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How long have you been smoking daily? From the article: > Unlike with opioids and stimulants, marijuana dependence tends to develop slowly: Months or years may

by tzar 8y ago

How long have you been smoking daily? From the article: > Unlike with opioids and stimulants, marijuana dependence tends to develop slowly: Months or years may pass before symptoms begin to affect a dependent user’s life. The case is similar with alcohol dependence: it can take quite a long time.

fhood 8y ago
I suspect once a day use isn't enough to cause serious dependency (for most people), so long as it isn't being used for self medication. I suspect physical dependency probably results from use as a teenager (when the brain is changing rapidly) or from near constant use, such that your body/brain begins to treat the chemical changes as a baseline and adjust for them.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
evo_9 8y ago
I've been smoking daily, with the exception of travel breaks, since my early 20's and I'm about to turn 51.
Zooper 8y ago
It's also worth noting that this "Addiction" that takes so long to develop goes away in about 1-2 weeks.
- inks 8y ago
  Most addictions “go away” in about 1-2 weeks. Even opiate addiction goes away after a max of a week, it’s the psychological effects that last unlike say benzodiazepine which has a recovery time measured in years.
jjulius 8y ago
So I originally wrote this post to respond to the user "havesmoked" who posted a similar comment in response to you to what I'm about to share. They deleted their post, but I figured I'd still post mine. ---- I also don't know why I'm posting this beyond sharing my anecdotal experience, lol. I'm pretty much like you on this one. I've been smoking pot for about ten years now (I'm 31), and half of that I'd say has been fairly heavy usage, and for the last 2-3 years a single week for me has, on average, seen me consume: 1 eighth of flower, 50-100MG of edibles depending on weekend activities, and most of a .5G vape cartridge. That seems like a fucking outrageous amount of pot, but I've shown continuous growth professionally (worked all the way up to my current "Director" position) and I've never had a problem traveling and suddenly spending a week or two cold turkey. Like you, I've always been cognizant of the fact that I could end up relying on it as a crutch, and have been wary of the fact that there's not much quality scientific data around marijuana to make me feel comfortable continuing this way. My wife and I are also at a point in our lives now where we'd like to start having children. We met with a doctor last week to discuss a few things, and the "marijuana lowers your sperm count" conversation that I was anticipating did certainly come up. I've known this time has been coming for a while and had no problem immediately cutting back as of last Thursday. It's been just over a week now of reducing my intake to just 4-5 hits per evening, late at night and shortly before bed so I don't get the urge to just keep smoking after I've started. It's been incredibly easy to kick, I'm gonna save a boatload of cash, and I don't spend the day craving it. I appreciate the clearer head that I have, and the increased productivity I feel. But that doesn't mean it's easy for everyone, as I'm sure people use this as a crutch for a variety of reasons. Edit: I think one of the things that has helped me keep my consumption reduced compared to other people in this thread (someone mentioning nearly an eight per day) has been my refusal to do dabs. Those are incredibly more potent and can really quickly kick your tolerance up a notch. I did one just once and it hit me so hard I immediately fell back and had to lean in place against a wall without moving for 20 minutes. I don't know how people can do that shit regularly.

by tzar 8y ago

fhood 8y ago

I suspect once a day use isn't enough to cause serious dependency (for most people), so long as it isn't being used for self medication. I suspect physical dependency probably results from use as a teenager (when the brain is changing rapidly) or from near constant use, such that your body/brain begins to treat the chemical changes as a baseline and adjust for them.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

evo_9 8y ago

I've been smoking daily, with the exception of travel breaks, since my early 20's and I'm about to turn 51.

Zooper 8y ago

It's also worth noting that this "Addiction" that takes so long to develop goes away in about 1-2 weeks.

inks 8y ago
Most addictions “go away” in about 1-2 weeks. Even opiate addiction goes away after a max of a week, it’s the psychological effects that last unlike say benzodiazepine which has a recovery time measured in years.

jjulius 8y ago

So I originally wrote this post to respond to the user "havesmoked" who posted a similar comment in response to you to what I'm about to share. They deleted their post, but I figured I'd still post mine. ---- I also don't know why I'm posting this beyond sharing my anecdotal experience, lol. I'm pretty much like you on this one. I've been smoking pot for about ten years now (I'm 31), and half of that I'd say has been fairly heavy usage, and for the last 2-3 years a single week for me has, on average, seen me consume: 1 eighth of flower, 50-100MG of edibles depending on weekend activities, and most of a .5G vape cartridge. That seems like a fucking outrageous amount of pot, but I've shown continuous growth professionally (worked all the way up to my current "Director" position) and I've never had a problem traveling and suddenly spending a week or two cold turkey. Like you, I've always been cognizant of the fact that I could end up relying on it as a crutch, and have been wary of the fact that there's not much quality scientific data around marijuana to make me feel comfortable continuing this way. My wife and I are also at a point in our lives now where we'd like to start having children. We met with a doctor last week to discuss a few things, and the "marijuana lowers your sperm count" conversation that I was anticipating did certainly come up. I've known this time has been coming for a while and had no problem immediately cutting back as of last Thursday. It's been just over a week now of reducing my intake to just 4-5 hits per evening, late at night and shortly before bed so I don't get the urge to just keep smoking after I've started. It's been incredibly easy to kick, I'm gonna save a boatload of cash, and I don't spend the day craving it. I appreciate the clearer head that I have, and the increased productivity I feel. But that doesn't mean it's easy for everyone, as I'm sure people use this as a crutch for a variety of reasons. Edit: I think one of the things that has helped me keep my consumption reduced compared to other people in this thread (someone mentioning nearly an eight per day) has been my refusal to do dabs. Those are incredibly more potent and can really quickly kick your tolerance up a notch. I did one just once and it hit me so hard I immediately fell back and had to lean in place against a wall without moving for 20 minutes. I don't know how people can do that shit regularly.