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Cannabis Is Good For You

Wacky Tobaccy worries me because I know for a fact that it is habit forming. Actually it is just about the same as tobacco in that sense. Then again, I belong to a much older generation and weed was a real demon for us. Each generation has to learn for themselves if the "medicine' is worth it.
 
Concerning the additive effects of "weed". "Weed" I suppose weed could loosely be defined as having the optional for mental addition as could: Chocolate, fast - food, caffeine. This is not to be confused with physical addition which involves physical withdrawal symptoms. Examples of drugs that involve physical additions are opiates, alcohol, barbiturates, tobacco.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-pot/
 
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Jim,

...This is not to be confused with physical addition which involves physical withdrawal symptoms..

When being unable to get hold of pot means a change in mood, change in demeanor, restlessness and increasing irritability, I would class that as physical withdrawal symptoms.

INT21
 
Mythopoeika,

..Are you in California?..

No, I'm in the UK.

What on Earth makes you think I may be in California ?

INT21
Sorry, it was just that sentence 'What is annoying me most is that the authorities refuse to see this as a problem and have decided to make money out of it instead'. I believe California has only just legalised weed/decided to legalise it.
 
Jim,

...This is not to be confused with physical addition which involves physical withdrawal symptoms..

When being unable to get hold of pot means a change in mood, change in demeanor, restlessness and increasing irritability, I would class that as physical withdrawal symptoms.

INT21

But could those things not be the very things that the weed is suppressing, as opposed to withdrawal effects?

I've been on and off drugs, both legal and illegal, for years, and have never experienced any withdrawal symptoms from weed :/
 
Wacky Tobaccy worries me because I know for a fact that it is habit forming. Actually it is just about the same as tobacco in that sense. Then again, I belong to a much older generation and weed was a real demon for us. Each generation has to learn for themselves if the "medicine' is worth it.
It might have something to do with the fact that most users mix it with tobacco in a roll-up.
The tobacco itself may be more habit forming than the weed.
A few smokes of weed isn't enough to get you hooked on it, but regular use can first cause a psychological dependency and later on it can cause a chemical dependency (in extreme cases).
 
I've been on and off drugs, both legal and illegal, for years, and have never experienced any withdrawal symptoms from weed :/


It's a tricky one.

Some people, like me, have very addicitive personalities. And get addicted to pretty much anything. Weed being one of them. It's not so much the substance, as one's attitude towards it. And yes - this attitude can produce physical withdrawal symptoms.
 
It's a tricky one.

Some people, like me, have very addicitive personalities. And get addicted to pretty much anything. Weed being one of them. It's not so much the substance, as one's attitude towards it. And yes - this attitude can produce physical withdrawal symptoms.

I tend to agree with this. However what I'm referring to as physical addiction is defined as physical withdrawal symptoms, not being annoyed, frustrated or even anxious if ones run out of weed. In the case of opiates, alcohol, barbiturates, dilaudid, and other drugs that produce withdrawal symptoms the substance is basically trying to force you to use by making war on your body. Examples are uncontrollable shaking - tremors, stomach pains - nausea, body aches, inability to sleep for days, the list goes on. Stopping pot will not produce these type of symptoms.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/addiction-cannabis-harm-reduction/index.html
 
I tend to agree with this. However what I'm referring to as physical addiction is defined as physical withdrawal symptoms, not being annoyed, frustrated or even anxious if ones run out of weed. ...

Precisely ... That's why a distinction is drawn between physical and psychological dependency.
 
Heard an interesting thing today concerning addiction and the curing thereof.

A relation who drinks half a bottle of vodka a day, every day, decided to go see the doctor and ask for some help to stop it. She can't stop it her self and becomes a very nasty piece of work if she can't get the booze.

So she went to the doctor.

Doctor : 'Do you find you need to have a drink first thing when you wake up?'.

She : 'No.'

Doctor : 'then you are not addicted to alcohol. there is nothing we can offer'.

Modern medicine. great, isn't it.

INT21
 
Heard an interesting thing today concerning addiction and the curing thereof.

A relation who drinks half a bottle of vodka a day, every day, decided to go see the doctor and ask for some help to stop it. She can't stop it her self and becomes a very nasty piece of work if she can't get the booze.

So she went to the doctor.

Doctor : 'Do you find you need to have a drink first thing when you wake up?'.

She : 'No.'

Doctor : 'then you are not addicted to alcohol. there is nothing we can offer'.

Modern medicine. great, isn't it.

INT21

INT21, Sounds like she has a very unsupportive & unsympathetic GP & maybe she should say she has to have a drink first thing to see if there's any treatment as a result, but the reality is, nothing can really make you stop doing something except you yourself. There are support groups, AA etc but that's about it. Will power & group support. If you're in a really bad way, you can be detoxed in hospital.

Having said that, I have heard of pills that make you throw up if you drink alcohol but you'd have to force yourself to take them. Don't really know anything about them or if they're generally available. Other than that, there's no drug which will stop her drinking.

