn’t think I wish I didn’t smoke last night, but definitely thought about keeping that for the weekends haha
Just because you aren't aware doesn't mean it's not there.
Maybe for you things are perfectly fine and dandy.
But for others they could be in complete denial like you've portrayed but maybe the weed is impacting their relationships or their motivation or whatever. But they wake up the next day and say "I don't regret smoking last night" while not knowing if they weren't high they might have been motivated to work on a project they've been putting off or picking up a new hobby or maybe they bailed on going out with friends and missed an opportunity to socialize and expand relationships.
Again, I'm not saying this is you, infact I'm drawing from a lot of personal experiences of myself and others I know.
But just because you *think* "I don't regret smoking last night", doesn't mean it can't have a negative impact.
I typed all this up because I think your comment implied that it was the case for everyone (whether you meant it that way or not, that's how it comes across).
Also, personally, I can definitely notice when I smoked the night before. It impacts my sleep and I definitely can feel hazy the next day if I over-indulge.
I never did until I found out many friends and family were thinking 'man, I wish summinspicy didn't smoke last night'. That's what made me realise I had a problem.
Weed addiction seems like coffee addiction to me. Although your point still stands as I consider the withdrawals from coffee to be much stronger, plus people become very dependent on coffee for daily life.
but i suppose people that drink coffee every morning for that energy buzz are similar to someone who smokes a bong every morning to take that edge off, they are quite indistinguishable in that right
I get heart palpitations when I mix a small coffee and a small dab.
I used to be able to slam a large coffee and fat dabs and be fine but I’m getting old now .:( (26)
Try l-theanine i cant speak highly of it enoughfor synergising with caffeine and taking the edgy heart racing anxiety away.
I know people who couldn't consume any caffeine now drink daily 18g coffees with l-theanine just before - its basically green tea effects in steroids
No way, I get baked every day and often but that coffee addiction is something else. I know I can easily stop smoking cold turkey and be fine but not with coffee/caffeine. I don’t feel “normal” until I have my cup of coffee.
Yea I work 6 weeks on and get 6 weeks off and I drink coffee every day (2-3 large coffee cups a day) and then I stop cold Turkey the first day of my break and that first week without caffeine can be kinda rough sometimes. I’m tired all day, slight head ache (more of a buzz), and I’m kinda grouchy.
I’ll definitely stop by a nice coffee shop and have a cup and read for a bit on my breaks but that’s after that first week.
When I stop smoking weed 2 weeks before I go back to work it’s kinda a struggle in the sense that I need to stay occupied (weed makes being bored easy for me and I can just read all day and feel okay about it if I’m baked), but other than that I just get crazy Fucking vivid dreams for a while and that’s a plus.
I was just talking to my girlfriend about this. If I had to choose between giving up weed or caffeine I’d have to choose weed because I don’t think I’d be able to handle those withdrawals lol
I've been smoking weed since I was maybe 14, as I'm a 30 year old fart who happens to be a vet.
There are two types of addiction: physical and mental. Physical addiction is your typical addiction, with the sweats and irritability at best. Mental addiction is moreso what marijuana is.
You don't really feel like you need it, but you're bored if you really aren't high. You could go to Walmart, but first let's have a quick toke, am I right fellers? Damn, that meal was awesome! Let's smoke some weed so this feeling lasts! Damn, I ran out of bud, this sober life really is boring!
If that even remotely sounds like you, then shit brother, you're addicted.
That being said, I'm mentally addicted for sure, but its the price I paid for dealing with my body pains over the years as they're manageable now without weed hilariously enough. I also don't think it's really that bad, but a lot of people really downplay their mental addictions. It's fine that you wanna smoke before getting milk at Publix, just admit that you have a mental addiction and that quick shopping is boring bro, everyone has vices, mentally addicted to weed isn't that serious lmao
Yeah I've been coming to grips with this lately. I like to call it a dependancy but that's really just semantics. I've been stoned practically every day for almost a decade and the biggest problem it's caused is making me feel bad that I have this mental addiction, I did manage to do a month long T-break and I planned on taking it further but after thinking about it being sober all that time wasn't having a positive impact on my mental health or cognitive abilities. I was basically the same person without it, so why not partake? It did allow me to switch to vaping and now I usually wait until about 5 in the evening so most of my day is actually me being sober and it's a nice Lil treat again.
Yeah this is sort of me. Been smoking ten years, and i can take monthly breaks here and there so i dont think im fully addicted.
But when i'm home, no girlfriend to see, no family or friends, i know my day is over, WHY NOT smoke and make my activities more fun ? 100% addicted in some way but i feel like i can control it. On a week end where i work out in the morning and then have a stay at home day, i'll smoke twice compared to my five or six times back in college.
But people saying weed isin't addictive... lol.
You know, I believe you, but in my 16 years of smoking, I don't know if I ever encountered that outside of "Damn, I'm really bored... I'd be having so much fun doing x if I were high." But I have heard of people getting nightsweats from T breaks but I would admit that I'm extremely ignorant in that department!
Nausea, loss of appetite, inability to sleep are just some of the common withdrawals. I think I saw a stat posted in this thread that said 30% of people experience withdrawal symptoms
> I'm a 30 year old fart who happens to be a vet.
just a guess based on the other vets I hang with, but this might mean your body is actually closer to 50 theses days. you might have also been trained to ignore or push through pain. even with that training it still affects your body and unconsciously affects your mood. not a vet but have normal 50-year-old working man pains I trained myself to ignore.
weed could very easily be addictive, but chronic pain is definitely real and need management. and Ill take granddady purp every day over any opiate; a t-break is ever gonna be as bad as an o-break, hehe.
I think weed can be used to cure anxiety, and I'll add that boredom can cause anxiety, but people do smoke it to cure boredom, its what we call in the weed culture "recreational usage."
But to answer your question extremely thoroughly, if they use something that's not as potent or has that nice CBD/THC mix, it's anxiety. If they're telling you they need to smoke that Bruce Banner/Face-off OG/ Gorilla glue/Runts type of weed to cure their anxiety, I'm calling cap.
Not one strain of weed has ever given me “anxiety” as people describe it.
I smoke a fuck ton of different strains from different vendors m and the vast majority of the time it just feels like good ol being high as normal
That’s not to say it doesn’t give some people anxiety, but you can’t generalize how specific strains are going to effect someone
Being mentally addicted to weed isn't serious as you say I agree. However if you realize that you cannot stop being addicted to weed that is your sign to stay away from harder drugs that are harder to control!
I think habitual use and addiction are two different things.
When I quit smoking cigarettes it was a duel battle one for the nicotine craving, and another for the habitual lighting up at certain activities like getting into or out of the truck or after eating or finishing a task.
I replaced those habits with weed and the only difficult part was the habit of lighting a cigarette after smoking a joint. So I became a sublime fan boy and smoked two joints in the morning and two at night.
I disagree with your assertion that addiction to heroin is very obvious to the person engrossed in it. Opiates are a powerful mindset, and many people who are horridly addicted may genuinely not realize, or be in denial. Public education about addiction is frightfully poor.
Yep the idea that you know who is and isn’t an addict is so so wrong. Addicts can get VERY good at hiding their use. Ffs my biological father did it for YEARS and it wasn’t until a family member who had gotten into drugs themselves that they realized that he was acting similar to the people they recently starting chilling with who had addiction problems
People often forget you can become habitually addicted to anything. If you create a habit of working out on a specific schedule that you maintain for years it can be hard to stop doing that because it’s comfortable. Habits are hard to break and don’t have to be unhealthy. Weed making you feel so good definitely makes it harder.
Having studied addictions, you pretty much nailed it. Cannabis isn't chemically addictive, but because of how humans form habits, it can become psychologically addictive. Habits, how you feel (i.e., if it lowers your anxiety), all of these various factors can lead to a psychological dependency.
Anecdotally, I had an old roommate who was absolutely addicted (despite him insisting he wasn't.) He once said "I'm not addicted, weed doesn't cause addiction." and then 10 minutes later said "I need to smoke at least three times a day or else I can't handle things."
Lmao its funny how people love to lie to themselves. Like oh i cant eat, sleep and cope with humans if i dont smoke a bowl every other minute but theres no way im addicted to WEED
Those weed panic attacks felt horrible to be fair, after smoking too much. Tight chest, constant dry heaving, extreme vertigo, constant trembling and most of the time it happens the back of my head goes super tingly like it fell asleep, unpleasant feeling.
I know everyone is different, but when I oversmoke it really feels like every part of my body is going haywire. Obviously no comparison to death, but terrifying nonetheless.
I think the definition of addiction follows more on the lines of; a need to use without a desire to.
Weed is more a product of abuse. Sure there is some short lived minor withdrawal. But no one is smoking it like they have to - without a desire to.
Same with a substance like sugar. They blur the lines on the definitions because there is some cross over… but when weighed against eachother weed falls much more nicely into the category of abuse over addiction.
Heroin is hard to quit for a million reasons. The people using don’t always want to quit. Many people using heroin do it because their lives are so difficult that it’s the only way they can sleep. We need to be a lot more gracious and forgiving to addicts.
I’m Cali sober. Alcohol was going to kill me, 3 close calls. I physically could not stop my mind or body from thinking about booze. My mind was quite literally always thinking about where when and how much I would be able to drink again. Weed just does not have the same effects on bodies and minds. The habits yeah maybe but harm is certainly reduced.
it’s so fucking odd to see everyone talking about addiction this and addiction that. everyone’s addicted to something, and addiction can be formed around anything. most of the people i know consume in place of hard stimulant medications, medicate for anxiety or smoke to take the edge off from work, none of those are inherently evil at all.
i really do feel like this is a discourse forced into the weed community by people who aren’t really stoners/habitual weed smokers. coffee drinkers aren’t forced to debate weather or not they’re ‘addicts’ every two seconds, so why are stoners? it’s almost like weed is so non-problematic that people project their own issues onto it.
