Reply #2: Marijuana addiction? [View All]

[Mike K]

The government has absolutely no inhibition about lying to maintain marijuana prohibition. I have no doubt about that. What I don't know is exactly why. I suspect the reason is bribery of high level federal officials by the pharmaceutical, liquor and timber industries, along with other industries which will be compromised if cannabis is legalized. What else could account for the utterly irrational obsession with prohibiting access to this relatively harmless and potentially beneficial plant?

I have known quite a few heroin addicts (including Lenny Bruce), some of whom were sincerely concerned with overcoming their dependency on that tenacious drug, but I have only met one person who claimed to be "addicted" to marijuana. This girl was a psychological basket case, which included what I perceived to be an addictive personality. If it were not for marijuana, which she chain smoked, I'm sure she would be "addicted" to Pepsi Cola.

Aside from her, I can't even estimate how many people I know and have known who smoke marijuana on a daily basis and have done so for years but who do not think of themselves as addicts. I have also known several people who have quit smoking marijuana for health reasons but who cannot quit smoking cigarettes no matter how hard they try.