Is marijuana addictive?

RRMLPN · Dec 11, 2002

not so sure i agree with the part about it leaves you in control of your body.. maybe control at a much slower response rate. has seen the psychological addiction first hand and boy was he hard to live with when he didn't have it!!! so have a tendency to think to some people it is physically addictive, just happy i no longer have to live in the same house with this person lol.

portland_guy · Dec 11, 2002

the post that said that it is a gateway drug is not true. I saw in the new york times earlier this month that a study shows that there is no correlation between people who use marijuana on a regual basis and hard drug users.

RoadRunner · Dec 11, 2002

It's not physically addictive, and it does wonders for some sick people (chimotherapy patients for instance). But it does more damage to lungs than cigarette does. I can't remember how much more tough. There is a lot of studies on it throughout the country, because of the new "legalization vibe".

Well, since alchool is legal, why not something a lot less harmfull should not?

Q. · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by portland_guy
the post that said that it is a gateway drug is not true. I saw in the new york times earlier this month that a study shows that there is no correlation between people who use marijuana on a regual basis and hard drug users.

I'd be curious to read this study. If I am reading your post right, the study affirms that chronic users of marijuana are not using hard drugs. Could it be that they simply haven't moved on to hard drugs? I've always read that marijuana is just that: a gateway. You use marijuana and are then more inclined to move away from marijuana to heroin, etc.

I don't think that if you're using heroin that you'd still be using marijuana; afterall, what effect would it still have on you?

I think the study is misleading based on your post.

Q. · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by RoadRunner
Well, since alchool is legal, why not something a lot less harmfull should not?

I'm not sure I agree with it's legalization by simply stating that alcohol is legal. Whether marijuana is physically addictive or not doesn't matter in my mind. What matters is it's mood altering. For the same reason that my methadone patient couldn't drive home after his injection is why marijuana should be the same. And the only reason he didn't drive home was because I didn't let him. If marijuana were legal, whose to stop the person from taking a drag and then driving, all the while thinking the telephone pole on the road just turned into a python?? I don't want yet another thing besides drunk driving to worry about.

hoolahan, ASN, RN · Dec 11, 2002

I think it can contribute to fungal infections in the lungs too, nasty!

portland_guy · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by Susy K
If marijuana were legal, whose to stop the person from taking a drag and then driving, all the while thinking the telephone pole on the road just turned into a python??

Have you ever tried marijuana? Obviously not. I don't think you understand its effects.

You have been fed all this gobbledy-gook from the media and Nancy Reagan about its effects and how evil it is. There are plenty of users out there who are fine, upstanding professional people. There is no difference between having a couple drinks and marijuana use. As long as people are safe, I couldn't care one way or another.

I say make it legal, just tax the hell out of it. We spend millions (billions?) on trying to remove marijuana from society. How long has the drug war been going on? Well, let me tell you it isn't working. It is just as easy to obtain as it was 20 years ago.

Q. · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by portland_guy
Have you ever tried marijuana? Obviously not. I don't think you understand its effects.

Yes I have. Your assumption was wrong. And I am aware of the paranoia, the slowed reaction time, and the fact that I fell unconscious after using it.

Tell me, I should have been driving?

I say make it legal, just tax the hell out of it. We spend millions (billions?) on trying to remove marijuana from society. How long has the drug war been going on? Well, let me tell you it isn't working. It is just as easy to obtain as it was 20 years ago.

Again, I don't buy the "well it's out there so let's legalize it" philosophy or the "well alcohol is legal" so let's legalize it. We can hardly control our problems with alcohol in this country and drunk driving - I don't see adding marijuana to the list as helpful by any means.

And whether you think marijuana use is no different than a couple drinks; well, I don't drink to get drunk. I drink because it tastes good with my food.

fergus51 · Dec 11, 2002

We just had a government study come out on the effects of marijuana. The commission reccomended the legalization of the drug as well as erasing the criminal records of anyone convicted of possessing it for personal use. It will never happen because we are the US' b*tch and they don't want it to happen.

They did not find that it was a gateway drug. From what I understand this was not done by asking pot users if they use anything more heavy as Susy suggested. They did it by studying actual hard drug users and seeing if they previously used marijuana at a higher rate than people who aren't hard drug users and if that led them to harder drugs. They didn't find that it did.

Personally I think it is ridiculous we waste so much of our time and resources on pot. All of the arguments against legalizing marijuana could also be used to argue in favor of criminalizing alcohol. I know alcohol has caused a lot more problems in my family than pot. I also don't buy the notion that if it was legalized we would all become addicts because that hasn't happened in Holland.

portland_guy · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by Susy K
Tell me, I should have been driving?

No, I am not saying you should have been driving.

Originally posted by Susy K
Again, I don't buy the "well it's out there so let's legalize it" philosophy or the "well alcohol is legal" so let's legalize it. We can hardly control our problems with alcohol in this country and drunk driving - I don't see adding marijuana to the list as helpful by any means.

It is already added to the list. Do you think that since it is illegal it isn't used? That people don't already use it then get in a car? Oh, believe me, it is everywhere and easily available.

Legalizing it would give the government more control about who sells it, how it is obtained, who grows it. It would take the drug dealers out the cycle.

Q. · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by fergus51
They did it by studying actual hard drug users and seeing if they previously used marijuana at a higher rate than people who aren't hard drug users and if that led them to harder drugs. They didn't find that it did.

I'm not sure I understand this statement. So, the study examined hard drug users to determine if they used marijuana at a higher rate than non hard drug users? What's a "higher rate?" Meaning frequency of use, as in one a week/once a day thing?

I'm most curious to see if hard drug users started their drug habits with marijuana or not, regardless of frequency of use.

Q. · Dec 11, 2002

Originally posted by portland_guy
It is already added to the list. Do you think that since it is illegal it isn't used? That people don't already use it then get in a car? Oh, believe me, it is everywhere and easily available.

By "list" I meant list of that which is legal.

And yes, seeing as I used it myself I am well aware it is available. I think by keeping it illegal would act as a deterrant for stupid, recreational use in which people DO get in cars.

Legalizing it would give the government more control about who sells it, how it is obtained, who grows it. It would take the drug dealers out the cycle.

If legalizing it means that it falls as a controlled substance, such as methadone, morphine, etc, then fine I'm all for that. But legalizing it to the point where you can go to 7-11 and buy it is not something I agree with.

Besides, next we'll have marijuana settlements to each state, claiming that we didn't "realize" the damage it causes! Whatever!