I wonder how many of the "845,000 people in the United States aged 12 or older [who] reported receiving treatment for marijuana use in 2013" were there pursuant to court order as a sentence for possession in places where marijuana is still illegal. That's a typical first time sentence having nothing to do with actual dependence. I also wonder how many people would be caffeine dependent /abusive based on DSM criteria.

A couple things about this article and the subject matter..

1. The article is way too long, and tries more to obfusticate the point than bring clarity to the question: Is Marijuana Addictive?

2. It is pretty obvious that Marijuana can be abused and people use it as part of an disease called addcition.. (Yes it is addictive) People have also be phyisically and psychologically addictive to caffeine, plus to one of the toughest physical addictions to break: Nicotine..

3. Marijuana may not have the powerful physical addicitive properties as Nicotine or Opiates, but people can be addicted to the ritual of smoking marijuana, plus feel they can't cope without smoking marijuana... Much like the biggest obstacle for Opiate and Nicotine addiction is to break the behavior that makes an addict relapse, no matter if they are no longer physically addicted.

Many things that we look as common day things from certain foods to alcohol can be used as part of the disease of addiction.. How marijuana is used makes its obvious for abuse, like any recreational drug, legal or illegal. Bars and Starbucks serve addictive stimulants and depressants, and I don't see how marijuana is different..

So yes it is pretty obvious that marijuana can be addictive. Most people of course who smoke marijuana are not addicts or become addicts..

Long time weed smoker. All of the following criteria apply to me, and I would agree that I'm "addicted", or, if you find that term problematic, that I simply have a shitty relationship with the stuff.

1. Using more or for a longer period than intended
2. Persistent desire to cut back
3. Lots of time spent using
4. Craving, strong urges to use
5. Use contributes to failures at work, school, home
6. Continued use despite recurrent interpersonal or social problems related to use
7. Use leads to giving up or reducing important social, occupational, or recreational activities
9. Continued use despite recurrent physical or psychological problems related to use
10. Tolerance

While I support legalization 100%, it did have the effect of removing an important barrier to my use - lack of a reliable connection. It also had the effect of making it clear that I can't control my usage (I've since stopped).

In other words if you do something a second time because you enjoyed doing it the first time, you are an ADDICT!

I like how he was all for marijuana use, advocating for it, until he personally had a problem with it. Then, as soon as he can't handle it, STOP THE MARIJUANA!

I think people are confusing "addiction" with "habit." Habits can be very hard to break, but you're not going to get profuse sweating, chills, nausea, aches, hallucinations, constipation, nightmares and rapid weight gain/loss if you break your pot habit. These things will happen however if you're an alcoholic and stop drinking cold turkey. I smoked pot every day for about 10 years and then stopped completely for several years. The worst thing that happend when I stopped smoking pot was a little insomnia and irritability, but with a better memory and more motivation.

I'll say this - I'm essentially a marijuana addict. I was surprised because I'm essentially narcotic-resistant, never really liked alcohol or coffee all that much. When marijuana is available, I have an incredibly difficult time not using it (I don't live in a place with legal recreational marijuana) even to the exclusion of other activities. For this reason, I try to keep away from scenarios where I know I could buy weed. Since moving (and withdrawing), I also had more frequent dreaming, night sweats, etc (although my history is not nearly as strong as "Jason", I was more of a 2-3x/week smoker for the past 2 years rather than daily for 10) which really clued me in that I was having a persistent physiological response well after any THC was out of my system. So that's why I call it "addiction".

@7 When you describe as "nausea, aches, hallucinations, constipation, nightmares and rapid weight loss/gain" is a physical addiction to a drug/substance. Most physical addictions don't last long, like an opiate addiction can last from 7-14 days.. What can last a lifetime is coping without the substance/drug that causes both physical and behavioral addiciton..

There is the book "Science of Marijuana", which describes the physiological effect of marijuana on the body, and mainly on the brain.. Marijuana is addictive, but it is not as incredible physical addiction as Opiates or Nicotine.. However people can show withdrawls symptoms if they stop smoking/taking marijuana in some form....

Any drug can be abused, and in many ways the powerful forms of addictions that are difficult to break are behavioral, hence the need of support groups of one's peers to help with the disease of addiction..

I am not anti marijuana. I am all for legalization. I believe alcohol is a much more powerful mind altering drug than marijuana. However, marijuana isn't harmless. and I do have a problem with articles like this that can't answer a simple question in a quick and terse form: Is Marijuana Addictive?

Rat Study Sheds new Light on Addiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqcwzsaG…

compare cannabis to sugar. excess sugar gives some people diabetes, excess cannabis causes some people to get the munchies and eat sugar. clearly diabetes is caused by cannabis.

i think i'm ready for my job as a government scientist

For a far better look at the phenomenon of addiction and what it means socially, psychologically, and physically I suggest looking up Gabor Maté on YouTube or checking out one of his books. If he is correct "addiction" has much more to do with the individual and their developmental experiences and relationships than the substance in question. And even if he is not, his theories and the research evidence he shares are quite intriguing.

