should marijuana be legalized throughout the united states?

[JohnGalt2341]

Pot smokers are not addicts to pot. They may be addicts with other substances but pot is NOT addictive.

Very true... my brother has been smoking pot virtually every day since he was a teenager and he's not addicted. Either way... I don't care what people do as long as it's their own business.

[pavyracer]

The definition of addiction is doing something on an everyday basis. Whether that's drinking alcohol, smoking pot, eating cake or drinking coffee.

[Jordan23]

I have to vote yes for this one!

[dante1]

The definition of addiction is doing something on an everyday basis. Whether that's drinking alcohol, smoking pot, eating cake or drinking coffee.

What? doing something every day. Well that includes a ton of things that nobody but you considers addiction. Like food, drink, talking, walking, working all the way to the absurd. No the real definition of addiction is not even close to that.

[obamaismyuncle]

The definition of addiction is doing something on an everyday basis. Whether that's drinking alcohol, smoking pot, eating cake or drinking coffee.

lol, bullshit.

so I am addicted to showering, brushing my teeth, starting my truck, putting my truck in drive, eating, and drinking water? Some times you make great points on things and other times its the most ridiculous shit I've ever seen..you're trying to make it seem like you know something about weed, but clearly you don't and I'm not saying that's a bad thing..

[GettingScrilla]

I must be addicted to shitting on the toilet because I do that atleast twice a day!!!

[dante1]

lol, bullshit. so I am addicted to showering, brushing my teeth, starting my truck, putting my truck in drive, eating, and drinking water? Some times you make great points on things and other times its the most ridiculous shit I've ever seen..you're trying to make it seem like you know something about weed, but clearly you don't and I'm not saying that's a bad thing..

Pavy is usually pretty sharp. I think he is confusing addiction with dependence. Many people do.

[poochiecollins]

The definition of addiction is doing something on an everyday basis. Whether that's drinking alcohol, smoking pot, eating cake or drinking coffee.

What? doing something every day. Well that includes a ton of things that nobody but you considers addiction. Like food, drink, talking, walking, working all the way to the absurd. No the real definition of addiction is not even close to that.

There are three components to addiction, any or all of which may be present: tolerance, which is needing more of something to achieve the same desired effect; psychological, the mental health aspect that goes beyond addiction; and physical, which is what bad stuff happens to someone's body when they stop.

[dante1]

I knew it was only a matter of time until a psychologist or social worker commented on this. lol

[stefank]

They need to legalize it, but not everywhere, just in special places, like in Amsterdam.

[pavyracer]

You can't generalize all food or drinks and say you need them everyday. But if you drink coffee every day or eat a hamburger every day which are specific drinks or foods you are addicted to them especially when they are so many other options to choose from.

[dante1]

You can't generalize all food or drinks and say you need them everyday. But if you drink coffee every day or eat a hamburger every day which are specific drinks or foods you are addicted to them especially when they are so many other options to choose from.

Pavy You're not addicted to them you might be slightly dependent on them. If you didn't have that hamburger you would not have physical wd. Addiction is a serious problem, dependent is not as serious.

Here is an example. I have a pain management problem that requires 3 or 4 vicodin a day. I am using this drug for about 10 years. I never ever took more than 4 in one day. Many days I only need one or two. So I am not addicted but I am dependent, there is a big difference.

[shari91]

Anyone who says weed isn't addictive either hasn't been smoking it long enough or is in denial. I told stealthy about one of my best friends who started having fukked up nightmares when she was stuck on a work trip and couldn't smoke for the first time in over 25 years. What i didn't tell him is that she became so violently agitated that she almost lost her job, started an argument with hotel staff that led to her having to relocate and went after her husband with a pizza knife thing when she got home because she was convinced he had stolen $0.60 from her change jar while she had been away.

She almost lost her job and her family in a 10 day stretch. Oh and during that whole time she was coughing up so much black shit she thought her lungs would cause her to bleed to death, which just made her hallucinate more. No, it's not addictive or harmful at all.

And watching her is one of many reasons why I think it should be legal. The withdrawal symptoms she displayed were quite similar to someone going off booze or smokes. She's smoked since she was 8 and her parents gave her her first puff from a bong. It's all she knows and I'd be a pretty big hypocrite to say what she does is wrong and she should go to jail for it when I don't think those who drink or smoke should.

Be educated as to what the ramifications of all if those substances are? Yes. End up in prison? Hell no.

[pavyracer]

Pavy You're not addicted to them you might be slightly dependent on them. If you didn't have that hamburger you would not have physical wd. Addiction is a serious problem, dependent is not as serious.

