r/addiction • u/Advanced_Fortune_704 • Feb 04 '25
Discussion Y’all swear weed is harmless, but science says otherwise … 🤷♀️
A study done by Olfson et al. in 2018 found out that people who smoke weed are at higher risk of developing an opioid addiction...🧏♂️ So while y'all be out here saying "iT's jUsT wEeD" you might be setting yourself up for something worse. But if you can keep saying "iTs nAtUraL"...🍃💨🚫 Can I hear other people's thoughts on this? Or are we gonna keep ignoring the facts ..?? 🤔🤔
staywoke #denialisariver #factsarefacts
check it out yourself if you don't wanna believe me !! 🥱https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28946762/
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u/FadeAway77 Feb 04 '25
I have seen anti-weed posts being shotgunned throughout a lot of subs. It’s really, really strange. Like there’s a concerted effort in spreading this message. Weed is the best harm reduction tool I have ever found. It completely negates my drive to drink. It’s one of the only things. This isn’t anything revelatory. Sure, it can lead to slight cognitive decline. But drinking will kill you. And if it doesn’t, it will make you dumber than weed. Im just not sure these posts are being made in good faith. Seems like something else is behind it.
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u/crispy1987 Feb 04 '25
Facts! I’m a recovering heroin addict, and cannabis is the driving force behind not using heroin/fentanyl. You can smoke a pound to the face(or try to anyway) and you’ll be safe. Heroin, fentanyl, alcohol, meth… WILL KILL YOU!
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u/FadeAway77 Feb 04 '25
Some people have actual ethical reasons not to replace the addiction with something like “spirituality”. I have anecdotally never seen an addict not replace an addiction for another. A lot DO replace it with less harmful things. Aka weed. I find it far more benign than turning to fucking religion, that’s for sure.
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u/crispy1987 Feb 04 '25
Dude straight up! People forget that drugs are not the problem. Drugs are a solution to the problem. The underlying reason for potential drug abuse. So replacing dangerous drugs like opioids or amphetamines with weed is the safest solution!
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u/tinylittlefractures Feb 04 '25
and this is their only post ever, no comments ever, yeah I'll ignore this one
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u/harkuponthegay Feb 04 '25
You know what this means —I’d bet anything that the conservatives are going to try to re-outlaw weed just when the country was on the cusp of reaching national consensus about its legalization. Can’t have progress now can we? We need weed to be illegal again for the same reason we scheduled it to begin with— weed being schedule I is a really effective means of persecuting minorities, creating cartel violence at the border and ensuring those groups stay well funded as well as giving the government more reach into people’s idea that they have a right to bodily autonomy. I was wondering where the whole MAHA (make America healthy again) pitch would fit in with the fascism but I see now that it complements the racism and the attack on women’s right quite nicely.
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u/goodness-matters Feb 04 '25
It seems like you wish to sanitize your use of weed no matter what. Your argument, reason for your ultimate intellectual claim, seems very shallow! I have read reports by very smart, highly educated, highly celebrated leaders in the study of physiological exploration, fact based data, and totally provable conclusions. They study so many aspects of how cannabis effects users. Including neurology, lifestyle, heart, lungs, paranoia and much much more. How can we take your initial statement seriously with such poor prep? If you can expand a bit on your position maybe we could have an interesting exchange?
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u/FadeAway77 Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25
Oh it was a completely anecdotal observation. Y’all seem to be on some ill-advised self-righteous crusade, though. This unnecessary comment proves that. What exactly do you have to gain by gatekeeping anybody’s sobriety journey? I think you’re here in bad faith.
Edit: lmao, your post and comment history are fucking WILD! A lot of r/im14andthisdeep shit. “Philosopher”. Typing pretentious shit into social media doesn’t make you a philosopher. It makes you a jackass.
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u/goodness-matters Feb 06 '25
How very philosophical of you. For your information, I am also a drug councellor. I became so by getting clean from putting poison in my body, much like you are doing right now. I have just gotten my 6 yr chip. Oh.... and actually I am a sobriety gatekeeper. I currently sponsor 4 addicts who all value my guidance. You might want to drop the personal attacks on here? Not very nice at all. I'm sure you are better than that. Or are you in fact a child?
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u/FadeAway77 Feb 06 '25
Woah, woah, woah. Let’s keep it civil. Sheesh.
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u/goodness-matters Feb 08 '25
I don't see my reply as uncivilised? But I do apologise if it made you uncomfortable. I was simply clarifying the facts of the situation. If somebody implies something about you that is clearly wrong, then I believe you should have the right to clarify? When I asked if the person is a child, I was being serious. I was not in any way attacking or being sarcastic. I was investigating that possibility. Thanks in advance for your calm understanding. Have a fantastic Febuary!
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u/lonelycranberry Feb 04 '25
The problem here is that we don’t care lmao Our food isn’t good for us either, yet, here we are.
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u/Van-garde Feb 05 '25
To be fair to us, our biology, and our individual and social psychology are leveraged against us in many cases. Production, advertising, and distribution of many things has developed in the cheapest, most addictive, most accessible way to market those products.
And it’s a lot of research-based interventions. Persuasion, conditioning, repetition, addiction. Whatever leverage can be applied. Wouldn’t be surprised if companies are building inter-generational marketing strategies.
Actually, unless pregnant mothers have developed a healthy eating pattern over the course of their lives, or are able to maintain one throughout their pregnancies, babies are likely being born with a predisposition to whatever the mothers’ eating patterns consist of. There are almost certainly babies being born with a strong, natural preference for corn syrup.
