Confused about addictive properties in drugs

[brokenstrings]

Hi there my name is john and im net at the forums.
A friend of mine has some doubts regarding dependence in certain drugs . He has smoked pot about two times and hes researched alot about it , pondering the pros vs cons.
A lot of people regard weed as a subatnce thats not physicly addictive , meaning that you can fell withdrawl like simptons if you are a heavy user but your brain dosent change its chemistry is a way that needs it to funcion , you dont get dope sick from marijuana as you get from opiates for example.
But on this foundation he has found that coicane and meth( from various sources) arent physicly addictive as well , but they have as much grip as heroin per say.
He wonders how doees weed work on the body in a away that insnt so addictive( since it releases dopamine as well ) and what makes the stimulants refered so addictive as oposed to weed.
Sorry if it seems a stupid question for you .
Thanks for reading
Greets

 

[KAYLA2010]

I answered in ur pm explaining why and what different receptors they respond to and why they become addictive if u have more questions just let me know....

 

[olab7]

I've wondered this myself. I'm not quite sure why meth and such seem to be more psycholigically addicive than weed. Some of it has to do with preferance though. Alot of people just like the feeling of meth or crack better than weed so they get hooked on those. I've smoked alot of weed and liked it as much as amphetamines (even though their very different in effects) and I've never once felt sad or angered by not being able to smoke weed like I use to about not being able to do amps. Not sure why though

 

[allegator]

Reading this post last year got me really interested in how one defines "addiction."

The Basic Biology of Drug Addiction

 

[effie]

Yeah the article in that thread is great

Essentially you can think of it as physical dependence, like you get with opioids and benzos, and psychological addiction, which you can get with any drug. The two can co-exist, or you can have one without the other. Psychological addiction is often the hardest thing to beat so it is dangerous to think you won't get addicted to drugs which do not make you physically sick when you stop..

 

[RobotRipping]

I've wondered this myself. I'm not quite sure why meth and such seem to be more psycholigically addicive than weed. Some of it has to do with preferance though. Alot of people just like the feeling of meth or crack better than weed so they get hooked on those. I've smoked alot of weed and liked it as much as amphetamines (even though their very different in effects) and I've never once felt sad or angered by not being able to smoke weed like I use to about not being able to do amps. Not sure why though

methamphetamine/other stimulants create massive dopamine floods (as well as affecting other neurotransmitters), which cause the reinforcing behaviour; it's like being addicted to sex/food/gambling. I also find stimulants to be far more euphoric than cannabis, which i'm sure plays a part in the psychological aspect of addiction.

 

[Username123]

Psychological addiction is often the hardest thing to beat so it is dangerous to think you won't get addicted to drugs which do not make you physically sick when you stop..

Yes! To put out a mainstream example, smoker's (tobacco) often have this problem when quitting. The physical withdrawal ends rather quick, it's the psychological dependence that stays and causes relapse.

 

[brokenstrings]

Yes! To put out a mainstream example, smoker's (tobacco) often have this problem when quitting. The physical withdrawal ends rather quick, it's the psychological dependence that stays and causes relapse.

But tobaco changes your brain chemistry so when you quit you feel extreme cravings( caused by the brains exposure to the substance) and extreme psicological withdrawlh.
For marijuana the only thing that happens regarding W/D( with long time smokers) is the thc leaving your body creating mild forms of irritability and such , your brain doesnt crave more marijuana as it does with cigarrete.
I have heard too that the come down from euphoric drugs(such as coke) is often depressing and i dont find the cannabis comedown so bad , it is quite relaxing most of the times . Maybe that´s a factor as well that reinforces continued usage.

 

[nAON]

I think that, while stimulants like cocaine don't cause strict physical dependence as they don't have a long-term withdrawal, it could still be said they have an 'acute' withdrawal which occurs for a short period of time after the drug begins to wear off. As Robot said too, drugs that mess around with dopamine and norepinephrine tend to be very reinforcing and moreish, so one tends to use stimulants much more compulsively than, for example, opiates, despite having no physical dependence.

 

[brokenstrings]

I think that, while stimulants like cocaine don't cause strict physical dependence as they don't have a long-term withdrawal, it could still be said they have an 'acute' withdrawal which occurs for a short period of time after the drug begins to wear off. As Robot said too, drugs that mess around with dopamine and norepinephrine tend to be very reinforcing and moreish, so one tends to use stimulants much more compulsively than, for example, opiates, despite having no physical dependence.

Marijuana alsos releases dopamine and doesnt bring about that level of addictiion , thats waht confuses me ..

 

[nAON]

I'm pretty sure cannabis doesn't affect dopamine receptors.

 

[Pjkt2501]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19539765

nAON is correct.

 

[brokenstrings]

But some studies stat that cannabsi releases dopamine , even though it only acts on cb1 and cb2 receptors
Other studies find no correlation between cannabis and dopamine/serotin release.

 

[nAON]

Pretty much any action releases dopamine. If you looked around enough, i'm pretty sure that you'll find articles on how eating chocolate, driving fast cars, playing video games etc. probably all release dopamine in some small amounts, but that's got nothing to do with the pharmacological profile.

 

[Pjkt2501]

Pretty much any action releases dopamine. If you looked around enough, i'm pretty sure that you'll find articles on how eating chocolate, driving fast cars, playing video games etc. probably all release dopamine in some small amounts, but that's got nothing to do with the pharmacological profile.

This.

The reason exercise is so effective when coupled with an addiction treatment program is due to the endorphin rush / dopamine release resulting from muscle use / gain.