In the case of my brother in law, he was in such a bad state he was detoxed in hospital then spent 6 weeks in a rehab facility. Nobody knows how much he was drinking but reckon about a bottle of vodka a day. Came out of that & he was back on the booze the next day. He has support options available to him but he doesn't use them.
 
I tend to agree with this. However what I'm referring to as physical addiction is defined as physical withdrawal symptoms, not being annoyed, frustrated or even anxious if ones run out of weed. In the case of opiates, alcohol, barbiturates, dilaudid, and other drugs that produce withdrawal symptoms the substance is basically trying to force you to use by making war on your body. Examples are uncontrollable shaking - tremors, stomach pains - nausea, body aches, inability to sleep for days, the list goes on. Stopping pot will not produce these type of symptoms.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/addiction-cannabis-harm-reduction/index.html

I also tend to agree with this.

And yes, I know the difference between physical, chemical dependency. I have been an addict of both alcohol and opiates. However, let's not forget that all emotions are, I believe, chemical also.

I'm not good at explaining. And I guess this stuff is a little too sensitive for me to really healthily comment on or look too deeply into. I just feel that addiction is incredibly complex. And I've witnessed, both myself, and within others - people suffering "physical" withdrawal symptoms from activities and substances that it's argued cannot, it is claimed, produce "physical" withdrawal symptoms.
 
INT21, Sounds like she has a very unsupportive & unsympathetic GP & maybe she should say she has to have a drink first thing to see if there's any treatment as a result, but the reality is, nothing can really make you stop doing something except you yourself. There are support groups, AA etc but that's about it. Will power & group support. If you're in a really bad way, you can be detoxed in hospital.

Having said that, I have heard of pills that make you throw up if you drink alcohol but you'd have to force yourself to take them. Don't really know anything about them or if they're generally available. Other than that, there's no drug which will stop her drinking.

In the case of my brother in law, he was in such a bad state he was detoxed in hospital then spent 6 weeks in a rehab facility. Nobody knows how much he was drinking but reckon about a bottle of vodka a day. Came out of that & he was back on the booze the next day. He has support options available to him but he doesn't use them.

Just to add to this, I'm of the opinion that to get something out of your GP these days you've got to lay it on thick. Maybe she's downplaying her problem, as is common with addicts. If she went & said 'my life is hell' she would get more help.

You can get detoxed on the NHS, as I know from my bother in law's case. I didn't realise, but it's actually dangerous for an alcoholic to suddenly stop. He had a regime of drugs for the week, presumably gradually decreasing. That gets it out of your system. Then the will power & support comes in, finding other things to do..
 
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I'm not good at explaining. And I guess this stuff is a little too sensitive for me to really healthily comment on or look too deeply into. I just feel that addiction is incredibly complex. And I've witnessed, both myself, and within others - people suffering "physical" withdrawal symptoms from activities and substances that it's argued cannot, it is claimed, produce "physical" withdrawal symptoms.
There's some recent work that also shows there is a social component of addiction, that is, the social circle of an addict is a social identity, or part of the addict's necessary companionship quote (we all need some) and removing the drug also removes a social identity (which is part of their self-identify).

If this leaves, shall we say, a 'social deficit' then part of the reason for falling off the wagon can be the desire to return to the associated people as well as the drug itself.

It follows that to give someone the best chance, a replacement social identity has to be used, to 'fill the gap' as it were. This might be why AA meetings are fairly effective - the meeting is both a non-judgemental forum and a replacement social identity.

Similar work has made the same connection between mental health and social contact changes.
 
Heard an interesting thing today concerning addiction and the curing thereof.

A relation who drinks half a bottle of vodka a day, every day, decided to go see the doctor and ask for some help to stop it. She can't stop it her self and becomes a very nasty piece of work if she can't get the booze.

So she went to the doctor.

Doctor : 'Do you find you need to have a drink first thing when you wake up?'.

She : 'No.'

Doctor : 'then you are not addicted to alcohol. there is nothing we can offer'.

Modern medicine. great, isn't it.

INT21

This doctor practiced bad medicine IMO. A lifelong friend has severe chronic pain which builds as the day goes on. He regularly drinks a good portion of a liter of gin or vodka daily (sometimes more) to get by. However he try's to hold off until the afternoon. Once he drinks his drinks contains 4 or 5 oz. of liquor minimum. He's a severe alcoholic, my prayers and hopes go out to him.
 
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Hunck.

..Fair enough. Your mind is clearly made up so let's leave it there eh?...

So that is the answer ? Just ignore it.

Sorry, mate. Can't do that. It is too important.

I don't know you from Adam. and have no grudge against you. You do what you want.

But here is my personal interest in this.

One of my daughter is hooked on the stuff. She's no kid, she is nearly 50.

She knows I detest it. And didn't smoke it when around me.

But this was in the past. She moved on to going out into the garden when she wanted a smoke.

Then it got to lighting up in the house when she was in a room talking to my wife; who condoned it.

Now she just lights up in the same room I am in regardless of my view on the subject.

The point is, Hunck, she HAS TO have this hit every couple of hours. Gets very 'edgy' if she can't. Has to get home straight from work so she can light up.

It's called addiction, man. And you know it.

