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I know people that have kicked opiates and tobacco cold turkey - but who could not give up using cannabis if their lives depended on it. This is a legitimate co

I know people that have kicked opiates and tobacco cold turkey - but who could not give up using cannabis if their lives depended on it. This is a legitimate concern in the current tide of de-criminalization / legalization.

TheBeardKing 8y ago
I don't think addiction or overuse is a problem for regular CBD users. I think this article is referring to addiction to the pyschological effects of THC.
- dfsegoat 8y ago
  Great point and I concur: The people I know who struggle with this are not CBD users - so yes let's keep those two things separate in this discussion for sure.
  - odonnellryan 8y ago
    People will struggle with addiction for literally anything you can be addicted to, substances or not. Can be generally positive things like exercise, more neutral things, or negative things like very-damaging drugs (alcohol is here certainly). Where does weed fall on that line? I don't really know. But saying we should ban something because it's possible to be addicted to it is fairly silly.
meesterdude 8y ago
This is a false equivalency. opiates and tobacco have vastly higher toxicity than marijuana - which is lower toxicity than aspirin or caffeine.
- samsonradu 8y ago
  What's toxic with caffeine?
  - drew1492 8y ago
    The word "toxic" is overloaded and there are at least two main types of "toxicity" - acute and chronic. Caffeine is indeed more acutely toxic than cannabis in the sense that one could die from taking waay too much caffeine at once, but no deaths from THC overdose have ever been observed. Caffeine however seems to be almost entirely non-toxic chronically. Aside from addiction, regular caffeine intake doesn't seem to harm one's body or mental functioning in any way. Frequent habitual cannabis use has more negative effects, such as impaired memory.
  - gamache 8y ago
    The LD-50 of caffeine is around 2.5g, or about 25 strong cups of coffee. (Marijuana has no known lethal dose.)
  - moosey 8y ago
    It is difficult but not impossible to overdose on caffeine and die. I'm not sure if this is the toxicity that the previous poster meant, but it could be. It appears that 30 cups of coffee is about the threshold where you get to serious danger, but that sounds insane... I've got terrible nausea after four or five cups of light roast (which has more caffeine). Caffeine pills & powder are far more dangerous. It is very easy to overdose on them, and death is not out of the question. It still isn't common. With marijuana, it is virtually impossible to have an overdose that kills you (It's very difficult to find sources on CBD/THC overdose): > An overdose on marijuana is dissimilar to overdoses on other drugs because marijuana consumption, in and of itself, is not life-threatening. But using too much of the drug can have hazardous results, which may increase the risk of death. > For instance, someone who consumed a lot of marijuana may be unaware of their environment, which can lead to accidents or falls. Furthermore, marijuana intoxication has been linked, in some studies, with psychosis,3 a condition in which the individual is disconnected with reality, typically resulting in hallucinations, delusions, or extreme paranoia. A person who is having a psychotic episode may put him or herself in dangerous situations due to confusion or detachment. [0] Synthetic MJ (K2) is far more dangerous, though. [0]: https://www.projectknow.com/research/marijuana-overdose/ https://www.projectknow.com/research/marijuana-overdose/
    - 8y ago
sv123 8y ago
That's more than a little bit anecdotal, physical and psychological dependence on cannabis ranks well below opiates, tobacco, even alcohol. Not to mention the fact that people's lives literally do depend on quitting opiates and tobacco, while cannabis not at all.
- dfsegoat 8y ago
  Totally anecdotal. My point is that I think that addiction in general runs deeper than we currently understand and that we shouldn't underestimate the potential for people to become dependent on something newly available just because it is broadly conceived as harmless.
H1Supreme 8y ago
So, you're saying that cannabis is more addictive than both opiates and tobacco?
MrStonedOne 8y ago
Tell somebody on adhd medication to quit. or somebody on antipsychotics to quit. People on weed are generally happier about life the universe and everything. Ten hits a day and the answer suddenly makes sense, its not 42, its 420.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  All it took was an increased copay when I switched healthcare providers for me to stop taking ADHD pills. Really wasn't a big deal. I'm allegedly slightly more irritable.
01100011 8y ago
Agreed. Myself, I've been on pills and quit without issue. I can smoke tobacco(cigs, pipes, nicotine gum, etc) for weeks or months and just put it down. Quitting weed was rough. No sleep. No appetite. Depression. Aggression. Then all that went away and I felt like my mind was razor sharp. I could finally start to get things done and negotiate my way through life.

