Pot for kids

[Charles G.]

@prowess

That's a mental addiction you have. Your mind is making symptoms so you'll go ahead and smoke. (I have found researches that show scientific fact but I can't seem to remember the website :/ sorry) But it's the same thing as people that eat fast food all day everyday, if they suddenly quit they will most likely go through withdrawal but that doesn't mean the food is physically/(chemically) addictive

[prowess]

@prowess

That's a mental addiction you have. Your mind is making symptoms so you'll go ahead and smoke. (I have found researches that show scientific fact but I can't seem to remember the website :/ sorry) But it's the same thing as people that eat fast food all day everyday, if they suddenly quit they will most likely go through withdrawal but that doesn't mean the food is physically/(chemically) addictive

I dunno! you know the kinda crap they put in fast food? And diet coke is said to be chemically addictive... The brain is very mysterious... It produces cannibanoids... i think it makes sense that tetrahydrous cannibanoid would have a chemical effect on your brain....

[Charles G.]

True they do put some mysterious shit in our food these days! Haha

But cannabanoids do effect the "pleasure" parts of the brain and if your brain becomes so used to those parts of the brain being stimulated and all of the sudden there not then I'm sure it's gonna get pretty pissed, hell I would! But that's a mental addiction.

It's kinda hard to argue on this point because I'm not completely educated on this but it's interesting to think about.

[prowess]

i agree and I appreciate your position.
I just have a problem with something that has such clear withdrawel effects being touted as non-addictive... and saying it's not chemically addictive but it's mentally addictive seems like a straw man argument to me... "no no no it's not addictive not at all!" "what about these withdrawls?" "ohhh that's a different kind of addiction, it doesn't count!"

[Charles G.]

@prowess

Haha ya again it's hard to ague without "hard fact"
I've also gone through those withdrawals but I kinda out grew them now. But ya they suck and I know thats a fact

[Harry Evans]

Here is why chemical vs. mental addiction is not a straw man argument, though I used to feel the same way. Obviously, the brain runs on chemical and electrical signals, so anything effecting the brain is, in fact, chemical. But the body does not become chemically addicted to pot. In other words, no chemical equilibrium in your body is altered to the point that your automatic responses will change.

When we discuss chemical addiction, we are talking about long-term or permanent effects on the body's equilibrium. Pot won't make your body stop producing a chemical the way cocaine will make it stop producing dopamine and serotonin. Your brain might act weird, but that is why it's a mental addiction. You can actually lose the ability to produce needed chemicals in chemical cases, which causes a variety of symptoms depending on the chemical, ranging from flu symptoms, to fever, to breathing issues, or in severe cases (especially depressant or benzodiazepene withdrawal) coma or death. With pot, if you stop, no equilibrium is lost. You might be stressed, have sleeping and eating issues, etc, but these things happen to depressed people, too.

[Harry Evans]

Most of this is based, by the way, on extensive conversation - both personal and through college classes - with Dr. David Presti, a famous Berkeley professor, and one of the world's leading experts on the effects of chemicals and drugs on the human brain and body. He does in fact have evidence, both empirical on theoretical, that supports these ideas. That doesn't make it definitely right, it's only a hypothesis, but it's not just "some guy told my dog's veterinarian's brother that..."

[Charles G.]

@Harry Evens

+1 good information

[prowess]

thank you very much Harry! That explained it very well. But I still disagree with saying that it's not addictive! I'm more addicted to jiu jitsu than pot, tho... when i don't get my JJ fix, the withdrawals are devestating!

[Harry Evans]

@prowess - I see what you mean. By that definition, pot is without a doubt addictive. I was going more on clinical addiction terminology, but I agree that anything, especially something as amazing as pot or BJJ, can be in some way addictive.

@Charles G. - Happy to help. Keep in mind, because of bans on MJ related research, what I am saying is qualified (in that it is the best our research has come up with), but not fact. Also, everyone reacts to things differently, so even if you think I am credible, don't just accept anything I say. I'll be the last person to claim to know everything about the subject. It's shockingly complex.