Cannabis As Addictive As Heroin, Major New Study Finds

a reply to: Ezappa
My point exactley!
Inner self controll, And who you are AS a person

originally posted by: Ezappa
Maybe habitual addiction yes but no way physically addictive. If you stop smoking it you don't get cold turkey symptoms like Heroin or Crack. Cannabis is just cravings and that is down to the tobacco mixed in to keep it burning. This is from first hand experience

.

Ew...

Don't mix tobacco with it...

That's a sin

I can speak from experience, having overcome serious drug problems in the past, tho my problem was with opiate pain pills, not heroin, but not much difference, pot has no withdrawls, and the withdrawl from the opiates is something im still dealing with a year after last using. But i do want to say that its not like pot never caused any problems for me, mainly legal, and relationship issues, which may not have been much of a problem if not for the stigma this countries archaic drug laws put on marijuana. Still would not recommend youngsters to experiment with pot, wait until your an adult, and hopefully some drug law reform will help with the prison over population problem we are dealing with.

a reply to: Calalini
If true then we should have tens of millions of drug addicts desperate for a fix since the number of people who have smoked cannabis in the past (myself included) is more than half the population !!!

I suspect an ideologically driven study. Probably the religious right worried that people who have never taken drugs are starting to wake up to the fact that the "war on drugs" does not work. They will also have read about alternative ways of controlling drug use (legal and clean) that works far better.

We know, from hospital admissions, that alcohol and tobacco create far worse problems than cannabis.

a reply to: Calalini
I disagree. I and the majority of my social circle smoke it. We are all fully aware of the detrimental aspects of it's use.

In relationship to the OP, I have stopped smoking it many times and I can assure you, it's not as hard to quit as heroine. A few days of anxiety and I was fine. Study is BS

a reply to: Calalini
Some people don't want to use alcohol as a relaxant or stress reliever as it can make people go and punch someone and kill them .
It can also make others extremely violent and they bash and rape kids when they are drunk .

Alcohol is not for everyone , most people need some way to relax.
1%

I've had two spinal surgeries due to work.
Last one I was given jars and jars of opiate pain pills.
For the better part of two decades I was eating pain pills.
Anyone here ever eat pain pills for 10 years then loose your insurance?
On the street a pain pill will cost you $1 a mg. A 30 mg oxy is $30 but a gm of black tar is $20 and lasts longer than one pill.
My last two years on opiates I was smoking heroin. Everyday.
I finally got sick of the BS and went into detox last Feb. and haven't touched any opiate since.

Whoever wrote this article is an idiot.

I'm also a medical marijuana patient.

If I don't smoke pot today I will not get slammed with puking my guts out or feel like ever bone in my body is shattering and I most certainly won't feel like I want to die.

People that write nonsense like marijuana is as addictive as heroin needs some kind of help.

What a thread.


You guys are funny and clueless.


stopped smoking many times

Heroin will destroy in a short amount of time , weed never

alcohol is the only drug that will kill someone with withdrawal symptoms

it can be as harsh as heroin addiction. Yeah people have died because they stopped smoking weed.

a reply to: Akragon

but that is also the difference between the weed user and the heroin user...

Weed can be used in moderation... and like alcohol can be used responsibly, and can be disposed of if needed...

that is not the case with Heroin users... use starts in moderation, and increases exponentially over prolonged usage...

the addiction is immediate... and does not go away even after the user manages to get away from it...

Heroin addictions is immediate is it?

Usage starts usually is in moderation and does increase, addiction is not immediate though.

Do you know what it is to be addicted to opiates and what happens to your blood cells that make you addicted or are you talking out of your bottom or simply ignorant like a few others in this thread making ridiculous statements that seemed based on hearsay or what they have read online and not personal experience.

That is actually the saddest part of heroin addiction.... there is no way out once you're in too deep...

and again, im sorry ... but nicotine is not as addictive as heroin... but both are evil

I must be anomaly then and scores of others must be too

You can be sorry all you want nicotine is #1 addictive substance outside of pharmaceuticals like Oxycontin and other similar drugs.

I've read that in a lot of articles about tobacco... Its just not true...

its like comparing a fishing boat with a battleship... I suppose a destroyer might be more appropriate

Experience of many seem to point to it being true, studies done also show dependency /addiction levels are close but nicotine just wins the battle.

