Dude those “withdrawal symptoms” are a joke compared to any other drug.

That said, I don’t know a single person who identifies as a stoner that isn’t completely and utterly mentally addicted. And the drug is so subtle, stoners rarely try to stop.

Cocaine, even a 2 day bender is incredibly hard on your body. If you’re a person with any kind of responsibilities in your life, you’ll be strongly incentivized to reconsider the habit in no time.

But weed, it’s meh. Most users can restrict their use to when they’re not at work, so it’s fine.

Which makes it more dangerous.

I’ve watched so many promising futures flushed down the toilet by weed. Motivation? gone. Real hobbies? Indoors in front of a screen only. At its worst, I’ve seen friends totally withdraw from socializing almost entirely. Social anxiety combined with the escape of being high was enough to dampen and deny the very real human need to connect with others.

Every single one of these individuals went through some form of depression that was was extended and exacerbated by escapism and addiction in the form of excessive marijuana usage.

I know that’s not everyone. There are people who use it in a healthy, balanced way.

But there are also a ton of people who get heavily addicted because it dampens the pain of something they’re going through. And that pattern can make it a lot harder to make progress and work through whatever that person is dealing with.

Anyone who’s spent any time around stoners knows this is true. And yeah, for a lot of people, it’s a gateway drug. I’ve seen plenty of buddies in college jump from weed to xans to oxy. It’s ruined lives. It made my best friend drop out.

And yeah, these people clearly already had issues. But that’s how drug addiction works. It preys on people who are going through something and it makes a bad situation way worse.

Weed can do the exact same thing. Doesn’t matter if it’s not physically addicting.