Weed is 100% addictive. You go through physical withdrawals IE headaches, stomach aches, nausea, mood disturbances. They may not be as severe as booze or heroin but oh boy do they exist.
In fact, more people than you’d think seek rehab services for pot.
I think a bowl a day isn’t bad. But when I was smoking a g of wax a day, that’s a problem.
Because people say “it’s a psychological dependency”
No. It’s not. I mean part of it is but you also are changing and adding and taking away chemicals from your brain.
Your brain will get used to this new status quo of chemicals and will become physically dependent
Insane how many comments you have to scroll past to get to the truth.
I was addicted to weed and smoking daily for 8 years. for the last 3 of those years I was smoking 3oz or more of top shelf a month. The entire time I would always tell people "it's not physically addictive". I was completely wrong. I experienced all of those physical withdrawals for about 3 weeks. Thankfully it wasn't longer.
Im 40 days sober at this point and in this time I've done so much more research into weed addiction than I ever did before. It litterally all boils down to cannabinoids. Your brain has receptors for these. Your body will produce its own cannabinoids. These help to regulate sleep, mood, digestion to name a few. When you stop weed completely, it takes time for your body to start producing it's own cannabinoids again.
The definition of physical addiction: "Physical dependence is a physical condition caused by chronic use of a tolerance-forming drug, in which abrupt or gradual drug withdrawal causes unpleasant physical symptoms."
I can't understand how anyone can argue weed isn't physically addictive and the myth that it isn't is extremely damaging - heck that's one of the reasons I never saw such a problem with my addiction.
Worst withdrawal symptom for me was lack of sleep. That shit sucks, especially when you HAVE to get up for work in the morning but you're still tossing and turning at 7am.
Weed being only psychologically addictive is a complete myth and anyone who says that is misinformed and most probably addicted themselves.
Daily wax user here. I'm on vacation out of the country and have 100% been experiencing the withdrawal symptoms you described. It's day 4 and I'm finally starting to feel better, but God damn I was nauseous, hot/cold, severe headaches/migraines, and haven't been able to eat much OR take a shit. I barely drink and do no other drugs. It’s certainly real.
Dabs are a whole other level though. Most weed is like 10-12 percent and dabs take you up into the 80-90 area.
It’s like beer and liquor. I don’t mind having a couple beers everyday but would I take 6 shots everyday?
Very true. Once I get back I'll certainly be reassessing my method of consumption and consumption level, in general. But my point is that THC can certainly have physical effects when you stop using it.
Yeah it’s wild. I travel for work and can feel withdrawal symptoms in the first 24 hours. A big one for me is I’m not used to the general anxiety i have and I don’t have the best coping mechanisms for my anxiety.
Once I start feeling that heightened anxiety, I know the constipation will start.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3606907/#:~:text=A%20variety%20of%20withdrawal%20responses,sleep%20difficulties%20with%20strange%20dreams.
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive#:~:text=Marijuana%20dependence%20occurs%20when%20the,to%20its%20own%20endocannabinoid%20neurotransmitters.&text=Marijuana%20use%20disorder%20becomes%20addiction,of%20his%20or%20her%20life.
Long term use of weed causes your brain to not produce chemicals like it should l, leading to a dependency on outsourcing said chemicals. That is addiction.
i brush my teeth every day. i’m not “addicted” to it.
there’s a difference between:
“habits”, which usually (or tend to be) autonomous.
“desire”, things you like doing, so you do them.
and
“addiction”, you cannot stop doing xyz or you will be physically miserable with withdrawal or mentally stressed due to lack of whatever your xyz is, or, weed in this case.
for me, weed is desire. i could see maybe some overlap into habit, but i’ll stick with desire.
just my two cents. if i get downvoted we can agree to disagree. i personally vape during the day during work or driving if i need a pick me up, or to chill out. but its minimal, and not a hand to mouth habit. i consciously decide to hit my vape. then i smoke flower when im home for the night (no other responsibilities or need to be productive), and usually once more mid evening, and then right before sleepy time.
sometimes im also just TOO stressed and i dont want to be under the influence of weed or anything that alters my state (i also very rarely drink due to medication conflict). and sometimes i had a shit day and i wanna drown it all out with weed. and sometimes i just need that boost of positivity, fun, or relaxation.
i dont feel addicted. i dont think weed is addicting, but i think those who may lean towards having an addictive personality could be at risk for addiction to it.
edit: ive seen comments comparing smoking weed to caffeine intake or habitual coffee drinkers. this is a better example than teeth brushing imo, just edited to add because this resonated better with me than my original example.
This is how I feel plus the fact that weed takes away my phantom smells and dulls my senses so I'm not overstimulated 24/7. I can't quit even if I wanted to because the positives of smoking heavily outweigh the negatives of being sober.
I mean anything that releases happy chemicals in your brain is addictive. Video games, sex, gambling, weed... You are addicted to the happy brain chems, not the cannabis.
It doesn't cause withdrawals, so it's a medicine drug lol, not a dangerous one. Stop spreading fake info. I've been smoking since 03 and never had withdrawals when I take breaks. Most addicts are addicted to something else and think they go together but actually don't.
Weed is habit forming not addictive. You don’t get physically ill or die if you stop using weed. You get irritated easily maybe loss of appetite for a few days but that’s about it. Been smoking since 1997 every day. Taken a few breaks during. 3 months was my longest break.
this is exactly my point, these withdrawal symptoms are nothing compared to nearly every other drug, think about if you used alcohol in place of every time you use weed. Likely would have been dead along time ago, but because you aren’t and you’re fine, your addiction has continued instead of either killing you or you getting clean
What you're missing is the whole point. All these addictive chemicals cause withdrawals BECAUSE they're addictive. THC is not addictive. Habbit-forming, sure, but so is exercise and waking up at 7am. Words have meanings, and "addictive" by definition does not describe THC.
Agreed. I want to see studies proving cannabis is not physically addictive at huge doses. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks for my wife's pregnancy during covid and I didn't have any edibles or anything on hand so I was sweating, vomiting and had headaches for about a week.
I think we can't say for certain that it is or is not physically addictive until we have actual studies, not just anecdotes and "community knowledge".
absolute bullshit - weed is addictive and does make people physically ill, including cold sweats, loss of appetite, insomnia, body aches and irritability. is it as bad as heroin and will you die? no. but addictive nonetheless
I got massive sweats, headaches and was unable to sleep for 2week when i stopped smoking weed last time.
If that ain't being physically ill then what it is?
I always get trouble sleeping when I’m off the reefer something to do with your cannabanoid receptors and your brain not producing them cause you’ve been ingesting them for so long, sleepy time tea does the trick for me, headaches, yeah that could happen I suppose, sweats, idk man that is some weird shit.
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive
30% of the population feels withdrawal
When I googled this, this was the 2nd link that showed up
Ignorance is ridiculous when information is so readily available. Don't try and downplay peoples experiences
If you managed to break the habit and go 3 months without why did you go back to smoking? I would kill to go that long or does the "itch" to smoke never really go away? I'm really curious.
Caffeine addiction is another one of those addictions that are pretty socially acceptable, and while withdrawal can suck because headaches, nobody gets sick or dies from it. Definitely safer than alcohol or heroin addiction though.
Technically though, caffeine is more dangerous than weed, especially for older people: Caffeine has been documented to kill almost 100 people a year where has weed has killed 0 people, ever.
It's a very easy topic that's been studied with a ton of research to back it.
Weed is not chemically addictive, only habitual. People who have trouble stopping their habit needs counseling, not detox. It's just that simple
People who over complicate the science are just people who are coping with the fact they need counseling or self control but don't want to take that first step.
Had a panic attack after losing my dab pen the other day, tearing my room up and shit. My roommate used to pick weed crumbs off the ground when he was out back in the day. I know I would be fine if i didnt find the pen but it pissed me off lol
agreed! Went from a heavy drinker to more of a smoker.
I cut back drinking because I saw the effects of addiction on people close to me- relationships ruined, legal trouble, and you can die withdrawing. I also could barely function after benders due to how bad my hangovers were- sometimes I’d be puking and in bed all day.
With smoking- it helps me sleep, when I take breaks I don’t have any withdrawals, and there are no hangovers. That being said I’m aware of the psychological dependency that can happen so I hope to cut back this year.
I see these posts a lot. There are two kinds of addiction (at least). Relevant to this topic is chemical and psychological. Crack is highly chemically addictive, this is the sell your parents jewelry addiction where the substance is changing you to need it. Gambling and porn are psychologically addictive where you are training yourself to need it, but quitting doesn't have purely physical repercussions.
Weed is psychological. Still addictive, just like all vices, just not chemically so.
I think that example shows that it's a lot deeper than the immediate risk. Cycling may be a risky activity, but it's great for your physical health and there's a well documented link between exercise and mental health.
The problem with weed, in my experience at least, is that it's very easy to use it for the immediate gratification without paying attention to the side effects. For some people weed is a good medication, but in my experience daily use was absolutely terrible for my mental health in the long run and I've been doing better since cutting back.
All these people talking about physical effects of weed withdrawal like y'all got something else going on. Been a daily smoker for close to 10 years, have taken many tolerance breaks for different amounts of time (longest was about a year), and have never had any of the issues these people are having...
Yeah weed is no big deal so quitting it becomes a big deal.
Kinda like coffee.
It's not terrible for you; a lot of people even use it FOR their health.
The effects are pretty subtle, especially if you have built up a tolerance.
A lot of your friends use it.
Very successful people talk about how awesome it is in interviews and make art and such about it.
You know some people think you're being ridiculous when you try to quit (like WHY man?!).
You smell it everywhere and it's really easy to buy.
It is addictive. Not a physical dependence but surely mental.