Here is an example. I have a pain management problem that requires 3 or 4 vicodin a day. I am using this drug for about 10 years. I never ever took more than 4 in one day. Many days I only need one or two. So I am not addicted but I am dependent, there is a big difference.

If you drink 3-4 cups of coffee throughout the day for 10 years in a row without missing a day, needing coffee every time you wake up it is an addiction to caffeine.

[dante1]

I think you can be addicted to caffeine. But, I don't think you can be addicted to hamburgers. Maybe if you eat like a pig some psychologist might label you as food addicted but people throw that word around carelessly I think. My buddy who couldn't sleep at night unless he had sex was "addicted" to sex. Cmon, he was horny. Not addicted.

When he was in hospital he didnt have sex, what about his addiction. Please.

[jarrod]

wow i really don't like anti drug people i don't know how y'all hard right lames ever get laid. must be with tanks. but yeah legalize bud, how many car fatalities do you see from pot? How many potheads are agressive while they're high? people in prison for weed that's a joke. so what if some one likes to smoke weed, big ******* deal, hard anti druggers can choke on some dick.

[stealthyburrito]

Shari, im truely sorry to hear about your friend.

But, it sounds like she may have other underlying problems that are excerbated by her pot smoking.

Most I've been around don't show that type of behavior. In fact, thc products such as marinol have been prescribed for pain relief and serves as a muscle relaxant.

Ill admit, I've had some kooky dreams and what not but nothing that damages me psychologically.

In regards to black stuff she coughs up, I can certainly see that happening if she doesn't properly filtrate. Believe me, I wouldn't smoke if there wasn't ways to filter out harmful product.

Again, I don't know your friend her pattern of drug use, but I think its more an abherration to the norm then anything else. Perhaps she has an addictive personality??

Weed certainly can be psyhologically addicting but it has been proven to not have negative symptoms ofphysical withdrawal.

I wish her the best.

[coanwe]

what kind of dumbass question is this?...of course it should!!

[shari91]

Haha. I just Googled "marijuana addictive" because I wanted to see what was out there and found this from NIDA. Suits my best friend to a tee. No wonder why she wanted to kill her husband on day 10. (the bolded stuff is referring to my friend)

Research in the past decade has focused on whether marijuana use actually causes other mental illnesses. The strongest evidence to date suggests a link between cannabis use and psychosis (Hall and Degenhardt 2009). For example, a series of large prospective studies that followed a group of people over time showed a relationship between marijuana use and later development of psychosis. Marijuana use also worsens the course of illness in patients with schizophrenia and can produce a brief psychotic reaction in some users that fades as the drug wears off. The amount of drug used, the age at first use, and genetic vulnerability can all influence this relationship.


Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction; that is, people have difficulty controlling their drug use and cannot stop even though it interferes with many aspects of their lives. It is estimated that 9 percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it. The number goes up to about 1 in 6 in those who start using young (in their teens) and to 25-50 percent among daily users. Moreover, a study of over 300 fraternal and identical twin pairs found that the twin who had used marijuana before the age of 17 had elevated rates of other drug use and drug problems later on, compared with their twin who did not use before age 17.


According to the 2008 NSDUH, marijuana accounted for 4.2 million of the estimated 7 million Americans dependent on or abusing illicit drugs. In 2008, approximately 15 percent of people entering drug abuse treatment programs reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse; 61 percent of those were under age 15, and 56 percent were between 15 and 19 years old.
Marijuana addiction is also linked to a withdrawal syndrome similar to that of nicotine withdrawal, which can make it hard to quit. People trying to quit report irritability, sleeping difficulties, craving, and anxiety. They also show increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after they last used the drug.

[dante1]

Hmm, first of all the above article uses the word dependent more than addicted.

Second, the crime rate in Amsterdam is about three times lower than NY city. Wouldn't you think with all those "addicts" roaming around the opposite would be the truth?

[stealthyburrito]

Yikes, I've never seen that before.

I admit when I don't smoke itcan be difficult to sleep.

But what's the % here for the other symptoms.

Maybe im lucky.

[shari91]

TY Stealthy. The stuff I just posted seems to say she's in the 9%. A few other sites put it at 4-15% so I guess 9 is a safe average for a Govt organisation. (Sorry, this was to your first post. Just saw you posted again in between )

Either way, it doesn't matter to me. I'd rather her and everyone else be smoking it and do their own thing if we're going to allow those who smoke and drink to do it as well. And I actually agree somewhat with what Pavy said earlier. A lot of people when they're younger smoke because of the whole 'I'm being a bad-ass' factor, just like they do with booze. And there's a whole sub-culture now of kids ie Rod who like to act as though they're the first ones who have ever smoked and that's all they yap about. Start listening to Marley and subscribing to High Times. Since there's a drinking age in every state/province/country, that same behaviour that normally happens with alcohol eventually disappears since there's no 'clique' to be a part of anymore because everyone can legally do it. To me, legalising it will take away some of that allure and if someone still chooses to do it, fair enough, but the excitement of the first time they try it will be diminished somewhat and maybe they'll just skip it altogether.

