Marijuana addictive? No...

Stupidity addictive? Yes...

Well I used to smoke quite a few grammes a day, and experienced physical and mental withdrawal when I didn't have any, so in that sense I voted yes.

Anyone who votes no and cites doctors and scientists as a reason should experience it firsthand rather than relying on ill-attempted research and studies.

I just don't care what other people do, as long as it doesn't harm me or anyone i know.

I'll just stick to pouring cider down my throat and stamping on my kidneys every weekend.

AuntyEthel:
Well I used to smoke quite a few grammes a day, and experienced physical and mental withdrawal when I didn't have any, so in that sense I voted yes.

Anyone who votes no and cites doctors and scientists as a reason should experience it firsthand rather than relying on ill-attempted research and studies.

Until recently I smoked on almost a daily basis for about four years. I'm now in my 2nd month without it and I found myself with none of these 'physical and mental withdrawal' that you're talking about. I've also had countless friends and acquaintances, one in particular smoked an Oz a week, who quit or took breaks after long periods of use who also experienced no form of withdrawal. The closest thing to withdrawal I can think of is for about a week after quitting I missed having a bowl after work, and also the great sex, but that's about it. My moods didn't change and my body was not affected in the least.

Your experience either shows you don't know what you're talking about, or that you had a difficult time letting go of the habit. In that case any physical withdrawal that you claimed to have experienced was only the result of your state of mind, not of the plant or any of its properties.

Or maybe there was more in your stash then just pot, although you can usually tell since the scent tends to be different.

I'm willing to bet that everyone who was apparently addicted to cannabis was actually addicted to the tobacco within the joint, including Auntie Ethel.

It is extremely rare to smoke a joint that has no tobacco at all - you'll find this is the case with every person quoted in this thread as being physically addicted - they were, but not to the cannabis part of the joint.

There is a graph produced by a study done by The Lancet (British Medical Journal, a copy is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)#Health_issues ) showing the harm and dependance of each substance or drug studied by researchers, showing that both alcohol and tobacco are far higher on each scale than cannabis.

it isn't addictive. people just think it is because when they decide to ommitt weed from their life they are left sitting in a room realizing how boring their stupid life is. i like weed, but i don't have time to hunt down a seller and make a mini festival out of smoking it.

TheNecroswanson:
Marijuana is NOT addicting. It is however habit forming. The two are very different.
[/thread]

I don't understand the distinction.

It was kinda addictive to me. I smoked all last year and when i gave up this year at times i felt a want/need to go smoke again. Not sure if anyone else has felt like this.

Akula:
Until recently I smoked on almost a daily basis for about four years. I'm now in my 2nd month without it and I found myself with none of these 'physical and mental withdrawal' that you're talking about. I've also had countless friends and acquaintances, one in particular smoked an Oz a week, who quit or took breaks after long periods of use who also experienced no form of withdrawal. The closest thing to withdrawal I can think of is for about a week after quitting I missed having a bowl after work, and also the great sex, but that's about it. My moods didn't change and my body was not affected in the least.

Your experience either shows you don't know what you're talking about, or that you had a difficult time letting go of the habit. In that case any physical withdrawal that you claimed to have experienced was only the result of your state of mind, not of the plant or any of its properties.

Or maybe there was more in your stash then just pot, although you can usually tell since the scent tends to be different.

I do know what I'm talking about, and no, there wasn't anything else in the weed. I used to smoke that much in South Africa, where you can buy absolute gigantic amounts. Literally a bank bag full, completely stuffed. I basically smoked it like tobacco, giant pure-green joints with no mix, around 15 a day. There was a massive mental and physical difference when I cut down (through moving to England) that might not happen to some people, but definately happened to me. Also, the strain was different, Sativa as opposed to Indica (I think) which has slightly different properties.

The majority of people think no. But at least the drug ain't as bad as cocaine.

I used to smoke it quite a lot and i find that it actually gives a sense of calm and leaves you peaceful. As opposed to say.. alcohol which tends to make people more violent.

I think that it should be legal, because it's defiantly the least problematic of all substances and when compared to heroin, cocaine or even alcohol it's less damaging to the body. And you have a lot of 'alcohol induced violence' but when have you ever heard of 'marijuana attacks' or anything like that. In fact the danger comes because a lot of the people you buy it off tend not to be very savory characters.

I myself gave up because of a money problem and also because there are more things to life than living in a dream-world.

Jamanticus:
Addictive? Well, of course it can be addictive. Coffee can be addictive, chocolate, even exercise.

I suppose what I'm trying to say, like other posters, is that marijuana is addictive, but no more than any other psychoactive drug/activity.

Exactly. Everything can be addictive, it's down to the personality of the person.

Spacelord:

TheNecroswanson:
Marijuana is NOT addicting. It is however habit forming. The two are very different.
[/thread]

I don't understand the distinction.

I think addiction is more about the drug itself, where-as habit forming is more about the person. That's how I see it by his use of the words anyway. But I see them as basically the same.

And [/thread] is the most annoying thing ever, to give your opinion, and state the debate is over because you are right.

I agree with the above poster in the sense that it does depend largely on the person.

I have a friend, who has a Catholic mother who would die if she knew he smoked. That way, when he does get a hold of some pot, he goes nuts and can't wait to smoke it and then brags about it for weeks afterwards. When he moves out of home he will become addicted and wind up some brain-dead statistic.

I have another friend who's mother actually gives him pot which he rarely uses. It's so casual to him that he realises (as do I) that it's no big deal. When he moves out of home, I don't beleive he'll get addicted, because he isn't addicted now after nearly a year and a half of smoking it.

Fot clarification, I would call everyday use 'addiction' but not use every 3 or 4 weeks.

No, marihuana isn't addictive, I smoke sometimes - but with very varying intervals.

I smoked a lot for a while, but that was to check out different "suppliers", finding out where the best pot were.