Quote Originally Posted by Halcy0n
When quitting smoking after I've been smoking daily I have insomnia, loss of appetite, and irritability for a couple of days. The insomnia often lasts much longer.
Weed is not physically addictive. For regular, daily users, it can be psychologially addictive but then so can everything else in the world. It has more to do with a change in your daily routine than anything else. The symtoms of "insomnia, loss of appetite, and irritability " would also probably happen to a lot of people with the loss of a job, having a girlfriend or wife suddenly leave them, etc. It's also pretty common for people who move to a different country and experience culture shock. It's not your body, it's your mind that thinks it should be there so your body reacts. Plain and simple.

I had been a regular(1-2 times a day minimum) smoker for about ten years when I took a trip to Thailand. In the past, when I tried to stop or didn't have any I'd get the "insomnia, loss of appetite, and irritability " too. When I went to Thailand, however, I didn't bring any weed and didn't experience any of the symtoms. Why? My guess is that it was because the whole experience was so different from my normal daily routine, that I didn't even think about weed. Sure, there were a few times when I'd think "it would be great if I had a joint now" but it wasn't the "damn, I gotta score a bag" feeling I'd had before.

With a physically addictive substance, like heroin, tobacco, alcohol, etc, it is your body that is telling you that you need it, not your mind. If I was a heroin addict and took a trip to Thailand I'd have either found some there or spent a horribly miserable vacation suffering terribly in my hotel room. Same with cigarettes. It wouldn't matter if my mind was distracted, my body would need the drug.

Just remember, anything can be psychologically addictive. Weed, the company of another person, sex, watching Letterman every night, or a weekly trip to Subway. Once something becomes a signifigant part of your normal routine, and disruption to that routine can cause "withdrawl". Some people are just more susceptible than others. But that doesn't mean weed is any more harmful than pussy. And, I'm sure over the course of history far more people have been killed for pussy than for weed.