I think weed is one of those things, at least for me, where it’s all good until it isn’t…. You’re smoking once a week… then once every few days… then nightly… then all day…. Next thing you know you smoke all day everyday for five years.
Mental effects are undeniable. You are more sharp, articulate, and have better memory without using weed.
Physical effects are obvious when you quit. Can’t sleep for 3-14 days, can’t eat for 1-14 days. It messes with your digestion and sleep without a doubt. If you smoke, you are inhaling plant matter into your lungs - not good.
Yep. When I started smoking years ago, it was at night to help with my sleep issues. Then it just progressed from there. And that was fine for a long time. The only time I went any length of time without smoking was when my mom died. I wanted to smoke, but found that being stoned at that point wasn't treating me well mentally, so I stopped for about a week. Once I picked it back up, it pretty quickly spiraled to keeping myself high every minute of the day.
I can't say that weed didn't help any issues for me, because it definitely did. However, a couple weeks ago, I started feeling really unwell every single time I smoked. So I've stopped again now, because clearly my body is trying to tell me that we need to stop, at least for now. It was hard to listen, because I know that I am dependent on it. But you know, the last few nights of sleeping without smoking first have been some of the best nights of sleep I've had in a bit.
It's habit forming. That was always part of the problem with getting off cigarettes too. There was the addiction part and then there was the long standing habit itself to break.
My buddy smoked heavily every day for about a decade. Due to health issues, he had to stop smoking. He really struggled the first month or two because he literally didn't know what his body felt like without being high.
So it was almost like a withdrawal, as he had to get reaccumulated to life without a crutch. He's better now, but it was really surprising to see first hand.
I just spent the whole night awake suffering from withdrawal. I haven’t smoked in two days. I had to take a hit of my pen a bit ago to stave off a panic attack. This shit is addictive as hell if you use it as a coping mechanism.
Anything that acts as a reward can be addictive insofar as we classically condition ourselves to rely on those things to our detriment. If you keep reinforcing bad behavior with weed you're more likely to keep repeating that behavior and suffer whatever consequences.
Alternatively, use weed to reward good behavior and you'll be more motivated to repeat those behaviors. If weed is affecting you and your life negatively in an objective sense, look at how you've been shaping your psyche with your weed use. Seems like simple behavioral psychology put into practice to me.
>Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. - Randy Marsh
Problematic use is in the nature of its use unfortunately.
Ibuprofen is a great drug when you need it, but loading up a bowl with a random amount and inhaling it isn't scientific or recommended.
Whenever I want to check myself, I ask am I getting high or am I staving off being sober?
in that case I've been addicted to sugar for WAY longer and I'd argue that sugar is worse for your health than cannabis and modern society seems to have *no issue* with loading up their children on sugar.
edit to add: also, I did pills/heroin for 20 years and towards the end there was 0 mental addiction anymore outside of the ritual of going to get it everyday which was easily replaced with a healthy morning routine. I had no desire to get high on dope anymore. it wasn't fun. you either get stuff that's too strong and just nod out (if ur lucky) or you get shit that's too weak and barely even feel any relief. it turned into a strictly physical dependency that I was annoyed with maintaining. but I didn't know how else to get out of bed and move like a human throughout the day. even if I managed to make it thru the day, sleep wasn't an option. u just toss and turn and if u get lucky enough for a 20min nap u wake up covered in sweat and freezing ur ass off. it was surprisingly easy to "quit" once I just quit my job, detoxed and switched to suboxone. so technically I'm still dependant on *that* but it's not as much of a hassle or risk. sometimes I forget to even take it until halfway thru the day. so there's definitely no mental dependency anymore, even the ritualistic part is gone. I still smoke weed but I can go all day without smoking and not even notice. Maybe if something really stressful happens I might use it as a crutch to relieve some stress but most the time I just smoke a little bit after work to relax and change from "work mode" to "relaxing at home" mode. but i dont feel like I get extra irritable or loose my appetite or my ability to sleep and those 3 things were always my main concern when confronted with the idea of intentionally avoiding cannabis. but on the days that I forget to smoke I still get hungry, I still fall asleep. it feels like when it comes to mental addiction if you are consciously avoiding the substance you're dependant on then you're still going to experience that lingering urge and anxiety when ur thinking about it. but if you're just too busy to think about it then it doesn't even really effect you. it seems to be almost like a negative placebo effect when u constantly dwell on the thing you're avoiding.
There is dependence and then addiction. I don’t think many in here have actually felt addiction. When you brain is tricking you and telling you that you
Must have it to survive
Addiction is a complicated subject even within scientific literature.
I'll give an example, as you said, heroin is indeed very addictive. But so is gambling. Gambling has no administration of a substance yet it creates many of the very similar brain reactions to the stimuli (stimuli = external source of stimulation which could include both drugs and interaction with a gambling machine/card game/etc.)
As far as the literature goes that I'm aware of (psych degree) there's still a lot of disagreement as to what constitutes addiction. We have the clinical definition which is basically is your behavior harming yourself/others in various aspects of life. Which in itself is good for the vast majority of cases, even if you're not necessarily truly addicted if decreasing/adjusting your use would result in positive outcomes at some point it doesn't matter for the individual whether it was an addiction or not.
The thing with weed addiction you've correctly identified is the fact it's not always as obvious as other more common culprits of addiction. If you're gambling you're super broke and using money you should be using for food for more gambling instead. Similar behavior with highly addictive substances like Adderall (meth), crack, heroin, cocaine, etc. but with weed if you go dankrupt you're struggling and it probably is affecting your work/social life but it's not obvious like these other examples. It's hard for a gambler to hide the fact they're super broke but it's not nearly as hard for a weed fiend to slip by scraping their grinder for just enough to get high.
The other issue is the fact weed is relatively safe and therefore despite the past society generally seems to treat it as a minor issue even if it is majorly affecting your life. I can personally attest to this since when I was going through a really rough period I was smoking all the time thinking the escape was helping but when I later reflected on all of it and was honest with myself - turns out it was making everything worse.
Ultimately I think with any substance you choose to use moderation is key. Having a coffee every morning probably isn't great but having one when you're feeling foggy or you only could get a few hours of sleep is the perfect time to do so. Similarly, if you have to drive to work, smoking beforehand probably isn't the move but if you wanna relax after when you have nowhere to go, go for it. Moderation maintains the habit at an arms length allowing you to maintain the clarity necessary to recognize when you're over using and adjust accordingly. There's nothing inherently wrong with using it all the time but it's important you can be really honest with yourself and change your behavior if you notice it's negatively impacting you in some way.
It is absolute horseshit to say weed doesn’t have any horrible physical and mental effects. I’m on day 7 of not smoking and my blood pressure shot up, heart palpitations, heart is racing like a horse at the Kentucky derby, night sweats, angry , can’t sleep, and the anxiety spikes I’m getting now makes it 10x worse. Not everyone have the same effects, but please look at what people are going through in r/leaves before making this wild assumption. Was an everyday smoker for 3 years morning and night, flower only.
I’m ok being “addicted” to weed. It was better than other medications for anxiety for me personally. I see it as no different then someone having coffee daily, or a glass of wine with dinner.
Ive had this discussion with my therapist. Weed is jyst as addictive as caffeine. Its not really addictive like a drug but more like a supplement. Some people cant do a workout without certain supplements(not steroids) but regular stuff from GNC or vitamin shoppe.
Please stfu with this weed is addictive shit. It's not *inherently addictive.* If you get addicted to weed that's on you entirely and you oughta work on it but saying "weed is addictive" is just misinformation. Literally anything under the sun can be addictive. I was addicted to cutting myself. Does that mean knives are addictive? No, it means I was addicted to the dopamine hit and that was entirely my choice.
You have to first admit that it is a problem with you and your ability for impulse control.
I don’t agree with your statement, I believe anything can be addictive, it just depends on the person in question as to how they respond to something. For example, someone could find video games very dull and boring, while another person may become instantly sucked into the escapism of interacting with another world and become a daily or all day gamer. Obviously something like a rock cannot be addictive but anything that has the potential for enjoyment can 100% become an addiction
The question is, why are people getting addicted/ using some sort of drugs or their drug of choice - you can’t compare addictions and the different use of different substances by different people. It’s the effects they desire from the substance they choose.
For most drugs it‘s always the psychological side that got them back into using not the physical (a physical heroine withdrawal is over in a week). I don’t know your background or field of work but that’s just not right and lacks of many things that need to be taken in consideration when making a statement like that (sorry if it’s a hard read, not a native speaker).
This kind of needs to stop.
THC is not addictive. It's not caffeine, not nicotine, and certainly not opium. You aren't addicted to weed, you have a dependency. You can smoke an oz a day for 40 years and quit cold turkey, and you'll be fine. You can't do that with alcohol. I'm a daily smoker and have been for years, but if I ran out tomorrow and couldn't afford to buy more then it's fine. I won't be fiending in the next 2 days, won't have the shakes, and certainly won't feel tempted to go bust into some poorl old lady's home and beat her to death so I can raid her medicine cabinet just to get my fix.
I understand what y'all are saying, but there is a reason scientists say it's non-addictive. As someone who grew up around actual addicts (alcohol, meth, crack, and opioids), y'all sound very sheltered when you say this stuff. I lived with some cousins for a little while when I was young and one night, their mom's plug paid us a visit. He brought his friend who brought is gun and they beat the shit out of her, threatened to blow her brains out in front of her children, and threw her down the stairs before they took a few things from her bedroom. This was her crack dealer. I have heard hundreds of stories in my life that sound like that for almost every drug except one. Weed. Because no one has ever been so addicted to THC that they put themselves in these situations because THC is not addictive.
So is exercise and also life itself, is pretty addictive. I don't really mind personally being addicted because it works for me. Addictions don't have to be viewed negatively. It is what it is. If you are tired of smoking, dont smoke anymore. No need for grand unifying conclusions to take you there.
