dotcom

Ok all. I am not going to be very popular for this I am sure, but... marijuana addiciton? Please please please help me understand how marijuana is addicting. I can't help but remember the part in half baked where they boo the guy out of rehab for being addicted to mj. I am not one to condone weed, shoot. I think it is a drug and don't hang around with pot heads, in fact I am disgusted with weed. But, I really have a problem with seeing it as addicting. Is there such a thing as MJ rehab? And wow, I just cannot get around the concept of it as being addictive. Is it mental? or what? Perhaps I am just one of them that will never be able to comprehend that MJ is addictive because it was not my doc. I would say, as bad as it sounds... that I do not know if I could relate to an MJ "addic"t? The meetings I go to, well, I have never met an MJ addict. Any thoughts are appreciated. Perhaps I will be enlightened.

Rock on!

Dot

mackat

dot
i was a hashish addict- that is, if you see someone who smokes his first pipe before he gets out of bed each day every day smokes continuously all day as an addict. Later it was coke. Later it was booze. I am not sure what the 'dependent' vs 'addict' differentiation is , but in many of the NA rooms here we have long using MJ addicts in recovery. Like the rest of us, i find that if i look at the similiarities and not the differences, i can relate. After all, wasn't all that long ago the 'common wisdom' [including the MDs] stated that cocaine was not addictive!
you rock!
mackat

fuster

Dot:

When was the last time you attended a 12 Step meeting?

dotcom

3 hours ago fuster

dotcom

mack,

interesting thank you. did you feel the same compulsion to smoke weed as you did to drink or use coke? or was it just a ritual you would follow every day. although i find rituals (for me) become compulsive. sorry for the q's and thanks for your reply!

no you rock!

dotster

Dan

((((Dottie)))))
When I was in rehab, a couple of the guys there and one girl were there to get help because of MJ. One thing common to all three: They simply could not control their use and were desperate. Their lives were affected by a substance. Addiction has many faces.

shyQcodep

dot,

I doubt that I would have met your definition of "addict", but I know that I am powerless over the impact of grass and alcohol on my life, and that my life had been unmanageable for a long time (how's 32 years, or since I first touched pot sound?). I was desperate to change my life, and I knew from past experience that although I could stop one or even both, I couldn't stay clean for any length of time on my own.

So I wanted recovery but was afraid that I was underqualified. Ha! From my experience with the rollercoaster (ignoring my 32 years of ism and accumulated wreckage), I no longer have any doubt that I own my seat. It may be a mostly pot head high-bottom past, but it's still a bottom.

Oh, and what kicked of the most recent ride on the coaster? One of my neighbors practically accosted me as I came home from a meeting looking for grass. I didn't feel off-balance at the time, just annoyed - but the next morning was a doozy, complete with a richly felt kinetic memory of one of my most shameful moments from the peak of my using.

James

mnj1024

I think that the common thred we all have between us is the fact that we all subconscious or consciously didn't like the way we felt about ourselves straight. so we turned to different things to medicate or numb these feelings. I too used pot very regularly for a period and then moved on to many other drugs. Did I have the cravings for mj like I had for crack or pills? not even close, doesn't mean I didn't have them though. for me I am an addict now and I was an addict even before when I was just using mj. It's just sad I had to get this low to finally realize it, I wish I knew eveything I know now, when I was only smoking pot.

(((hugs))) to all mike

Chy

It is a very real addiction for some. I think your like me is some aspects, where I don't understand how pills can be addicting. I know it's very real though. I guess it's one of those things we must trust to be true for some as we're all very different physically, and who's to say what will trigger us to be addicted to specific substances, or things. I don't minimize anyone who say's they are addicted to anything anymore.