TheBeardKing 8y ago

I don't think addiction or overuse is a problem for regular CBD users. I think this article is referring to addiction to the pyschological effects of THC.

dfsegoat 8y ago
Great point and I concur: The people I know who struggle with this are not CBD users - so yes let's keep those two things separate in this discussion for sure.
- odonnellryan 8y ago
  People will struggle with addiction for literally anything you can be addicted to, substances or not. Can be generally positive things like exercise, more neutral things, or negative things like very-damaging drugs (alcohol is here certainly). Where does weed fall on that line? I don't really know. But saying we should ban something because it's possible to be addicted to it is fairly silly.

meesterdude 8y ago

This is a false equivalency. opiates and tobacco have vastly higher toxicity than marijuana - which is lower toxicity than aspirin or caffeine.

samsonradu 8y ago
What's toxic with caffeine?
- drew1492 8y ago
  The word "toxic" is overloaded and there are at least two main types of "toxicity" - acute and chronic. Caffeine is indeed more acutely toxic than cannabis in the sense that one could die from taking waay too much caffeine at once, but no deaths from THC overdose have ever been observed. Caffeine however seems to be almost entirely non-toxic chronically. Aside from addiction, regular caffeine intake doesn't seem to harm one's body or mental functioning in any way. Frequent habitual cannabis use has more negative effects, such as impaired memory.
- gamache 8y ago
  The LD-50 of caffeine is around 2.5g, or about 25 strong cups of coffee. (Marijuana has no known lethal dose.)
- moosey 8y ago
  It is difficult but not impossible to overdose on caffeine and die. I'm not sure if this is the toxicity that the previous poster meant, but it could be. It appears that 30 cups of coffee is about the threshold where you get to serious danger, but that sounds insane... I've got terrible nausea after four or five cups of light roast (which has more caffeine). Caffeine pills & powder are far more dangerous. It is very easy to overdose on them, and death is not out of the question. It still isn't common. With marijuana, it is virtually impossible to have an overdose that kills you (It's very difficult to find sources on CBD/THC overdose): > An overdose on marijuana is dissimilar to overdoses on other drugs because marijuana consumption, in and of itself, is not life-threatening. But using too much of the drug can have hazardous results, which may increase the risk of death. > For instance, someone who consumed a lot of marijuana may be unaware of their environment, which can lead to accidents or falls. Furthermore, marijuana intoxication has been linked, in some studies, with psychosis,3 a condition in which the individual is disconnected with reality, typically resulting in hallucinations, delusions, or extreme paranoia. A person who is having a psychotic episode may put him or herself in dangerous situations due to confusion or detachment. [0] Synthetic MJ (K2) is far more dangerous, though. [0]: https://www.projectknow.com/research/marijuana-overdose/ https://www.projectknow.com/research/marijuana-overdose/
  - 8y ago

sv123 8y ago

That's more than a little bit anecdotal, physical and psychological dependence on cannabis ranks well below opiates, tobacco, even alcohol. Not to mention the fact that people's lives literally do depend on quitting opiates and tobacco, while cannabis not at all.

dfsegoat 8y ago
Totally anecdotal. My point is that I think that addiction in general runs deeper than we currently understand and that we shouldn't underestimate the potential for people to become dependent on something newly available just because it is broadly conceived as harmless.

H1Supreme 8y ago

So, you're saying that cannabis is more addictive than both opiates and tobacco?

MrStonedOne 8y ago

Tell somebody on adhd medication to quit. or somebody on antipsychotics to quit. People on weed are generally happier about life the universe and everything. Ten hits a day and the answer suddenly makes sense, its not 42, its 420.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
All it took was an increased copay when I switched healthcare providers for me to stop taking ADHD pills. Really wasn't a big deal. I'm allegedly slightly more irritable.

01100011 8y ago

Agreed. Myself, I've been on pills and quit without issue. I can smoke tobacco(cigs, pipes, nicotine gum, etc) for weeks or months and just put it down. Quitting weed was rough. No sleep. No appetite. Depression. Aggression. Then all that went away and I felt like my mind was razor sharp. I could finally start to get things done and negotiate my way through life.