Addicted to weed!

well it wouldnt be a 'dis'order if it wasnt maladaptive. but there you go, shower addiction aint maladaptive so it aint really a disorder, but smoking can and is often maladaptive (to whatever extent, and not all cases) so it cant be classified in the same light as showering or masturbating or anything like that

in fact since marijuana can enhance prime needs, without the marijuana it can feel as thuogh none of these needs are being satisfied at equilibrium, thus the marijuana addiction encorperates many other 'addiction's.

 

Ok I'm kinda confused about this.. you know that you're addicted to weed? and you don't mind? You've realized that you're addicted to something? but you don't want to change it?

(not trying to be a smartass here... i'm asking a serious question)

 

I think in an episode of House, when House admits he's addicted to vicadin, he says it best:

"I said I'm an addict, I didn't say I had a problem"

 

If I look forward to eating cake every weekend because I might really like cake (which I don't), does that mean I'm addicted to cake? Fuck no, it doesn't. I look forward to getting paid. Does that mean I'm addicted to money? No, it's just good to have. Am I addicted to weed? No, I just enjoy getting high.

Let's take what we're saying and apply it to other stimuli instead of just weed, people. It doesn't make any sense.

Oh, I probably am addicted to caffeine, though.

 

Just trying to avoid the psysiological aspect of the definition of "addiction" by using a different term. I never said it couldn't be one definition or the other, but it does imply both. "Psychological dependence" only implies psychological dependence, obviously, and physiological dependence does not apply to marijuana use.

As of now, I've never seen a credible argument saying that cocaine is not physically addictive. I've seen studies that show it relatively low on the addictivity list as compared to caffeine and nicotine, but never has it been left off the charts.

 

I guess I can't think of an addiction except in a bad way. I don't like to think that there is something that I'm doing that I'm not choosing to do. Addiction is when you have to do something. You cannot stop if you try. That's a scary thought. How are you not scared by knowing that you are addicted to weed?

 

I know I'm addicted to both weed and caffeine. Ive known for years(since about age 12) that i have been addicted to caffeine. on any given day i drink between 6-10 caffeinated sodas, and have done so for as long as i can remember. when i take a caffeine break(which has only happened once) i can start to feel the effects of the break within hours. the effects of the break are similar to the effects of a weed break, but for me they are more extreme because of the length of time Ive been "hooked" on caffeine.

As of yesterday i have taken a break from weed. on a given day i smoke between 6-10 times, and have done so for the past 8 months. before that i would smoke 3-4 times a day. i usually smoke mids-beasters. within hours of my last smoke sesh i could feel an anxious feeling. soon after i could feel extreme irritability, within 10 hours, i was again, as i have reported before, crying over nothing. thats the part that that always gets me. i never cry, not that i see anything wrong with it, but i am mainly desensitized and emotionless. another side effect of the break is restlessness before bed. i used to have bad insomnia, and i would smoke to fall asleep. they say you can get dependant on using weed as a sleeping aid, which i find is very true. although my insomnia hasn't been seen in the pas 6 months, i now, because of my break, have restless sleep.
its only been about 30 hrs since Ive lasted smoked.
i don't know how long these side effects of my break will last, because Ive never been without weed for longer than one day since the first time i smoked. this is my first "official" break.

 

it depends on how you see your addiction...if you feel bad about it, if you find yourself being high and wishing you weren't, for example, this is when you know you have a problem...

and another thing... maybe I wasn't clear about the whole "if you're thinking about it you are addicted" thing.

It's not merely looking foward to something. if you say your aren't addicted cause you only do it because you like the high, or because you can go for days with out doing it, etc., in the time that you are not smoking weed, do you wish you were? do you feel better thinking that soon you will be? that's the key question

maybe it won't be so obvious that you feel better, but simply planning it, thinking about it, being anxious for it, simply having that fact in the back of your mind makes not smoking at the moment ok.......even tolerable

 

oh and speaking of restlessness, i couldnt get to sleep last night. though that may have more to do with my addction to the computer than to my break from weed. so basicly ill probbly just end up falling asleep at like 2 in the afternoon.

 

That def. applies to me. There are times that I'm not high when I wish that I was. But I really don't think that means that I'm addicted to weed. Are you addicted to something just because you like it? Is everyone addicted to foo that thinks about it a lot and wishes they were eating? That definiton of addiction makes me nervous. Are alcoholics alcoholics because they think about drinking when they aren't? Does something have to be negatively affecting your life to be an addiction?

