Answers?

When I started this blog I should have known I wasn’t going to find the answers I expected or any answers at all, just more questions. So, to what extent is marijuana/cannabis/pot/weed, whatever you want to call it, addictive? Is it only a little addictive like ice-cream with just mild cravings here and there? Or, is it sell everything you own for one more high addictive? However, maybe its neither and maybe its both depending on the person. I explored the world wide web for answers to these questions and got very consistent facts and statistics from many different sources yet I still can’t help but believe they’ve all missed something.

One out of 10 people that use marijuana are dependent. I didn't like this statistic. It seemed to low from my personal experience, but when I read and realized marijuana is the number one used drug in the world, 10% got a whole lot bigger. Alcohol however, is still more used and more abused and i think we can agree more addictive. I wondered in my first post if pot and booze are any different. I don’t know, time will tell. Weed only recently became legal and alcohol has been legal off and on for many years. I contemplated why marijuana didn’t grab me like it did some of my friends. Now I know I’m just the 9 out of 10. Not certain why exactly, but I suspect its a mix of things.

The article from TIME was my favorite, depends how you define addiction. There are much more than physical attributes to addiction. Just because something isn't replaced by excruciating withdrawal symptoms doesn't mean it’s not addictive. I know that to be true. Cannabis is one of those somethings.

All in all I feel my original questions have been answered. Whether that's with statistics or simply more questions, they were answered.

Research CONT CONT

Cannabis and dependance

This was another source that said without a doubt marijuana is addictive, but to what extent? This article like the others says most people don't get dependent, most just experiment. So does this mean pot is only a little addictive? About 1 in 10 people get hooked on it. Thats 10%, is that a high rate of addiction or fairly low? The younger you start and the more you smoke are huge factors and apparently males are more susceptible to a cannabis addiction than females. Are these factors bigger than the actually chemical stimulation in the brain?

The page continues talking about symptoms of an addict, consequences of a cannabis addiction and possible treatment. None of those things are very helpful in my search for how addictive marijuana is.  Overall this source is a bit redundant to the previous sources. Meaning, I've got all the facts I'm going to get on this specific topic.

The Research CONT

Is Marijuana Addictive? It Depends How You Define Addiction

This article is from TIME. It is a little dated. It was written back in 2010 around the time California was preparing to vote on their version of amendment 64. The article focuses mostly on what people define as addiction. Experts go "by the book" which defines addiction as "addiction is the compulsive use of a substance despite ongoing negative consequences" as well as withdraw symptoms when substance is cut off. By this logic 10% of users are addicted.

Non specialists adopt an older perspective, now outdated by experts. One I personally agree with because the addict spectrum is broadened with this definition. It basically splits the new definition into two parts. There are physical addictions, producing withdrawals, and there are psychological addictions causing only cravings. Okay so we know marijuana isn't seen as a physical addiction, but is it physiologically addictive? Is it ignored as a possible addiction by majority of the public and experts because its only physiologically addictive? Is it just an addiction that's easy to hide? Or is it relatively not addictive?

There is much more to this article. This is a great resource.


Cannabis dependance - Wikipedia

This is a very factual maybe biased source. Weed is the most widely used drug in the world. Again is says about 10% to 20% of users develop a dependency. They state the addictive potential is pretty low compared to most. Can worsen mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Treatment is not widely known or given because of the lack of interest in being treated. Because of the low addictive quality should this drug be unwatched and untreated? Is it being taken too lightly? Is there no interest in treatment because nobodies addicted or because nobody wants help?

The Research

       The first research source I found is this article, by the National Institute on Drug Abuse or NIH for short, DrugFacts: Marijuana. The article begins by explaining what marijuana is and the mind altering chemical inside it (THC). What is THC? Is it addictive? If so how? Then they speak of the legality of it saying the feds considers marijuana a Schedule I substance, meaning having high risk for abuse and no medicinal uses. Yet 2 states (that includes us) have legalized it and 21 others have approved it for medicinal use. Is marijuana a legitimate medication? Obviously we tell right off the bat which side this article is playing for. In the end they ask, Is Marijuana addictive? and they answer with a big yes.

My second research source is much more unbiased than my last. It’s an article called, Is Marijuana Addictive? from Psychology Today. Although its starts out by already stating marijuana is addictive, it continues to say, but in what ways and how addictive is it? Many statistics are used to try and figure out just how addictive pot is. They finish by suggesting marijuana isn’t the biggest factor in marijuana addiction, but instead the addicts themselves. If that's true, why are some people more prone than others? How comparable is it to other addictions? This resource will be very helpful in my search for answers.

How addictive is it?

       My main research question is; To what extent is marijuana addictive? Some sub-questions could be; If marijuana is more addictive than not, what does that mean for its future as a legal or illegal substance? Alternatively, if marijuana is relatively un-addictive, what does that mean for its future as a legal or illegal substance?

This question matters for many reasons. Marijuana being addictive or not has been debated since its been used. There are many people on both sides of this disagreement making it important. This question especially matters for us as Coloradans right now in the midst of Amendment 64. For those of you not familiar with this recent amendment here is a link to its wiki page. Simply put it’s the legalization of marijuana in the state of Colorado with restrictions of course. Meaning it is easier to obtain now than ever before. As long as your 21 with a valid Colorado license you can stroll down to your local dispensary and buy pot like walking in to a liquor store and buying booze. But which is more addictive? Many of us have already seen how alcohol can grab someone, anyone, and never let go. 

Is Marijuana any different? That is what I hope to unveil in this blog. I personally believe it is more addictive than not. From what I’ve seen, who I’ve seen change, I can’t help but think weed isn't as harmless as many people think. I’ve seen good friends turn into people I don't recognize anymore. I’ve seen friends spend all their money and all their time smoking only to want more each time. I’ve seen adults in their 40’s with young children with pipe in hand. And to add to my credibility I smoked weed in high school if only to see and feel what my friends were experiencing. It didn't grab me like it did them, why? 

I think where I’m going to find a lot of my recourse's will be Colorado publications. Maybe some health and science articles where they actually talk about the chemical effects of marijuana on the human body. It may be difficult finding unbiased research on this subject.

Blaudio Test

Check check, testing testing, 1-2-3, Devin in the house!