Pharmaceutical Industry .. some thoughts ....

[precious007]

@raptor

Anything that creates addiction is more or less to be avoided ... Not only most drugs/addictive substances harm the body but they're costly too ...
And cannabis does give addiction ... here's another article... http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/cannabis/addiction.htm

Not everyone gets hooked on it .. but there's 2 million users in the US alone.

I'm still hooked on nicotine... but I will quit it completely one day... that thing is for sure...

As for coffee.... I do drink coffee... but I never knew if I'm really hooked on caffeine ... I can go a whole day without coffee and hardly feel any change... (and I drink coffee for 12 years or so ... )

[sgreger1]

Since you are a fan of decades old government research:


The following is an excerpt from the Merck Manual, the US military's field guide to medicine:

...no physical dependence [as a result of cannabis usage]; no abstinence syndrome when the drug is discontinued.
Cannabis can be used on an episodic but continuous basis without evidence of social or psychic dysfunction. In many users the term dependence with it's obvious connotations probably is misapplied.

Many of the claims regarding severe biological impact are still uncertain, but some others are not. Despite the acceptance of the 'new' dangers of marijuana, there is still little evidence of biologic damage even among relatively heavy users. This is true even in the areas intensively investigated, such aspulmonary, immunologic, and reproductive function.

Marijuana used in the USA has a higher THC content than in the past. Many critics have incorporated this fact into warnings, but the chief opposition to the drug rests on a moral and political, and not a toxicological, foundation.

(Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 15th edition, 1987,Robert Berkow, MD, Editor-In-Chief. Published by Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories Division of Merck and Co, Inc)

[sgreger1]

@raptor

Anything that creates addiction is more or less to be avoided ... Not only most drugs/addictive substances harm the body but they're costly too ...
And cannabis does give addiction ... here's another article... http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/cannabis/addiction.htm

Not everyone gets hooked on it .. but there's 2 million users in the US alone.

I'm still hooked on nicotine... but I will quit it completely one day... that thing is for sure...

As for coffee.... I do drink coffee... but I never knew if I'm really hooked on caffeine ... I can go a whole day without coffee and hardly feel any change... (and I drink coffee for 12 years or so ... )

By drinking coffee, every major study has shown it is more addictive than MMJ. I'll post more when I get home.

[precious007]

Since you are a fan of decades old government research:


The following is an excerpt from the Merck Manual, the US military's field guide to medicine:

...no physical dependence [as a result of cannabis usage]; no abstinence syndrome when the drug is discontinued.
Cannabis can be used on an episodic but continuous basis without evidence of social or psychic dysfunction. In many users the term dependence with it's obvious connotations probably is misapplied.

Many of the claims regarding severe biological impact are still uncertain, but some others are not. Despite the acceptance of the 'new' dangers of marijuana, there is still little evidence of biologic damage even among relatively heavy users. This is true even in the areas intensively investigated, such aspulmonary, immunologic, and reproductive function.

Marijuana used in the USA has a higher THC content than in the past. Many critics have incorporated this fact into warnings, but the chief opposition to the drug rests on a moral and political, and not a toxicological, foundation.

(Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 15th edition, 1987,Robert Berkow, MD, Editor-In-Chief. Published by Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories Division of Merck and Co, Inc)

You do have your point sgreger1 but what about the psychological dependence ?! I can understand and I know cannabis isn't that much "an addictive substance" .... xanax by it's chemical composition is a lot more addictive... but still people get psychically hooked on cannabis and I know quite a lot of people that find it devastating to quit it ...

Marijuana is less harmfull than cofee, and also less addictive.

What about the smoke in your lungs... ?! Again might be less addictive but yet more dangerous ... for the lungs... circulatory system... and so on..

I am not a cannabis nazi I enjoy it from time to time ...

basis without evidence of social or psychic dysfunction

You can do an experiment and let us know ....
Smoke 5 - 6 joints a day for one month and let us know if you're addicted on it (I don't afford the experiment lol and wouldn't even risk it)

If it doesn't harm you at all in any given way.... your social life (that's what you've quoted earlier that it doesn't affect the social/family life and so on ..... ) ... then I guess ...

You'll surely say no and drink 6 coffee cups a day instead ;-)

[sgreger1]

You do have your point sgreger1 but what about the psychological dependence ?! I can understand and I know cannabis isn't that much "an addictive substance" .... xanax by it's chemical composition is a lot more addictive... but still people get psychically hooked on cannabis and I know quite a lot of people that find it devastating to quit it ...



What about the smoke in your lungs... ?! Again might be less addictive but yet more dangerous ... for the lungs... circulatory system... and so on..

I am not a cannabis nazi I enjoy it from time to time ...