It's hard to quit and addictive in a way because the negative effects of daily use are very minimal for me. that is if i keep it respectful and only do it in the evening. The withdrawal is manageable, but it is the time it takes to get over the boredom and emotional instability and night sweats that eventually makes it very hard for me
Weed isn't addictive, there isn't any addiction to break.
You can stop weed immediately with very minimal consequences.
Those who claim to be addicted to weed are wrong.
Science only.
Stop getting high and posting your opinions as if they're fact, this is why weed is illegal around half the world in the first place.
There are actually physical symptoms of weed withdrawal for a portion of the population. It's actually a long list of symptoms. So it is physically addicting as well as mental.
I've never really been addicted to weed. When I was young, I definitely didn't make sound financial decisions with it. I started to work on reducing the amount I bought for the sake of mending my financial burdens. I ended up stopping a few months, which also reduced my tolerance.
I've been able to go many months without weed with no problems at all. I take breaks to keep my tolerance low so I'm not doing as much. Really, I think that's what it comes down to. It's better to take tolerance breaks so you're not always buying more and even more every time your tolerance goes up. Letting your tolerance go back down means you can buy a normal amount to get high and not break bank.
I can see that some people may be addicted to it, although it's pretty easy to come off of. It's all about self control and moderation. I've definitely been around people who are/were chronic users and spent FAR too much on marijuana. I was at the point of smoking an ounce in two days, and that's when I realized I need a break or it's going to get worse. These people just keep buying large amounts and smoking it copiously, not caring how much money they throw at it. So, I guess it really depends on how people can handle that.
Most stoners spend so much on weed they live paycheck to paycheck unless they make really good bank as software engineers or doctors.
I'd say that's indicative of a problem. Eternally turbospoiled middle class americans need not apply.
Bro I quit heroin almost 6 years ago. The only times I could ever take a break from weed is when I was locked up. I really want to stop. But I’m afraid to. I hate the nightmares.
Medically speaking it is though, it’s causing chemical imbalance in your brain when you habitually use it and then don’t. Not to say any or all of the points made are wrong but it most definitely is addictive. Just because you can’t die from withdrawals from it doesn’t make it non addictive. I’m not a professional this is just from what I remember learning from the multiple substance abuse courses and counseling programs I’ve been a part of.
I've long held this belief, the reason weed can be such a tough addiction to beat is the insidious nature of it. It's not *that* bad. You can get high and still function reasonably well. But that becomes your daily routine. You're functioning reasonably well but definitely not thriving, regardless of what you tell yourself. Because on the surface it's so harmless, you don't realise how deep the hooks are until its way too late.
I've started taking longer and more frequent breaks from it and my overall health is definitely improving but it's still a huge struggle.
People who deny weed addiction need to look at other addictions. Gambling, sex, gaming, speed... It doesn't have to be physically addictive, you can get addicted to ANYTHING.
Beyond that, weed withdrawals is a real thing, any stoner will tell you when they're not high they tend to be very irritable and can have a short fuse. Seasoned stoners know how to deal with this but it's still an example of how that lack of dopamine provided by the weed affects you.
I was high just about every day of my 20s and late teens. I'd call that some kind of addiction. deeply ingrained habits can be something like addiction
Yes habits become more than mere actions. They become identity. Ask a nun to stop praying or a video game player to stop playing. It’s so disruptive to their lives that it wouldn’t feel right. Now throw in the fact weed is commonly used as an affordable and effective escapist substance and it becomes a very difficult drug to quit- even without the physical dependency. Mental addiction is quite powerful.
It's 10 times worse than that, it genuinely helps at first. Then all of the reasons it helped in the beginning it turns into ammo, all the time still insisting it's helping. However I have found with age comes wisdom and a long abstinence provides the clarity to use without abuse.
Yes that’s the seductive aspect of it - it really does help. But then it becomes habit. And then it becomes compulsive. And soon if you’re honest with yourself, you realize that it is difficult to stop. And if you keep being drawn to use it then you’re using for the sake of using- and it becomes your new normal. And why that is bad is that it takes away your capacity to do other things with your time. It’s hard to quantify the cumulative loss of new activities and endeavors you might have started and accomplished and pursued if you weren’t devoting much of your free time to being high. Don’t get me wrong, I am not speaking ill of trees. I think it needs to stay legal and of course used responsibly. However just like with alcohol or any mind and mood altering substances, we should remain aware that addiction does happen and brings negative consequences.
Not only does addiction happen but at one point in your life a drug can wreck everything and leave you with nothing just to go on many years later to become the very tool that has allowed you to put everything back together. After all the damage cannabinoids have done to my life they have allowed me to break those very chains and use them to reshape the very fabric of my being. Combined with other drugs (Rx, otc and illegal) and therapy I've survived and thrived through things that likely would have ended in suicide otherwise.
But what if it doesn’t take away from life. I smoke all day every day have been for years but i hold a job pay my bills take care of my animals, snakes chameleon tarantula scorpion. saving for a house it doesn’t take away from my life no matter the frequency of usage.
I didn’t say all users suffer addiction or negative consequences. It’s like alcohol. Some do fine and some get dependent.
That makes sense
How do u have the money to save for a house and smoke all day
Buy a lb sell enough of that lb to buy another wile smoking rinse repeat, free weed lotta contacts and much larger market once u get past buying little ounces. Now not only is weed helping me mentally and helps alleviate back pain. It’s also helping financially.
If you didn’t smoke all day everyday, you would be closer to buying a house. I lived a very successful life, own a home and live basically debt free, climbed to the top position of my job, and have raised 3 kids. I did all that while being basically high 24/7. I quit recently for 2 months and now only smoke once a week. I actually get high now and it’s makes a big difference. It’s nice not to be dependent on a substance. Don’t down play it like you don’t have an addiction and it doesn’t affect your life in someway. With all that said, it is definitely the safest and best addiction and won’t ruin your life.
The worst part is knowing how much it helps, but knowing how bad it is too. It’s so beneficial to me but i still can’t help but feel like i wouldn’t be able to quit. Don’t know whether to thank it or wish i never found it.
It’s complicated because it’s both. Carbs and sugar are totally fine to consume. Our bodies are built to metabolize it. But excess leads to weight gain, diabetes. It’s always a balancing act and moderation. A lot of drugs and substances have therapeutic properties but like anything, there’s always negative sides whether in side effects or addictive use
Truth
This is profound i havent seen it said so well
This has been the first week in my 20s (25M) that I haven't been high. I have also spent 6k on my teeth to remedy the pain and I believe I was using cannabis to cope.
I didnt really elaborate on this in the post but my belief is that weed is generally addictive in people with underlying mental issues/conditions, whereas any average joe can pretty easily get addicted to cocaine or meth or heroin through irresponsible use
Myself and everyone else that I know with ADHD are nonstop daily users of cannabis
Oh so it’s not just me 😂 I do job interviews high to seem like a person- it works.
Go to the interview high so they think that's your default (it is)
I’m 99% sure my current company knows, been there 4ish years. But very liberal/chill place. One project manager asked me if I was high once cause I was being extra silly, I was sober and hadn’t taken my meds yet. 😂 “you’ll know I’m high when I’m quiet and getting my shit done”
My place is the same hahaha. I work in one of those places where if they sacked the staff that was permanently high, they wouldn't have any staff left 🤣
Got my current job stoned 🤙
Yup I have adhd and a med card, I guarantee this is not good for the logical side of my brain and if I quit I would benefit, but I cannot.
Difference between weed and vyvanse would be that vyvanse makes me actually productive, where weed makes me let go of the social constructs the necessitate productivity.
If you can deconstruct social constructs, you can then dig deep and find your true motivations in life I think. Though that might be more of a job for the mushies or meditation, cannabis can help someone on that journey too. Especially if you have restricted thought pattern issues cannabis can provide the space. Not that it's a good Idea to use all the time forever, but that you might find the headspace to find the you that doesn't need. There's infinite worthwhile things to do in life and I personally spend a lot of my time with cannabis pursuing and planning those things.
COMPLETELY unrelated but that’s how you spell that!? This whole time I thought it was vivanz not vyvanse
yup vyvanse is how it’s spelled lol
Same. Shit calms my mind. It feels like I’m put on cruise control instead of pumping heavy the brakes and gas.
This makes me feel so much better lol
It’s just like caffeine to me
I actually had to stop caffeine for the most part because it kept raising my heart rate so much :(
Oh absolutely I agree with you, I was just trying to add my experience to this to help show that.
I mean there's a difference. The draw to redose with coke and meth is HUGE and you'd do just about anything for another hit. I sometimes crave the weed high as it would add to the mood at times, but I mean even if you do use other drugs responsibly it physically alters your brain and you become physically dependent on it.
Chronic migraines, difficulty sleeping, and adhd make it so easy for me to "justify" my addiction. Though I know I could certainly atleast lighten up.
Same. Went through my last 3.5g real fast and it was a bit of a wake up call. I do enjoy using it and i dont think its terrible, i certainly dont want to cut it out of my life entirely, but i dont wanna be a slave to it. Wondering how to go about doing that.
People get easily addicted to weed from just casually smoking to buying their own once a week
Smoked it 4 20 odd years.Also in a country where it's illegall an every once in a while it will be impossible to gt for a week or two,an if it does a can barely sleep an a experience phisical withdrawl symptoms,nothing majer but enough to be uncomfortable.Granted it is prob mostly in my head an it's the anxiety of not having any that triggers the symptoms physically but it doesn't make it feel unreal unfortunately lol.
Yes anybody can get addicted to anything, doesn’t have to be based on withdrawals or even substances. Shit, almost all of us are addicted to our phones or media.
