Marijuana "addiction"

[bobhalford]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to see what y'all think about this. I've been smoking pot a pretty long time. At times, I thought I had a problem with it, and wound up quitting for some time. In the early years, I believe pot sort of got to me in a bad way. Nothing dramatic, but that I could function better smoking less.

Fast forward to the present, where I smoke a decent amount of kind bud. Somehow, over the years, I've managed to be able to function properly on pot. I'll take a few hits every few hours, and I've never felt guilty about it. I think my brain has managed to adjust to it in such a way that I can function. I'm able to control my use by smoking high quality pot and not smoking more than 2-3 hits at a time. I don't know the last time I felt lethargic or "out of it," better known as being "burnt." I definitely got "burnt" a few times in college, but that was many years ago. I can't remember the last time I felt burnt.

My mother thinks that pot is responsible for all the problems in my life. She attends ALANon for this.

A few months ago she sent me to a doctor/shrink for an evaluation of my mental state. I agreed to this just to humor her. She thinks I have manic/depressive tendencies and I don't relate to that at all. So just to settle it, I agreed to see this doctor.

Turns out that this doctor is some kind of expert on marijuana (surprise surprise).

He says pot impairs "reality testing." Also, pot impairs one's ability to "fully inhabit others' realities." Potheads have trouble editing their speech, so they often spew when conversing (sadly I've found this to be true). They have trouble organizing their thoughts.

He says that after a marijuana user quits smoking for 3 days, scans of the brain are identical to those of a schizophrenic person.

Apparently, since pot stays in your system for so long, it takes 6-9 months of abstinence to fully recover from it.

He also said all this stuff about withdrawal symptoms and said that I needed to go to rehab and meetings. I thought this part was hogwash. I quit for no other reason than curiosity and to prove to my mother that I'm not a drug addict. So no rehab and no meetings and I'm almost at 90 days. No withdrawal symptoms to speak of.

So far, I can say that being clean from pot has done absolutely nothing for me. But I've decided to give this guy the benefit of the doubt and commit to a year of sobriety, just to see what happens. The guy had a very nice office, so I figure he's got to be doing something right.

I posted this story on another board (not related to weed) and one fellow said, "Every douchey rehab doctor/counselor says that about herb. I've heard that same pitch verbatim. In one year you'll realize you wasted a year not smoking for absolutely nothing."

Another guys said, "I'm also an ex pot smoker. For me, the impetus to quit was a realization that I no longer found being high all that enjoyable. I can't say that using pot seriously screwed up my life, or that quitting made a big positive difference, but I do find I have a little more mental clarity without it, which I like. I think the 6 - 9 months thing is way off. I'd say after 6 - 9 days, you will have seen most of the change your going to see. I'm not sorry I did pot. I enjoyed it a lot when I was younger. I'm not sorry I quit either, but I'm not about to say that's the right decision for everybody. I think I just sort of outgrew it.

Unfortunately, the 12-steppers seem to have converted most of the psychological community to their religion. Now, I think AA and it's descendants have helped a lot of people, and their program does seem to be as effective as anything, but it really is a religion, or at least a dogma and most of them seem to believe that their way is the only way to kick an addiction, and that is certainly not the case. I certainly didn't need any rehab program to quit smoking pot. I just quit, and the withdrawal symptoms for pot, if any, are pretty mild. For me it was a few nights of insomnia, and a few more nights of more vivid than normal dreams, nothing I couldn't handle. In fact, the dreams were kind of cool."

I thought that after 90 days, I could say something to recommend quitting pot. But all I can say so far is that I saved a little $$. That's it. I went into this with an open mind, figuring this doctor with his fancy artwork and nice address/office could have a point. Maybe some of my problems in life could be attributed to pot smoking. But so far, I've seen zero evidence of this. I'm going to continue to give this guy the benefit of the doubt and remain clean from pot for a full year. 9 months to get it out of my system (lol) and 3 months of life in this new state. I can't believe this guy said I needed to go to rehab, what a waste of money, and I'd be the only pothead in there.

By contrast, I've had experiences with alcohol and cocaine which blew my mind. There was no doubt that these substances were god awful. I won't go into all the details, but I can say that those experiences proved to me how harmless a drug pot is. I've never felt guilty about pot.

