Is marijuana addictive?

Nurses General Nursing

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A couple of us were having this discussion tonight. One nurses says no it is not addictive. I said "well I've know some potheads who couldn't stop smoking, couldn't face life without pot, etc." Sounds like an addict to me.

She says it's not been proven to be physically addictive.

Actually, I'm of the belief anything can be addictive, especially if it's mood altering, or even endorphin raising.

Interesting thread. I think it is not addictive. Physchological dependence is another question though.

As for the "gateway" theory, I agree with a previous poster that it is the way in which it is obtained that introduces people to other illegal drugs (whether that be drugs that are available through prescription legally or not).

And I think it should be available as a medical treatment in certain cases because in my experience with chemo drugs marinol doesn't cut it.

I didn't see that side of Amsterdam. I guess one could probably make the same statements about any large city though. The US has an intense war on drugs, but even here in Portland there are some streets that I wouldn't want to go down with drug dealers on the corners. All that policing effort, long jail terms and extreme drug laws don't seem to work either.

Ziggy,

You could see the same thing in downtown Vancouver that you saw in Amsterdam. Just go to the eastside (Hastings area) and you'll find addicts and syringes all over the place. Legalizing pot has nothing to do with the amount of heroin or crack addicts you'll see (I am assuming most of the people passed out I see are using heroin, not pot). I'd even bet some of the people I see passed out are using alcohol. Abuse of hard drugs and alcohol is a serious problem, but I haven't seen criminalization stop it, have you (I have no idea what the drug problem is like in Australia)?

portland, I agree...the drug war is not working.

Seems the drug industry is so entrenched and powerful. Perhaps nothing is working because it is just that.

But the question has to asked...how can a 'needle in a haystack' be found, when we want it to be ...eg terroism cases

...but why can't our nations solve the drug problem, or at least make a dent in it?

...the difference between terroism and the drug war is money.

The fact that we can't get at the big guys in the drug trade is because many of our respective gov't officials must be corrupt.

Sad, but it has to be true :o Zig.

Originally posted by EmeraldNYL

People who are under the influence shouldn't drive, whether it's alcohol, pot, or legal narcotics. Therefore, people who do drive under the influence should be strongly punished. ... I am personally angered by the fact that my tax money is going to fight a useless drug war which we aren't winning or even making any progress on whatsoever. Especially when pot is actually safer than alcohol-- you can't die from smoking too much pot, but you CAN die from drinking too much.

I agree with you and with Portland_Guy. It's all about a question of how people are responsible for their own behavior. Besides, I don't believe in repression (the so-called "war on drugs":rolleyes: ) to get people to be responsible, it only makes them guilty or innocent... or lucky if they aren't caught!

Sure Fergus, it can be seen anywhere. But what i was trying to say is that there is a substantial amount of it.

I did a search a while back and found an article by the US drug enforcement people...but don't have the link sorry. Anyway they say that Holland's relaxed stance has resulted in it being a major drug route to the US. They blame Holland for contributing to the world's, and in particular, the US problem.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Originally posted by LasVegasRN

I'd rather smoke pot than drink alcohol. But, alcohol is legal and pot is not... so... cheers! :)

Not to mention against the nurse practice act. They were looking from drug diversion in our OR and busted a nurse who showed up postive for mj in his/her urine. Poor dear had to go to Intervention Project for Nurses for a year. (They also found the one doing the drug diversion and it wasn't him/her)

I'll probably open up a can of worms here, but it seems strange to me that there isn't any other treatment for your friends.

Or no better treatment for glaucoma or AIDS or chemo related nausea that they have to legalize marijuana.

I'm very neutral here, mind you, I'm very very liberal about stuff. But I wonder why pot works where Zofran doesn't for some people.

Being a child of the 70s, I've smokes it on several occasions.. Hate it. Makes me paranoid, uncomfortable, hungry, tired, analytical. I'm a big enough mess without mood altering substances. LOL

First off, sorry Ziggy, I didn't mean to say Australia, I meant NZ!

I have heard the US say the exact same thing about my province and we have never legalized it. The US "drug czar" was just up in Vancouver talking about how their drug problem is largely our fault and trying to drum up opposition for safe injection sites that have been proposed for heroin users. We also have a very serious heroin problem, but that is a separate issue. It just seems like everything you are saying is already true here when pot is illegal, so I don't see why we should be scared that legalizing it will suddenly cause all these bad things. The bad things are already there!

I just think when we have really serious problems (heroin, health care funding, murders, etc) and limited resources it seems silly to spend them on pot. Putting an 18 year old in jail for a doobie is not going to impact the heroin trade all that much if you ask me.

Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy

Or no better treatment for glaucoma or AIDS or chemo related nausea that they have to legalize marijuana.

I had a long conversation with a guy at the local DEA office about this about a year ago. He told me that THC is available in pill form by prescription--and has been for at least 10 years--but for some reason, a lot of docs don't seem to aware of this and don't prescribe it even as often as medicinal marijuana.

It may be the the doc or the patient feels that, if it's to be used for nausea, they just wouldn't be able to keep an oral med down; but why not for for illness-related anorexia and for glaucoma? :confused: It seems to me that there wouldn't be the same stigma associated with a pill vs. something you smoke.

I really don't care if someone dying of AIDS finds pot works best for them. I am not concerned with them becoming addicted for obvious reasons, in fact not letting them have it seems silly. I mean, we'll give them morphine without a second thought, so who would care about them getting marijuana?

I agree Fergus, it's a silly waste of resources but I don't think it should be legalised...they should instead stop arresting people for piddly amounts.

Legalisation means legitimisation...and we don't need more people using it, already got enough problems.

Here in NZ, recently estimated 10% of workers are supposedly impaired on the job by drugs [excluding alcohol].

When the cost is added up it's substantial...workers comp etc, lost productivity.

Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy

Not to mention against the nurse practice act. They were looking from drug diversion in our OR and busted a nurse who showed up postive for mj in his/her urine....

Agree! It's not worth losing a license over so, no. I have friends that smoke and if they are at my home they smoke outside or in the garage. I don't brow-beat anyone who smokes it and I just find it slightly ridiculous that we allow alcohol which DOES create a physical dependence but still have marijuana that does not as being illegal.

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