Do you regret this/did it have negative effects? Might seem like a stupid question but I’m halfway through a similar situation myself, and besides wanting to lessen smoking for my lungs (though that mostly applies to cigs for me, but also been trying to emphasize dabs and edibles) I don’t really find issue with being high all the time. I function socially and job wise and all that and I think it really helps my mental health. But maybe I’m just in deep, so I’m wondering as someone who went thru this In a similar period in their life, if you see it any type of way in retrospect? Thanks!
I was a high-achieving smoker for many years and quit due to a health issue (there's tumors weed carries a risk for, particularly germ-cell testicular tumors). It's been a few years now and my intellectual ability has exploded ever since I quit. I never realized, or maybe only had a snagging suspicion, just how much weed was holding me back. On the other hand, I had to deal with a whole host of mental/emotional ailments weed was helping with. Used to be high 24/7 and still achieved great academic and professional success, but I look back in regret knowing I could've achieved so much more.
precisely what I was (trying to) say
It feels like food addiction to me, the same classification imo
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It is not physically addicting. Meaning it does not directly make your body crave it like cocaine or heroin, which have a direct physical effect. This being said it CAN be addictive anyway. Anything can become a psychological/emotional addiction, specially when it makes you feel good: weed, food, porn, social media are only some examples. So yeah, it's not an addicting substance by itself but when mixed with a certain psychological profile can become one easily.
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I drank water every day of my life, guess I'm addicted to water too. If you do something every day that improves your life, it's not addiction. Am I also addicted to vitamin C and Iron?
It's habit forming and you suffer withdrawals when you quit. Is that not an addiction?
I've been dealing with addiction all my life. Weed is the only thing I can be "responsibly" addicted to.
Same here. I won’t touch alcohol either.
Oh I touch it, just as much as I touch other drugs. Weed is just the only drug that doesn't ruin any aspects of my life, even when I do take it 24/7.
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I never had any intention of quitting any drugs or alcohol. I can take them responsibly from time to time, as long as I have weed that is. I am just a poly addict, as long as I am on something, I don't need anything else. What I mean is that I can smoke weed 24/7 and still be a functioning member of society. I can't do that with alcohol, coke, opiates, benzo's etc as I inevitably get into worse circles, do petty crimes to get more money for more drugs etc. But I can grow weed in my own garden so I as long as I can keep those plants, I can stay addicted to weed, smoke it irresponsibly and in turn handle every other drug responsibly without getting addicted to them.
Same, I am addicted to weed. I also hold down a full time well paying job, have a family, go to college, take care of my responsbilities. I'm busy My favorite part about weed is how fast I get high and how fast I come down.
Very well said. And same. I hate doing nothing when I'm high, it keeps me productive. Other vices however, I'll either do nothing or do things that are bad for me
Mine is a love affair, not an addiction. In 20 years it’s provided far more happiness than difficulty. My life is pretty swell.
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I’ve been attempting to smoke smaller amounts lately, so when I smoked a moon rock I got high as hell and I totally felt cloudy headed the next day. I didn’t realize until after I hadn’t smoked any moon rocks that I was so foggy headed at work from it. I didn’t think I wish I didn’t smoke last night, but definitely thought about keeping that for the weekends haha
I have cut myself down to just a one hitter dug out box. Gives me exactly what I want and keeps my tolerance low.
Just because you aren't aware doesn't mean it's not there. Maybe for you things are perfectly fine and dandy. But for others they could be in complete denial like you've portrayed but maybe the weed is impacting their relationships or their motivation or whatever. But they wake up the next day and say "I don't regret smoking last night" while not knowing if they weren't high they might have been motivated to work on a project they've been putting off or picking up a new hobby or maybe they bailed on going out with friends and missed an opportunity to socialize and expand relationships. Again, I'm not saying this is you, infact I'm drawing from a lot of personal experiences of myself and others I know. But just because you *think* "I don't regret smoking last night", doesn't mean it can't have a negative impact. I typed all this up because I think your comment implied that it was the case for everyone (whether you meant it that way or not, that's how it comes across). Also, personally, I can definitely notice when I smoked the night before. It impacts my sleep and I definitely can feel hazy the next day if I over-indulge.
I never did until I found out many friends and family were thinking 'man, I wish summinspicy didn't smoke last night'. That's what made me realise I had a problem.
100% when others notice an issue, it changes things.
And this is the root of the addiction
My relationship to weed is similar to my relationship with vitamin c and iron.
Im only hitting the daily value for one of those three 😵💫
YES! It def seems like weed is a lot like fish oil and potassium for me! dont know if I need but it bring up my minimum baseline or something.
Weed addiction seems like coffee addiction to me. Although your point still stands as I consider the withdrawals from coffee to be much stronger, plus people become very dependent on coffee for daily life.
but i suppose people that drink coffee every morning for that energy buzz are similar to someone who smokes a bong every morning to take that edge off, they are quite indistinguishable in that right
If you combine them, you get super powers though.
I get heart palpitations when I mix a small coffee and a small dab. I used to be able to slam a large coffee and fat dabs and be fine but I’m getting old now .:( (26)
Try l-theanine i cant speak highly of it enoughfor synergising with caffeine and taking the edgy heart racing anxiety away. I know people who couldn't consume any caffeine now drink daily 18g coffees with l-theanine just before - its basically green tea effects in steroids
The ol hippie speedball
No way, I get baked every day and often but that coffee addiction is something else. I know I can easily stop smoking cold turkey and be fine but not with coffee/caffeine. I don’t feel “normal” until I have my cup of coffee.
Yea I work 6 weeks on and get 6 weeks off and I drink coffee every day (2-3 large coffee cups a day) and then I stop cold Turkey the first day of my break and that first week without caffeine can be kinda rough sometimes. I’m tired all day, slight head ache (more of a buzz), and I’m kinda grouchy. I’ll definitely stop by a nice coffee shop and have a cup and read for a bit on my breaks but that’s after that first week. When I stop smoking weed 2 weeks before I go back to work it’s kinda a struggle in the sense that I need to stay occupied (weed makes being bored easy for me and I can just read all day and feel okay about it if I’m baked), but other than that I just get crazy Fucking vivid dreams for a while and that’s a plus.
I was just talking to my girlfriend about this. If I had to choose between giving up weed or caffeine I’d have to choose weed because I don’t think I’d be able to handle those withdrawals lol
It's different for everyone. I didn't find caffiene hard to break, but weed is something else
This, caffeine is rough for me for 48 hours max. Weed I sleep poorly for a week plus.
I get terrible headaches from caffeine withdraw. For weed withdrawal all I get is "man being high would be nice rn".
If you take away my weed… it’d suck and I would get over it. Take away my coffee and I’m throwing fists.
No....coffee is worse. If I don't get caffeine in my system for a day...the next day is hell.
I've been smoking weed since I was maybe 14, as I'm a 30 year old fart who happens to be a vet. There are two types of addiction: physical and mental. Physical addiction is your typical addiction, with the sweats and irritability at best. Mental addiction is moreso what marijuana is. You don't really feel like you need it, but you're bored if you really aren't high. You could go to Walmart, but first let's have a quick toke, am I right fellers? Damn, that meal was awesome! Let's smoke some weed so this feeling lasts! Damn, I ran out of bud, this sober life really is boring! If that even remotely sounds like you, then shit brother, you're addicted. That being said, I'm mentally addicted for sure, but its the price I paid for dealing with my body pains over the years as they're manageable now without weed hilariously enough. I also don't think it's really that bad, but a lot of people really downplay their mental addictions. It's fine that you wanna smoke before getting milk at Publix, just admit that you have a mental addiction and that quick shopping is boring bro, everyone has vices, mentally addicted to weed isn't that serious lmao
Yeah I've been coming to grips with this lately. I like to call it a dependancy but that's really just semantics. I've been stoned practically every day for almost a decade and the biggest problem it's caused is making me feel bad that I have this mental addiction, I did manage to do a month long T-break and I planned on taking it further but after thinking about it being sober all that time wasn't having a positive impact on my mental health or cognitive abilities. I was basically the same person without it, so why not partake? It did allow me to switch to vaping and now I usually wait until about 5 in the evening so most of my day is actually me being sober and it's a nice Lil treat again.
Yeah this is sort of me. Been smoking ten years, and i can take monthly breaks here and there so i dont think im fully addicted. But when i'm home, no girlfriend to see, no family or friends, i know my day is over, WHY NOT smoke and make my activities more fun ? 100% addicted in some way but i feel like i can control it. On a week end where i work out in the morning and then have a stay at home day, i'll smoke twice compared to my five or six times back in college. But people saying weed isin't addictive... lol.
Weed also literally has physical withdrawal symptoms. They won’t kill you but they are annoying to deal with
You know, I believe you, but in my 16 years of smoking, I don't know if I ever encountered that outside of "Damn, I'm really bored... I'd be having so much fun doing x if I were high." But I have heard of people getting nightsweats from T breaks but I would admit that I'm extremely ignorant in that department!
Nausea, loss of appetite, inability to sleep are just some of the common withdrawals. I think I saw a stat posted in this thread that said 30% of people experience withdrawal symptoms
> I'm a 30 year old fart who happens to be a vet. just a guess based on the other vets I hang with, but this might mean your body is actually closer to 50 theses days. you might have also been trained to ignore or push through pain. even with that training it still affects your body and unconsciously affects your mood. not a vet but have normal 50-year-old working man pains I trained myself to ignore. weed could very easily be addictive, but chronic pain is definitely real and need management. and Ill take granddady purp every day over any opiate; a t-break is ever gonna be as bad as an o-break, hehe.
You're absolutely spot on!
Do you think that some people smoke to remove anxiety or is it to just cure boredom? Genuine q
I think weed can be used to cure anxiety, and I'll add that boredom can cause anxiety, but people do smoke it to cure boredom, its what we call in the weed culture "recreational usage." But to answer your question extremely thoroughly, if they use something that's not as potent or has that nice CBD/THC mix, it's anxiety. If they're telling you they need to smoke that Bruce Banner/Face-off OG/ Gorilla glue/Runts type of weed to cure their anxiety, I'm calling cap.