Fuster, I don't think that was an appropriate comment to someone trying to understand. It's not polite to question how someone works their program, IMO!

dotcom

Thank you dan, shy, mike, chy,

mike,

i think you hit my question right on the nail!

but now, we focus so much on the similarities what about the differences! where i live, and the recovered addicts i have had the pleasure of meeting (regardless of recovery group) most all have smoked pot, but go to their groups or seek help for their cravings for H, crack, meth. and to get to the root of the problem (whether 12 step or ind therapy).

it is just hard, IMO to relate to someone who has just smoked weed for their life. that is how i feel. on the street, i would see H addict, crack addicts, and meth addicts. each were a little bit different, yet all chasing their highs. it seemed the H addicts eyes (when looking) would get really big and they were frantic and full of desperation. i would help bum change for this one guy. he was completely captivated by H. i have tried it, but never enjoyed it (i do not enjoy downers). Mostly where i live there are H/coke addicts and meth addicts, but i have met a few crack addicts. Sort of had a semi crazed look in their eyes and had a similar "franticness" about them. Never got into crack. Meth addicts, i am one. i have not seen the same intense desperation as the H/crack addicts from meth addicts. however, as far as cravings and a compulsion to get and use more i can see that as happening. i was hooked the first time i tried it, and experienced cravings for it. it wasnt until i began binging (smoke/shoot) that the desperation kicked in. the crash was very unpleasent so i would seek to find more. i have seen a lot of people literally lose their minds from meth. some not fortunate enough to find their marbles again.

now... i can relate to H/coke addicts, crack addicts, meth addicts. when working recovery (group therapy 12 step) i could see myself getting something from them. but, when a craving hits and i start to go looking and the cravings get so strong... how could i relate to an MJ addict (in NA or group therapy)?

thanks for all the input!

hugs,

dot

Dan

I know what you mean dot. But in the final analysis, a drug is a drug. If you can't function without it, regardless of the substance, you're addicted to it, imo.

mnj1024

when I first saw this thred I thought it was going to be about Michael Jackson (mj) lol. I don't know if I helped you or not dot, but you helped me. Just remember to keep it simple, and take what you need and leave the rest. (wow, did I just say that, jeeze here I am spouting quotes who would have ever thought that lol). you might not relate to mj addicts but they might get something from you.

(((hugs))) you really ROCK!
mike

Dan

[QUOTE][QUOTE= (wow, did I just say that, jeeze here I am spouting quotes who would have ever thought that lol). [/QUOTE]
Yep, you did say that Mike! You're one of Us now. No escape.

dotcom

thanks dan and mike,

i still dont know how i feel about it. alcoholics, on the other hand i feel i can somewhat relate to. although i am not phys or ment addicted to alcohol, my recently deceased ex was an alco/addict. i drank with him, but chose to slow my roll because i just couldnt keep up. actually, i do not really relate to them, but have seen the urgency for him to have a drink and can relate to that urgency. does that make sense? only once in awhile do i crave an mgd/smirnoff ice. so im not an alco but since its a drug i abstain.

as for Michael Jackson... lol... pedophiles have sex addictions, so id suppose that some crazy fan might have found this thread helpful. haha.

so.... how to relate to an "mj addict"? i dont know, ill just forget about it and like you said, "keep it simple and take what i need and leave the rest".

rock on!

dotster

Allyson S.

I need to jump in here...I found this site just yesterday. It's kind of freaking me out but still helpful. Dot-I hear where you are coming from...pot??? How can that be addictive??? It's a simple little drug...but according to "Half Baked" (the movie not Ben and Jerrys...yes I am a stoner) pot is a gateway drug...

Serioulsy though, I HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM WITH AND WITHOUT IT!!! A few examples...everytime I wan to quit and I get close to the end of a bag, I get the shakes. If my dealer returns my call at 12m then I get out of bed at 12m and drive 2 hrs round trip to meet him (I recently moved...he used to be closer). If I am out I will sit and scrape every peice of paraphinalia I have, search for roaches, crumbs or anything else I can find. I will grind seeds and stems ( my dad taught me that one) just to catch a buzz. I own 4 pipes, 2 one hits, a bong and a roach clip...and I live alone!! I used to tell my ex husband that held the bong more then he held me...now I am doing that. It's just as prgressive as anything else. Ive have done so many different drugs in so many combinations but grass is my DOC...I just got the abbreviation on that. I gave up coke, lsd, mesc and shrooms...they are not my bag...

