Marijuana addiction, A physical side to it?

[bcStoner420]

I have started this topic as rediculous as some may think it is, to discuss the possibility of some sort of physical addiction to marijuana. Now, excuse my terminology since I am no biology expert, though I do understand many of the concepts I never can seem to remember all the proper terms since I have never "officially" studied biology. With that said some of you may be discouraged immediately and while my theory could be correct I don't know if it could be classified as "physical" addiction. Anyway, on to the point.

As we know, opiate/opioid withdrawal occurs when opiates have taken place of endorphins in the body and the body has stopped or slowed natural production of endorphins. When opiate use is suddenly stopped, the brain needs time to start producing endorphins again which is the withdrawal period. We also know the body produces it's own cannabinoids that help govern certain bodily functions such as hunger and sleep. I guess my question is, is it not possible that with chronic marijuana use your body stops naturally producing the natural cannabinoids? This would explain why people often find it hard to eat and sleep when trying to quit marijuana. Assuming this is all true I suppose it comes down to what is a physical addiction? Is it simply when you feel like shit and are sick without the drug? Or does it come down to chemical balances in the body and the time it takes to recover?


Anyway, I'm ready to be barraged with hate words, but I'm still intrested to see what everyone thinks.

[Solidly-here]

A thread like this is just what I would expect to see from President Dubya (or his Drug czar).

We Pot-smokers have enough to think about (or worry about) with TRUE things. Bringing this up just adds to our List of problems. What if? What if?

If there WERE an actual Physical Addiction, the US government would have sunk $100 Million into researching it, and publishing it.

I do not think that us non-scientists (non-doctors) have a clear picture of any possible problems. The best we can do is guess (based upon no actual REAL info). The Forum is for facts. Opinions on Medical issues are dangerous to our serenity (especially if 12 people Post that Pot is almost as hard to shake as Heroin).

What will be your next "survey"? Maybe, do Electric Power lines cause Cancer to Pot-smokers?

[CrookedEye]

The way cannabis works when you flood the brain with THC, is it downgrades the number of available receptors for THC.. THC does not work on the normal pleasure center of the brain, like other addictive drugs.. There is scientific articles that explain the exact mechanism in scientific terms, but I cannot locate it at the moment.. I read the study in some publication a few years ago, but I cannot recall exactly which publication...

[Senor Gribson]

"You in here for some marijuana!?"
"Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke."
"I seen him!"
"You ever suck dick for pot?"
"No, I can't say that I have..."
"Boo this man!"

lol thats the first thing that came to my mind when i saw this post i just had to post it

gotta love dave chapelle...

[sands of time]

Originally Posted by CrookedEye

The way cannabis works when you flood the brain with THC, is it downgrades the number of available receptors for THC.. THC does not work on the normal pleasure center of the brain, like other addictive drugs.. There is scientific articles that explain the exact mechanism in scientific terms, but I cannot locate it at the moment.. I read the study in some publication a few years ago, but I cannot recall exactly which publication...

In many psych classes that I have taken, they claim that marijuana produces the high by affecting the opiate, seratonin and dopamine recptors. I was suspicious of the statement about dopamine and opiate receptors, but I was suprised to read some articles claiming marijuana has no effect on serotonin. This is all I could did up at the moment...

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3438.html

"Marijuana DOES NOT produce serotonin. However, it does affect a substance in the brain called anandamide. Anandamide causes a soothing sensation in the body when it reacts with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active substance in marijuana. It is the anandamide that causes your girlfriend to relax when using marijuana in low to medium doses."

This is actually the first time I've read about this, since marijuana is not a commonly used drug by swim. It was interesting, but I would like to read this from other, more legit sources. I'm sure some members know plenty more about the psychopharmacology involved.

Something else to consider... Marijuana contains over 60 other cannabinoids which are said to potentially have a psychoactive effect, or change the way THC works. With all this, it seems likely that one of these could have an effect on dopamine, as many sources have stated with regards to marijuana itself. Those cannabinoids could make marijuana slightly addictive. Than again, it seems entirely possible to me for THC to have an effect on dopamine. There are so many sources saying conflicting things, it's quite frustrating.

