I was wrong to have read into your post what I did. As for the "defensive" nature of my post, I thought it was offensive.

There IS a physial withdrawal from marijuana, actually two of them. The first withdrawal lasts from 15 to 21 days and is not physically incapacitating and therefore not recognized by the insurance community.

It is almost identical to withdrawal from benzodiazepines (Valium, Librium, Xanax, etc.) and people experience a slight physical tenseness, weakness. Mentally all of the anxieties they avoided come back. They are so distracted that the first couple of weeks of treatment is wasted because of the inability to concentrate. The medical marijuana advocates claim they feel terrible without marijuana. That is true, but only because of marijuana withdrawal. By the way, the only medical condition which isn't treated better without marijuana is marijuana addiction.

The next withdrawal takes about 2 years, and that's how long it takes the brain to clear the stuff out. There is a reason why short-term memory is affected, and that's physical as cell walls suck up cannabis.

(Once short-term memory is affected, matters don't move into long-term memory. Concentration becomes difficult, frustration tolerance is lowered, people have problems with authority. In short, it's identical with dementia.)

I agree the vast majority of people can use marijuana without noticeable harm and are not addicted. The definition of addiction is, by the way, very simple. This is the shorter version.

If the use of a mind- or mood-altering drug is having an adverse affect on ANY significant area of ones life, and one continues using, they are addicted. The areas of life are job, school, friendships, family relationships, financial, legal, that sort of thing. Not all areas, any significant area.

You know whereof you speak as a casual user. I know whereof I speak as someone who has dealt with those who are addicted.

And even casual users are funding some very unsavory people who have been declared threats to the US security.

I do not expect you to agree. However, I believe every word I have written, I have nothing to gain, I have a wealth of experience and I'm intellectually arrogant. I do not like to be wrong. I would ask you to wonder why I think the way I do. I might be a crusader seeing addiction behind every fence post and parking meter, I might have the religious fervor of many people in recovery, I might be trying to ruin everyone else's good times, and so on. And I might be right.

Again, my apologies for having misread your post and responding so harshly. I was wrong.

Arf