 

to me, an addiction is clear when it starts to affect the decisions i make about things that aren't related to it. for example, i'm going on an archaeological dig in July, and during the planning of the trip I kept thinking "ehh, I don't really want to go, look at all this stress, I'm really enjoying Kelowna, why don't I just stay here." So I took a few days off (both planning and smoking - I had been smoking for about a week and a half every day though not all day), let my mind clear, and I realized that probably the major reason I wanted to stay was so that I could just continue smoking every day and having a guaranteed good time. But BEFORE I had smoked every day, I was really excited about the trip. Therefore, I figured I'm a little addicted to weed because it affects the decision I was making. I'm still going on the trip, btw, and I've definetly decided to smoke a little less until I can be more mature about it.

basically, an addiction (to me) becomes clear when it affects decisions that are virtually unrelated to it. that's when I know i'm addicted.

also, i get bored very easily when i'm not doing anything in particular (like when i don't have plans for a day), and boredom = a need to fill boredom, and weed is SUCH an easy way out of boredom that it can really lead to addiction. i started working more, drawing again, writing a bit, etc etc, and i'll probably start smoking again in a few days, when i'm not doing it to just pass the time.

 

it's great you noticed that and are taking action to correct it to be how you want it to be... good luck with that and tread carefully

 

So I haven't smoked in 3 months...but not by choice. 3 months ago I had more connects than I could handle, and now, none. I've been clean for 3 months. I can't believe I haven't smoked for that long! I've never gone this long without weed and I'm dying for just one hit. I've lost my appetite and I can't sleep without constantly tossing and turning. They say you'll stop thinking about it after awhile...well it's be 3 months and I'm still waiting for that to happen. I think about it all the time...the dumbest things remind me of it. I know that I'm mentally dependant on it but I don't really care...I use it for the feeling it gives me...to me there's nothing like it. People have told me to occupy my time and I'll forget all about it...but I even get bored when I'm actually busy...and then I think "wow...I'm really, really bored, this sucks" and then I think "hmm...suck...I could suck on a blunt right now...no wait I can't I don't have any....ggggooooooodddddd I'm bored!". I go in circles like that all day.

 

tokergurl, I feel for you... I wish you the best of luck on that

 

Ok I just read this today and I think its totally applicable to this thread... "i don't need drugs to have fun"... when you can't have fun anymore without some kind of substance... is this addiction?

 

In the time that I'm stuck in the middle of a week, I wish It was the weekend. I feel better thinking that it will soon be friday evening. I plan my weekends, think about them, and I'm anxious for them.

Am I addicted to weekends?

 

man do you see what youre doing to yourself? no one drinks 6 caffinated drinks a day and doesnt have trouble going to sleep! you could be doing yourself some harm underneath, if youre reduced to tears less thana day without weed. thats some serious shit

 

Ive been taking many measure to fix the weed problem, but the caffeine is a different story. though Ive never stepped back and looked at my life seeing that the caffeine may be a cause of some insomnia, and other passable negative things. i don't connect things well.

Ive lowered my weed intake a bunch.
last week i had bought a quarter and it lasted me 3 days.
this week i have gotten my quarter to last 4 days and i still have and egith and a half left.

anyway as far as addiction goes, i guess i never noticed how much it really existed, because i planed on smoking all my life. i never noticed the negative consequences that could come along with daily smoking.

with propaganda coming from both sides of the drug war stoners tend to side with weed. and the weed side had a very good argument for the fact that weed is not addictive. its NOT, its just really FUN! when you want to find trust worthy information you have to find it on your own, and i did. i realized the affects weed was having on my life. many of the effects have been positive but not all. I'm not faulting weed for its addictiveness, cuz its just really fun, and relaxing, and stress reliving. its not weeds fault i love it so much. its the user who has the responsibility to see the hidden need within them and control it to a moderate use.

in my opinion, after you figure out the truth, that you can be addicted to weed, then you can change your ways. it wont control you anymore, and you wont go back to the point where you don't want to be. most negative "withdraw" effects last for a very short amount of time and are easily controlled if you are doing something constructive with your time.

i find that the War on Drugs has had a MUCH WORSE effect on me than weed ever will. a few weeks ago i was getting straight A's and B's in high school, and this week I'm studying to get my GED! i got busted at school and expelled. the most weed has ever done, which is really more my fault than weeds, is make me a little emotionally unstable for a while. and in times like these, for me, i am pretty emotionally unstable. the reason i was crying in the past was a mixture of troubling life events, lack of weed & "withdraw", lack of money or a stable income, and some other factors and wasn't just a result of my addiction to weed. though at the time, I'm glad i realized that weed played a part in my un happiness, so i took a break and now have started using again, but in moderation.

just cuz weed isn't addictive itself, doesn't mean it wont affect you negatively when you try to quit. its like with a girlfriend(weed). when you come to the end of the relationship(or stash), ya MAY get emotional, restless and/or annoyed/agitated, until you can either adjust with time(easier for some than others), or find another girlfriend(weed)

I'm going to work on my caffeine addiction next. I'm glad Ive never had a cigarette in my whole life, i cant stand addictions and that seems to be one of the worst to deal with.

 

yeh i drink coffee every day, i found ti really good when quitting to drink chai tea, i didnt get caffeine headaches. also just try drinking somethign low in caffeine like tea

 

whatever, I quit trying to explain. Everyone will see things their way, and can never really understand other ppl's point of view until they experience it themselves. And don't think i'll try explaining THAT, lol