Anyways, an example of a physical addiction would be if nausea, pain, excess adrenaline ect, occurs when a drug is no longer taken. The drugs involved don't have to be psychoactive though. Suppose someone takes imodium for a long period of time, than stops. Imodium makes the person constipated, but when it's no longer taken, the person has intense diarrhea of sorts. This makes the next day or 2 extremely uncomfortable, thus forcing the person to go back to taking imodium. This is also a good example of negative reinforcement, as the person is taking the imodium to remove the negative stimulus.

Since quiting use of marijuana can cause a loss of hunger, and other uncomfortable physical effects, you could describe it as having a physically addictive effect. Compared to other drugs though, it carries an extremely small addiction potential.

Reputation Comments on this post:

yet another amazing post ~pinkavvy

[CrookedEye]

http://www.pdxnorml.org/brain1.html

Marijuana and the Human Brain

by Jon Gettman
High Times, March 1995 In 1970, marijuana was placed on Schedule 1 of the Drug Enforcement Administration's controlled-substances list, largely because scientists feared that, like opiates, it had an extremely high potential for abuse and addiction. But the discovery of THC receptor sites in the brain refutes that thinking, and may force both scientists and the DEA to re-evaluate their positions.

INTRODUCTION
The next century will view the 1988 discovery of the THC receptor site in the brain as the pivotal event which led to the legalization of marijuana.
Before this discovery, no one knew for sure just how the psychoactive chemical in marijuana worked on the brain. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, researchers made tremendous strides in understanding how the brain works, by using receptor sites as switches which respond to various chemicals by regulating brain and body functions.
The dominant fear about marijuana in the 20th century has been that its effects were somehow similar to the dangerously addictive effects of opiates such as morphine and heroin. Despite widespread decriminalization of marijuana in the United States in the 1970s, this concern has remained the basis for federal law and policies regarding the use and study of marijuana.
The legal manifestation of this fear is the continued classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a category shared by heroin and other drugs that are banned from medical use because of their dangerous, addictive qualities. While only 11 states have formally decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, 45 states distinguish between marijuana and other Schedule I drugs for law-enforcement and sentencing purposes.
Until the 1980s, technological limitations obstructed scientific understanding of the neuropharmacology of THC, of how the active ingredient in marijuana actually affects brain functions. Observations and conclusions about this subject, though based on some biological studies, were largely influenced by observations of behavior. This has allowed cultural prejudice to sustain the faith that marijuana is somehow related to heroin, and that research will eventually prove this hypothesis. Actually, the discovery of the THC receptor site and the subsequent research and observations it has inspired conclusively refute the hypothesis that marijuana is dope.
Many important brain functions which affect human behavior involve the neurotransmitter dopamine. Serious drugs of abuse, such as heroin and cocaine, interfere with the brain's use of dopamine in manners that can seriously alter an individual's behavior. A drug's ability to affect the neural systems related to dopamine production has now become the defining characteristic of drugs with serious abuse potential.
According to the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, research over the last 10 years has proved that marijuana has no effect on dopamine-related brain systems - unless you are an inbred Lewis rat (see below), in which case abstention is recommended.
The discovery of a previously unknown system of cannabinoid neural transmitters is profound. While century-old questions, such as why marijuana is nontoxic, are finally being answered, new, fascinating questions are emerging - as in the case of all great discoveries. In the words of Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam, the man who first isolated the structure of THC, "Why do we have cannabinoid receptors?"
Mechoulam's theory will resonate well with marijuana smokers in the United States. He observes that "Cannabis is used by man not for its actions on memory or movement coordination, but for its actions on memory and emotions," and asks, "Is it possible that the main task of cannabinoid receptors . . . (is) to modify our emotions, to serve as the links which transmit or transform or translate objective or subjective events into perceptions and emotions?" At a 1990 conference on cannabinoid research in Crete, Mechoulam concluded his remarks by saying, "Let us hope, however, that through better understanding of cannabis chemistry in the brain, we may also approach the chemistry of emotions."

