Posted on 06/24/2018 11:51:48 AM PDT by Mariner
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - For as long as most residents can remember, smoking marijuana has been a part of life here. The fact that California legalized the practice in January went practically unnoticed in this quiet town a half-hour's drive north of San Francisco, where some say the normalization of America's marijuana culture got its start.
For Quintin Pohl and other teenagers before him, smoking pot was a rite of passage. It was a diversion from the loneliness he felt at home when his parents were splitting up and a salve for middle-school angst. It was his entire social life in seventh and eighth grades, he said, when social life is everything.
Even though nearly all his friends were using marijuana and seeming to enjoy it, Pohl said, at some point his marijuana use took a turn he never saw coming: He became addicted.
Many people are unaware of marijuana addiction. But in the public health and medical communities, it is a well-defined disorder that includes physical withdrawal symptoms, cravings and psychological dependence. Many say it is on the rise, perhaps because of the increasing potency of genetically engineered plants and the use of concentrated products, or because more users are partaking multiple times a day.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
But, don't give credence to anyone who says it is harmless. It's NOT. Especially for kids.
Even the National Cannabis Industry Association agrees up to 9% of users become addicted.
This kid was smoking a full ounce per week. How anyone could do that is beyond me.
And yes, I support full legalization nationwide. I believe the harm done by the War on Pot exceeds the 9% addiction rate harm done for those who use it.
No, I don't use marijuana.
And I believe those who give it to kids belong in jail.
I use CBD oil. It ain’t addictive. Usually I forget to take it.
Hate to tell you “kids” have been doing dope for a lot of years
While some people do develop a habit craving it and smoking every day, it isn’t a huge problem. Just like video game habits, it isn’t a huge problem.
No one should feel the need to alter their consciousness significantly daily with intoxicating things. Booze, pot, really nothing.
And I also take CBD oil and if I run out I don’t feel cravings in the least. However, I understand how it works and you need to have a few drops daily consistently to build it up to lessening any chronic pain. And I have zero desire to get high. I’m only after MORE clarity in life, not less. I don’t spend enough time around normalcy or sanity as it is.
Teens find altered mind states hilarious and interesting. Like 10 years earlier when swings and merry go rounds were the hit. So yes, many teens will give it a try for the jollies. And I would not be afraid if my teen kids tried it of them being addicted, like I would about pills alcohol or cocaine. It’s just not in that addictive category.
Here we go again......,
I have a Democrat brother-in-law who is a “daily marijuana smoker” which is a category of people. Who knew? If he felt like stopping,which he never tried, is he addicted? He can still pull the voting machine lever and vote Dem. Never in his 73 years held a full time job. Imagine. Lots of marijuana, though so he doesn’t worry about it. His wife worked extra overtime for decades at a hard job delivering mail. He watched TiVo’d series,played folk guitar and took naps a lot.
I heard from a right wing author that few say the truth that LOTS of marijuana smokers become violent and irritably uncooperative. Not just laid back like Timothy Leary. Watch for them in gatherings or while driving. Unstable.
I want every kid that is competing with my kids to smoke as much pot every day that they can. They can drink, take LSD, snort coke, do adderall and smoke the chronic... there is nothing easier than letting the competition cripple themselves.
Whenever some parents I know talk about pot being “a choice”, I tell them that it’s a GREAT choice....for your kids.
There is only a subjective difference between dependence and addiction. When i see all the newborns with pot metabolite in their umbilical cords i think.. way to go America, before birth thousands of unborn are .. um.. mainlining pot.
For medical purposes only.. of course.
Way to go USA.. thats really loving the unborn
I wholeheartedly agree. I strongly believe that it should be legal — for adults. The penalties for anyone caught providing it to kids should be more severe than the drug penalties are currently. I did smoke as a teenager, luckily not too much, but I knew a lot of kids who did smoke way too much, and paid the price.
“It was his entire social life in seventh and eighth grades”
This has been going on for decades and has caused this crazy society.
Direct correlation.
“want every kid that is competing with my kids to smoke as much pot every day that they can. They can drink, take LSD, snort coke, do adderall and smoke the chronic... there is nothing easier than letting the competition cripple themselves.”
They end up voting for Obama and others, have insane SWJ neo-fascist ideas etc...
It hurts way more than you think.
Last year he went bonkers and had to be admitted to a psyche ward.
Two of my sisters worked with him to get to some sort of mental health.
When people tell me that pot is harmless, it is obvious they have not dealt with a family member who, although was able to keep a job, was stoned the other half of the time.
When we called his house we never knew if he was going to be stoned or not.
For the better part of 47 years.
He has never married, in elementary school he tested out with a genius IQ, but he has wasted his entire life on weed.
I believe education would be more effective than incarceration for kids.
They need to know and understand the risks.
But it’s no longer possible to ensure they don’t have access. They have at least as much access to pot as they do alcohol (that demon rum). And it’s been that way for at least 40 years.
Those who want to smoke it will. And there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent it.
You just have to make them smart.
Is it possible your brother was afflicted with mental illness and self-medicated with pot?
It is not physically addictive. Big pharma on the march here trying to get out in front of Canada’s legalization. Expect even greater bullshit to follow... the new global warming of the drug issues.
(What I’ll never understand is where the “Smoking Nazis” went. What about SECONDARY SMOKE?...and don’t give me BS about it being a different kind of “smoke” ... it contains the same ingredients they were screaming about 5 years ago as they attacked smokers).
I smoked grass for 25 years. Never once did I think to myself “I need a joint” but I did find myself rummaging through the trash can looking for a cigarette butt that had enough tobacco left to light up. Now that’s a physical addiction.
“Marijuana addiction is real, and rising”
Eh, it’s not even worth the effort.
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