Maybe you’ve heard someone talk about about “jonesing” for weed, or “needing” to smoke, or having a “habit.” Hey, maybe that someone talking was you. The idea that someone has a fever for cannabis that can only be treated with more cannabis implies the dreaded A-word: addiction.
But come on—is that a real thing? Can a pot smoker become addicted to weed the same way as an alcoholic does to booze, or a regular user of opiates, cocaine, or heroin gets hooked on their drug of choice?
Much like a car that’s been hotboxed, the answers are hazy. The term “addiction” has a fairly broad definition, and the differences between someone with a daily habit of consuming cannabis versus a heroin addict are vast.
Merry Jane writer Madison Margolin recently wrote a great piece that breaks down the issue, addressing the categories of addiction, dependence, and disorders and the differences between them. Margolin cites the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) definition of “addiction” as “compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences… characterized by an inability to stop using a drug; failure to meet work, social, or family obligations; and, sometimes (depending on the drug), tolerance and withdrawal.” And NIDA defines “dependence” as “the body [adapting] to the drug, requiring more of it to achieve a certain effect (tolerance) and eliciting drug-specific physical or mental symptoms if drug use is abruptly ceased (withdrawal).” Addiction and dependence often go hand-in-hand, which sometimes makes them difficult to tell apart.
