The Addiction Help .com

I know someone who is in his mid 30's who has been smoking pot since 13 years old. He seems like a pretty normal guy, maybe a little immature, but overall he's doing okay in life and holds down a job, etc. But I noticed he smokes pot regularly and has always done so since about the age of 13 or 14. He doens't think he has an addiction to it, he says it just helps him relax. But I wonder if it does cause problems with people that they're just not aware of? Other than short-term memory loss??

Is his brain functioning normally so that he can go on to achieve what one normally could not smoking marijuana at all? He seems to function normally while stoned.

i'm sure that job he has as a short order cook in a coffee shop has nothing to do with his lifetime of marijuana use

a little immature...how about he really isn't any more mature than the 14 year old he was when he started

2008-03-19 23:15:59 by Jackie

NIDA scientist Joe Frascella talks about the effects and dangers of marijuana. teens.drugabuse.gov Comments on this video are allowed in ...

I'm wondering this because I only realised the other day a possible reason why I have such strong mental/emotional reactions to foods that I eat.

I was learning at university about addiction & dependence, & how people who are on drugs (eg marijuana) as young teens, are at even more risk of permanent drug-addiction than older people, because the growing brain becomes dependant upon the "pick me up" that the drug produces.

The brain pathways come to depend on the drug for happiness.

Well, I have always been VERY spiritually/religiously oriented (possibly excessively, at times). Without my spiritual lift every week, I quickly spiral into depression.

I only realised the other day that, as a former epileptic, I was on mind-altering drugs every day since before I was 1 y/o until I was 16. It's no wonder I have trouble kicking my food addition.

I was wondering if anyone else who has experience with drugs finds that spirituality fills the need.. & helps avoid falling back into addiction?
It has been proven that prayer produces endorphins ("happy hormones") in the brain, as does meditation... ie. spiritual practices trigger the same reward pathways in the brain that mind-altering drugs do.

I am thinking, people with previous drug addiction might be more likely to be more focused on spirituality than the average person has need to be (ie their practices could be seen as excessive, although it might be what THEY need to do, to stay happy.)

Will you please share your thoughts about this hypothesis? All respectful perspectives are appreciated.

I have had various "addictions" over the past few years, I am an obsessive/addictive person by nature and do tend to jump in "both feet first".

I know now that heavenly father and Jesus Christ are true and have felt their blessings upon me many times now. Belief in this allowed me to break the "addictions" i have had. So yes i suppose it has filled a gap!

I live the word of widom now and i am so much happier and healthier for it.

God bless xx

2008-04-27 16:27:12 by MumOf4

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Everyone now-a-days has to do a senior project. I'm stuck on what I want to do mine on. I'm interested in learning teen pregnancy, runaways, legalization of marijuana, identity theft, child abuse, and addiction. I like writing and taking pictures. Does anyone have any ideas?

Find the common denominator of all subjects that interest you, and you'll get some answers. For instance you love to learn, so that's a basis, and may be associated with writing and taking pictures.
Taking pictures, however can be also associated with the others subjects too, for, the fact that you are interested in some dire subjects shows that you are concern with the way the world is running, which means that you have empathy!
So you love to learn, you have empathy, and you have the ability to see the world around you. But to choose a subject you also have to question yourself about the one you know better than others, and why.
A subject could be done about some associations which deal with women that have run away from home, took marijuana, then have to learn to take care of themselves and the baby they have, and all that under the laws. You'll have to take picture to illustrate the subject, and of course to do some writing too in order to explain the reason why they fell in this situation.

2009-01-10 15:27:46 by snow bound love

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Marijuana costs 400 dollars a pound to produce, but sells for 2500-3000 a pound. It is such a profitable crop to sell and traffic, simply because it's illegal. If it were legalized and regulated (no being noticeably high in public, no driving while intoxicated), the profit margins would be much less, and violent drug cartels wouldn't have nearly as much money from marijuana trafficking and dealing (this absence of profit would NOT be spent on guns, transportation for trafficking other harder drugs, or otherwise furthering their illegal, violent lifestyles.)

Here's a couple excerpts from an article I just read about what happened when Portugal legalized not just marijuana, but other illegal drugs such as cocaine, meth, and heroine.

The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html?imw=Y
Dancing smurf - Marijuana has never been proven to cause cancer of any kind, actually recently, it has been proven to reduce tumor growth: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5307VK20090401
It also does not lead to suicide, or paranoia, at least not in the long term. People can be paranoid and anxious while high, but this is often because of a subconscious guilt they feel when they smoke.

None. Unless all drugs were legalised and the production regulated.

You know the strange thing, the drug cartels would not want that. They make money because it is illegal. Legalise is and you drive them out of business!

2009-04-26 22:11:01 by this Mike guy

Is there such a thing as repressed adolescence? See details:

I'm 26 years old. I began smoking marijuana recreationally at 10 yo. I smoked every day from the age of 13/14 until I was 24, without more than a few months break. I've been completely clean for about 2 years.

I suppose it's common for someone coming out of an addiction to feel like they are waking up, or coming out of a fog. I was a functioning addict and have become a very responsible person over the years. Responsible for too much sometimes. I question so many things (about my life) lately since quitting, I started to think I was having an early midlife crisis.

But I actually feel more like I'm now contemplating all the things a teen usually does. Life goals, what I want from a spouse, children, interests/fantasies, everything! (Things I thought I already established). I didn't think alot about these things then. I was too busy NOT thinking.

Is there a name for this type of crisis?

It's called "arrested development" and it's basically universal in addicts who began using in adolescence. It means you are emotionally stuck at the age you began using, or therabouts. Psychotherapy helps.

2008-02-06 10:40:13 by Miss Perception