All I can say is that it's a wonderful drug. In my experience, I've never considered it a "mood altering substance." I've never used it to "self-medicate." That is because if you are sad or depressed, pot will not make you feel happy. Cocaine will certainly lift your mood (temporarily) and so will alcohol. If anything, pot will enhance your depression.

There are so many times I've done something stupid, smoked pot, and realized what I'd done. Several times I've found myself apologizing to people for some insensitive remark made while sober. Pot is in a class of it's own. I think it is good for society, unlike every other non-psychedelic drug.

There is a reason why people don't take pot smoking seriously. That is because it's safe and does not damage a person's life. In the 70's barbiturates were popular. Nowadays, no one uses them anymore. Why? Because people would die from using them! So these drugs eventually stopped being used. If pot were so harmful, don't you think people would notice?

I should have asked the doctor "Is there some kind of side effect from pot that brain-washes the user into thinking that it's ok when in reality it is damaging his life?" Because that's really the only way it can be possible that pot is harmful.

[illinisbII]

ive been cutting back big time lately. from 5 or 6 bong hits a day to maybe 1 every couple days.

its not that im addicted, its just that I really like smoking marijuana, so what

[emagdnim13]

First of all, thank you for spacing this post out so it was easy to read.

Secondly, I agree with everything you've said.


IMO marijuana is one of the SAFEST drugs on the planet...especially high quality marijuana, as you need to smoke, like you said, a much smaller amount.

But thanks to our draconian drug laws, shitty chemical filled beasters flow in from Canada, and shitty brick weed flows in from Mexico to be sold to us...but that's beside the point.


The only things people try to associate as "negatives" of marijuana are really only brought about by the fact that it is illegal. It wouldn't even have a "gateway" stigma if it wasn't illegal, and dealers didn't have x, blow, crack, and heroin for sale along with it. It wouldn't drain my fucking wallet if it was legal, I'm upset on a daily basis that I don't have a club within walking distance of me to purchase all the weed I want. This is fucking Americna after all.

Well, I'm fucking high, I hope that rant made some sense.

[wak]

Originally Posted by bobhalford

I should have asked the doctor "Is there some kind of side effect from pot that brain-washes the user into thinking that it's ok when in reality it is damaging his life?"

yeah ive bin saying this for ages, only sober though.

i smoke 25 bongs a day on average, im addicted, fuck it.

EDIT: lol i read it wrong, but i think that is a side effect of weed. or atleast its a very very habiting thing.

........stoned much?

[JaGWiRE]

Originally Posted by wak

yeah ive bin saying this for ages, only sober though.

i smoke 25 bongs a day on average, im addicted, fuck it.

EDIT: lol i read it wrong, but i think that is a side effect of weed. or atleast its a very very habiting thing.

........stoned much?

Seriously bro. Fuck the last week I've been staying up till 4-5 am, hitting like 20 bowls then (I also probably average 25-30 bong hits a day), waking up baked, and being permahigh at school .
I was dry for the first time in like 6 months yesterday. Didn't fiend it or anything, no physical addiction.

[IceCreamKidd]

Originally Posted by bobhalford

He says pot impairs "reality testing." Also, pot impairs one's ability to "fully inhabit others' realities." Potheads have trouble editing their speech, so they often spew when conversing (sadly I've found this to be true). They have trouble organizing their thoughts.

He says that after a marijuana user quits smoking for 3 days, scans of the brain are identical to those of a schizophrenic person.

Apparently, since pot stays in your system for so long, it takes 6-9 months of abstinence to fully recover from it.

I dont doubt that what your doc says is true and that pot is psychologicaly addictive. There are possible negative effects to heavy heavy constant usage, but that would be the same in the abuse of a whole range of safe commonly used substances.

That being said, try and take a week break every couple of monthes and keep in mind that binge smoking is better on your brain if you give your body some time to recuperate. That tolerance we build up doesnt have to be a bad thing and can even act as a benchmark to appreciate getting a fresh high after sobriety.

I am in this for the long haul and intend to take a break in due time, I will always come back to mary jane because to me the benefits outweigh the costs.

[purplecow1]

All I'm going to say is that you don't owe this "expert" anything...

[Vicious]

My name is, Matthew, I am addicited to marijuana.

No joke, I'm down when I'm not sitting on bag, but the thought of that new danker batch keeps me going.