You can do an experiment and let us know ....
Smoke 5 - 6 joints a day for one month and let us know if you're addicted on it (I don't afford the experiment lol and wouldn't even risk it)

You'll surely say no and drink 6 coffee cups a day instead ;-)

I smoked far more than 5-6 joints a day for many years, and I quit cold turkey...for 6 years. I only started again when my dr recommended it, I did not go out an seek it.


What isn't psychologically addictive? Why are you not campaigning against salt or sugar, both of which are more addictive and more unhealthy.

As far as the smoke, it does not negatively effect the circulatory system like tobacco. In fact it is of great benefit to the circulatory system and can help lower blood pressure.
Even after a lifetime of smoking, people still don't get cancer, and suffer no permanent memory loss or impaired cognitive function. In fact it's quite the opposite, as MMJ is used to successfully treat alzhimers.

[TommyGunBC]

If you're really taking it ... as a medicine ...
Then you are surely experiencing withdrawal pangs...
Unless you smoke it once a month.... only..
the withdrawal from Weed is quite severe in some cases..

Here's just a few I'm aware of...
irritability
anxiety
physical tension
decreases in appetite and mood
stomach pain
physical tension
restlessness
anorexia
insomnia
increased aggression / anger
strange dreams ..

Pretty much as you would get from tobacco smoking... but a bit more severe..
P.S You're feeling well because you're either hooked on it... or smoking way too little.

There is no such thing as withdrawl from MJ , I smoked it for 20+ years to get high and never in a lapse of using did I experience witdrawls from it , I started using it sparingly after quitting smoking by vaporizing it and just take small doses of it for pleasure and can go weeks without and still no effects of withdrawl , where the heck did you get this list of phantom symptoms from Precious ???

[sgreger1]

Lol @ precious claiming weed is more addictive and has a worse withdrawal than smoking cigs. Lololololoolo

My wager stands, $100 of Snus if you can prove weed is more addictive than cigarettes and has worse withdrawals.

[TommyGunBC]

Weed is not addictive I have multiple vaporizers , 3 ounces of 6 different strains sitting in jars and don't crave it ever I only use it when I feel I need the extra relaxation , I may have thought I was addicted to it when I was a teen , but I was also was semi addicted to anything I did multiple times and it became routine .it is just all in your head not a physical addiction of any kind , cocaine on the other hand is one hell of a drug and is addictive but even that was easier for me to give up than good ole vitamin "N"

[sgreger1]

Weed is not addictive I have multiple vaporizers , 3 ounces of 6 different strains sitting in jars and don't crave it ever I only use it when I feel I need the extra relaxation , I may have thought I was addicted to it when I was a teen , but I was also addicted to anything I did multiple times and it became routine .

Lol, I too have a nice glass jar collection

I just can't believe the amount of disinformation is out there regarding this subject. It's going to take a while to debunkthe whole reagan era reefer madness nonsense.

[Mykislt]

Marijuana is psychologically ADDICTIVE, it does not cause physical dependence, but it may cause psychological addiction. In some cases, psychological addiction to a drug is a greater motivator than some 'craving', and often this 'craving' is psychological, but it is hard to tell. This is a study http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_park that basically proves this, in regard to opiates.
The fact that mj may cause psychological addiction is not scary, because it is not harmful to the body, nor does the tolerance skyrocket, nor does it cost a lot, so even if you are addicted, it doesn't matter that much.

Also I would like to add, that psysical withdrawal symptoms are usually projected to be a lot worse than they actually are, the few drugs that actually cause serious withdrawal symptoms are alcohol and benzos (if you have a high tollerance, and you abruptly stop taking benzos, you may die from the wds) And I'm not saying that it's easy to quit using drugs. I'm saying that what you think may have a greater effect on your addiction than your physical dependence. I'm not certain of this, but it makes sense to me.

[sgreger1]

Marijuana is psychologically ADDICTIVE, it does not cause physical dependence, but it may cause psychological addiction. In some cases, psychological addiction to a drug is a greater motivator than some 'craving', and often this 'craving' is psychological, but it is hard to tell. This is a study http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_park that basically proves this, in regard to opiates.
The fact that mj may cause psychological addiction is not scary, because it is not harmful to the body, nor does the tolerance skyrocket, nor does it cost a lot, so even if you are addicted, it doesn't matter that much.

But this all has nothign to do with marijuana at all. Anything that makes you feel good has the potential to be psychologically addictive. This is the same with fatty foods or having sex, people. If it feels good, people will want to do it. That is all a psychological addiction is, it just means you got used to doing it. Some people have trouble stopping because they get used to something making them hungry and tired, so their brain has associated hunger and sleep with the ingestion of cannabis.