I bought a hit of blotter acid that turned out to just be paper. For an hour I swore I was starting to get off. I've met people who swore they "prayed away the gay". I know people who don't have ciliac or wheat allergies who swear that glutton makes them feel "icky". I went to AA meetings for 6 year because I believed I was an alcoholic. Turns out I had been self medicating for PTSD. I've known people who loved to smoke weed but it pissed off their families, and their insurance covered "marijuana addiction treatment", and the people at the treatment center cashed the checks. So yeah, there must be marijuana addicts, and oh, while you're here, have you heard the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ? The human mind is a complex thing, capable of generating seemingly endless revenue streams.

Of course cannabis is addictive. Do you have a clue just how much time and effort the people from Big Addictionology spent getting the word re-defined in order to make it fit? Of course now addiction is more of a minor annoyance than a dread disease but you've got to take the bad with the good. All of it brought to you by the adherents to the Humpty Dumpty school of sophistry.
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"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all."
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Is it true that the logo used by the American College of Addictionology is a landscape of a pristine pond in the forest where several ducks are paddling around? The duck says quack! quack! quack!

>>>"The evidence? Thousands of people seek treatment for marijuana addiction every year."

You almost had me until this statement. No caveats included, especially not the most important one. The biggest reason people are in "treatment" for marijuana is not because they have a problem. It's because they were "caught," by police, employers, schools, etc.

By not including this important fact, it's clear this is just another propaganda piece.

The truth is marijuana is not addictive. Addiction involves severe withdrawal symptoms that compel continuous use to be avoided. Marijuana doesn't have them.

"Dependence" is just a term made up by prohibitionists and "treatment" quacks because they couldn't get away with calling marijuana addictive anymore.

When looked at closely, it's clear "dependence" just refers to the repetition of ANY enjoyable experience - like playing golf, watching movies or eating watermelon.

Propaganda pieces like the above are simply trying to redefine the term addiction, and expand the concept by including 'addiction lite' - dependence.

The lies (and liars) surrounding marijuana will continue as long as the mother of all lies - prohibition - continues to exist. That big lie needs lots of little lies (like marijuana being addictive) to keep it going.

Kathleen-

Thanks for what is one of the better researched and factual articles I've seen written on the subject of marijuana addiction. Your efforts to research into DSM-V definitions, and compare and contrast the views in the community do a good job at defining the landscape of public (and institutional) opinion.

That being said, what does seem to be lacking from your analysis, is a detailed contrast to other addictive substances, how they are viewed by the DSM-V and public, and a view of their relative rates of addiction and (perhaps more importantly) harm. For example, given you start your piece with an anecdote involving coffee, what about pointing out that the DSM-V actually EXCLUDES caffeine from any kind of addiction criteria? Is this fair? Is it obfuscation?

Alternatively, how does that oft-cited "9%" addiction number of marijuana compare to that of alcohol? Are they being judges using the same "addiction" criteria, or has the change in definitions since the '90s affected the reliability of that 9% number? Lastly, what is the relative harm to people addicted to these substances?

As other's have pointed out, you do some good research, but you stop short and lump an important set of data into the paragraph that starts "Considering all this, let's say the 9 percent addictiveness claim is a bit shaky..." While some have found this offensive, I just view it as stopping short of an article that is fully comprehensive. How shaky? Where and in what context are people seeking "help" for addiction? Are these people otherwise ok, or are many of them depressed (which would elicit similar symptoms to marijuana addiction)?

Anyways. More power to you. Hope you have the chance to do a follow-up!

@MarkM - It's amazing you could give any credibility to this article. You came closest to the truth with these statements:

>>>"has the change in definitions since the '90s affected the reliability of that 9% number?"

Only absolutely. Again, the only reason prohibitionists and "treatment" quacks are trying to change the definition of addiction is to rope in the millions of marijuana consumers that have no problems - except for getting "caught."

>>>"what is the relative harm to people addicted to these substances?"

Good point. Even if marijuana were, by some stretch of the imagination, "addictive" for a few people, what would be the negative consequences of their addiction to a plant that has no significant harms? In other words, what would it matter? - It would be like being addicted to water.

If "the federal government solely perpetuated mass hysteria around pot use" that would mean that they encouraged people to act crazy from second-hand marijuana smoke. I hope that's not what you meant.

I wouldn't be surprised if this article was sponsored by America's prison system. How much does the system really make off keeping marijuana illegal?

Marijuana has been ILLEGAL for over 70 years! And what are the results?

*Today marijuana is America's #1 cash crop.
*Today American kids can buy marijuana easier than they can buy a beer.
*Marijuana is stronger and easier to get than ever before, albeit much more expensive than it should be. To smoke casually from the “black market”, it will run you $100/month. This is much more expensive than it needs to be. More expensive than my cell phone ($20/month from Tmobile), car insurance ($25/month from Insurance Panda), netflix ($10/month), and gym ($15/month from PF) COMBINED!!! Would you rather put money into the hands of violent gangs and drug dealers… or into taxes for schools, hospitals, public infrastructure, etc.???
*Today marijuana is the #1 source of income for violent drug gangs and drug cartels who are richer and more dangerous than ever before.
*Guns are illegal in Mexico yet Mexican drug cartels are buying machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, airplanes, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, and even submarines.
*There are over half a million Americans in jail right now for non-violent drug crimes.
*The DEA has been having sex parties funded by drug cartels.
The ATF/DOJ has given thousands of guns to drug cartels.

I have this stupid thing I do called THINKING, and clearly I can see that marijuana prohibition can never work! America should have learned this simple lesson from alcohol prohibition!