Marijuana: Addictive or Not

The age old debate is ongoing today as to whether marijuana is addictive or not. According to Psychology Today, the question has been raised for decades.

Regular marijuana users claim that it is not addictive while others remain convinced that it absolutely is. This topic remains a political hot button and a lot of research had been focused on the addictive nature of the plant.

The large majority of users say they have no withdrawal symptoms or cravings.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, claims marijuana is the most frequently abuse illegal drug in the United States. The three main reasons are because it’s affordable, accessible and supposedly harmless.

More and more states are also legalizing it for medicinal purposes. There are already currently 16 states and the District of Columbia who have legalized it.

A recent survey shows that 41 percent of all Americans or roughly 100 million people have already tried marijuana once in their lifetime and ten percent of all Americans have used it in the last year.

Marijuana has effects on your coordinated movements, memory, thinking, pleasure and your body’s time perception. The effects of the drug are felt within just minutes of consumption and peak in about 30 minutes.

The drug produces a relaxed and dreamy like state and food cravings that represent the high. Marijuana also has several physiological effects such as delayed reaction time, dry mouth, impaired coordination, slowed concentration and memory and sometimes produces hallucinations and paranoia.

The effects of its use usually disappear in about three hours.

Nobody argues the fact that marijuana can in fact be abused just like anything else. The question remains whether it can also be addictive and the answer remains in the definition of "addiction" which remains controversial itself.