# Marijuana Side Effect Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485 "2010-08-17T01:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/21 "2010-08-17T18:10:58Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Again, this being the SDMB, we’d like to have citations that you used for your oral report in pharmacy school. The fact that you “learned it” is not proof that it is true. One of the indicators of addiction is the development of tolerance and the need to increase dosage to experience the same effects. Did your research show you that this is true for marijuana? I don’t have the citations I used in my research and my report on me, it came out of a book (remember those?) I got out of the library. However, I just did a quick google search and found [this](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0N-4KR3J5D-1&_user=4465208&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000063187&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=4465208&md5=61ec9d9c71345b3d43ae4d87f16fae1a) and [this](http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2010/04/07/jpet.110.168435). These two studies show animals going through withdraw, I couldn’t find the study I looked at before with humans (though, I only looked for like 3 minutes). Oh, there is a difference between “addiction” and “tolerance”. There is also a difference between physical addiction and mental addiction. Marijuana defiantly precipitates tolerance in the subject, as anyone who smoked regularly, then stopped, then started again would tell you. Mental addiction isn’t really in dispute either, since there are some people who do exhibit drug seeking behavior with Marijuana, even if a lot of people don’t. The only thing I’m arguing is that Marijuana does cause actual physical addiction, however it is only a technicality since physical withdrawal is mediated by the slow release of Delta-9-THC from the adipose tissue in the body. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/22 "2010-08-17T18:15:53Z")
Interesting stuff, [Rimonabant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimonabant). ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/23 "2010-08-17T18:45:47Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > …Maybe you don’t remember Thai sticks, but I do. … This brought back a memory of crawling around fishing through the green shag carpet in my apartment looking for the pieces of a Thai stick that my cat had disassembled and scattered throughout my living room. 🙂 Good times. (No, I never found it.) ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/24 "2010-08-17T19:28:35Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > For potency measurement, consider the marijuana potency monitoring project (National Institute on Drug Abuse - US). While the potency increases may or may not be exponential (I refuse to do a deep-dive into all of the data), there is an identified and deliberate increase in potency. > > Page 9 of this doc is illustrative: [http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/pdf/FullPotencyReports.pdf](http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/pdf/FullPotencyReports.pdf) Yes everyone, put your full faith and trust into a government-sponsored study rather than an independent, no bias study. The government has more to gain from MJ being illegal (and labeled as a dangerous substance **that’s only getting stronger!** ) than the dealers do. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/25 "2010-08-17T19:49:38Z")
To quote Bill Hicks, it is scientifically impossible for a fight to erupt among marijuana users, because the “tough talk” phase goes like this : - Hey, buddy ! - Hey… hey ?! - Hey… what ?! - Err… End of conflict. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/26 "2010-08-17T20:00:13Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > To quote Bill Hicks, it is scientifically impossible for a fight to erupt among marijuana users, because the “tough talk” phase goes like this : > > - Hey, buddy ! > - Hey… hey ?! > - Hey… what ?! > - Err… > End of conflict. This would be my version: Hey, watch what you’re saying! When? When what? What? What do you mean when what? What did you say before that? You mean me? Hey, these taste funny. What did you say before that? End of conflict ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/27 "2010-08-17T20:13:04Z")
Well, this is an anecdote, so take it for what it is worth. One time went to hear a guy talk about some topic of interest about US history and the Constitution. This was held in his home with a dozen or so guests. He and several of the folks disappeared into the garage a couple times (one of whom I later identified as a pot smoker by him asking me if I wanted any). The guy who did the talking was normally fairly calm and reasonable, but as he got into the material, he got somewhat loud and agitated that most Americans don’t understand various points he was raising about the origins of the Constitution. It seemed to me that he was overly agitated and loud for the issue at hand. Now maybe the pot was actually moderating his behavior, and he would have been even more vehement without it. But I doubt it. Seems to me the times he had talked before on similar issues he had never been that way, but the one time held at his house, he was a bit … heated about the topic. He didn’t get violent with anyone there, but we weren’t debating the topic with him, we were getting information he’s learned and compiled from lengthy study. But my experience with pot smokers is very limited. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/28 "2010-08-17T20:15:38Z")
Late to the thread but pot certainly doesn’t make me angry. It calms me down and mellows me out. I’ve never had marijuana withdrawal. I’ve never even heard of that. And this is from a guy who’s had caffeine withdrawals. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/29 "2010-08-18T02:11:26Z")
I asked the doctor if he could give me a prescription for medical marijuana. He asked me if I had any symptoms that would be alleviated by the use of medical marijuana. I told him, I get really bummed when I run out of weed. That was from Ron White I think. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelRW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@MichaelRW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelRW)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/30 "2010-08-18T02:42:10Z")
I have a friend of mine, who smokes it from time to time… ok maybe even every day. And what I noticed that she is always relaxed, always happy with everything around and enjoy life and all the good things.… I like seeing her cuz she makes me see positives moments of life So maybe marijuana is not that bad? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/31 "2010-08-18T06:02:55Z")
I have no cite on the marijuana being exponentially stronger than before. I only have the word of many long time potheads. But marijuana withdrawal and its difficulties are well-documented. An internet search will yield many credible hits. Even the pro-marijuana groups acknowledge the side effects and irritability is one of the many. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/32 "2010-08-18T08:54:03Z")
My informal field research into irritability and anger management with stoners has shown that everyone chills the fuck out when they’re high. I would imagine that pot’s gotten stronger because it’s more popular, and therefore more people are experimenting with the genetics of it. I would say more, but I’m at work and I really don’t feel like having marijuana searches in my google history. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/33 "2010-08-18T12:51:33Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > My informal field research into irritability and anger management with stoners has shown that everyone chills the fuck out when they’re high. I’d wager a guess that about one in every five stoners gets more “enthusiastic” when high, rather than more “mellow”. That is, the “fascinated with anything” characteristic of pretty much ALL stoners is, for that fifth of them, expressed as an eagerness to SHARE that fascination in an excited fashion. For about half of those “enthusiastic” stoners – that is, about a tenth of all stoners – ANGER can sometimes, or often, be the way the enthusiasm is expressed. It’s just that the thing they’re fascinated with at the moment happens to be some issue upon which they DISAGREE with someone else. Certainly, people with an inflated sense of self-worth in general (not just when stoned) will be more likely to get enthusiatic about the many ways they feel they are right and someone else is wrong. In other words, more likely to act angrily when stoned. So, to sum up, let’s call it “typical” of about 10% of stoners. (I don’t think it has much to do with pot potency, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485/34 "2010-08-18T14:25:21Z")
I have an ex from many years ago who used crank, pot, and alchohol as a teen. He quit the crank and decided he’d just smoke pot. He told me that he was told by his friends that he wasn’t allowed to smoke pot anymore, either, because it turned him into a real dick. So he quit smoking pot, too. Knowing him (he was a debater in high school), he was probably the enthusiatic type. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-side-effect-question/550485.md?page=1)