“If I smoke marijuana habitually, does that mean I’ve addicted to smoking marijuana, too?”

This is a question a lot of smokers have. It’s clever in the assumptions and biases in conceals. Let’s look closer at what usually is meant by this question.

“If I smoke marijuana habitually…” usually means the smoker in question uses marijuana every day. This is often the case for many years. This would certainly qualify as a habit. But is a habit the same thing as addicted? Which leads us to the end of the question, where we ask if having a habit -

“…does this mean I’m addicted to it?”

If we replace the word “marijuana” with any other drug, such as cocaine, vicodin, meth, or even alcohol or tobacco – the answer is clearer, isn’t it? If someone you were friends with told you they had gotten in the habit of taking 3 vicodin pills every evening or else they couldn’t relax or fall asleep, there would probably be no need to qualify their situation by asking the question if this habit is an addiction. Many would automatically realize it’s become a drug addiction.

So why the difference with marijuana?

The different is likely in how we approach smoking or using weed (or cannabis, chronic, reefer – whatever street name for marijuana that you’d like to call it) and an inherent assumption that it’s not as addictive as other drugs.

If we establish that smoking or using any drug habitually is akin to addiction, which I believe it is, the question then shifts to what marijuana addiction looks like. Is marijuana addiction a dark black hole that we can paint on the same canvas as drug addiction in general? Or is the experience of being addicted to marijuana more benign?

I think few would look at the evidence and claim marijuana addiction is in the same class as addiction and certain other drugs, such as heroin and its demonstrably addictive properties, for example. But this does not mean that being addicted to marijuana is not without its consequences. Marijuana withdrawal is a very real experience, and some peoples weed addiction stories seems to rival that of the traditional drug addict.

If you’re reading this, looking for input on to whether or not you are “really” addicted to marijuana, try stopping and see what happens. This will likely answer your question. For tips and some good general guidelines, read our article titled How to Stop Smoking Weed.

A Question For Our Readers: Do you think your marijuana use can be considered more of a habit than addiction, or more of an addiction than a habit?

Leave us a comment below and let us know what you think and why.