Marijuana addiction is real. Those struggling often face skepticism.

For decades, weed’s deleterious health effects were exaggerated, experts said, leading to excessive criminalization

This line fron the article is exactly why I'm skeptical. I had to sit through tons of middle school and high school programs that lied to me about the physiological effects of marijuana. This article itself opens with an anecdote about one individual, but fails to identify any academic study suggesting physiological addiction because... There is none.

Psychological addiction is real. There's a reason that in most places any gambling advertisements have to include a warning and a hotline. The problem is that these sensationalist articles never make the distinction between psychological and physiological addiction. This article mentions when the case study first tried marijuana, but fails to detail the circumstances of her life, her personality, and other factors that can contribute to psychological addiction.

Add in that the medical marijuana industry is trying to replace the very physiological addictive (and profitable) pain medications... Add that to the years of lies in schools and media... Forgive me for not trusting this BS at all.

Not too surprising. A good rule of thumb is, anything that gives you joy, happiness, or helps with pain & sadness, can be addictive. It can definitely be used as crutch vs. dealing with the underlying issues (such as anxiety).

However, there's a difference between that kind of addiction and chemical addiction which I don't see mentioned in the article. It seems to focus on the crutch aspect, not things like physical ailments from withdrawals and that sort of thing. It's hard to tell.

Generally, moderation should be the key and if you are using it to avoid things that maybe therapy would help with - that's not ideal.

People can get addicted to literally - as in really - everything.

Stop selling soda, people get addicted. Stop selling McDonald's, people get addicted, etc

People need to learn self control. Period.

I don't know how I feel about this. I regularly smoke/use edibles, and I get that it can easily become habitual. You get home afterwork, smoke a bowl, and get on with your life.

But not once have I ever felt that I NEED to smoke. I've been using for over 4 years now. I grow my own. I make my own oils and edibles. I've never felt that it's something that I need to do. For example, I can very easily stop for a few weeks and suffer literally zero withdrawal from it. So, I don't really understand what's so "addicting" about it.

So, where's the science in this article? I just read a bunch of fear mongering and feels. ...and a whole lot of stories and sources from red states.

Why would you post such a bland panorama piece on a science channel? There was nothing scientific in that drivel.

Having smoked cannabis for over two decades, I can certainly tell you there were times where I smoked a lot tougher then I do these days.

Back when I was at my peak usage, I tried to quit by going cold turkey. I went through periods where I would wake up in cold sweats. While I didn't have gnawing urges like an alcoholic, I definitely had some physical withdrawal symptoms that weren't super pleasant.

I feel like the pendulum of how safe or dangerous weed is has spun back in the opposite direction. At the end of the day weed is a drug. There's worse things out there's but it's not harmless. I know potheads who look at it like it's another green leafy vegetable that also cures cancer.

Edit: I just realized this is the science community. This article is not science. It's news or maybe an editorial. There's plenty of legit studies to post if we want to have this discussion.

Like most people pointed out, you can get addicted to anything. But people need to understand that there are drugs that are more chemically addictive and cause larger issues like meth and nicotine and people labeling marijuana with those other drugs is dumb and ignorant.

I quit smoking for a bit over a year at one point, and it was difficult. It definitely took the development of new coping skills and it was hard not to reach for something in those moments when I wanted to sort of fill the gap not smoking left behind. It was also super disorienting.

But probably the hardest part was deciding to quit and finding support for it that wasn't full on anti-weed. I did find a substance abuse recovery discord that helped in a non-judgemental way, but most of the people encouraging me to stick with quitting were pretty black and white about it.

It didn't make me feel sick the way quitting tobacco did, though, or leave me with that strained feeling of chemical dependence.

Eventually I started smoking again, deciding I liked the positive effects more than I didn't like the occasional negative effects. It's nice to know that I can quit, though, if I decide it isn't worth it.

People that get addicted to marijuana are not remotely as fucked up as people on alcohol or hard drugs, people take the addiction a lot move serious when you turn into a violent psychotic when withdrawal kicks in.

A lot of the comments here are great examples of exactly what this article is about.

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You can literally get addicted to anything.. even a habit can be addictive.

As with anything you do, do it in moderation. Even too much bananas can kill you.

Of course is real. As any other things, like even sugar, we live in a wheel of addiction everyday.

It's a shame that studies on marijuana and its effects on users were blocked and considered taboo subjects for so long. The reason we have these types of conflicting messaging about the safety/danger of marijuana use, is because there has not been enough research or longitudinal studies in those regards.

Can you become addicted to marijuana? Maybe. Does marijuana cause cancer? Maybe. Does it cause this or that or the other thing? Maybe.

For now we have to make assumptions. If you're worried about getting addicted, you should probably stay away. If you're worried about it being a carcinogen, you should probablt stay away. We're probably a long ways away from having conclusive evidence to show either way.

https://marijuana-anonymous.org/

Marijuana Anonymous does meetings online and face to face.

Also, most Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will let you identify as an addict if you want.

It's easier to do this with people helping.

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I'm happy that this sensitive topic finally gets the recognition it deserves. Addiction is hard and this clip from a documentary shows you how marijuana addicts are ostracized from support networks.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uUPHlAbAf2I&pp=ygUUaGFsZiBiYWtlZCBhbm9ueW1vdXM%3D

I wouldn't call it addiction, in most cases it is dependence...unless your facing legal trouble due to your use, but keep smoking. But that's more to do with shitty legal practices.

I've been addicted to real addictive substances and weed ain't the same at all ime.

For long time users, stopping can cause some withdrawal symptoms, sure, but nothing worth fear mongering over imo.

It really varies person to person. Some people let it run their life. Others not so much.

ITT: People who don't know the difference between addiction and dependence.

Lol at anyone up voting this BS, if you believe this you're a sheep who doesn't understand how the reward mechanisms of human brains work

MJ is a psychological, rather than chemical addiction. Thus it is completely different than Opioids and Amphetamines, which are chemically addictive.

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