*Marijuana and Psychological Addiction*

[beachguy in thongs]

Saying that marijuana is as addictive as sex is the same train of thought that the government used to outlaw it.

When we drink water, eat food, or have sex, dopamine rises.

Look up "marijuana_and_dopamine".

This is why you can't call marijuana, "dope".

[thecurious1]

Noone said marijuana was/is as addicting as sex.

We/I are simply stating that while people talk about addiction to marijuana, people must ALSO realise that you can be addicted to ANY emotion or action which produces an emotion.

Sex isn't outlawed, yet there are addicts.
Alcohol isn't outlawed, yet there are addicts.
Love isn't outlawed, yet there are addicts.
TV isnt't outlaed, yet there are addicts.

The point to the post is to make light of marijuana addiction and for people to truely understand how addiction works.

Perhaps I should have made it easier for some people to comprehend...didn't mean to confuse so many people.

[beachguy in thongs]

I was saying that if you're gonna say that we can get addicted in our heads to Marijuana, it's not the same way as sex, lasagna, or beer. It operates seperate circuitry in the brain. Someone who repeatedly tells themself that they're addicted to Pot, then they're addicted to talking to themselves. You get pleasure from rewarding your dopamine system, which are only mediated by cannabinoids (keeping you from getting addicted).

[Fan o KmK]

What the HECK are you talking about? I never stated anyone was an addict nor was the post meant to shy people away from marijuana.

I consume marijuana too smart guy.

If you can't comprehend what was said, then don't reply.

yea i guess u have a point. i didnt read anything in this post except for the first 2 or 3 lines of yours and i gathered that you were for some reason informing us that we were all mentally addicted or something which is fine, but sortof irrelevant cuz were all gona smoke anyway. i guess i just didnt get the point.

[thecurious1]

I was saying that if you're gonna say that we can get addicted in our heads to Marijuana, it's not the same way as sex, lasagna, or beer. It operates seperate circuitry in the brain. Someone who repeatedly tells themself that they're addicted to Pot, then they're addicted to talking to themselves. You get pleasure from rewarding your dopamine system, which are only mediated by cannabinoids (keeping you from getting addicted).

This is somewhat untrue.... as I said in the original post.
Whenever we FEEL emotions, it's because our brain has pumped chemical proteins call polypeptides into our blood stream. These chemicals then surge through the body attaching themselves to receptor cells.

These receptor cells then go through a series of chemical changes which register in the brain as sensations and emotions.

The SAME receptor cells that produce our emotions are used to feel the sensation of marijuana. Infact, our brain is fully capable of producing the high associated with marijuana on its own.

When receptor cells are bombarded over time, they then will reproduce. HOWEVER, the new cell will have less receptor sites. When this happens it takes more chemicals to get the same feeling.

This soon becomes what we know of as Tolerance and is NOT limited to just mind expanding substances such as marijuana or drugs.

Our body builds tolerances for emotion as well.

The ONLY difference between a sex addict and an alcoholic is the SPECIFIC chemicals being pumped by the brains. Other than that, addictions can all be identified in the same way.

[beachguy in thongs]

The SAME receptor cells that produce our emotions are used to feel the sensation of marijuana.

When receptor cells are bombarded over time, they then will reproduce. HOWEVER, the new cell will have less receptor sites. When this happens it takes more chemicals to get the same feeling.

This soon becomes what we know of as Tolerance and is NOT limited to just mind expanding substances such as marijuana or drugs.

What are the receptor cells called? What part of the brain produces the chemical which will attach to them?

What property of marijuana attaches to them?

One last question... Why don't these chemicals produced by Love attach to CB receptor sites?

[CrAzYpOtHeAd]

ANY action that creates emotions is and can be psychologically addicting.

You can be addicted to any action that produces emotions. Fighting, Sex, Eating, Sky Diving, Sports, etc etc.

What do you think love is? Nothing more than your brain pumping out polypeptides that reflect a certain emotion. Those chemicals are then released to the blood where they attach themselves to receptor cells in our body.

You love someone because they make you FEEL certain emotions. If and/or when they don't make you feel those emotions anymore you tend to fall out of love. Why? Because that persons actions no longer give you the "high" of emotions you have grown to depend on.