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THC RESEARCH
The receptor breakthrough occurred in 1988 at the St. Louis University Medical School where Allyn Howlett, William Devane and their associates identified and characterized a cannabinoid receptor in a rat brain. The breakthrough has a long history leading up to it.
Major figures in American and British organic chemistry, such as Roger Adams, Alex Todd and Sigmund Loewe, did important work in determining the pharmacology of cannabis in the 1940s and 1950s, but their work ground to a halt due to the disinterest cultivated by the 1937 federal ban on marijuana. While synthetic compounds were created which were close to the actual compound, THC, they were not equivalent to it. The structure of one related chemical, cannabidiol, was determined.
After repeating the isolation of cannabidiol, in 1963 Mechoulam began work with Yehiel Gaoni that led to the determination of the biosynthetic pathway by which the plant synthesizes cannabinoids. In 1964 Gaoni and Mechoulam isolated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and a few years later they reported the first synthesis of THC.
Following the identification of the active constituent in marijuana, scientific research began to fill in the gaps and build on Mechoulam's initial breakthrough. The neutral and acidic cannabinoids in cannabis were isolated, and their structures were elucidated. The absolute configurations were determined, as was a reasonable scheme of biogenesis. Total synthesis of the chemical was obtained, and the structure-activity relationship was established. These developments laid the foundation for pharmacological research involving animals and man.
This work, along with observations of marijuana's therapeutic applications, opened up investigation into the medical properties of cannabinoids in general and THC in particular.
Medical research into the health effects of cannabis also matured throughout this period. In a comprehensive 1986 article in the Pharmacological Review, Leo Hollister of the Stanford University School of Medicine concluded that "compared with other licit social drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, marijuana does not pose greater risks." Hollister wondered if these currently licit drugs would have enjoyed their popular acceptance based on our current knowledge of them. Nonetheless, it has been widely held throughout the 1980s, as Hollister concluded, that "Marijuana may prove to have greater therapeutic potential than these other social drugs, but many questions still need to be answered."
The primary question, though, was how do cannabinoids work on the brain? By 1986, scientists were already on the slippery slope that would lead to the discovery of the cannabinoid receptor. The triennial reports from the National Institute on Drug Abuse summarizing research on marijuana had begun to omit references to research on marijuana-related brain damage and instead focus on brain receptor research. A comprehensive article by Renee Wert and Michael Raoulin was published in the International Journal of the Addictions that year, detailing the flaws in all previous studies that claimed to show brain damage resulting from marijuana use. As Hollister independently concluded, "Brain damage has not been proved." The reason, obviously, is that the brain was prepared in some respects to process THC.
Also in 1986, Mechoulam put together a book reviewing this research, Cannabinoids as Therapeutic Agents (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL). One promising area of research was the use of cannabinoids as analgesics or painkillers. A synthetic cannabinoid named CP 55,940, 10-100 times more potent than THC, was also developed in 1986; this was the key to the cannabinoid receptor breakthrough.
Receptors are binding sites for chemicals in the brain, chemicals that instruct brain cells to start, stop or otherwise regulate various brain and body functions. The chemicals which trigger receptors are known as neurotransmitters. The brain's resident neurotransmitters are known as endogenous ligands. In many instances, drugs mimic these natural chemicals working in the brain. Scientists are just now confirming their determinations as to which endogenous ligands work on the cannabinoid receptors; it is likely that the neurotransmitter which naturally triggers cannabinoid receptors is one known as anandamide. Research continues.
To grossly oversimplify the research involved, a receptor is determined by exposing brain tissue to various chemicals and observing if any of them uniquely bind to the tissue. The search for a cannabinoid receptor depended on the use of a potent synthetic that would allow observation of the binding. CP 55,940 provided this potency, and it allowed Howlett, Devane and their associates, working with tissue from a rat brain, to fulfill precise scientific criteria for determining the existence of a pharmacologically-distinct cannabinoid in brain tissue.
A year later the localization of cannabinoid receptors in human brains and other species was determined by scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health, led by Miles Herkenham and including Ross Johnson and Lawrence Melvin, who had worked with Howlett and Devane on the earlier study.

