If you live in California and favor legalizing marijuana, YOU can make it happen. Tell your representatives to support California Assembly Bill 390. It’s easy. Visit yes390.org

Thank you! For one, I am all for the legalization of drugs. With that said, I get upset when people say “marijuana is not addictive.” It is addictive, just like fast food, exercise, sex, etc… However, marijuana addiction is different than fast food, exercise, sex, etc… because you don’t have to work for the high, unlike the others (yes, even with fast food you have to get into your car and drive to McDonalds). People get use to the “easy” high, and thus depend on marijuana to give them that.

It would be nice if all drugs get out of the criminal scene. I think that is only effective if it happens all over the world at the same time. Otherwise it just attracts organized crime – like in the Netherlands …
Having said that, I have seen some pretty damaged brains after use of marijuana (in a scan).
Also, the marijuana from 30 years ago is not the same as is available now – it is now so much stronger …
I personally prefer meditation …

Hi

I run a forum for people who feel they are addicted to marijuana, I hear from people everyday who describe the symptoms listed above when they try to quit. It may not as be severe as the withdrawal from drugs like opiates, but a withdrawal can exist, particularly for heavy users.

I would be so interested to see the effects of marijuana withdrawal listed above compared side by side with effects of caffeine withdrawal, just to see things in perspective.

yes, as a hippy and way beyond ( if there is one) i was a pot user. My most long time friends considered me an addict although i could not ’see’ it. I started at 15 yrs old, and continued to this day if it were not for life imprisonment here in Philippines as i have no money for food, thus one starves to death in prison in Philippines, the country that most resembles USA in Constitutional Law and application.
After being forced into withdrawl, having smoked a single puff on a pipe of the narcotic at 10 PM or 47 yrs, then suddenly forced to stop i found my self irritable, angry, hungry, nervous, bouts of violence. This continued for 3 minutes, more or less, then i never thought about it again. Still, i will never forget the horrors of addiction to pot. I was an addict and this is a STAIN that even Jesus Christ can not disguise in those final days. I ruined my life by this one mistake. Yes, true i think, i have Severe ADHD and i was never given medications and one doctor suggested that i used pot as a ‘home made’ medication to calm my condition that i suffered from desparately all my life, left my family in shambles, distroyed our family, our reputation, put may people in prison, in the hosptial, even making me so called ‘wrong’ in my diagnosis of other illnesses in our family, as we could not afford a doctor so i was the eldest and acted as one, even wore the white coat…still, with all that… i could not med my own people.
maybe that was part of my pot addiction too, but someone had to become the family doctor…and i went to 10th grade, so why NOT ME? That is what they all said.
Anyway, without pot, the world would have few problems.

Hello, I am not at all opposed to the idea that marijuana can be addictive for some. However, I have to call into question the statistic reported in this article that over 100,000 Americans sought treatment for marijuana addiction in any year. I have a strong suspicion that this statement neglects to account for the number of court-ordered entrances in rehabilitation, which must be very high given that hundreds of thousands of Americans each year are charged with marijuana possession.

I think that people will become addicted to anything reguardless, for gods sake people get addicted to shopping and food if people are ‘addicted’ to marijahuana its because they have an addictive personality.

This article fails to mention that many of the so-called “withdrawl” symptoms share many characteristics of concommitant mental illnesses. Patients diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, ADHD, ADD, and depression frequently display irritability, impulsivity, agitation, anxiety, stomach complaints, and changes in appetite when not on appropriate medication(s). We know many of these patients self-medicate with any number of mind-altering drugs. I think patients who suffer such symptoms when they stop smoking marijuana must be screened for mental illness(es) prior to assuming they are suffering from withdrawl.
Marijuana is NOT a narcotic (not even close). There are no health problems associated with its use. On the other hand, we know the destruction that a perfectly legal drug, alcohol, wreaks on our society.
What’s wrong with that picture?

Marijuana is so less harmful for the public than alcohol. They are both drugs/chemicals.

As a 20 year marijuana smoker there is no doubt there are withdrawal symptoms, anger was consistently one for me and it was predictable, when I would quit for a week or travel and go on vacation where I couldn’t bring my stash. And not just normal anger, for me it was rage for no valid reason, it was definately the pot withdrawal. Lethargy and sleepiness as well.

My questions is because there are withdrawal symptoms, does that automatically mean you are addicted. I quit 2 years ago, after smoking it all day everyday for the last 5 years prior to quitting. My family did an intervention and I went to rehab, but never have I had a craving since quitting, not during rehab or ANY time afterwords. But I’m supposed to not drink anything, because one addiction can become another, but am I addicted. Of course the experts say “if you question if you are addicted, that is just your addiction talking”. Though I just read on this side that recent studies have shown that a synthetic form of Kudzu vastly reduces cravings for alcohol. Subjects no longer desired to dram a vast amount. These are Harvard doctors. They say that alcoholism will be treatable like diabetes, where you avoid being hurt by it, but not necessarily cure it. Wow, but who knows, enough rambling for now….

For the purpose of scientific/addiction discussion, this is a nice article. For the purpose of social/political discussion, compare heavy marijuana users with heavy alcohol users, then compare the outcomes.

Another interesting point, as stated above – “millions of marijuana users”, and 100,000 seeking help for addiction as of 2000. What is “as of 2000″ supposed to mean? What period does that cover? Last 20-30 years? Even if less than that 100,000 addicts (all non-lethal outcome), compared to millions and millions of users over several decades with no addiction symptoms sufficient to seek help? Reason to worry? I don’t think so.

I think its fine to be addicted to marijuana. it doesnt have bad effect like alcohols do to our body. I am not addicted to marijuana, my brother does. And I really don;t care, as long as he can pay for it