Your post scared me at first...I thought "am I qualified to go to NA. I just do pot and a few painkillers." Those people all shoot up and do really bad dirty stuff like that. I come from a upstanding family in the suburbs. We went to the ballet on the weekends. We belonged to the tennis club. I went to good schools, have a sucessfull career. How can I be the same as them...But I am...I am no different...I am an addict just like them...

I hope that helps a bit...I know I rambled...

Hope I didn't offend... :wink2:

dotcom

thank you for your reply alison! i too went to ballet on weekends and attended a few private schools, i think its funny sort of. although some might argue the reason i became an addict was because i was adopted from the "ghetto". which is a sack of poo. yeah, people have actually said that. here where i live though, it is expensive to live in even the crappiest places. A 2 bedroom apt goes for.. 800-900 dollars. and the homeless pop is getting larger and larger. its pretty crowded too, the nice places are mixed in with the not so nice places... literally, really expensive homes down one street then the next street looks trashed.

a question, can you OD on MJ? i have heard you cannot.

rock on!

dotster

Dan

Ramble on Ally! Awesome post. Thanks for so much insight.

dotcom

thanks for all the insight guys/gals. i am still not very convinced. but i shall do some research, and would like to know if it is possible to OD on MJ? anyone know? it just seems there are too many differences. i dont mean that in a negative way, i just cannot "get around the idea" that i could relate. i think we have summed up that it is addictive, but i still... i am the wrong person to ask about an MJ addiction. plenty others in programs accept the idea and that is great, rock on! dont be deterred by this thread. i would like to actually "meet" someone at a meeting i go to that is an MJ addict, might get some questions answered. MJ was not even a gateway drug for me, first alcohol, cigs, then crystal, then LSD, tried H, tried crack and stuck with crystal, cigs, alco, and the occasional fry. what is in MJ? i know it starts with a T. anywho, thanks for the replies, no offense taken and none meant.

Novemberphoenix

Hey Gang,

On the late side but I thought I'd jump in here. Dot I am among other things an mj addict. I didn't believe for the longest time because I'd heard from various sources that pot wasn't addictive. I would panic when my bag started to run low, I smoked everynight even when the the high was no longer a real high but a trip down paranoid, jittery lane. I don't know what the scientific answer to whether one can overdose is but I can tell you this, there were a number of times where after smoking I would get terrible, terrible headaches and nausea and wouldn't be able to leave the bathroom. On one occasion - a new years eve by myself I went out to buy some pot and my dealer didn't have anymore but shared some roaches with me - put them all together and we smoked it down and I could barely walk to the car, couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet and literally had to give myself instructions in how to drive my car, thankfully I only lived minutes away, but how screwed up is that! Got home and after 5 minutes was so sick I couldn't take my face out of the bowl - at that moment I figured I guess you can od and I'm gonna die right here, and I prayed HARD not to die like that, for my daughter not to find me dead because I was a damn drug addict. Spent that new years eve on the bathrooom floor and stopped smoking pot for a couple of years till I "forgot" again!

Well sweet dot this is turning into a long chapter! So I'm gonna stop. This is some of what my experience as an mj addicted person was, hope it helps.

Love

Novemberphoenix

dotcom

thank you november!

can anyone answer the OD question? it is not so much whether it is addicting i suppose, but whether if i were at an NA meeting or other crash group meeting, could i relate to an MJ addict? 12 step is not what im talking about. im talking about when a craving hits i do not feel id be able to relate to someone who feels they are addicted to MJ. like talking to my non addict friend about how i feel, whereas an H/coke/crack/meth addict would understand more where i am coming from.

rock on!

dotster