[chilidog]

People trying to quit report irritability, sleeping difficulties, craving, and anxiety. They also show increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after they last used the drug.

Heh, sounds like coffee withdrawal to me

[samdapatriotsfan]

All of this would be put to rest if the Federal government would just reclassify marijuana to a schedule 5 drug. At least a schedule 3, that way there would be acceptable studies and tests that could be documented and confirmed.

Then we would really know the effects. Until then these so called tests are not much more than conjectures.

[shari91]

Hmm, first of all the above article uses the word dependent more than addicted.

Second, the crime rate in Amsterdam is about three times lower than NY city. Wouldn't you think with all those "addicts" roaming around the opposite would be the truth?

The article is actually titled Marijuana Abuse but I didn't want to get bashed for putting that in here. That's just what came up when I Googled along with 270,000 other results.

As for Amsterdam vs NYC, that's not even a relevant comparison. I'm not saying that people who smoke are violent. I said that anyone who thinks it's not addictive is either in denial or hasn't smoked it long-term ie 20+ years. To me I think of it the same as booze. My grandmother drank an insane amount of whiskey every day from the time she was 12 until she died at 105 and I never saw her so much as swear at someone. Someone else can drink that same amount and either kill someone or themselves in a much shorter period of time. It doesn't change the fact that it's addictive. Nor does someone who can socially smoke cigarettes every weekend when they're at the bar change the fact that someone else has that first cigarette and they're hooked. We're all genetically and socially different. Still to me, booze = nicotine = marijuana. Make them all illegal or make them all ok. Not sure how one can justify picking and choosing.

[jmathes]

absolutely not, too many kids will think its cool

[stealthyburrito]

I could care less about zubculture and all that other crap. I don't subscribe to dumbfukk high times or sit around and listen to phish records.

I can function all the same with it.

But....

Those studies can be misleading. Its oftentimes easy to mistake correlation with causation. Who know there could confounding variables that don't necessarily make it easy to say a causes b.

[muldoon]

absolutely not, too many kids will think its cool

I know as a kid, I always waited for the government "ok" before I thought something was cool.

[shari91]

Those studies can be misleading. Its oftentimes easy to mistake correlation with causation. Who know there could confounding variables that don't necessarily make it easy to say a causes b.

Every study can be misleading, that's for sure. I'm just saying that from the time she was 8 until she was 33, only one variable changed on this work trip: she couldn't smoke. Could she possibly have been born a violent person prone to psychosis who had sleep difficulties and when she did finally sleep she had horrendous nightmares? Sure it's possible. But I'd be more prone to believe it if all if these characteristics hadn't have disappeared when she was finally at home again and back into her 7-10 time daily smoking routine. Have never seen that before from her and haven't seen it since.

I was more just disputing the fact that it isn't addictive. Because it is. You don't react like that to not having something for the first time in your life if you're merely inconvenienced. She was suffering severe withdrawals to something that she has also structured her life around - the people she'll hang out with, the partner she chose, even her job. She drives across the country to work things instead of flying and has always done so. This time though it was overseas and she didn't have a choice. Now she says if she's made to go overseas again for work she'll quit first because she never wants to go through that again. That's not merely some habit.

[dante1]

Please see new post, 11% addictive. I know people smoking it for decades and not addicted. Many people including myself. I haven't had any in about a year, just use it for enhanced sex. Some people have addictive personality, they will get addicted to water. I think you must discount them. The huge majority of smokers are not addicted and will never be.

[bruceBRUCEbruce]

there's really no good argument for it NOT to be legal/regulated/taxed. there's no argument that stands up after rational analysis.

[dante1]

there's really no good argument for it NOT to be legal/regulated/taxed. there's no argument that stands up after rational analysis.

[Optional]

Aparently smoking marijana protects you against lung cancer. (by killing off the older lung cells before they get a chance to turn cancerous)

[dante1]

Aparently smoking marijana protects you against lung cancer. (by killing off the older lung cells before they get a chance to turn cancerous)

wow, never heard this.

[Optional]

wow, never heard this.

Who knows what will be "true" next decade, but here it is;



There is another often quoted study that says there is no link between pot smoking and lung cancer as well;


Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about blazing up at least.