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.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

How timely.

I just saw reported on our local news that a school age child gave pot to her teacher as a Christmas present (in Massachusetts). When asked where she got it from, she reported "her mommy."

4 9 year old boys also were found to have pot in their possession in school and were planning on selling it.

We have a problem here, kids. I don't think making pot legal will not result in selling it. Hell, viagra is "legal" and it still goes on the street for $50/pill. The point here is ABUSE.

See my above articles. Not sure I want people running around with pot induced psychoses, among other things. Also don't want to hear about this years down the road when people begin to sue the pot farmers for growing this "harmful" substance (see Tobacco Settlement).

Society in general is too stupid, too self-serving, too indulgent and too irresponsible to handle pot legally anyway.

Originally posted by Susy K

..Society in general is too stupid, too self-serving, too indulgent and too irresponsible to handle pot legally anyway.

I totally agree. We only have to look to alcohol to see that. We have kids sniffing glue and White Out for gosh sakes.

Specializes in CV-ICU.

I believe that pot is psychologically addicting, and can be as severe a problem to that person as someone with a physical addiction. I've told people here about my 23 y/o son who is ADHD. He had a drug problem for over 4 years, and the pot was the one drug that he had the hardest time giving up. I now suspect that he was "self-medicating:" the pot would help control his ADHD and the effect of whatever else he was using. I know that he was on speed, LSD, mushrooms, and pot; there were other drugs also, but I don't know what they were (nor do I really want to know them, since I am his mother!). The drug that put him in prison was the pot-- it kept turning up in his urine when he should have been totally clean. After the third trip to the workhouse, he bought a ticket to prison; and THAT is the only thing that cleaned up his act! Being in the "big house" with all of the hardened criminals (plus the fact that he was in isolation 23hrs./day due to overcrowding there) put the fear of God in that kid!

He has been clean and straight for over 2 years, and is now motivated to do things with his life. THAT was missing also when he was "using;" plus the fact that he lost those years in his life.

I have seen others who also seemed to lose their motivation and determination when they were smoking dope at certain times of their lives. I don't feel that we should all be driven to achieve (something) all of the time; but when a person would rather just drift through periods (or years!) of their lives instead of being fully aware of it, then it is a problem. Maybe that is why my generation (Boomers) and younger people no longer volunteer; most of the people this age or younger don't know what it feels like to be involved and what a "high" you can get by dong something for others.

Did I ever try pot when I was young back in the 60's? Yes; and I had a bad reaction to it and never tried again. I'm one of those people who just doesn't react well to ANY drug (even anesthesia!), so why mess with stuff that screws me up?

One more comment about pot: something I kept arguing with my son about was that he used to say that HIS suppliers had "good" pot, it wasn't cut with other drugs. How the heck did he or anyone else know what was in the pot or how strong or weak it was? That would be the one reason I would like to see it legalized or controlled by the government; so that other substances were not in it (have you heard of the stuff with embalming fluid in it????? :eek:

Yeah, in the early 80's when I was in high school I heard of cigarettes dipped in embalming fluid. I thought that was the grossest thing I'd ever heard.

Suzy K...aint that true, much of society are like sheep. LOL

I never get that about conservatives! Asked about social security or guns and they say that the American people are intelligent enough to plan for their retirement and handle assault weapons, but pot? No way! They are too stupid.

I think it should stay illegal for only one reason...the smoke. I find weed to be fairly harmless as long as the person uses it doesn't drive or do it near kids...but I think the same about alcohol too. I actually know several high school aged children who rarely drink (though they would love to) because it is too hard to get alcohol. But they smoke weed on a daily basis. Weed is cheaper and easier for a kid to get (at least in this town). I have also used marijuana in the past, but have used it as an aid to help me relax and to sleep.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.
Originally posted by fergus51

I never get that about conservatives! Asked about social security or guns and they say that the American people are intelligent enough to plan for their retirement and handle assault weapons, but pot? No way! They are too stupid.

Ferg,

On an individual level, yes, we are. I myself feel intelligent enough to plan for my own retirement or own a gun responsibly. But society at large? As a whole? Yikes. Besides, whether pot is physically addictive or not, it is still mind-altering. Even if we were intelligent to begin with, mind-altering drugs make you kind of stupid. ;)

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Ok, I have a question.

For all of you in favor of legalizing pot by chanting "but it's not physically addictive", would you change your position if it WAS found to physically addictive?

How did you conservatives get so jaded? Are there stupid people out there? Sure. But what do I care if someone smokes a lot of pot in the privacy of their own home, as long as they don't get in a car and drive? I feel that *most* people are responsible enough to make their own decisions. I have some friends who smoke pot pretty frequently, and they all managed to get through college, go to grad school, get jobs, etc... I also know people(my fiance's brother) who totally got screwed up in drugs because they have no self-control. But, I believe these people are the exception, not the rule. Call me young and naive, but I think people can and should make their own decisions, even if I don't personally agree with them.

i think they should legalize it and regulate it the same way alcohol is regulated. i personally didn't like it when i used to smoke with my friends. i would like it on occassion though, i think. just me and the hubby vegging out in our own home. no harm in that!

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

After seeing this thread slant towards a pro legalization stance , I wonder is this a fair consensus of the general population? It is nice to see so much intelligent, open conversation on this subject.

The use of marijuana has remained fairly constant throughout the entire "war" effort and I don't see it going away. It's good to talk about it.

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