Is cannabis addictive?

[manxcat 10]

NO i'm not!! i go to the gym every day and i have a very good job!

 

Well good for you but the ones I've known of have always been slobs.

[bladesufc1 10]

Well good for you but the ones I've known of have always been slobs.

 

 

yes i no people like that 2, it relax's you. then it's up2 yourself, either stay like that or keep busy x when i smoke it, it's always at the end o the night when everything has been done, and i'm settled for the night

[SleepyHead 10]

Can I suggest that you look at the findings of Rethink and Mind. Halibut, I suggest you also have a look at their findings. Rethink did one of the biggest studies ever done of canabis and it's impact on mental health. No offence, but I trust them more than I trust you on this issue.

 

Ironically enough the Rethink site says "Some preliminary work has been done on the possibility of using one active ingredient of cannabis in the treatment of psychosis. In one study, people with schizophrenia who received a dose of cannabidiol experienced fewer side effects, less weight gain and prolaction compared with a similar group of people using amisulpride."

 

This statement would seem to directly undermine your point.

 

Besides - Rethink's 'Cannabis Research - Details' page breaks down into nothing more than bland assertions about 'growing bodies of evidence' but few actual references to this, presumably huge, body of unreferenced work.

 

In fact Rethink would seem, from the pages I've looked at today, to be simply cherry-picking their research to support their claims: This benefits neither them, nor the people they aim to represent because real science (rather than the histrionic version of science the media seem to want to talk about) is the art of not making your mind up until a good body of /conclusive and repeatable/ evidence has been collected.

[SleepyHead 10]

The second most common cannabinoid in 'drug' strains of hemp flowers is cannabichromene…

 

 

So in some cases it may be that 'addiction' is partly self-medication rather than psychological dependency. This follows from the antipsychotic properties of other cannabinoids.

 

Indeed, the intensive breeding programs for medical cannabis have thrown up an astounding number of varieties with markedly different effects and markedly different cannabinoid profiles.

 

This in turn has led to research into lesser known cannabinoids, the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in humans, and quite possible a whole new raft of patents for medicines submitted by large pharmacos.

 

IMO the pharmacos should try and patent strains of the plant instead. It would be a more productive use of their time. And the human trials would be a great deal more entertaining.

 

But in the future we can look forward to cannabinoid based anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-emetics, anti-incontinence, mood brighteners and cognitive enhancers.

 

Yeah the fact that there are cannabinoid receptors in the brain was a bit of a puzzler to me before I found out about the endocannabinoid system - seemed too good to be true. *thinks* There are cannabinoid receptors in the brain, and cannabis to smoke ... we must be meant to smoke weed! */thinks*

[manxcat 10]

yes i no people like that 2, it relax's you. then it's up2 yourself, either stay like that or keep busy x when i smoke it, it's always at the end o the night when everything has been done, and i'm settled for the night

Yes most are slobs. There's always going to be an exception to prove the rule like you but 9 times out of 10 they are slobs. My friend's younger brother ended up like that after starting smoking weed when he was about 12. This is a really bright kid but he ended up dropping out of uni 3 times because he got caught up in this lifestyle.

[Phanerothyme 12]

Yeah the fact that there are cannabinoid receptors in the brain was a bit of a puzzler to me before I found out about the endocannabinoid system - seemed too good to be true. *thinks* There are cannabinoid receptors in the brain, and cannabis to smoke ... we must be meant to smoke weed! */thinks*

 

It was interesting to discover that the endocannabinoid system in humans is not confined to the brain or nervous system, but like the serotenergic system, it is distributed throughout the body, and that the first endogenous cannabinoid that was found was dubbed 'Anandamide' ,after Ananda the Goddess of Bliss.

[donkey 10]

Yes most are slobs. There's always going to be an exception to prove the rule like you but 9 times out of 10 they are slobs. My friend's younger brother ended up like that after starting smoking weed when he was about 12. This is a really bright kid but he ended up dropping out of uni 3 times because he got caught up in this lifestyle.

 

Well I'm still a slob, and I haven't been a regular cannabis user for 18 years, so it must effect you permanently.

 

Alternatively, maybe slobs are drawn to cannabis because it make them feel better about their lifestyle and the social stigma it heaps upon them.

 

Also, consider this, non of the world's great dictators have been slobs or cannabis smokers. You leave slobs alone, what harm have they ever done to you? It's the people with vital active lives that are the busybodies and control freaks. They're the ones that cause all the misery.

[discodown 11]

Yeah the fact that there are cannabinoid receptors in the brain was a bit of a puzzler to me before I found out about the endocannabinoid system - seemed too good to be true. *thinks* There are cannabinoid receptors in the brain, and cannabis to smoke ... we must be meant to smoke weed! */thinks*

Its not limited to cannibis. There are good things that can come from most drugs if they are used properly. Theres a possibility that ecstacy could be used to treat Parkinsons disease

[SleepyHead 10]

Its not limited to cannibis. There are good things that can come from most drugs if they are used properly. Theres a possibility that ecstacy could be used to treat Parkinsons disease

 

Yeah I heard about that a while back (cf. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3015, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1169980.stm) - there was a programme about a stuntman - the one in the BBC article above, in fact - who used Es to control his Parkinson's. I haven't heard much about this research since then, though - the latest thing I can find 2005 and this seemed to just re-iterate the research from 2002 as if it were breaking news.

 

Predictably enough there was this research that claimed to show Es cause early-onset Parkinson's (although this reasearch has since been retracted as it seems the drug company supplying the test drugs mislabelled the bottles, so the researchers actually ended up testing methamphetamine - crystal meth but in non-crystalline form). And - ooh what a surprise - you'll see this research (John Hopkins University) being quoted on all kinds of sites as if it were gospel truth (including the San Diego Parkinson's Disease Association site).

 

Anyway, there's plenty of good material here, although there's a touch of apologetic about it.

 

Personally I took Es for pleasure (I don't do them any more as the come-down got truly horrific), not for their medicinal effects (except if you use the phrase euphemsitically - as in 'Doctor Robert'), and in fact there's a history of drugs which go on to be painkillers being used for pleasure before they're put into production - things like Ether being used at doctors' parties, or - more obviously - cocaine in cola.

 

<controversial>

It would seem the drug counter-culture is actually doing us all a favour by experimenting on themselves with new and untested compounds.

 

Keep up the good work, lads.

</controversial>

[CorkerSWFC 10]

Any1 want twos on this bong lol.

[SleepyHead 10]

Any1 want twos on this bong lol.

 

Can't finish yer bong? What kind of drug-addled maniac can't finish his bong!? You're a disgrace!

[manxcat 10]

Well I'm still a slob, and I haven't been a regular cannabis user for 18 years, so it must effect you permanently.

 

Alternatively, maybe slobs are drawn to cannabis because it make them feel better about their lifestyle and the social stigma it heaps upon them.

 

Also, consider this, non of the world's great dictators have been slobs or cannabis smokers. You leave slobs alone, what harm have they ever done to you? It's the people with vital active lives that are the busybodies and control freaks. They're the ones that cause all the misery.

 

What harm have the cannabis slobs ever done to me? Well, unfortunately I lived next door to some once. They might be happy to live in squalor with overflowing bins and rubbish all over their back yard but I wasn't too happy when we got rats because of this.

Then there's the smell of pot travelling through the walls. No one believes this unless it's happened to them but in old houses smells can travel through adjoining properties in the tiny holes in old bricks and cavities in the walls. And it's wasn't just the odd whiff now and again, it made it smell like we were the potheads to anyone visiting the house.