Drew Pinsky is certainly no fool. He's better qualified than anyone in the country, practically, to recognize diseases of addiction. He's a well respected, widely published board-certified addictionologist and if you've ever listened to him on "Loveline," you know he's no fool.

I didn't always believe this before I began medical school myself, but I am now firmly convinced that people can be addicted to cannabis. You might want to read a bit more about this subject in the thread below. You'll hear plenty of passionate debate in there, too, and positions that mirror your own. There's a post inside there of mine that cites the reasons in more detail. It's not necessarily because of how cannabis works in people's brains alone. It's because of how it works on similar types of drug receptors in the brain which then begin responding to cannabis. For people with that particular susceptibility, it is a very real addiction. I've always suspected this because I've seen several hundred people here over the last couple of years speaking of this sort of addiction. Then I learned from my medical school professors and myriad solid, research-based sources why it does happen. Patients with that particular addictive reaction to cannabis do indeed have withdrawals. The symptoms of cannabis withdrawal have long been listed on the Erowid Web site, too. (Link also below.)

http://boards.cannabis.com/medicinal...ml#post1799953

Erowid Cannabis (Marijuana) Vault

It's a whole lot easier to slam physicians who see the problem first-hand and work with patients who struggle with this issue--or to say "No way can that happen to someone" when the real fact is it simply hasn't happened to you personally. Plenty of people use cannabis without having an addictive response, but there is a percentage of people who do have that response. Those are the ones Drew Pinksy and other doctors like him are familiar with. That particular patient on his "Celebrity Rehab" show was one of them. She spoke openly and honestly about what was going on with her, about her family history with addiction, etc. She's precisely the sort of person who could benefit from treatment because, like with any other addictive substance, it was interfering with her life and resulting in negative consequences. She was feeling physically and mentally compelled to overuse the stuff to the point of it throwing her entire life outta balance. I want more people to open up their minds on this subject and realize that just because the phenomenon of cannabis addiction hasn't happened to them doesn't mean it can't happen to others. In particular types of brains, it can indeed happen. And does.