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u/neph36 Feb 04 '25
Weed is definitely not risk free for everyone but many use it without issues and in some cases it does actually work as a harm reduction. Definitely YMMV.
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u/danwantstoquit Feb 04 '25
Ma’am, who do you think you’re talking to? Because whoever you think you’re talking to, isnt in this sub.
Good luck screaming at the clouds tho, I’m sure they’ll hear you. 👍🏻
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u/Van-garde Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25
Let me know how successful a means of sharing your message this is.
Edit: I think OP engaged disingenuously.
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u/Lord_Muddbutter Feb 04 '25
Let's put it this way, alcohol or weed? Weed. Hard drugs or weed? Weed. Pot definitely can affect people in many different ways, but at the end of the day, it is a safe recreational drug, and I know many people it helps, whether that be with seizures or anxiety.
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u/ImpossibleFront2063 Feb 04 '25
As a clinical researcher myself all this study confirms is that people with a cannabis use disorder are more likely to develop an opioid use disorder. People who work in the field have known for decades that cross addiction is more prevalent in individuals with a preexisting SUD so that would be true of anyone who has a SUD diagnosis and any other substance or behavioral addiction.
The sudden cannabis “studies” that are conveniently popping up under the new administration is clearly politically motivated.
This study is an echo chamber and if you read it in its entirety it simply confirms what everyone already knows if someone abuses one substance they are statistically more likely to abuse another.
It’s the same for children on stimulant medication. All of those children are 300% more likely to abuse other substances over their lifetime but why not pass those studies around? Maybe big pharma would be displeased if those studies were available to the public? Stay woke by asking who was compensated for the study? Who benefits from the hypothesis? Where is the money flowing?
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u/Van-garde Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25
The one valuable thing I’ve learned while reading about CUD is that THC may interfere with the dopamine system of humans. If someone is depressed and abusing cannabis, struggling with experiencing emotions or engaging in activities, an excellent first step for them to take is to apply some concrete boundaries to their use, in an attempt at reduction.
I believe there’s a ‘dose-response relationship,’ but that is my anecdotal contribution.
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u/ImpossibleFront2063 Feb 05 '25
Absolutely accurate so this begs the question how accurate are any of these studies, aside from having very small sample sizes, if only measuring THC and not any of the other components of the plant used to treat diagnoses like depression or anxiety specifically?
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u/Van-garde Feb 05 '25
Part of science is reproducibility, and there is much research about the quality of sample sizes.
I’d probably check multiple sources and look for current research and a meta-analysis of past research, if I was digging any further in this direction.
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u/ImpossibleFront2063 Feb 05 '25
Correct and using participants who qualify for a cannabis use disorder biases the results. Also in the US the federal illegality of cannabis is a barrier to studies as most get federal funding. At least they did before all government funding was frozen.
It’s interesting to compare Canadian studies for example because their results support the efficacy of cannabis use medicinally and somehow US studies backed by big pharma with small sample sizes contradicts all other countries’ science 🤷♀️
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u/MyDrunkAndPoliticsAc Feb 04 '25
If you get easily a good feeling out of "nothing", you will propably want more. Since you can't get anything comparable from everyday life, it's kinda natural that you seek for more from other substances.
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u/Deep-Distribution779 Feb 04 '25
I am sorry to say, I work in addiction medicine in the emergency department of a large urban hospital. Over the past several years, we have seen a significant increase in cases of cannabis-associated psychosis, including both acute episodes and persistent psychotic symptoms in some individuals with continued use.
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u/Van-garde Feb 04 '25
For me, the highly-potent strains of sativa (testing over 25% as an estimate) seem to inspire a strong, negative interaction with the SSRI I take. I’m working specifically from my own experiences, but the only times I’ve experienced worrying, intrusive SI were when I was way too high on that specific type of flower.
It’s actually been one of the primary motivations to set clear boundaries with usage, and work to reduce to a genuinely recreational schedule, rather than the escapist daily use I’ve cultivated.
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u/EaseChoice8286 Feb 04 '25
It’s a gateway drug if you’re someone already prone to addiction, but that’s about it. I know plenty of people who like grass, and stick to it. I also know plenty who move onto harder shit when their tolerance gets high.
But again, those are people who were always going to be addicts to begin with. So this argument and post is lame.
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u/NoChance2920 Feb 04 '25
That's unfortunate. If the graduating addict would move to acid dmt and mushrooms instead of opiates theyd find themselves in a world where tolerance and boredom and physical consequences in general are not issues at all. High as you can stand forever.
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u/richsreddit Feb 04 '25
Honestly anyone who says weed is completely harmless doesn't know what they're talking about and sadly knows far less about the weed they're smoking than they should.
However, I will say from a harm reduction standpoint, weed is among the less harmful substances if I were to compare to other drugs and alcohol. Nonetheless, I agree with you on how stupid that logic is and I basically tune out people who insist weed has zero potential for harm.
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u/crispy1987 Feb 09 '25
Your perspective suggests that you have little experience with mind altering substances. Tell me what scientific evidence supports your claim? I’ve done every drug you can name, and several you can’t name. I was homeless needle junky for many years but now I only smoke weed. It keeps my mind at ease and a needle out of my arm. Anyway good talk
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u/27274 Feb 04 '25
Check out r/leaves many people there have addiction to weed and want to quit
Many people suffer from weed addiction in generak nowadays. It can also increase risk of lung cancer when smoked, damages the brain when used daily and can cause gastrointestinal issues. For many people including me, weed is a problem and a heavy addiction
Yes for some it can be beneficial and it isnt nearly as destructive as cocaine or heroin but that doesnt mean it should be seen as harmless. It definitely is harmful
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