Even the NHS has outed the Daily Mail as being 'at odds' with the nature of the study with this story, so they're basically saying they have taken the story and twisted the conclusions to suit their own agenda. I wonder if similar studies could be done on the Daily Mail and Telegraph - they might conclude they are equallly addictive and harmful, and a gateway drug to anti-depressants.

NHS article on study.

This was a narrative review that aimed to examine the changes in the available evidence on the adverse health effects of cannabis since 1993.

It was not clear how the author identified the studies used as a basis for the review. It may be the case there are other studies showing no effect or harm that have not been included in the review.

It is also not clear how the author compiled the results of the research to come up with strengths of effect. A systematic review is required to assess the adverse health effects of cannabis use.

Also, although the author applied rules to the interpretation of the research, the conclusions are based on the results of observational studies.

It is difficult to conclude from these types of studies that cannabis causes the effects seen, as there are still potentially differences between people who use cannabis and people who don't that could explain the differences seen.

a reply to: InhaleExhale

Lets see...

Heroin addictions is immediate is it?

Usage starts usually is in moderation and does increase, addiction is not immediate though

Well unless you've had experience with it, and users of it... that is nothing more then an opinion...

I've had both... smoking it does not cause immediate addiction... Injecting it does...

the user wants it immediately after their first time injecting... and that want is far beyond anything I've ever experienced... including the need to smoke a ciggarette

and if they give in to that want they WILL do it again...

Do you know what it is to be addicted to opiates and what happens to your blood cells that make you addicted or are you talking out of your bottom or simply ignorant like a few others in this thread making ridiculous statements that seemed based on hearsay or what they have read online and not personal experience.

...

I don't think I even need to waste my time with this statement...

I must be anomaly then and scores of others must be too

You can be sorry all you want nicotine is #1 addictive substance outside of pharmaceuticals like Oxycontin and other similar drugs.

Oh lovely...

This isn't a competition... but lets just say IF you're being honest here and you managed to get away from it... you're one of the lucky ones... as was I... but I've know several people who were not as lucky...

and again, NO nicotine has nothing on heroin addiction

Experience of many seem to point to it being true, studies done also show dependency /addiction levels are close but nicotine just wins the battle.

"studies"... quote, unquote, have also shown Weed to be as addictive as heroin, which is nothing more then a disgusting joke... but I suppose you agree with those "studies" as well...

a reply to: Calalini

That dude is an idiot.

The human body produces endogenous forms of opiates. People who use opiate-based drugs regularly (you know, like heroin) confuse their bodies. The body stops producing the endogenous opiates because they are being received from an outside source (the heroin).

There is absolutely NO comparison whatsoever to heroin addiction. Trying to get clean off of heroin can kill you. I have seen people going through withdrawals--vomitting, screaming because of the physical pain, having seizures, being hospitalized from their kidneys shutdown.

This is, by far, the most irresponsible and complete bs "survey" I have ever seen.

Saw a dude stop smoking weed after having smoked it for 30 years. Where were his seizures? Where was his vomitting? Why didn't he scream in agonizing pain? Why didn't his organs begin shutting down?

I need to stop now before I violate the T&C.

a reply to: InhaleExhale

You can be sorry all you want nicotine is #1 addictive substance outside of pharmaceuticals like Oxycontin and other similar drugs.

Oxycotnin is synthetic heroin.

Nicotine withdrawal will not kill you. Opiate withdrawal will.

Do an entire balloon of heroin, everday, for over a year, and steadily increase the dosage. Do that for three years and see how casual you feel about heroin addiction after that.

When you have your first grandma seizure please come back and tell us that nicotine is more addictive than heroine.

I have concluded that you are either incompetent or a troll; and a very nasty troll at that.

There are people in this thread with no experience whatsoever with heroin, and your comparing it to nicotine like it's somehow harmless.

That is absolutely pathetic.

People can and have died from quitting heroin (any opiate really) cold turkey. Benzos as well.
If someone is waiting for a bed at a rehab, for opiate addiction, they are instructed to keep it up until they can detox in a controlled environment. Ever seen a pothead, doubled over, feeling like death, waiting in line at a legally run methadone clinic, or needle exchange?

There is a reason junkies are steriotyped as steal from their mother to get a fix, whereas potheads are steriotyped as just being unmotivated. Opiate withdrawal threatens to shut everything down. Pot withdrawal threatens to make you unpleasant for others to deal with for a bit.

a reply to: Calalini

To quote half baked....The Cocaine Addict (Bob Saget): " Marijuana is not a drug. I used to **** **** for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever **** some **** for marijuana?"

a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

Nicotine withdrawal will not kill you. Opiate withdrawal will.