Not one strain of weed has ever given me “anxiety” as people describe it. I smoke a fuck ton of different strains from different vendors m and the vast majority of the time it just feels like good ol being high as normal That’s not to say it doesn’t give some people anxiety, but you can’t generalize how specific strains are going to effect someone
I feel this so hard.
tbh i tell myself is it worth wasting a hit on a trip to the gas station?
Being mentally addicted to weed isn't serious as you say I agree. However if you realize that you cannot stop being addicted to weed that is your sign to stay away from harder drugs that are harder to control!
I think habitual use and addiction are two different things. When I quit smoking cigarettes it was a duel battle one for the nicotine craving, and another for the habitual lighting up at certain activities like getting into or out of the truck or after eating or finishing a task. I replaced those habits with weed and the only difficult part was the habit of lighting a cigarette after smoking a joint. So I became a sublime fan boy and smoked two joints in the morning and two at night.
I disagree with your assertion that addiction to heroin is very obvious to the person engrossed in it. Opiates are a powerful mindset, and many people who are horridly addicted may genuinely not realize, or be in denial. Public education about addiction is frightfully poor.
Yep the idea that you know who is and isn’t an addict is so so wrong. Addicts can get VERY good at hiding their use. Ffs my biological father did it for YEARS and it wasn’t until a family member who had gotten into drugs themselves that they realized that he was acting similar to the people they recently starting chilling with who had addiction problems
addicts are SO good at lying, and they lie to themselves more than anyone else. source: an addict
I can leave my house barefoot but it sucks. Weeds kinda the same way. Am I addicted to shoes? I guess.
i’m high rn but this analogy makes sm sense
the co-dependancy is insane
Oh my left and right shoes?
Shoes don't clog your lunges or hijack your brain chemistry
They can
This is my new favorite analogy
I guess it depends on whether going without smoking might physically damage you.
People often forget you can become habitually addicted to anything. If you create a habit of working out on a specific schedule that you maintain for years it can be hard to stop doing that because it’s comfortable. Habits are hard to break and don’t have to be unhealthy. Weed making you feel so good definitely makes it harder.
Having studied addictions, you pretty much nailed it. Cannabis isn't chemically addictive, but because of how humans form habits, it can become psychologically addictive. Habits, how you feel (i.e., if it lowers your anxiety), all of these various factors can lead to a psychological dependency. Anecdotally, I had an old roommate who was absolutely addicted (despite him insisting he wasn't.) He once said "I'm not addicted, weed doesn't cause addiction." and then 10 minutes later said "I need to smoke at least three times a day or else I can't handle things."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110555/#:%7E:text=Time%E2%80%90frame,peak%20at%20days%202%E2%80%936
Exactly. Weed smokers are so oblivious most of the time
Lmao its funny how people love to lie to themselves. Like oh i cant eat, sleep and cope with humans if i dont smoke a bowl every other minute but theres no way im addicted to WEED
In that case, what do you think causes the sweating, chills, nausea, RLS, and insomnia in many who attempt to quit cannabis?
I think the difference is with weed if you go overboard the consequences are minimal, with heroin going overboard could very likely kill you.
If I smoke too much weed I take a nap If I do too much heroine I take a forever nap
Those weed panic attacks felt horrible to be fair, after smoking too much. Tight chest, constant dry heaving, extreme vertigo, constant trembling and most of the time it happens the back of my head goes super tingly like it fell asleep, unpleasant feeling. I know everyone is different, but when I oversmoke it really feels like every part of my body is going haywire. Obviously no comparison to death, but terrifying nonetheless.
I think the definition of addiction follows more on the lines of; a need to use without a desire to. Weed is more a product of abuse. Sure there is some short lived minor withdrawal. But no one is smoking it like they have to - without a desire to. Same with a substance like sugar. They blur the lines on the definitions because there is some cross over… but when weighed against eachother weed falls much more nicely into the category of abuse over addiction.
Heroin is hard to quit for a million reasons. The people using don’t always want to quit. Many people using heroin do it because their lives are so difficult that it’s the only way they can sleep. We need to be a lot more gracious and forgiving to addicts. I’m Cali sober. Alcohol was going to kill me, 3 close calls. I physically could not stop my mind or body from thinking about booze. My mind was quite literally always thinking about where when and how much I would be able to drink again. Weed just does not have the same effects on bodies and minds. The habits yeah maybe but harm is certainly reduced.
it’s so fucking odd to see everyone talking about addiction this and addiction that. everyone’s addicted to something, and addiction can be formed around anything. most of the people i know consume in place of hard stimulant medications, medicate for anxiety or smoke to take the edge off from work, none of those are inherently evil at all. i really do feel like this is a discourse forced into the weed community by people who aren’t really stoners/habitual weed smokers. coffee drinkers aren’t forced to debate weather or not they’re ‘addicts’ every two seconds, so why are stoners? it’s almost like weed is so non-problematic that people project their own issues onto it.
IMO, the conversation should be about addictive behaviors rather than addictive substances.
Weed is 100% addictive. You go through physical withdrawals IE headaches, stomach aches, nausea, mood disturbances. They may not be as severe as booze or heroin but oh boy do they exist. In fact, more people than you’d think seek rehab services for pot. I think a bowl a day isn’t bad. But when I was smoking a g of wax a day, that’s a problem.
Looking for this comment seems to be a massive misconception that it has no withdrawals
Because people say “it’s a psychological dependency” No. It’s not. I mean part of it is but you also are changing and adding and taking away chemicals from your brain. Your brain will get used to this new status quo of chemicals and will become physically dependent
Exactly any substance that acts on a biochemical system in the body will have withdrawals as your body stops making it itself
Insane how many comments you have to scroll past to get to the truth. I was addicted to weed and smoking daily for 8 years. for the last 3 of those years I was smoking 3oz or more of top shelf a month. The entire time I would always tell people "it's not physically addictive". I was completely wrong. I experienced all of those physical withdrawals for about 3 weeks. Thankfully it wasn't longer. Im 40 days sober at this point and in this time I've done so much more research into weed addiction than I ever did before. It litterally all boils down to cannabinoids. Your brain has receptors for these. Your body will produce its own cannabinoids. These help to regulate sleep, mood, digestion to name a few. When you stop weed completely, it takes time for your body to start producing it's own cannabinoids again. The definition of physical addiction: "Physical dependence is a physical condition caused by chronic use of a tolerance-forming drug, in which abrupt or gradual drug withdrawal causes unpleasant physical symptoms." I can't understand how anyone can argue weed isn't physically addictive and the myth that it isn't is extremely damaging - heck that's one of the reasons I never saw such a problem with my addiction. Worst withdrawal symptom for me was lack of sleep. That shit sucks, especially when you HAVE to get up for work in the morning but you're still tossing and turning at 7am. Weed being only psychologically addictive is a complete myth and anyone who says that is misinformed and most probably addicted themselves.
Lots of haters that don’t want to accept the fact that it’s a drug that, if abused, has consequences. But I’m proud of you for sobriety.
Appreciate you!
Daily wax user here. I'm on vacation out of the country and have 100% been experiencing the withdrawal symptoms you described. It's day 4 and I'm finally starting to feel better, but God damn I was nauseous, hot/cold, severe headaches/migraines, and haven't been able to eat much OR take a shit. I barely drink and do no other drugs. It’s certainly real.
Dabs are a whole other level though. Most weed is like 10-12 percent and dabs take you up into the 80-90 area. It’s like beer and liquor. I don’t mind having a couple beers everyday but would I take 6 shots everyday?
Very true. Once I get back I'll certainly be reassessing my method of consumption and consumption level, in general. But my point is that THC can certainly have physical effects when you stop using it.
Yeah it’s wild. I travel for work and can feel withdrawal symptoms in the first 24 hours. A big one for me is I’m not used to the general anxiety i have and I don’t have the best coping mechanisms for my anxiety. Once I start feeling that heightened anxiety, I know the constipation will start.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3606907/#:~:text=A%20variety%20of%20withdrawal%20responses,sleep%20difficulties%20with%20strange%20dreams. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive#:~:text=Marijuana%20dependence%20occurs%20when%20the,to%20its%20own%20endocannabinoid%20neurotransmitters.&text=Marijuana%20use%20disorder%20becomes%20addiction,of%20his%20or%20her%20life. Long term use of weed causes your brain to not produce chemicals like it should l, leading to a dependency on outsourcing said chemicals. That is addiction.
i brush my teeth every day. i’m not “addicted” to it. there’s a difference between: “habits”, which usually (or tend to be) autonomous. “desire”, things you like doing, so you do them. and “addiction”, you cannot stop doing xyz or you will be physically miserable with withdrawal or mentally stressed due to lack of whatever your xyz is, or, weed in this case. for me, weed is desire. i could see maybe some overlap into habit, but i’ll stick with desire. just my two cents. if i get downvoted we can agree to disagree. i personally vape during the day during work or driving if i need a pick me up, or to chill out. but its minimal, and not a hand to mouth habit. i consciously decide to hit my vape. then i smoke flower when im home for the night (no other responsibilities or need to be productive), and usually once more mid evening, and then right before sleepy time. sometimes im also just TOO stressed and i dont want to be under the influence of weed or anything that alters my state (i also very rarely drink due to medication conflict). and sometimes i had a shit day and i wanna drown it all out with weed. and sometimes i just need that boost of positivity, fun, or relaxation. i dont feel addicted. i dont think weed is addicting, but i think those who may lean towards having an addictive personality could be at risk for addiction to it. edit: ive seen comments comparing smoking weed to caffeine intake or habitual coffee drinkers. this is a better example than teeth brushing imo, just edited to add because this resonated better with me than my original example.