It wrecks relationships, health, causes hideous financial troubles for the users.

And it leads to much worst.

Three suicides in the family. Two by drug overdose. Not pot, but the victims started out on pot.

So, nothing against you. Just expressing my view.

INT21.


To declare an interest, I have smoked cannabis (and consumed it in other ways, actually). But I have come to the conclusion that it is A Bad Thing. In my day it was an occasional 'treat'. We could never afford enough for it to be anything else, in fact. And once our contact went off his head and left for Spain to become a monk, we didn't bother finding another supplier when you could have as much or more fun with perfectly legal alcohol.

Now the cannabis available is stronger, and would appear to be more addictive, and I have seen the consequences, Much as you describe, plus, in one case, raging paranoia. Maybe if it had been made legal (and obviously controlled for strength etc.) 40 years or so ago, it might have worked. Now it won't. Because people will want the full strength stuff and the supply chain will exist to fulfil the need.

But I don't know what to do about it.

You can use CBD oil (easy to google) for the medical benefits, but those I know using cannabis for medical reasons won't switch to it because they don't get a high.

Edit: My GP has a poster for the AA in the waiting room. If I ever reach the point where I get nasty if I can't get a drink I'll call them.
 
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Now the cannabis available is stronger, and would appear to be more addictive, and I have seen the consequences, Much as you describe, plus, in one case, raging paranoia.

I never thought I'd say it but today's weed is waaaaaay too strong.

One of the last time I smoked - and this was after probably 20 years of chainsmoking marijuana, I smoked some high-grade hydroponic chronic.

I lay in my bed in the foetal position for about 4 hours with voices going round and round in my head. Apart from a fascinating insight into what being schizophrenic must feel like, it was not a pleasant, relaxing experience. Absolutely far from it. Ghastly.
 
Wow, sounds nasty. Why would somebody use that stuff, knowing that's what it does?
 
This doctor practiced bad medicine IMO. A lifelong friend has severe chronic pain which builds as the day goes on. He regularly drinks a good portion of a liter of gin or vodka daily (sometimes more) to get by. However he try's to hold off until the afternoon. Once he drinks his drinks contains 4 or 5 oz. of liquor minimum. He's a severe alcoholic, my prayers and hopes go out to him.

That's terrible Jim - it's going to kill him. Must be painful to watch too. My brother in law was told around last christmas that he'd be dead in a year if he carried on the way he was going. He's still here at the mo..
 
People are weird. Try Spice mate...even worse...now that REALLY shocked me!:hurting:
I'm gonna go with "don't try spice!" I work with people who have tried spice and it REALLY didn't agree with them (and they totally disagree with me on that). I'm well open to drugs and think that the drug laws should be looked at and re-jigged, but spice? nah!
 
I'm gonna go with "don't try spice!" I work with people who have tried spice and it REALLY didn't agree with them (and they totally disagree with me on that). I'm well open to drugs and think that the drug laws should be looked at and re-jigged, but spice? nah!
I've heard concerning reports of Spice "the so-called synthetic Marijuana". Filled with chemical, etc. Total agreement with this.
 
I've heard concerning reports of Spice "the so-called synthetic Marijuana". Filled with chemical, etc. Total agreement with this.
This month's VIZ magazine has an entry on it in their profanosaurus: 'Spice Girls' .. chav women collapsed on park benches after imbibing the currently popular synthetic marijuana ..
 
I never thought I'd say it but today's weed is waaaaaay too strong.
,
One of the last time I smoked - and this was after probably 20 years of chainsmoking marijuana, I smoked some high-grade hydroponic chronic.

I lay in my bed in the foetal position for about 4 hours with voices going round and round in my head. Apart from a fascinating insight into what being schizophrenic must feel like, it was not a pleasant, relaxing experience. Absolutely far from it. Ghastly.
Sounds a bit like drone aka methadrone aka pond cleaner and everything else you shouldn't take into your body .. Christ! .. there's a reason I stopped playing with class A's 20 years ago, what was I thinking apart from the fact that it was free? .. I was stood at my kitchen sink for approximately an hour unable to move mate! .. at first I though 'Ohh, a fast come up that feels a bit like magic shrooms? .. I used to like shrooms so this should be fun?' .. bad mistake. Something else that did impress me though was just how quickly I returned to functioning normal .. in the last moment I was still completely hat stand and then all of a sudden all bodily functions returned ..

I'd never recommend black market drug use to anyone, the most I do these days is a few tokes from a spliff (at the most twice a year I'd estimate on average) that might be offered to me and only then by someone I've known for a long time that I trust and if I'm in the mood ..
 
Expect a massive uptick in diagnoses of glaucoma...

:rolleyes:

maximus otter

I've been trying Cannabis oil (5% CBD) for around 3 weeks now for arthritic knee pain. I believe I have noticed a difference and, as a bonus, my Withings sleep monitor reports that the length, depth and quality of my sleep has improved slightly. The little bottle is half empty now and cost me £16 from Holland and Barrett. If I can get a more potent dose from my doctor for the cost of a prescription, then I will certainly go for it.
 
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