this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
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[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

As someone who has smoked weed for nearly 10 years now, it is addictive and can be abused.

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

"addiction" used to mean physical withdrawals... now it means weed, television, working out, phones, sex, and more.

Weed withdrawal is milder than caffeine withdrawal for most people.

With 10 being death from withdrawal (like from alcohol), on a scale of 1 to 10 cannabis is a 1.

[–] Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Yeah, when I had a heroin addiction it kind of used to piss me off when people would talk about addictions to porn and stuff. I'd think they had no idea what addiction really meant. Try going cold turkey from smack. But TBF even though maybe the word addiction doesn't apply in the same way, it's certainly true that any compulsive behaviour that's detrimental to your life is a problem that needs help.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Anytime someone compares those two, you can just point out that people aren't dependent on porn or gaming. That their bodies won't shock themselves to death if they go cold turkey.

The keyword being dependency. People use those interchangeably, but they're two medically distinct things and you usually have both to a drug, but not necessarily. You can be addicted and not dependent or dependent without addiction. The first one would be someone who still wants to use and dreams about it despite having had no substance for years, and the second one is for instance a long term pain patient who didn't even know what medication they were on but start shivering and getting nauseous as they forget to take their meds, despite them not having any psychological need to take them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence

It's somewhat okay to use them interchangeably but it would be super rude to talk about how addicted to one's phone one is while someone is talking about having gone through actual substance use disorder, addiction, dependency and all.

Good job on pulling through man!

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

Nice to see you left it behind, congrats.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

addiction" used to mean physical withdrawals

No it didn't. That's dependency. They're two medically distinct things. Addiction is a brain disorder, dependency isn't.

If stupid people didn't exist and the world wasn't as unjust as it is, I wouldn't get any withdrawal from quitting weed. As it is, I get quite irate, but I think that's just my default setting nowadays, not a withdrawal symptom.

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah, it did, and does.

I'm speaking of common vernacular, not in medical terms. The common vernacular has changed over the years (as it always does).

Things without (and with) dependency are called addictions often, even "habits". I see it constantly in social media. The term "addiction" used to be much more limited.

If you don't believe me, feel free to consult a dictionary.

Medical terms are a different matter. Like the word "retarded", a word can mean one thing medically, and quite another in common parlance.

Your correction has been corrected.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Your correction has been corrected.

Lol no. You're just angry I corrected you. "Nuh-uh, I'm actually right, also go and do your own research."

I have. I've also been using the terms for like 30 years in several languages.

Addiction is a brain disorder. Even in common vernacular. Dependence is different. Usually with SUD they overlap, but for instance cannabis doesn't cause dependency (because there's really no physical withdrawal) which is why you hear a lot of addicted teenager weeders saying "weed isn't addictive, man", because they don't understand the difference between those two words.

Just because they are using a word prescriptively wrong because they don't understand what it means doesn't make it wrong for them to use in that context, descriptively. And no, not everyone who knows the difference of "addiction" and "dependence" is speaking in 'a medical context'. They're really not that challenging as concepts.

Feel free to consult a dictionary for what "prescriptive" and "descriptive" mean. ;> Perhaps you should also check what "vernacular" means?

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

This is what we all told eachother in school yeah, its not that simple though. There are habitual users with mental issues stemming from its use.