The polypeptides (emotions) that correspond with Love are probally the most psychologically addicting substances known to man. And indeed, the reason why many people do crazy things while under the influence of love.

When you smoke cannabis the chemicals rush through the blood stream and attach themselves to the SAME receptor cells that the chemicals our brain produce attach to.

It it then easy to see that marijuana, as well as any other chemical that attaches itself to receptor cells can become psychologically addicting.

The level of your addictions depends on your genetic code and environment.
Are people pre-destined for specific addictions? YES

Everyone is pre-coded to be more "sensitive" to certain emotions and chemicals. How we handle those emotions and chemicals depends on how strong willed the person is. For instance, you could have two people whom are both genetically more sensitive to the chemicals produced by alcohol.
One might be an alcoholic and the other might not be. Why?

Two most likely reasons.

1) The environment the alcoholic was/is living in broke their capacity to control their impulses. Lost of a job, a devastating incident, abuse, or being homeless are all examples of environment stimuli that can break a persons will.

2) The non-alcoholic has the mental focus (will) to beable to control their impulses. Their environment is most likely a positive one that ensures mental stability. They may one day experience something dramatic that causes their "addiction switch" to turn...they may not. But it's important to understand that we are indeed BORN with specific addictions that may or may never rise to the surface, depending on what's going on in our lives.

New studies are even finding that murderer's brains produce different amounts of chemical than a normal person. We may soon realise that our genetics has more to do with our actions in life than people think.

Some people may be born to desire the emotions released when you commit a crime while others may be born to desire the rush released to them by over-achieving at everything they do.

Eitherway, it comes down to our bodies desire to feel specific sets of emotions. We call those sets of emotions an identity, which in the end makes up our personallity.

When we can no longer control the emotions, they become an addiction.
Of course, there are different levels of addiction.

Is it possible for someone to become strongly addicted to marijuana psychologically? YES! Just like someone can become strongly addicted to any emotion or action that causes an emotion.

If you can voluntarily quit using marijuana then your addiction to the substance is small and relatively harmless. You may experience slight irritation or perhaps even find it harder to fall asleep for a few days but this is common with this level of addiction. This type of user generally likes to use marijuana regulary because they like how it makes them feel and they wish to continue to feel that way. When they no longer can, they get frustrated for a short period of time. But ultimately marijuana does not define their mental state for long periods of time.

If you can't voluntarily quit using marijuana then your addiction to the substance is at a high level and would be what most people consider "true" addiction. At this stage the substance becomes your first priority and you simply can't function properly without it. (Emotionally and/or Socially)

"True" addiction is rarer in marijuana than most other substances and emotions but it is important to know that it CAN exist for some people.

How you deal with your pre-destined addictions depends solely on your will to control your mind and body.


Those are my thoughts anyways. Comments?

Well duh, tell me something i don't already know.

[thecurious1]

What are the receptor cells called? What part of the brain produces the chemical which will attach to them?

What property of marijuana attaches to them?

One last question... Why don't these chemicals produced by Love attach to CB receptor sites?

- Receptor cells can either be seperate generic "receptor cells" or can be specialized endings of afferent neurons.

- The thalamus is the world's largest pharmacy and is what produces these chemicals inside our brain. We also tend to call polypeptide chemicals produced by the brain "nerotransmitters".

- The ACTIVE ingredients in marijuana are what attach themselves to receptor sites. (THC and other CDBs) Interestingly enough, the brain produces an anandamide chemical which helps in this task.

- The chemicals produced by the emotion of love don't attach themselves to CB Receptor sites because they aren't designed to. There is still alot of working going on with this topic so there really isnt a solid answer.
Some people suggest that the anandamide chemicals produced by the brain act as a "password key" for THC/CDB to attach to CB1 and CB2 receptor cells.

[beachguy in thongs]

Well, I'm trying to find how marijuana affects these "addiction" receptors in a significant enough sense to not consider the "pleasure" receptors as the dopamine receptors.

Why are you telling me this stuff?
I wasn't looking for those answers.

Except for the generic receptor one.

[benagain]

Well I must be an addict. I'm all out of weed and I'm bumming pretty hard. I'll prolly be getting more this weekend, but it's gonna be a long 4 days.