I need to be educated!

[cyb]

what is a pot-head? does a person that does weed here and then falls into that category? does a person that does weed only when socializing but never alone falls into that category also? and why is weed called the intellectual drug?

thank you!

[TazziRN, RN]

Anyone who comes from a family with a history of chemical dependency is at risk of becoming addicted to a chemical. I don't think there's any way to tell which chemical. What I learned in recovery: each person is born with certain receptor sites for different chemicals. That's why one person can't stay away from alcohol (or cocaine or pot or whatever) but other drugs have little or no attraction for him/her.

Something else I learned: nicotine is the hardest drug to overcome because the longer/more you smoke, the more receptor sites you grow for nicotine.

[ms mimi]

each person is born with certain receptor sites for different chemicals.

i am not sure if this is what you meant? but everybody has the same receptor sites in their body: opioid, nicotinic, and muscarinic receptors. but there is a theory that states that the reward center in an addicts brain may be deficient so to stimulate it they may need to keep using the drug of their choosing. i think what differs from addict to addict is their reward center circuits, not the receptors themselves. i know that once you activate these receptors with drugs you may change your body's own ability to produce the bodies natural hormones that turn on the receptor sites. anyway just rambling on...

[TazziRN, RN]

i am not sure if this is what you meant? but everybody has the same receptor sites in their body: opioid, nicotinic, and muscarinic receptors. but there is a theory that states that the reward center in an addicts brain may be deficient so to stimulate it they may need to keep using the drug of their choosing. i think what differs from addict to addict is their reward center circuits, not the receptors themselves. i know that once you activate these receptors with drugs you may change your body's own ability to produce the bodies natural hormones that turn on the receptor sites. anyway just rambling on...

:smackingf

gawd......there is no smilie for total embarrassment......I knew it wasn't sounding right but I couldn't figure out how else to say it......

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

A pothead is just simply someone who smokes weed ALL the time...lol But not everyone who smokes weed is a pothead. Kinda like some of us may have a drink now and then, but we are not alcholics.

I *think* most studies done on grass is that people become more phychologically addicted to it than physiologically addicted--Im pretty sure most studies have show that very few people become truly physiologically addicted to pot. I know a lot of people who smoke it every day because they think they have to, yet when they run out of money and can't buy any they don't have physical withdrawl symptoms like a junkie would.

I don't personally have any problem with someone smoking pot once in a while and think it should certainly be legal for medical reasons. It's a good pain reliever drug, helps with glaucoma, nasuea, etc for some people. And it offers far less addiction and side effects than some of the other drugs on the market. But of course there isn't much money to be made for the Pharma companies and they can't have that

[all4schwa]

i'm doing NCLEX review right now and missed a question for saying it was only psychologically addictive, and the right answer is that chronic, daily users will experience fatigue, anorexia and irritablility upon disconinuance.

also, i remember learning that five joints are like a pack of cigarettes to the lungs....