RECEPTORS IN THE BRAIN
The locations of the cannabinoid receptors are most revealing of the way THC acts on the brain, but the importance of this determination is best understood in comparison with the effects of other drugs on the brain.
Neurons are brain cells which process information. Neurotransmitter chemicals enable them to communicate with each other by their release into the gap between the neurons. This gap is called the synapse. Receptors are actually proteins in neurons which are specific to neurotransmitters, and which turn various cellular mechanisms on or off. Neurons can have thousands of receptors for different neurotransmitters, causing any neurotransmitter to have diverse effects in the brain.
Drugs affect the production, release or re-uptake (a regulating mechanism) of various neurotransmitters. They also mimic or block actions of neurotransmitters, and can interfere with or enhance the mechanisms associated with the receptor.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is associated with extremely pleasurable sensations, so that the neural systems which trigger dopamine release are known as the "brain reward system." The key part of this system is identified as the mesocorticolimbic pathway, which links the dopamine-production area with the nucleus of accumbens in the limbic system, an area of the brain which is associated with the control of emotion and behavior.
Cocaine, for example, blocks the re-uptake of dopamine so that the brain, lacking biofeedback, keeps on producing it. Amphetamines also block the re-uptake of dopamine, and stimulate additional production and release of it.
Opiates activate neural pathways that increase dopamine production by mimicking opioid-peptide neurotransmitters which increase dopamine activity in the ventral tegmental area of the brain where the neurotransmitter originates. Opiates work on three receptor sites, and in effect restrain an inhibitory amino acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid, that otherwise would slow down or halt dopamine production.
All of these substances can produce strong reinforcing properties that can seriously influence behavior. The rewarding properties of dopamine are what accounts for animal studies in which animals will forgo food and drink or willingly experience electric shocks in order to stimulate the brain reward system. It is now widely held that drugs of abuse directly or indirectly affect the brain reward system. The key clinical test of whether a substance is a drug of abuse potential or not is whether administration of the drug reduces the amount of electrical stimulation needed to produce self-stimulation response, or dopamine production. This is an indication that a drug has reinforcing properties, and that an individual's use of the drug can lead to addictive and other harmful behavior.
To be precise, according to the Office of Technological Assessment (OTA): "The capacity to produce reinforcing effects is essential to any drug with significant abuse potential."
Marijuana should no longer be considered a serious drug abuse because, as summarized by the OTA: "Animals will not self-administer THC in controlled studies . . . . Cannabinoids generally do not lower the threshold needed to get animals to self-stimulate the brain regard system, as do other drugs of abuse." Marijuana does not produce reinforcing effects.
The definitive experiment which measures drug-induced dopamine production utilizes microdialysis is live, freely-moving rats. Brain microdialysis has proven that opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine and alcohol all affect dopamine production, whereas marijuana does not.

This latest research confirms and explains Hollister's 1986 conclusion about cannabis and addiction: "Physical dependence is rarely encountered in the usual patterns, despite some degree of tolerance that may develop." Most important, the discoveries of Howlett and Devane, Herkenham and their associates demonstrate that the cannabinoid receptors do not influence the dopamine reward system.

CANNABINOID RECEPTORS
Research has enabled scientists to know which portions of the brain control various body functions, and this knowledge has been used to explain the pharmacological properties of drugs that activate receptor sites in the brain.
There is a dense concentration of cannabinoid binding sites in the basal ganglia and the cerebellum of the base-brain, both of which affect movement and coordination. This discovery will aid in determining the actual physical mechanism by which THC affects spasticity and provides therapeutic benefits to patients with multiple sclerosis and other spastic disorders.
While there are cannabinoid receptors in the ventromedial striatum and basal ganglia which are areas associated with dopamine production, no cannabinoid receptors have been found in dopamine-producing neurons, and as mentioned above, no reinforcing properties have been demonstrated in animal studies.
There is one study by Gardner and Lowinson, involving inbred Lewis rats, in which doses of THC lowered the amount of electrical stimulation required to trigger the brain reward system. However, no one has been able to replicate the results with any other species of rat, or any other animal. The finding is believed to be the result of some inbred genetic variation in the inbred species, and is both widely mentioned in the literature and disregarded.
According to Herkenham and his associates, "There are virtually no reports of fatal cannabis overdose in humans. The safety reflects the paucity of receptors in medullary nuclei that mediate respiratory and cardiovascular functions." This is also why cannabinoids have great promise as analgesics or painkillers, in that they do not depress the function of the heart or the lungs. In this respect, they are far superior to opiates, which decrease the entire physiological system because the receptors are all over the medulla as well as the brain.

