Comments on Re: Marijuana Withdrawal as Severe as Tobacco Withdrawal?

Much, MUCH better job this time around!

I was wondering something similar, but more along the lines of how the people who quit the pot could link their symptoms to that. Maybe it had just been too long since their last cig. Did everyone smoke a cig before they described their pot withdrawl symptoms? The study really makes no sense.

I definitely see a connection between such examples of overstating the dangers of marijuana and the reluctance of many stoners to accept any studies whatsoever documenting the "physical negative consequences" mentioned here. According to many regular smokers, marijuana prevents all manner of ailments (Alzheimer's is the current favorite) and is made out of health-and-sanity-enhancing unicorns and leprechauns who would never ever dream of hurting you.

It's too bad so many sources of public information about drugs have damaged their credibility so badly that nobody believes what they say, because the availability of factual information about health risks might help a lot more people distinguish between use and abuse.

@3, this is the best point anyone has made regarding this issue yet. The politicizing of research, in any direction, erodes the credibility of the results--even when the results are correct.

As an aside: NOTHING eases withdrawl from cigs better than weed.

Also, I love that last line...Nice!

Nice work, Jonathan.

I also agree with what flamingbanjo said.

With the White House insisting that any pot use leads to crack addiction and High Times magazine suggesting that all pot use is good for you, people cherry pick the studies that reflect their own political ideology. It's too bad, too, because it results with some stoners who think it's totally healthy to smoke lots of pot all the time and some cancer patients who are afraid to use medical marijuana because they've been told it's always dangerous.

Marijuana withdrawal has been known to lead to depression and suicide among some heavy users.

I've certainly felt some withdrawal symptoms after periods of regular pot usage. Mostly agitation and a general feeling of lousiness. Nothing too severe, nor life affecting, but enough to be noticeable.

Pot's a drug that affects your body, it would be pretty surprising if one did not experience something after discontinueing use.

A study can answer a single question with a t size of 12, but not the level of detail that is given as the "results".

Again, wake me if you get 512 subjects and a 512 control match - you'll technically need two control groups, since you're confounding both smokers (nicotine addicts) and ganja heads (cannabis users).

Well?

If you want the level of detail you report, you can't use a t-size of 12. Especially without control match.

Marijuana withdrawal has been known to lead to depression and suicide among some heavy users

C'mon, it has been known? By who? The WHONDCP? Seriously. You can't just throw something out there and expect everyone to believe it.

@10, c'mon yourself. This is the internet and I can do whatever I please.

But seriously, marijuana is the assassin of youth, or hadn't you heard? I could site sources of just about anything, and other people would poke holes in it. No one will win an argument here.

All I am saying is that I have heard, from doctors who are specialists in addiction treatment, that marijuana addiction can have such a strong affect on an addict that withdrawal can lead to depression and suicide.

This is by no means the most common reaction to marijuana withdrawal, and I didn't mean to imply that. I was just trying to make a case that I have never heard of someone killing themselves because they were depressed after quitting tobacco.

Maybe someone has, but if that was the case, you would think that people would be going to rehab for cigarettes as well.

Remember, if you're going off cigs or wacky tabacky in Mississippi, you're going to get really hungry.

You might want to wait until you're in another state ... one where you can still get all-you-can-eat food.

I've been a stoner for 25 years. I usually hit the pipe three or four times every workday evening and more often on the weekends. Once a year I quit smoking for about three weeks in order to prepare for the drug screen portion of my annual physical (and I always "pass" by the way). I do not usually experience any withdrawal symptoms. I do not smoke cigarettes. Perhaps that is what makes the difference.

Among the side effects I've noticed from quitting pot smoking is the fact that I am no longer able to spot the homoerotic subtext in cable fishing shows (Two guys in a bass boat, all out in the middle of nowehere, kinda BrokeBack Mountainish, dontcha think?). For that matter I am no longer able to watch cable fishing shows, or for that matter most other TV shows because they're so annoying and I don't think that drenched a bucket of fried chicken in green Tabasco sauce and then eating the whole thing is a good idea either. I'm not sure if these side-effects are physical, or psychological though.

wile_e_quixote wins.

@13 - well, so long as you're not driving ...

I have heard that weed can be good for relieving depression. And, some depressed people may treat themselves with weed.

So does a person become depressed when they stop using herb, or do their symptoms become more severe when they no longer use herb?

Uh, I do take issue with the comment of "Only the latter [binge drinking] can result in someone losing their life."

While I too find drunks far, far more annoying and violent than stoners (and I see a lot of both), I think it defies reason to imply that no one has ever gotten killed by doing something stupid and dangerous when they were baked.

If you don't buy it, feel free to ride on the back of motorcycle when the driver is stoned to the gills. Just sign your organ donor card first.

@ flamingbanjo! That is brilliant; my thoughts exactly when dealing with these sorts of questions. In a weird way, there is a parallel with the "fat acceptance" folk, who also deny the reality of concequences.

Still, the most deadly substance I listed in the post? Acetaminophen (Tylenol). 8 times the "maximum daily dose" will totally destroy your liver. Scares the shit out of me.

Yeek@18. I was thinking of specific instances when I've had to deal with alcohol overdose. When things really unravel, it devolves into semiconscious dry heaving, followed by seizures and then death. Pot can cause people to do stupid, life threatening acts. It just can't kill you directly like this.

One of my more terrifying, and satisfying, saves was when I was running on a college first response unit. The patient had fallen semiconscious at a party after drinking a ton. His buddies first drenched him in cold water, you know to wake him up. (Bad idea #1.) When that didn't work, they carried him outside. In November. In a sopping wet t-shirt into 40 degree air. (Bad idea #2.) After a bit he fell totally unconscious, so they stopped at a park bench and called 911, keeping him upright.

When I arrived, he had blue lips and was totally out. I immediately got him down and flat on the table. (Blood to the head? A good thing.) His pulse was very weak and in the fifteen seconds or so I waited, he didn't breathe once. Not a pant, no gasp. Nothing.

I called for an ambo pickup while my partner started breathing for him with a Bag-Valve-Mask. I cut off his shirt and threw an emergency blanket over him. After a few minutes of ventilation, some warmth and simply no longer being held upright, he started to breathe again on his own. A few more minutes without breathing? His heart would have stopped.

So, yeah. Alcohol OD + bad (alcohol-fueled) decision making? A plan for caching in your chips...

But, yes. Pot makes you stupid too. ;p

http://www.marijuana-anonymous.org/Pages/detox.html

There are indeed symptoms of marijuana withdrawal.

But compare that with the symptoms from cessation of smoking cigarettes:

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/withdrawal1.htm