Monday, March 5, 2012

Marijuana: Dependency Vs. Addiction

Dependency and addiction are not the same thing contrary to popular belief. I'm focusing mostly on marijuana, however, the concept can be applied to virtually anything. First off, dependency is the act of using whereas addiction is the act of abusing. I do not abuse the drug, I merely use it. When I do not have it I do not let it put a halt on my life, I move on. Without it very little changes. For example: Eating. When under the influence of weed I feel fantastic in a sense of not only my mental status but my physical status as well. I have trouble eating when not under the influence due to past disorders I brought upon myself and regret although accept as part of my past. Back to the point, the only thing that ever seems to counteract my lack of appetite/feeling sick after eating is smoking pot. Therefore I have formed a dependency on the drug because without it I hardly eat. This is why I've hardly eaten in the past two days, I've been out. This does not make me addicted, simply dependent. Which I dislike all the same, granted, however, dependency is still better than addiction and I have enough self-control, intelligence, and self-respect to not abuse it. It doesn't affect my rational thought process, nor does it negatively impact my life (disregarding the decline of my financial standing. I try my best to not let money run my life because it's just a way for the government to keep you further under their control and I don't want to fall a victim to 'the man'). I think that's all I really had to say, now to knock out a myth or two.

Myth: "You become irritable when you haven't smoked." It's not that I become irritable without it, that's just how I am. You wouldn't have ever noticed a change in behavior if I had never used, I would simply be bitter and irritable all the time. The only reason you feel that way is because with it I become happier, less annoyed which creates an alternative, though temporary, mood. In other words, it's not the lack of drugs that leaves me cynical, it's the use of them that makes me the antithesis of that.

Myth: "Using marijuana makes you incompetent." As a frequent flyer I feel that I counteract this directly and at the risk of sounding utterly conceited I will tell you why. Considering my vocabulary is more advance, my ability to think logically is more prominent, and the amount I read/write is generally higher than those who do not partake in even the occasional joint I feel that incompetence is not directly related to marijuana use but more an effect of your personal life choices associated with your education. Please note that when I say education I am not referring to your schooling but more your knowledge acquired outside your public/private education. It's not so much what you're taught that counts, but what you learn. To sum this up I'll leave with a quote. "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." - Albert Einstein. (Although controversial considering some claim he never said it and it's merely a tweaked version of a Mark Twain quote falsely accredited to Einstein. I wasn't there to hear it, I wouldn't know. None the less it still sums up exactly what I'm saying).

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