Marijuana is distinguished from most other illicit drugs by the locations of its brain-receptor sites for two predominant reasons: (1) The lack of receptors in the medulla significantly reduces the possibility of accidental, or even deliberate, death from THC, and (2) the lack of receptors in the mesocorticolimbic pathway significantly reduces the risks of addiction and serious physical dependence. As a therapeutic drug, these features are God's greatest gifts.
THE CHEMISTRY OF EMOTIONS
Mechoulam regrets that more has not been done in the therapeutic application of THC. In a 1986 interview with the International Journal of the Addictions, he said that, "Knowing what I know today, I would have worked more on the therapeutic aspects of cannabis. This area apparently needs a major push that is has not had up till now, particularly given that it has a therapeutic potential. One of the reasons that it has not been pushed was that most pharmaceutical companies years ago were afraid to get into that field. Companies were 'burnt' working on amphetamines and LSD. . . . They are afraid of notoriety."
Clearly, cannabis acts on coordination of movement by way of the receptors in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, and on memory by way of the receptors in the limbic system's hippocampus, which "gates" information during memory consolidation. Mechoulam believes that in humans these actions "are rather marginal."
"Cannabis," he states, "is used . . . for its actions on mood and emotion." The key to understanding the reason for the presence of cannabinoid receptors in the human brain lies in understanding the role of the receptors in the limbic system, which has a central role in the mechanisms which govern behavior and emotions.
The limbic system coordinates activities between the visceral base-brain and the rest of the nervous system. "We know next to nothing on the chemistry of emotions," Mechoulam instructs. It is his hope that future research on the role of cannabinoid receptors in the brain will shed light on this new area of investigation and reflection.

THE FUTURE OF MARIJUANA LAWS
Advances in neurobiology are redefining the scientific basis for addiction. These advances have important ramifications for addiction treatment, and for the treatment of numerous organic diseases and conditions. More importantly for marijuana users, these advances in neurobiology will ultimately force changes in the law.
The law is constantly being modified in response to technological changes. The passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1972 was in part due to a greater understanding of drug abuse brought about by the medical research of the time.
The law instituted a policy by which regulation and criminal penalties regarding controlled substances were to be correlated with the harmfulness of the substance. Specifically, the law lists the "actual or relative potential for abuse" as the first matter to be considered in determining the appropriate scheduling of a drug. Schedule I is for drugs which have a "high potential for abuse."
While the scheduling of marijuana and its subsequent availability for research and medical use was the subject of a 22-year unsuccessful court battle spearheaded by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the question of marijuana's abuse potential was never addressed during the litigation and related proceedings. The suit over medical marijuana sought to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule II drug, which also implies a "high potential for abuse." This made the abuse question irrelevant to the court proceedings.
However, the abuse question is the pre-eminent issue in attempts to reform marijuana laws, and it is the weak link upon which the entirety of marijuana prohibition rests. The most recent research indicates that marijuana does not have a high potential for abuse, especially relative to other scheduled drugs such as heroin, cocaine, sedatives and amphetamines.
The medical-marijuana petition was rejected by the administrator of the DEA because of the lack of scientific studies detailing marijuana's medical value. The court appeal essentially concerned whether or not this was a reasonable standard in light of the government's historic disinterest in funding such studies. While courts have ruled that DEA can rely on research studies, or the lack thereof, in its decision-making about the scheduling of marijuana, they have not ruled on the actual issues which determine the proper legal scheduling of marijuana.
The discovery of cannabinoid receptor sites, and their relevance to the understanding of the pharmacology of THC in the brain, provides the basis for a new challenge to the legitimacy of marijuana's Schedule I status, a pivotal event in marijuana's eventual legalization.