Yes, the danger of withdrawal from certain substances is not what is being discussed is it?

There are people in this thread with no experience whatsoever with heroin, and your comparing it to nicotine like it's somehow harmless.

Somehow harmless?

Maybe you need to clam down and read things better because I didn't compare the harmful effects withdrawal can have between the 2 substances.

a reply to: Akragon

the user wants it immediately after their first time injecting...

Really, so their not regurgitating anything they ingest even water or simply throwing up after the first time injecting?

The body is so used such a powerful drug that their no reaction?

Depending on the dose a first timer has a high chance of feeling sick before they feel euphoric for a number of hours, it almost guaranteed I have actually never heard of anyone using for the first time and not vomiting and if you think or have experience with wanting it immediately after the first time I would say it wasn't a first time or the person taking it had a body chemistry and an addictive nature that just fell into place when heroin was introduced into their system.

"studies"... quote, unquote, have also shown Weed to be as addictive as heroin, which is nothing more then a disgusting joke... but I suppose you agree with those "studies" as well...

I agree its a disgusting joke and no I don't agree with the study as I don't find cannabis to be addictive but extremely dependent, in my personal opinion more so than heroin ( I am talking mental dependency and not addiction, just to be clear) and there is a personal story behind that opinion that's to complex inject here.

This bit from OPs article was a really funny quote coming from the professor doing the study

"If cannabis is not addictive, then neither is heroin or alcohol.
"It is often harder to get people who are dependent on cannabis through withdrawal than for heroin. We just don't know how to do it."


I didn't even bother reading the full article but is he quoted saying cannabis is addictive any where or does he keep insinuating that like with whats just above this line?

It almost sounds as the study is a basic 'we know alcohol and heroin are addictive and because its harder for cannabis users to quite their poison as chances are a user will use again concerning cannabis it must mean its addictive'

I mean does the study show any physical symptoms that are synonymous with cannabis that cant be contributed to other causes only cannabis use similar to how that can be shown with heroin and alcohol addiction or is the study just a whole lot insinuations to make comparisons and fool the ignorant?

This isn't a competition... but lets just say IF you're being honest here and you managed to get away from it... you're one of the lucky ones... as was I... but I've know several people who were not as lucky...

Yes nothing to compete for or against, sorry if came off in a such a way.

Stay clean and sober brother Akragon

a reply to: InhaleExhale

Yes, the danger of withdrawal from certain substances is not what is being discussed.

Withdrawal is a side effect of addiction, so yes, that is what is being discussed.

Maybe you need to clam down and read things better because I didn't compare the harmful effects withdrawal can have between the 2 substances.

I read it just fine. You stated, in your opinion, that nicotine addiction is worse than herion.

That is wrong. I have never had a seizure when I was craving a cigarette.

What you said:

nicotine is #1 addictive substance
outside of pharmaceuticals like Oxycontin and other similar drugs.

So, not only are you stating that nicotine is the most addictive substance on Earth, but you are placing it in the same category as an opiate-based drug like Oxycontin. Your whole premise is absurd.

I have never been robbed by someone that just wanted a cigarette. I have never seen a person withdrawaling from nicotine scream in agonizing pain because their body is no longer producing chemicals that it used to.

I have never seen a smoker quit smoking and have a seizure, and I have never seen a person die from the addiction to nicotine itself.

Nicotine is not the most addictive substance on Earth, opiate-based drugs are.

Our bodies produce opiates naturally. When a person consistently takes something like heroin or oxycotnin, the body stops producing it's own supply of opiates because it is receiving a source of them from the outside. Once your body becomes dependent on the outside source for it's needs, you have reached true addiction.

The problem is the fact that a person can do inconsistent amounts of heroin for long periods without becoming addicted. It's the people that do it everyday for years that become irrevocably addicted. This is why your anecdote about using is complete bunk, you're simply ignorant of how opiates take over the body.

Like I said, shoot up heroin everyday for three years and then come back and tell us that nicotine is the #1 addictive substance. I will listen to your stupidity patiently between your screaming, vomiting, and seizing.

It's called inner-peace.

it don't matter the substance, it's the journey.

being able to revisit it is the motivation behind every user of any substance.

What do I use to find my own inner-peace, professor?

a reply to: Calalini

Are you F-N kidding me? I just... I just.. can't.....