Is marijuana addictive?

[Tweety]

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.

[DIPLOMATICRN4HIRE, MSN, RN]

Wonder if the spider who was stoned , spun slower? Kinda like us driving?

Hmmm ponders what a spider gets the munchies for?

zoe

[katieRNlove]

Originally posted by Jenny P

There was an incident here I heard about where a highway patrol pulled some kids over and asked how fast they thought they were going....... They told him they thought they must have been doing 80 or so; turns out they were all stoned and were actually doing 20mph on the freeway! Don't know if it was in the local papers or not but I work with the highway patrolman's wife.........

That is hilarious!!! One of the times that i have smoked we were driving on the interstate. After we were done my friend in the passenger seat said "I'm not trying to be mean or talk bad about your driving but if you want to do 35, maybe you should get in the slow lane!!" Looking in my rearview I noticed the line of cars behing me growing larger!!! No wonder everyone kept passing and beeping!!!

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

The peeing all over the rug was caused by my ex- husband smoking himself into a stupor so deep that he didn't realize he had to pee and peed on the floor where he lay passed out. People pass out on all kinds of mind-altering substances . . . not unusual at all to pee when you are out cold. A little follow-up . . . .my marriage ended 16 years ago, my ex-husband still chooses drugs over his kids. My kid's step-day is their dad . . . . they love him. They tolerate their bio-dad. When they spoke with him on the phone last night, they were disgusted and disappointed. Seems he was intoxicated on something and kept repeating himself. I will continue to believe that making drugs legal is asking for more selfish behavior on the part of parents and kids left in the dust. Kids deserve more than that. stevie

[Vailgang]

I would really like to know if anyone has facts that I can give to my curious teenager and his friend. Does anyone have them or has anyone researched them? If you do please give them to me as I would love to share them.

I have enjoyed everyone's opinions

Jill

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Just a little clarification to those of you who don't think the marijuana grown in the good old USA has any ties to Columbia. Actually read an article, coincidentally, yesterday that said that the illegal aliens who guard the pot gardens in California's National Forests are hired by these same Columbian Drugs Lords portrayed in said anti-marijuana commercials . . . .they use the profits from selling marijuana to you casual, recreational users to fund making methamphetamine, which they sell to little 15 year old girls who then let men use their bodies for sex, make babies who are addicted to methamphetamine, and live lives of degradation. Are you all really nurses? Do you live with your heads in the sand? Are there an OB nurses out there who see the effects of illegal drugs on kids? The stats for my county show that over 50% of the babies born here are born with illegal drugs in their system. How in the world can legalizing drugs stop that? It is appalling that we fund Columbian Drug Lords and their murderous mayhem. Just because alcohol and cigarettes are legal doesn't mean that we should add to the negative effects of alcohol and cigarettes and the people who already use illegal drugs. Legalizing santions drug use. More people will use. More kids will be irrepairably hurt.

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

Stevielynn

I don't understand what the above tirade has to do with this thread. This thread starter is questioning whether or not marijuana may be addictive. It isn't proven and someone threw out the question to see what people thought. Maybe you can start another thread to make whatever point you are trying to make?

[fergus51]

stevie, I think we need to separate this debate over marijuana with your feeling about ALL illegal drugs. I am an OB nurse and am not in favor of most drugs being legalized. That said, I haven't seen a kid with serious health problems from recreational pot use. I have from cigarettes, heroine, crystal meth and alcohol among other things.

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

Vailgang

You can never learn enough about what drugs are in the mainstream while your kids are growing up. They change with the times, so you really have to stay up on what's happening with kids right now. It was ecstasy when my youngest boy was a teen and alcohol when my oldest was. The most important thing is to be honest and know what you are talking about. Teens are smart. They already know what propoganda is out there and what is true. Give them the benefit of knowing that they are not going to loose their minds if they smoke a joint. On the other hand, it is imparitive to inform them that drugs have various negative effects, ie., marijuana is bad for the lungs and can decrease motivation, cocaine is extremely addictive, too much alcohol greatly impairs judgment. You catch my drift. Of course, the ultimate goal is to keep your kids from ever doing drugs, but also, be cognizant of what it means to be a teenager and that they probably will try something at some point, at the very least. I say keep the lines of communication open and stay calm and rational. When my boys were going through those curious years, I found this method worked well for us. They are sane happy and healthy adults today.:)

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

Vailgang

One other thing. I think I may have drifted a bit myself. You were asking how to answer questions about marijuana from the teens, right? And that you were looking for facts and not opinion. Ah, that is not easy with marijuana. That is the exact reason for this thread. The jury truly is out as to whether or not marijuana is harmful. Asside from the obvious smoke in the lungs negative affect and a few other "maybe" negative effects, we just don't know for sure. Most can agree on the danger of just about all other illegal drugs and alcohol, except this one. That is the reason the ongoing controversy. It's almost like we keep waiting for some dastardly unknown effect to be proven, but it never happens.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

To be fair about starting a new thread, I was responding to subjects that were already brought up on this one. Namely, legalization, the anti-marijuana ads, if there is any harm to using pot, etc. Marijuana was the "Gateway" drug for my ex . . .he started smoking pot at 12 after school when his parents were at work. He moved on to alcohol, "ludes", cocaine, mushrooms, LSD, etc. He is impaired because of his drug use. Drugs have a negative effect on alot of people. He mostly smokes pot and drinks beer now. He started at 12 and he is now 43 and on disability and barely has a relationship with his sons. I truly don't buy the legalizing argument as legalizing does nothing to the chemical components of illegal drugs. They don't magically change into something positive and not harmful. So to me legalizing doesn't help anyone but the criminal who sells it . . . he magically changes his spots from criminal to law abiding citizen. You could use the same argument for murderers. Let's just legalize murder then we wouldn't have to put people in jail. Now the murdered people are just as dead, we just changed the definition for our own convenience. Sorry if this hit a cord with me . . . . I just see the consequences too often. Recently had a mom of an 8 year old who was hooked on meth (she started smoking pot at 9 with her friend's older sisters who thought it would be funny to get the "little kids stoned"). This mom was "dating" a mexican national who was keeping her supplied with meth and molesting her daughter at the same time. She knew he was molesting her daughter. So, is marijuana physically addictive? Does it matter? It certainly keeps people coming back and moving on to bigger and better drugs. This is a sad subject for Christmas Eve. I'll leave it alone now. Sorry to have bugged y'all. Merry Christmas.

[jacolaur]

ummm uhhh yaaa I tried it when I was young I wish I could remember jeeese uhhh hmmmmm wellllll uhhhhhh it was aaaaahhh hmmmmm weeellll......you get the picture..I was blonde and it wasn't a very attractive sight (dumb blonde jokes)...red eyes couldn't complete a single thought...wanted to sleep but first I needed a "Steak n Shake" large fries with a large chocolate shake ummmm then I wanted to go to bed...probably a good thing I didn't pick it up as a habit because I'd weight about 400 pounds and have no life..:imbar

[Q.]

I personally don't really care if marijuana was physically addictive or not. Even if alcohol was not, and cigarettes were not, we all know it's bad for your health! What more do you need?

Personally, all you in favor of pot smoking should probably be working towards keeping it illegal for your own benefit. Why? If it become legalized, within 10-20 years a bunch o' you are gonna take up a lawsuit with the pot farmers, claim you didn't know it was bad for your (or, we find out by then it IS physically addictive and claim that the government "knew" this back in 2003) and then you're gonna drive the pot industry bankrupt from paying out all those settlements, and then POOF! it's gone. Similar to McDonald's etc. There's only so much in lawyer fees, etc that a company can pay before it goes belly-up.