[End]

Reputation Comments on this post:

	good post
	Excellent post: Thankyou

[chAos]

I stopped using some days ago. (i only had trouble sleeping the last nights because i was wasted on alcohol the days before )

I guess there aren't any physical signs of addiction. Not beeing able to sleep isn't physical i think, i think it's just because normally your brain is way relaxer when it goes to sleep, so it has a hard time falling asleep when it isn't drugged. Like when you go on a holiday the next day, and you are exited about it. (but worse)
I don't know if i'm less hungry, because the last times i never was hungry. If i think about it, i just didn't do anything for a long time . But i do know that my food tasted better today, so i guess the hunger will come back.

The only really irritating thing as far as i'm concerned (except for the not sleeping part) is that the first days the world is so damn boring. But this didn't last long (3-4 days).

[gonzochronicles]

Although I have no research on brain functions to back it up, in all of my experience marijuana addiction is completely psychological. I always have related it to masturbating. You realize that it would be nice when it is around, and so when it is around, you do it. The entire addiction is that "inability" to say no when asked by someone

[StigmataLectron]

Originally Posted by Senor Gribson

"You in here for some marijuana!?"
"Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke."
"I seen him!"
"You ever suck dick for pot?"
"No, I can't say that I have..."
"Boo this man!"

Haha, that's funny, because, well.. uh, heh. Yeah.

Solidly is going to hate me for saying, but I really, really like pot so far as to say that, knowing what I've experienced in pot withdrawls (hating the fact that I don't have pot, wanting it more than anything, not being able to take my mind off weeeeeeeed, and the aforementioned deed in order to get pot), I would HATE to see what heroin withdrawls are like. But that's just me, I'm a total drug fiend - I still really want to try diphenhydramine and datura.

If this is what a /psychological/ addiction is like, I would hate to see what a physical/REAL one is like.

[CrookedEye]

diphenhydramine is an antihistimine that makes your drowsy, not much of a high... Datura is not the "fun" kind of trip and you can possibly die or do some crazy things while whacked out, so make sure you do your homework. It's a good idea to have a sober sitter, too....

[trish]

SWIM is a heavy user everyday and has been for a while. When SWIM misses a day, SWIM has a terrible time going to sleep. There are never any body/head aches.

[Lehendakari]

swim also finds harder to get sleep when stopping mj and also less hunger but never gets too serious. I mean withdrawal of mj is very very light. Swim also dreams a lot when withdrawing

[melt_000]

there is a withdrawal, for whateve reason... it's not so bad though.. swim just drink lots of coffee and stay up until swim'm tired enough to sleep. also it's kind of cool when you're off and then you're like "wow i can get things done again".

swim just has to meditate whenever i would normally smoke. thoughts like worrying get ignored when you're high, and if you're constantly high you get out of the habit of thinking about them and you forget how to deal with them.

[goslamsomeTHC]

i think there is what some would call physical dependence, but these physical dependences may also fall into psychological. like sleep deprivation, (though i never experience this when i decide to stop for a month or two. i'm like menstration, i go in cycles. usually i'm on 1-3 months, off 1-3 months) it can be said that you are not able to fall asleep because your body needs, it, but maybe it is just in your head like a habit or ritual you usually do before you sleep? and i always hear about these emo fucks who can't deal with life and then probably shouldn't be within 5 miles of any drug, always getting "depressed" when they stop smoking. weak bastards. i just can't see why or how, people can let this drug control them so easily. idiots. whatever, i've been taking too much creatine and agression boosters, at least it's almost time for me to go off them for a few months.