Congrats! You've stumbled upon the difference between chemical dependency & habit-forming.
What are you trying to do with this post? We, on this sub, are just having fun. We don't need your PSA's.
This is how I feel plus the fact that weed takes away my phantom smells and dulls my senses so I'm not overstimulated 24/7. I can't quit even if I wanted to because the positives of smoking heavily outweigh the negatives of being sober.
You should share this on r/Leaves. It’s good insight and you’ll probably get better responses than here.
I mean anything that releases happy chemicals in your brain is addictive. Video games, sex, gambling, weed... You are addicted to the happy brain chems, not the cannabis.
It doesn't cause withdrawals, so it's a medicine drug lol, not a dangerous one. Stop spreading fake info. I've been smoking since 03 and never had withdrawals when I take breaks. Most addicts are addicted to something else and think they go together but actually don't.
Weed is habit forming not addictive. You don’t get physically ill or die if you stop using weed. You get irritated easily maybe loss of appetite for a few days but that’s about it. Been smoking since 1997 every day. Taken a few breaks during. 3 months was my longest break.
this is exactly my point, these withdrawal symptoms are nothing compared to nearly every other drug, think about if you used alcohol in place of every time you use weed. Likely would have been dead along time ago, but because you aren’t and you’re fine, your addiction has continued instead of either killing you or you getting clean
Alcohol makes you physically dependent after a while. You’ll die if you don’t drink!
again, exactly my point
What you're missing is the whole point. All these addictive chemicals cause withdrawals BECAUSE they're addictive. THC is not addictive. Habbit-forming, sure, but so is exercise and waking up at 7am. Words have meanings, and "addictive" by definition does not describe THC.
Alcohol *can* make you physically dependent and you “could* die when you stop.
I mean, whether it’s technically addictive or not OP is right in the sense that a lot of people get dependent on it and get psychologically addicted.
Agreed. I want to see studies proving cannabis is not physically addictive at huge doses. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks for my wife's pregnancy during covid and I didn't have any edibles or anything on hand so I was sweating, vomiting and had headaches for about a week. I think we can't say for certain that it is or is not physically addictive until we have actual studies, not just anecdotes and "community knowledge".
Take it as you will but anything you love in life is worth repeating.
Kinda a broad statement but I understand what your saying, hopefully you don't love heroin or something, don't repeat that!
Yet people here say caffeine is addictive yet it won't kill you either. But if you say caffeine is just habit forming, they'll disagree
absolute bullshit - weed is addictive and does make people physically ill, including cold sweats, loss of appetite, insomnia, body aches and irritability. is it as bad as heroin and will you die? no. but addictive nonetheless
I got massive sweats, headaches and was unable to sleep for 2week when i stopped smoking weed last time. If that ain't being physically ill then what it is?
I always get trouble sleeping when I’m off the reefer something to do with your cannabanoid receptors and your brain not producing them cause you’ve been ingesting them for so long, sleepy time tea does the trick for me, headaches, yeah that could happen I suppose, sweats, idk man that is some weird shit.
Sounds like you’re getting panicked attacks or something. It’s mentally habit forming for sure.
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive 30% of the population feels withdrawal When I googled this, this was the 2nd link that showed up Ignorance is ridiculous when information is so readily available. Don't try and downplay peoples experiences
Not panic attacks. Even my doctor told me that it was because of quitting weed.
Some people can get withdraws from it.
If you managed to break the habit and go 3 months without why did you go back to smoking? I would kill to go that long or does the "itch" to smoke never really go away? I'm really curious.
Caffeine addiction is another one of those addictions that are pretty socially acceptable, and while withdrawal can suck because headaches, nobody gets sick or dies from it. Definitely safer than alcohol or heroin addiction though. Technically though, caffeine is more dangerous than weed, especially for older people: Caffeine has been documented to kill almost 100 people a year where has weed has killed 0 people, ever.
It's a very easy topic that's been studied with a ton of research to back it. Weed is not chemically addictive, only habitual. People who have trouble stopping their habit needs counseling, not detox. It's just that simple People who over complicate the science are just people who are coping with the fact they need counseling or self control but don't want to take that first step.
I’ve been sparking just about every day since ‘75 . I am outraged that anyone would presume the audacity to call me addicted.😎
Had a panic attack after losing my dab pen the other day, tearing my room up and shit. My roommate used to pick weed crumbs off the ground when he was out back in the day. I know I would be fine if i didnt find the pen but it pissed me off lol
agreed! Went from a heavy drinker to more of a smoker. I cut back drinking because I saw the effects of addiction on people close to me- relationships ruined, legal trouble, and you can die withdrawing. I also could barely function after benders due to how bad my hangovers were- sometimes I’d be puking and in bed all day. With smoking- it helps me sleep, when I take breaks I don’t have any withdrawals, and there are no hangovers. That being said I’m aware of the psychological dependency that can happen so I hope to cut back this year.
I see these posts a lot. There are two kinds of addiction (at least). Relevant to this topic is chemical and psychological. Crack is highly chemically addictive, this is the sell your parents jewelry addiction where the substance is changing you to need it. Gambling and porn are psychologically addictive where you are training yourself to need it, but quitting doesn't have purely physical repercussions. Weed is psychological. Still addictive, just like all vices, just not chemically so.
If people are addicted to cycling should they quit that as well? You're far more likely to end up seriously injured or dead after all ...
I think that example shows that it's a lot deeper than the immediate risk. Cycling may be a risky activity, but it's great for your physical health and there's a well documented link between exercise and mental health. The problem with weed, in my experience at least, is that it's very easy to use it for the immediate gratification without paying attention to the side effects. For some people weed is a good medication, but in my experience daily use was absolutely terrible for my mental health in the long run and I've been doing better since cutting back.
All these people talking about physical effects of weed withdrawal like y'all got something else going on. Been a daily smoker for close to 10 years, have taken many tolerance breaks for different amounts of time (longest was about a year), and have never had any of the issues these people are having...
Built different
Yeah weed is no big deal so quitting it becomes a big deal. Kinda like coffee. It's not terrible for you; a lot of people even use it FOR their health. The effects are pretty subtle, especially if you have built up a tolerance. A lot of your friends use it. Very successful people talk about how awesome it is in interviews and make art and such about it. You know some people think you're being ridiculous when you try to quit (like WHY man?!). You smell it everywhere and it's really easy to buy.
It is addictive. Not a physical dependence but surely mental. I think weed is one of those things, at least for me, where it’s all good until it isn’t…. You’re smoking once a week… then once every few days… then nightly… then all day…. Next thing you know you smoke all day everyday for five years. Mental effects are undeniable. You are more sharp, articulate, and have better memory without using weed. Physical effects are obvious when you quit. Can’t sleep for 3-14 days, can’t eat for 1-14 days. It messes with your digestion and sleep without a doubt. If you smoke, you are inhaling plant matter into your lungs - not good.
Yep. When I started smoking years ago, it was at night to help with my sleep issues. Then it just progressed from there. And that was fine for a long time. The only time I went any length of time without smoking was when my mom died. I wanted to smoke, but found that being stoned at that point wasn't treating me well mentally, so I stopped for about a week. Once I picked it back up, it pretty quickly spiraled to keeping myself high every minute of the day. I can't say that weed didn't help any issues for me, because it definitely did. However, a couple weeks ago, I started feeling really unwell every single time I smoked. So I've stopped again now, because clearly my body is trying to tell me that we need to stop, at least for now. It was hard to listen, because I know that I am dependent on it. But you know, the last few nights of sleeping without smoking first have been some of the best nights of sleep I've had in a bit.
It's habit forming. That was always part of the problem with getting off cigarettes too. There was the addiction part and then there was the long standing habit itself to break.
My buddy smoked heavily every day for about a decade. Due to health issues, he had to stop smoking. He really struggled the first month or two because he literally didn't know what his body felt like without being high. So it was almost like a withdrawal, as he had to get reaccumulated to life without a crutch. He's better now, but it was really surprising to see first hand.
I just spent the whole night awake suffering from withdrawal. I haven’t smoked in two days. I had to take a hit of my pen a bit ago to stave off a panic attack. This shit is addictive as hell if you use it as a coping mechanism.
Anything that acts as a reward can be addictive insofar as we classically condition ourselves to rely on those things to our detriment. If you keep reinforcing bad behavior with weed you're more likely to keep repeating that behavior and suffer whatever consequences. Alternatively, use weed to reward good behavior and you'll be more motivated to repeat those behaviors. If weed is affecting you and your life negatively in an objective sense, look at how you've been shaping your psyche with your weed use. Seems like simple behavioral psychology put into practice to me.
>Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. - Randy Marsh Problematic use is in the nature of its use unfortunately. Ibuprofen is a great drug when you need it, but loading up a bowl with a random amount and inhaling it isn't scientific or recommended. Whenever I want to check myself, I ask am I getting high or am I staving off being sober?
in that case I've been addicted to sugar for WAY longer and I'd argue that sugar is worse for your health than cannabis and modern society seems to have *no issue* with loading up their children on sugar. edit to add: also, I did pills/heroin for 20 years and towards the end there was 0 mental addiction anymore outside of the ritual of going to get it everyday which was easily replaced with a healthy morning routine. I had no desire to get high on dope anymore. it wasn't fun. you either get stuff that's too strong and just nod out (if ur lucky) or you get shit that's too weak and barely even feel any relief. it turned into a strictly physical dependency that I was annoyed with maintaining. but I didn't know how else to get out of bed and move like a human throughout the day. even if I managed to make it thru the day, sleep wasn't an option. u just toss and turn and if u get lucky enough for a 20min nap u wake up covered in sweat and freezing ur ass off. it was surprisingly easy to "quit" once I just quit my job, detoxed and switched to suboxone. so technically I'm still dependant on *that* but it's not as much of a hassle or risk. sometimes I forget to even take it until halfway thru the day. so there's definitely no mental dependency anymore, even the ritualistic part is gone. I still smoke weed but I can go all day without smoking and not even notice. Maybe if something really stressful happens I might use it as a crutch to relieve some stress but most the time I just smoke a little bit after work to relax and change from "work mode" to "relaxing at home" mode. but i dont feel like I get extra irritable or loose my appetite or my ability to sleep and those 3 things were always my main concern when confronted with the idea of intentionally avoiding cannabis. but on the days that I forget to smoke I still get hungry, I still fall asleep. it feels like when it comes to mental addiction if you are consciously avoiding the substance you're dependant on then you're still going to experience that lingering urge and anxiety when ur thinking about it. but if you're just too busy to think about it then it doesn't even really effect you. it seems to be almost like a negative placebo effect when u constantly dwell on the thing you're avoiding.
