I have really enjoyed reading everyones posts. Finding that I have agreed (surprisingly) with many of the "is addictive" camp as well as the "not addictive" camp (my choir), I felt compelled to post.
33, father of 4. Did not finish college after 7 years with a 3.5 GPA. I Met my wife while addicted to Percocet, about 20-25 pills daily. Never sniffed 'em, just ate them. Spent all of my money on them. She had three kids that I was supposed to be helping to raise. I should note that I smoked pot whenever I could get my hands on it. Rolled blunts of low grade "stepped on" mostly. I was working two jobs during this time. I liked to look legitimate. You can imagine the amount of money I needed to have everyday in order to support the pills. $40-50 a day.
My wife, girlfriend at the time, kicked me out when they repossessed my car. She had given me plenty of chances. That day she gave me another chance to fess up and get help. I left instead.
No way to get to work.
Mom confronted me...lied to her. Boss confronted me and I told him the truth.
On December 23, 2003, I took my last pills. My boss gave me a car to borrow. Dad let me stay with him. I detoxed on my own. The truth is that I was tired of a buzz that was ruining my life. I lied, stole, did I mention lying? I would have robbed a bank for the pills. Pills trumped everything.
I did some cocaine back in college as well as a few times after that. I never bought it or even met the dealer. Mostly out of town situations. I know myself well and I really, really liked cocaine. I never allowed that situation to develop. To this day I keep myself aggressively ignorant about it. In other words, I never had a problem with it because I understood the side effects and that it required resources around the clock. Danger!
I am also going to mention that I ate "magic mushrooms" regularly during college and twice after that. The last time was in 2006. At one point in time I ate them continuously for 3 weeks. They do not posses anything about them that can remotely be associated with addiction. Trust me. Every time I ate them was unique and never left me feeling like I needed them at all. They actually leave you feeling very "reset", full or even content and exponentially aware, awake, and clear.
Cigarettes have been a terrible problem for me as well. Still smoke them. Going on 20 years now. I hate them but I can afford them. The damage is out of sight in a literal sense. I think I would steal or beg if I could not afford them. No joke.
(Sorry for the brevity, I am tired.)
All of my experiences with drugs and alcohol (I drink 2-3 times a year), and I did not mention all of my dabbling, has been terrible with respect to the addiction. You find out you have an addiction when something interrupts your life in a way that changes your character. That is not what the drug does, that is what your addiction does. When your body will not properly function without a substance and the potential of death or psychosis is present as a result, that is what the drug does. You can not quit when you want to.
I married that woman that put me out of her house. Put 2 kids into college, 1 in the best private HS in the city. Built a rep in my field of business. Built a business. I and two others employ 20+ people. I am making better money than I every imagined and it is only getting better. I am proud of where I am and how I got here.
I smoked pot through it all. It does not disrupt my day, it is affordable and clean if you grow it yourself. I am happier when I smoke. I treat people better when I smoke. I do not change my day due to pot. If I quit for a week or two on a business trip I get all of the symptoms that have been described above. After a day or so they are gone. I can afford it. If that was not the case I would not smoke.
Try quitting an opiate addiction. There is no physiological risk associated with marijuana withdrawal. It is not even as strong as homesickness. Anyone here that steals for marijuana would have stolen before.
The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health is a source that I would consider non-biased---
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/page6
Please, everyone, get educated. Cannabis addiction is more similar to a video game addiction than it is to a cocaine addiction. Please also take into consideration the motivations for the illegalities. A bit of history---
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Jack_Herer_-_The_Emperor_Wears_No_Clothes.pdf
Its like this. If you smoke some weed and you hear you wife call your name and you think, "Buzzkill", you don't need to quit weed, you need a divorce.
In closing, weed is not for everyone. There are people addicted to food. Imagine that! Food is for everyone! I think food is waaaay more addictive than weed. Don't you?:-P