Is pot addictive?

High:
Did a quick search on addiction and did not find the answer.
If yes, then how much and long do ya have to smoke it to become addicted and what is withdrawal like?

It seems as though it is possible to smoke all day every day for 10 years and then just stop???

It is not considered addictive in any physical way. There is some claims that it is mildly psychologically addictive.

There has been surprisingly little real research on this subject.

Anecdotally, I know people who were unable to quit smoking pot even when they had very good reasons to do so, but whether they were experiencing physical or psychological addiction I cannot say.

I smoked for years back in my younger day, and quit cold turkey with no physical withdrawal, but some psychological.

I guess it depends on the individual.

As someone who smoked pot nearly every day (whenever I could get my hands on it) for nearly 20 years, I can unequivocally say:

No. :slight_smile:

My evidence: when I didn’t have it, I never suffered withdrawl symtoms. And as a former cig smoker, I recognize withdrawl symptoms.

However, that is only my opinion. I imagine it is possible for someone to be addicted to it. Whether one can differentiate between a physical and a psychological addition is a whole 'nother question.

Two articles from WebMD:

Kicking the Habit (By Ronald Pies, MD)

an article discussing health risks associated with marijuana (By Ken Goldberg, MD ) - this article doesn’t mention anything about withdrawal symptoms.

Whether it was intentional or not, I liked that “High:” instead of “Hi:” thing. It’s like you’re just stating the fact that your high right from the get go. :slight_smile:

It is not addictive in the same way nicotine is, but then very little is.

For myself, I found it very hard to quit even after I knew it was necessary that I do so. Symptoms of withdrawal for me were an upset stomache and anxiety. Those symptoms didn’t last very long, but it was a very long time before I was comfortable being sober. It was probably six months before I felt like “myself before the pot”.

I wasn’t able to smoke pot reasonably, but many people are. When I smoked pot, I would spend my whole day thinking about getting high. Even if I was getting high all day. I don’t think you can ever tell who will get hooked on which drugs.

I had no problem stopping, and I smoked every day.

To counter what WebMD said, Abstinence Symptoms During Withdrawal From Chronic Marijuana Use, by Elena M. Kouri and Harrison G. Pope, Jr. of McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School in “Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology”, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 4, 483–492 said: