I have thought of myself as not prone to addiction, having had zero trouble stopping consumption of every intoxicant I ever tried (I’ve tried most of them).
But right now I am suffering cravings for the pot plant I planted very late last year. Due to being late, it only yielded an ounce or two and it’s all gone. But it was great. Can’t wait to try it again, but it’s gonna be cold turkey until October. I have a whole big tub of good, strong buds but I will be throwing it all away … it doesn’t pique my craving. I figure to start this year’s crop in a week or two… and am excited just anticipating it.
Am I addicted?
If so, so what?
If not, what else could cause recurrent thoughts about it? Maybe it’s more of an infatuation than craving?
I probably drone on too much about it, but some quick searching on Google Scholar
will reveal pot as addictive, psychologically and physiologically, much to the chagrin of pot-smokers who claim otherwise.
When I got back on edibles last winter I could definitely feel them pulling me further into it, so I try to keep a healthy distance and consistent dose (which is a lot easier without flower).
Tobacco is another story entirely. It took me a few years to kick that habit.
I don't believe it's physiologically addictive, at least not for me or anyone I know who has used it. I can understand the psychological addiction, as we tend to desire things that we enjoy. We've used too much during the pandemic, but I've never had a craving or any type of withdrawal symptoms when I've not had it or was too busy to be bothered with it.
I'm more addicted to cake than I am to weed. I think it's psychological but I do love sweets so it might be more than that. I'd give up weed before I'd give up cake. Oddly enough, cake helps me keep my weight from getting too low. I workout so much that over the past 10 years, my metabolism has increased to the point where I. have to eat a lot or I lose weight. I used to worry about gaining weight, but now I worry about losing weight. I'm not sure which one is worse. Seriously! If you want to lose weight, cut back a bit and do aerobic exercise every day. It really helps. At least it did for me.
Then again, maybe some of us have brains that make it easy to become addicted to a lot of things. I smoked a bit when I was in my 20s and gave it up entirely without ever missing it, or craving it. I haven't had a drink in at least 3 years and never found ETOH attractive. I take opioids for pain and sometimes if the pain isn't too bad, I forget to take one. They don't make me high. I don't crave them. All they do is lower my pain lever by up to about 50%, and that allows me to exercise and do housework without being in agony. I've been on the same small dose of about 3 years.
I think the question is more one of degree. No, you're not going to be addicted like you would to something like Cocaine, but there is a physical dependency that I've posted links to a number of times now. If you're interested in understanding it, you can take a look
here.
Like alcohol, pot is mostly harmless if used in moderation. It's chronic use that can impact the brain, just like you shouldn't drink every day, eat McDonalds everyday, drink pop everyday etc etc.
I've definitely seen the effects in friends who use chronically.
I read a few of the articles in your link. They mostly discussed changes in dopamine receptors. The control groups were extremely small.Another problem I found is that none gave specifics regarding how they defined a THC abuser. I'm a bit skeptical of these findings. I have read other studies that showed a correlation of harm when users were below the age of 25. I never tried it until I was over 30. It's not surprising that it could have negative impacts on fetal development. Pregnant women need to be very careful about what they consume as many things can have very negative impacts on fetal development that are safe for adults. No drug that impacts our brain is totally safe, imo. But, how much can one use without serious long term side effects hasn't been researched enough to draw any valid conclusions.
I've said, half jokingly and half seriously for years that there will be a new dementia called, THC dementia as us old hippies age, but it's hard to know if it's age or lifestyle habits that bring on dementia. After having studied dementia, especially AD, for years, and after having cared for folks with dementia for many years, it's hard to say why some people get it and others don't.
For example, supposedly exercise and being educated help prevent it. But, I've had quite a few patients who had advanced degrees, who still ended up with AD. I had a woman who literally did cartwheels across the floor when she was admitted to the assisted living facility where I worked, yet she had severe dementia. Obesity is supposed to be a big risk factor, yet most of my former patients weren't over weight. My mother never drank or used any medications or drugs, she exercised everyday and was thin, yet she developed AD a few years after reaching 85. I've come to the conclusion that living past 85 is likely to be the biggest risk factor of developing AD.
Early onset AD, meaning having symptoms prior the age of 65, has a strong genetic link. I've had two patients in their 40s who died from AD. I did have one patient who had alcoholic dementia. He was very withdrawn and quiet. I don't know if that was due to the dementia or if that was his normal personality. I imagine that people who get high in the morning and stay that way all day are probably doing serious damage to their brains. Most anything used in excess is going to cause problems. I can't imagine using that much, anymore than I can imagine eating cake all day long, despite loving cake. Imo, anything that is used in abundance loses it's ability to give one a sense of enjoyment.
My only memory problem so far, is forgetting names of people who I haven't seen in a long time, including celebrities who I haven't thought about in years. Oddly enough, I rarely forget numbers and if I'm paying attention when we grocery shop, I can usually remember the price of everything in the cart. For fun, I used to add up the prices in my head and see how close I could get to the correct total while waiting in line. I have friends my age who have never used weed or drank who have much worse memories than I do. There are some age related memory issues and some that aren't normal with age. I know that I'm not as sharp as I was 10 or 20 years ago, and perhaps my little habit has been partly responsible for that. Still, as we age, most of us have concerns about memory impairment that will leave us dependent. It's a crap shoot imo.