[illinisbII]

hello matthew

[bobhalford]

Originally Posted by IceCreamKidd

I dont doubt that what your doc says is true and that pot is psychologicaly addictive. There are possible negative effects to heavy heavy constant usage, but that would be the same in the abuse of a whole range of safe commonly used substances.

That being said, try and take a week break every couple of monthes and keep in mind that binge smoking is better on your brain if you give your body some time to recuperate. That tolerance we build up doesnt have to be a bad thing and can even act as a benchmark to appreciate getting a fresh high after sobriety.

I am in this for the long haul and intend to take a break in due time, I will always come back to mary jane because to me the benefits outweigh the costs.

Funny you say that about the psychological addiction. That's what my mom says. She says I need to go to meetings for support. She doesn't believe I've quit. I keep asking her to give me a piss test.

I haven't found it to be addictive at all, in any way. This has to be true because I just quit on the drop of the dime. Now, everyone in the addiction business knows that a user cannot quit unless he really wants to. You don't get sent to rehab and expect to stay clean. You check yourself in because you want to quit.

I didn't even want to quit. I just did it to prove to my mom that I'm not a drug addict, because it pisses me off that she thinks of me this way. I also did it thinking that it might in some way, have some positive effect. Honestly, I haven't even been tempted to use. I'm just clean and intend to remain so for a year. If there was any psychological addiction, I never could have quit like that, for no other reason than to humor my mother and give this doctor the benefit of the doubt.

I enjoy telling my mom " I didn't quit for myself. There's nothing wrong with pot. I quit for you and you only. Now tell me what kind of drug addict stays clean for a year, when he never even wanted to abstain in the first place."

Pot is that much more awesome to me, now that I see it as not even psychologically addicting.

I think a lot of you guys are in the younger age category, which is why y'all seem to smoke a large amount. You don't need 15 bong hits. If you have high quality weed, all you need is one bong hit every 3 hours. The extra hits will do nothing but burn you out. I too used to smoke in excess when in college. Maybe I've learned over time the proper way to smoke.

I also have a habit of quitting for a couple weeks each year. I do this to clean my system out so that when I return, I can get higher. But I've been able to control my use so well that I get really high, every day. I don't need the breaks, but I do it just for the sake of being sober for a while. I do manage to get really baked when I go back, but the difference isn't that much.

I just don't get that much of a tolerance. This is why smoking high quality weed is so important. It may cost a lot of money (and it's an astronomical price here in NY if you don't know the right people). But even at these high prices, it's worth it. I've found that some experienced pot smokers still don't understand this. They would rather buy a cheaper bag of average quality stuff. I've never understood that. For me, the difference is so obvious and it's not even close. No way I would ever find myself smoking 15 bong hits a day.

Another secret to my success is something called the Steamroller. Joints are proven to be the best method. But for that high quality stuff where you only take one or two hits, it's all about the steamroller.

[viBe]

i like it because it puts me to sleep at night

[TripleBla]

I found that one sentence about slurred speech very, very true.

I used to have very accurate speech patterns (wrong word?)

I now find that I stumble sometimes when im talking, mix up words, that kinda crap.

[Slusheedude]

Originally Posted by illinisbII

ive been cutting back big time lately. from 5 or 6 bong hits a day to maybe 1 every couple days.

its not that im addicted, its just that I really like smoking marijuana, so what

hahahahah amen

[Tuk2]

Originally Posted by TripleBla

I found that one sentence about slurred speech very, very true.

I used to have very accurate speech patterns (wrong word?)

I now find that I stumble sometimes when im talking, mix up words, that kinda crap.

Same here, after taking on the role of a stoner my mind feels a little more...messy, maybe thats not the word.."spacy". This isnt a bad thing, just something Ive noticed that goes away with time.

+rep for sticking to your guns tho man. Show your mom and that crock doc the truth for real!

[crasstastic]

f most of those shrinks.

similar thing happened to me once when i got put in outpatient rehab. They're professional evaluation prior to my admittance was that I needed rehab and support because i abused drugs as a means to cope with my emotions...which was absolute BS. I abused drugs for sake of abusing them, not to cover something up. I explained this to my mom and her response was simply "well, what reason do they have to make that up?"

hmm...I don't know maybe the $2,800+ they stood to make?