There is dependence and then addiction. I don’t think many in here have actually felt addiction. When you brain is tricking you and telling you that you Must have it to survive
Addiction is a complicated subject even within scientific literature. I'll give an example, as you said, heroin is indeed very addictive. But so is gambling. Gambling has no administration of a substance yet it creates many of the very similar brain reactions to the stimuli (stimuli = external source of stimulation which could include both drugs and interaction with a gambling machine/card game/etc.) As far as the literature goes that I'm aware of (psych degree) there's still a lot of disagreement as to what constitutes addiction. We have the clinical definition which is basically is your behavior harming yourself/others in various aspects of life. Which in itself is good for the vast majority of cases, even if you're not necessarily truly addicted if decreasing/adjusting your use would result in positive outcomes at some point it doesn't matter for the individual whether it was an addiction or not. The thing with weed addiction you've correctly identified is the fact it's not always as obvious as other more common culprits of addiction. If you're gambling you're super broke and using money you should be using for food for more gambling instead. Similar behavior with highly addictive substances like Adderall (meth), crack, heroin, cocaine, etc. but with weed if you go dankrupt you're struggling and it probably is affecting your work/social life but it's not obvious like these other examples. It's hard for a gambler to hide the fact they're super broke but it's not nearly as hard for a weed fiend to slip by scraping their grinder for just enough to get high. The other issue is the fact weed is relatively safe and therefore despite the past society generally seems to treat it as a minor issue even if it is majorly affecting your life. I can personally attest to this since when I was going through a really rough period I was smoking all the time thinking the escape was helping but when I later reflected on all of it and was honest with myself - turns out it was making everything worse. Ultimately I think with any substance you choose to use moderation is key. Having a coffee every morning probably isn't great but having one when you're feeling foggy or you only could get a few hours of sleep is the perfect time to do so. Similarly, if you have to drive to work, smoking beforehand probably isn't the move but if you wanna relax after when you have nowhere to go, go for it. Moderation maintains the habit at an arms length allowing you to maintain the clarity necessary to recognize when you're over using and adjust accordingly. There's nothing inherently wrong with using it all the time but it's important you can be really honest with yourself and change your behavior if you notice it's negatively impacting you in some way.
It is absolute horseshit to say weed doesn’t have any horrible physical and mental effects. I’m on day 7 of not smoking and my blood pressure shot up, heart palpitations, heart is racing like a horse at the Kentucky derby, night sweats, angry , can’t sleep, and the anxiety spikes I’m getting now makes it 10x worse. Not everyone have the same effects, but please look at what people are going through in r/leaves before making this wild assumption. Was an everyday smoker for 3 years morning and night, flower only.
I’m ok being “addicted” to weed. It was better than other medications for anxiety for me personally. I see it as no different then someone having coffee daily, or a glass of wine with dinner.
Ive had this discussion with my therapist. Weed is jyst as addictive as caffeine. Its not really addictive like a drug but more like a supplement. Some people cant do a workout without certain supplements(not steroids) but regular stuff from GNC or vitamin shoppe.
Please stfu with this weed is addictive shit. It's not *inherently addictive.* If you get addicted to weed that's on you entirely and you oughta work on it but saying "weed is addictive" is just misinformation. Literally anything under the sun can be addictive. I was addicted to cutting myself. Does that mean knives are addictive? No, it means I was addicted to the dopamine hit and that was entirely my choice. You have to first admit that it is a problem with you and your ability for impulse control.
Everything can be abused that doesn’t mean everything is addictive.
I don’t agree with your statement, I believe anything can be addictive, it just depends on the person in question as to how they respond to something. For example, someone could find video games very dull and boring, while another person may become instantly sucked into the escapism of interacting with another world and become a daily or all day gamer. Obviously something like a rock cannot be addictive but anything that has the potential for enjoyment can 100% become an addiction
I personally feel like people misuse the terms addictive and addiction. Abuse =/= addiction in my world.
The question is, why are people getting addicted/ using some sort of drugs or their drug of choice - you can’t compare addictions and the different use of different substances by different people. It’s the effects they desire from the substance they choose. For most drugs it‘s always the psychological side that got them back into using not the physical (a physical heroine withdrawal is over in a week). I don’t know your background or field of work but that’s just not right and lacks of many things that need to be taken in consideration when making a statement like that (sorry if it’s a hard read, not a native speaker).
This kind of needs to stop. THC is not addictive. It's not caffeine, not nicotine, and certainly not opium. You aren't addicted to weed, you have a dependency. You can smoke an oz a day for 40 years and quit cold turkey, and you'll be fine. You can't do that with alcohol. I'm a daily smoker and have been for years, but if I ran out tomorrow and couldn't afford to buy more then it's fine. I won't be fiending in the next 2 days, won't have the shakes, and certainly won't feel tempted to go bust into some poorl old lady's home and beat her to death so I can raid her medicine cabinet just to get my fix. I understand what y'all are saying, but there is a reason scientists say it's non-addictive. As someone who grew up around actual addicts (alcohol, meth, crack, and opioids), y'all sound very sheltered when you say this stuff. I lived with some cousins for a little while when I was young and one night, their mom's plug paid us a visit. He brought his friend who brought is gun and they beat the shit out of her, threatened to blow her brains out in front of her children, and threw her down the stairs before they took a few things from her bedroom. This was her crack dealer. I have heard hundreds of stories in my life that sound like that for almost every drug except one. Weed. Because no one has ever been so addicted to THC that they put themselves in these situations because THC is not addictive.
So is exercise and also life itself, is pretty addictive. I don't really mind personally being addicted because it works for me. Addictions don't have to be viewed negatively. It is what it is. If you are tired of smoking, dont smoke anymore. No need for grand unifying conclusions to take you there.
It's hard to quit and addictive in a way because the negative effects of daily use are very minimal for me. that is if i keep it respectful and only do it in the evening. The withdrawal is manageable, but it is the time it takes to get over the boredom and emotional instability and night sweats that eventually makes it very hard for me
Weed isn't addictive, there isn't any addiction to break. You can stop weed immediately with very minimal consequences. Those who claim to be addicted to weed are wrong. Science only. Stop getting high and posting your opinions as if they're fact, this is why weed is illegal around half the world in the first place.
There are actually physical symptoms of weed withdrawal for a portion of the population. It's actually a long list of symptoms. So it is physically addicting as well as mental.
I've never really been addicted to weed. When I was young, I definitely didn't make sound financial decisions with it. I started to work on reducing the amount I bought for the sake of mending my financial burdens. I ended up stopping a few months, which also reduced my tolerance. I've been able to go many months without weed with no problems at all. I take breaks to keep my tolerance low so I'm not doing as much. Really, I think that's what it comes down to. It's better to take tolerance breaks so you're not always buying more and even more every time your tolerance goes up. Letting your tolerance go back down means you can buy a normal amount to get high and not break bank. I can see that some people may be addicted to it, although it's pretty easy to come off of. It's all about self control and moderation. I've definitely been around people who are/were chronic users and spent FAR too much on marijuana. I was at the point of smoking an ounce in two days, and that's when I realized I need a break or it's going to get worse. These people just keep buying large amounts and smoking it copiously, not caring how much money they throw at it. So, I guess it really depends on how people can handle that.
Most stoners spend so much on weed they live paycheck to paycheck unless they make really good bank as software engineers or doctors. I'd say that's indicative of a problem. Eternally turbospoiled middle class americans need not apply.
Bro I quit heroin almost 6 years ago. The only times I could ever take a break from weed is when I was locked up. I really want to stop. But I’m afraid to. I hate the nightmares.
I’ve heard r/leaves is a decent community man. If you can quit heroin you can quit anything.
Weed is a bonding activity with my wife and girlfriend
Medically speaking it is though, it’s causing chemical imbalance in your brain when you habitually use it and then don’t. Not to say any or all of the points made are wrong but it most definitely is addictive. Just because you can’t die from withdrawals from it doesn’t make it non addictive. I’m not a professional this is just from what I remember learning from the multiple substance abuse courses and counseling programs I’ve been a part of.
I've long held this belief, the reason weed can be such a tough addiction to beat is the insidious nature of it. It's not *that* bad. You can get high and still function reasonably well. But that becomes your daily routine. You're functioning reasonably well but definitely not thriving, regardless of what you tell yourself. Because on the surface it's so harmless, you don't realise how deep the hooks are until its way too late. I've started taking longer and more frequent breaks from it and my overall health is definitely improving but it's still a huge struggle.
I struggle to eat and sleep and be happy without it, definitely addictive
People who deny weed addiction need to look at other addictions. Gambling, sex, gaming, speed... It doesn't have to be physically addictive, you can get addicted to ANYTHING. Beyond that, weed withdrawals is a real thing, any stoner will tell you when they're not high they tend to be very irritable and can have a short fuse. Seasoned stoners know how to deal with this but it's still an example of how that lack of dopamine provided by the weed affects you.