Same with anything else. If you drink a glass of milk before bed every night for 20 years, you may find yourself wanting milk before you go to sleep since you have trained your brain to act this way.


I fail to see how this is really a negative at all, as literally ever substance that anyone anywhere likes has this same potential. On a chemical level, MMJ is no more addictive than anything else you use on a daily basis, but since it feels SO good, people are more likely to want this specific thing.


Addiction is when you would give up food or family to obtain your drug, this does no such thing.

[Mykislt]

But this all has nothign to do with marijuana at all. Anything that makes you feel good has the potential to be psychologically addictive.

exactly right, that's why it has everything to do with marijuana. Just because anything pleasurable can be addictive, does not make the addiction to marijuana less serious.

Addiction is when you would give up food or family to obtain your drug, this does no such thing.

there are various degrees of addiction, and this type is on the serious end, and usually only comes with the most pleasurable of drugs

I fail to see how this is really a negative at all,

oh man, I personally know people who have ****ed up their lives, because they smoked mj on a daily basis when they were going to school.

[sgreger1]

oh man, I personally know people who have ****ed up their lives, because they smoked mj on a daily basis when they were going to school.

Not doing well in school is a result of gluttony and not doing your school work or focusing on the right priorities. Just because one chooses to sit around high all day does not mean MJ is bad, it means people who would rather sit around not doing what is required of them are lazy.

Literally, I smoke every day and it has 0 effect on my work abilities or chores, and I still manage to blow through a large amount of reading/education in my spare time, as well as play with my daughter etc. Only someone who sits stoned off their ass all day will become the lazy stoner we all associate with smoking weed. It's the same thing if a fat chick stayed in her dorm eating ice cream all day instead of doing their homework. It's not that ice cream should be illegal, and it's not that ice cream is particularly addictive, it's that people need constraint and choose not to exercise it.



The only thing I am willing to budge on is that since MJ feels so good, the potential to want to abuse it (sit in dorm high/not doing schoolwork) is significantly increased over other substances.




What does it mean when people have "****ED up their lives" by smoking? They decided to sit around indulging in their own selfishness all day instead of doing what life requires of you. That is not MJ's fault, that is the individuals fault.


This is the same thing when people say murderers use guns, and therefore guns must be bad. No, murderers are bad, just because they choose a firearm as their weapon of choice does not change the fact that it is the operators responsibility to not abuse it. How many successfull court cases have you seen where the murderer blames the gun for messing up his life and turning him into a murderer? The court would laugh them all the way to jail. Same thing when i hear someone didn't do their homework because they were too busy smoking weed. Grow up people.

[truthwolf1]

exactly right, that's why it has everything to do with marijuana. Just because anything pleasurable can be addictive, does not make the addiction to marijuana less serious.


there are various degrees of addiction, and this type is on the serious end, and usually only comes with the most pleasurable of drugs


oh man, I personally know people who have ****ed up their lives, because they smoked mj on a daily basis when they were going to school.

My use has been very sporadic to null because I really dont like the anxiety peak but it sounds like there are now strains out there that might work for me. I have multiple friends who smoke MJ from morning til night, everyday, everynight and every waking moment. Many times because of job interviews, illness or probabtion they have all stopped cold turkey with no withdrawls.

THC seems to be a very strange drug in the addiction department.

[Mykislt]

isn't this

Not doing well in school is a result of gluttony and not doing your school work or focusing on the right priorities

just a mild version of this?

Addiction is when you would give up food or family to obtain your drug, this does no such thing.

Literally, I smoke every day and it has 0 effect on my work abilities or chores, and I still manage to blow through a large amount of reading/education in my spare time, as well as play with my daughter etc. Only someone who sits stoned off their ass all day will become the lazy stoner we all associate with smoking weed. It's the same thing if a fat chick stayed in her dorm eating ice cream all day instead of doing their homework. It's not that ice cream should be illegal, and it's not that ice cream is particularly addictive, it's that people need constraint and choose not to exercise it.

good job bro. in the fat chick example, I would pretty much say that that is the definition of ice cream addiction. And just to clarify I do not wish that marijuana or anything addictive should be illegal, in fact I support legalization of all drugs. And I do not want to demonize marijuana, and I definitely don't claim that it's 'bad' (I don't view the world in bad or good, and besides it is subjective), it's just that I'm sick of reading about people who think that marijuana is all good and doesn't have it's downsides, and that psychological addiction ain't no thang.

Just because one chooses to sit around high all day does not mean MJ is bad, it means people who would rather sit around not doing what is required of them are lazy.

in your mind, there is no possibility that they are psychologically addicted. naive