I know this is an old post but as a biologist I must give my two cents. THC, the chemical in cannabis that gives you the high does not produce addictive or harmful biological side-effects in anyway. If you truly understand its biochemistry and the way it interacts within the body that would be easy to understand . Now its important to distinguish between biological side-effects and emotional side-effects. If you stop using cannabis even if you smoked it every hour, every day for any amount of years you will not experience biological side-effects like you would experience with truly addictive drugs because your body does not build up a biological dependence for it. Now that is were the emotional side-effects come in. If you do perceive an addiction to it there are underlying issues. People can suffer from obsessive personalities (neurological disorder) which makes them addicted to things like fatty foods, cannabis, or even things like exercising- pretty much anything you become obsessed with that makes you feel satisfied. Another way you can perceive an addiction is if you are treating another condition and cannabis helps you control the symptoms. Say for instance you suffer from insomnia and smoking cannabis helps you fall asleep- obviously if you stop smoking your lack of sleep will reappear- that is not being addicted to cannabis, its a symptom from insomnia and those accusations must be kept separate. That would be like saying you are addiction to acetaminophen if you develop a headache. So its important to understand the chemistry and don't confuse separate issues. Key point: cannabis is not addictive to a healthy adults who do not have underlying disorders and they will not suffer from biological withdrawal.bromhexine- that's a foolish post. nothing personal, but marijuana definitely has addictive qualities. no, it doesn't smack you out like crack or meth or even booze but it DOES absolutely have qualities that people will habitually seek out. i think it's important to give new smokers/uninformed the full picture. i would compare MJ to something like coffee, fatty foods or television. it's not going to make you go out and rob a convenience store but it will put you in a sour mood if you're not used to taking breaks. several times a day large amounts of anything will do that. I personally smoke less than a gram per day, but over several sessions. I will admit though that 75% of my family is on anxiety and depression meds and I believe that I effectively self medicate for those problems. However, when I don't have some smoke, I get a bit antsy and pissy...not too bad, but it's noticeable. Also always 48 hours after quitting I have a night where I can't sleep. It's not wise though to deny these properties of marijuana. Hey, I can't blame you though; one thing I notice about the cannabis consuming population is that we often can't tolerate any negative as the waaaay far outweighing, amazing positives are ignored by the mainstream and instead completely demonized. I don't think MJs addictive potential is anything to write home about though.
Long Strange...nothing but respect man. Situations like that are sticky, you don't want any parties related to your situation to potentially getting wind of your activities or talking about shit like that to a pot enthusiast website. I have been there. I wish you the best of luck, you'll get nothin' but support from my end. Keep us posted on your progress with the break and things in general.
Work out, try some circuit training, works wonders for the mind and body
Lifting is good too, but something about raising your heart rate helps the head.