[fatal]

barely read any of the thread so bare with me if i am repeating what anyone has said... SWIM has been up to a 20 gram a day habit of around 10-15% average thc content(rough guess?) and it is definitely bullshit that marijuana is not addicting. the addiction is not so controlling and crippling as others can be and honestly has a lot of benefits to it. however the fact still remains that it definitely chages the way you think act and make choices. SWIM said he has been at the place (one particular place in time when there was a large amount of hydroponic jack herer beiing smoked) where he was unstable mentally, quite paranoid, completely fearless of many consequences and recognized that he was actually quite insane from it all in general... not in a dangerous way to anyone or himself mind you... just completely off kilter... so please dont underestimate the power of marijuana. it really can totally change the way your brain operates if you let it take you were it will... in psychology this is called CCI(Chronic Cannabis Intoxication). it is in fact a recognized mental disorder. completely reversible however. there is a minor physical side to it but it is no wheres near the same as even caffeine or nicoteine as far as craving or withdrawal symptoms. once one has experienced all of this once though it becomes a very simple task to be able to avoid putting yourself in a negative situation like that again... the real good thing about marijuana addiction is the fact that the positives really do outweigh any of the negatives. thats why weed should be legal and booze and cigs prolly shouldnt. the only real problems swim found from his addiction was some memory issues(all very much so confined to the short term meaning no blackout periods like with alcohol), dangerously lowered inhibitions(which actually is more just part of swim's personality and also not even close to the extent that alcohol will cause), and the change in thought process(also not that negative considering that it actually made swim better with expression and basically eliminated his anxieties most of the time). a bit amotivational but really that isnt exactly crippling anyways. all in all my point is that considering that these are the negatives from a full blown "addiction" it is honestly not really a very large problem unless it gets you arrested or you cant afford it. swim doesnt think though that you would exactly find anyone stealing to support their weed habit unless they were a fuckin dirtbag to begin with. maybe a little crop raiding... but everyone knows that that is ok as long as you only steal a little(a pound or few) from someone who has a LOT (several several hundred plants) in which case they wont even be that bothered by it anyways... especially if you know them... anyways... all for now

PLUR

[old hippie 56]

Swim knows of people who stole plants, yes they are dirtbags. Especially stealing from the sick and disable. Sorry SOBs.

[fee17]

of course, there is a psychological addiction, in where your body isn't really experiencing any symptoms of withdrawal but rather you're always thinking, damn, i could use some weed right now. maybe that whole losing sleep over it, is just your brain evoking those emotions which could probably cloud your mind. when one has too much on his mind, it's hard to fall asleep yeah? i don't know, that's just my idea. because, i have a lot of friends who are heavy pot smokers and myself, who has smoked weed.. there is no physical addiction.. there's no confirmed reports of it.

[Roll_Light_Smoke]

SWIM has currently given up weed for the past week or so due to a drama presentation I have to get done. He wants to get himself active so that he doesn't let down his group (and himself).
About 2 days ago, SWIM was "suffering" from withdraw symptons which he believed were from the lack of weed: Headaches, Rushes of Emotion, Vomiting (unexpected), Insomnia... but, there is no real feeling of being drawn to get more weed, despsite all the 'hard' effects of being sober.

[Nagognog2]

Tell SWIM to take some vitamins, Roll. Likely the diet has changed as a result of stopping. That should take care of SWIM - as long as he keeps eating.

[Nature Boy]

SWIM's off heavy marijuana use for the first time in weeks over the past two days. No really notable side-effects apart from not being able to fall asleep quickly the first night.

[dr ACE]

and i always hear about these emo fucks who can't deal with life and then probably shouldn't be within 5 miles of any drug, always getting "depressed" when they stop smoking. weak bastards. i just can't see why or how, people can let this drug control them so easily. idiots. whatever, i've been taking too much creatine and agression boosters, at least it's almost time for me to go off them for a few months.[/QUOTE]
class post there.there are some people who do have genuine psyhical addictions to cannabis/thc, becuase they suffer from ADHD,or ADD or any other kind of addention defficit disorder,thats just 1 geniune medial reason for using pot.people with these 'brain disorders' have lower levels of dopamine production (thats about all i cant honestly tell you about adhd/add).the cannabis/thc is scientificly proven to increase dopamine production along with affecting other brain receptors.so there are actually some people who could genuinely could say they have a medical NEED to use cannabis/thc to feel normal, therfore justifing using it every fucking day if they so choose to.you cant judge people with illness by just sterotyping them, thats fucking week and well out of order from my point of veiw.well in a way i agree with what your saying but it does'nt just apply to cannabis what about crak heads, valium victims,booze hounds,nicotine lovers the list goes on and fucking on so please dont just pick on the stoners