I'm Just a Middle-Aged House Dad Addicted to Pot

One of the upsides of legalization is that a lot of the false claims made about marijuana are going to come under heavy scrutiny.<p>Some of this will be good for marijuana enthusiasts, but some will be bad.<p>I&#x27;ve lost count of the times I&#x27;ve been told by marijuana fans that marijuana is not addictive, and that smoking it is not bad for your lungs. I expect both of those myths to be refuted in the coming years.<p>In particular I expect to see studies demonstrate a link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer, followed by years of denial by marijuana producers and smokers, similar to what happened with cigarettes.

I got introduced to pot when I entered grad school to do a STEM Ph.D. I was cool with it - I was never an addict. I smoked a couple of times a year at most. It had to be a quite special occasion for me to smoke marijuana, drink, or do other drugs. Like the author, drugs gave me the courage to do things I would regret later. I did things to hurt my very best girlfriend I could have when I was high. She later left me.<p>Drugs are the demon that I thought I&#x27;m good enough to control -- I have a fucking Ph.D. after all. I know the answer for myself now, that is doing marijuana or any other drug is a losing battle. Most of the times when I am sober, I can hide the asshole person I really am. But when I&#x27;m high, all hell breaks loose.

I saw multiple of my most talented high school friends lose their spark to pot. They’ve now made about 2 years of progress in 20 years’ time.

Addiction is highly correlated with depression and is a symptom of loosing connection with something important in one&#x27;s life. It is a from of escape form this life because missing that connection is too painful. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;thelostconnections.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;thelostconnections.com&#x2F;</a> Here are some of the connections we need so that we are not tempted by surrogates: - connection with others, our tribe, people we can confess with when needed, who we can &#x27;share ourselves&#x27; with - connection with meaningful work - a healthy value system that is not overly materialistic - being driven by inner purposes rather than outer ones - connection with our own subconscious fears and desires - having hope in the future - etc

One of my coworkers just quit cannabis after having an addiction for several years. Her and her (unemployed) husband were spending upwards of $300 a week on it, more than 40% of her pay. Had never been able to save for a house or anything, they had to buy in $50&#x2F;$100 lots as they had so much trouble with money.<p>Forced herself clean on a holiday (that her parents paid for) and she&#x27;s doing so well, it&#x27;s great to see.

It is an addictive drug. Much less addictive than alcohol or tobacco, but still addictive.<p>It&#x27;s easy for folks like me to slip into using it every day. Never got as far as the author in this, likely because I did always have a day job to hold down, but I spent quite a bit of time baked every evening. I also don&#x27;t feel it was quite as wasteful of my life as the author does, nor did I embarrass myself like that, but certainly you don&#x27;t get a lot done whilst constantly stoned.<p>It&#x27;s never been too much effort to stop either, the cravings tend to pass very quickly, but if there was any left in the house I&#x27;d quickly cave. I do wonder what would happen were it to be legalised here. I&#x27;m very, very much in favour of that because the legal situation around drugs in the UK is ridiculous, counterproductive and just stupid. But if cannabis was available at every outlet that currently carries alcohol, would I still be at it every day, making excuses to myself for being tired and groggy in the morning, and in the evening having &quot;well just one more toke before bed&quot;?

Addict is the wrong word. He quit cold turkey after a revelation form looking in a car mirror. This is something a heroin addict or even most smokers would never say. You could replace &#x27;smoking pot&#x27; with any number of other bad habits and not otherwise change a word of this story. Although I&#x27;m oversimplifying, there are few revelations with true physiological addiction, which is a despairingly tenacious neurological disease.<p>Some people should just stay away from psychoactive substances. Whatever the benefits are, it isn&#x27;t worth it for them. This is partly a function of what is going on in their lives, but also partly neurobiological. Unfortunately there is only one way to realise you fall into this category. Maybe one day we will be able to predict who is at risk of abusing alcohol or marijuana well enough that you can actually make an informed decision about usage patterns.

Is a lack of self-control the same thing as addiction?

I am all for legalizing marijuana, but the extent to which it appears to be infiltrating the this generations culture is a bit disturbing.<p>I have seen all too many people who seem to find an identity in pot. All activities and games they play are centered around pot.<p>Much like alcohol, but it is even harder to participate if you are not one of them. At least with alcohol, I can grab my cider, pretend to also be drinking &#x27;hard liquor&#x27; and be a part of the event. Also, alcohol parties always need a couple of sober people as nannys. (This is specific to college aged people)<p>With pot heads, even if I don&#x27;t partake in smoking, I am going to come out smelling of weed and inhaling 2nd hand smoke. At least pot heads have good taste in music.<p>In conclusion, as legal restrictions to marijuana are lifted, now would be a great time to put the role of marijuana in the societal context under scrutiny. It isn&#x27;t as bad as alcohol, but it isn&#x27;t as innocuous as some would like us to believe either.

If you’re looking for like-minded people and a support group, &#x2F;r&#x2F;leaves and &#x2F;r&#x2F;petioles are good subreddits to check out.<p>(for a variety of silly reasons all major subreddits that are cannabis related are either botany or lotr puns)

Actually, you&#x27;re an asshole who likes pot and uses it as an excuse to behave badly. My drug use history reads like War and Peace and I don&#x27;t have any aggressive or obnoxious episodes that I feel terrible about because I always considered that no matter what strange thing I put in my body I was responsible for for my own behavior, inebriated or not.<p>This person needs help, and the first thing they need to do is take responsibility for who they are.

I find video games,sugar,caffeine and sex to be a lot more addictive than pot, and I&#x27;ve smoked pot almost daily in 4 years of university

People really love the word addiction. It’s like a safety blanket that keeps you from having to feel responsible for your own behavior. There are sex addicts, porn addicts, and food addicts, among others.<p>More than likely there is just an underlying mental health issue with poor impulse control and behavioral manifestations.

Marijuana is pure Soma. The people pushing, fighting for legalization are digging their own grave in one form or another, especially as far as sentiments of freedom are concerned - the government wins one way or another.<p>You cannot argue against sobriety without appealing to inherent weaknesses of human nature. That alone speaks volumes in regards to the value of this drug.