While an addiction to illicit substances and prescription medication is well known and documented, it is less so with a dependence on herbal remedies and natural health products. However, these remedies and products should not be ignored as a potential for addiction given its pharmacological action on the body. Many think that these products, which are touted as being completely safe, are unlikely to be addictive but depending on its chemical composition and the psychological state of the user, an addiction may be just as possible as it is with illicit substances and prescription drugs.

Synthetic drugs have taken on a new meaning in the 21st century. Previously it was a term used to classify those drugs that were not derived from plant material but instead manufactured entirely in a laboratory like meth, LSD (acid) and ecstasy. These days synthetic drugs, sometimes even referred to a “legal drugs”, are substances that have a similar effect to narcotics but are not considered illegal due to the difference in chemical structure of the active ingredients. Fortunately government agencies across the globe are cracking down on the distribution of these substances by changing legislation thereby making it illegal.

Why does addiction occur?

Addiction is a dependence on a substance, object or activity that yields reward or pleasure, alleviates withdrawal symptoms and/or satisfies cravings. The term addiction is sometimes used a bit loosely. To a person who is dependent on chemical substances like narcotic drugs, painkillers, alcohol or even tobacco, this type of dependence is considered as a ‘true’ or palpable addiction. Failure to satisfy the cravings can lead to physical symptoms of withdrawal. It also leads to the need to constantly seek the substance thereby disrupting one’s personal relationships, academic commitments and career objectives.

Marijuana, like any other narcotic, is also a substance open to abuse. It is often promoted among both newcomers to the drug scene and long term users as a ‘soft drug’ and therefore not addictive. However marijuana like any narcotic can be both addictive and abused. It is also possible to overdose on marijuana and these facts should not detract from the dangers of using and abusing marijuana. Overall, much depends on the individual user, underlying psychosocial factors and the concurrent use of other narcotics.

Marijuana, also known commonly as weed or pot in the United States, is the dried and shredded hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). Different variations of  this plant may be seen in other regions like Cannabis indica that is more widely available in south Asia. Marijuana is often touted as a ‘soft’ drug that is not addictive and therefore safe to use. It still remains one of the cheapest drugs on the market and needs no processing other than drying the harvested plant and shredding it. Of the many chemicals in the marijuana plant, it is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that is the main physiologically-active ingredient in this drug.

Despite many attempts by the tobacco industry to refute the detrimental health effects of cigarette smoking, it is now unequivocally known by both the medical fraternity and smokers alike that cigarette smoking is harmful. Every now and then snippets of information about the supposed beneficial or at least protective effect of cigarette smoking makes its rounds in the news. This is often misunderstood by smokers to mean that cigarette smoking may be helpful in some regard and encourages the habit. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are two bowel conditions where this misconception arises.

Quitting cigarette smoking is as much a battle as any other addiction. While the withdrawal symptoms may not be as pronounced as the DTs seen with quitting alcohol, it is nevertheless just as much a disruption to the person who quits. It is often within the first 3 days of quitting that a person returns to the habit, and the chances of staying on the bandwagon significantly increases after day 10 of quitting. The key to quitting is dealing with it one day at a time. After completing the first day successfully, you will figure out what works for you or not and repeat this on each successive day.

The individual preferences of cigarette smokers may vary but the amount of cigarettes consumed in a day is to some extent a direct correlation of the dependence on nicotine. It is fair to surmise that most smokers who use higher quantities of nicotine in a day are more dependent on nicotine. However, this is not always true as some smokers need to smoke more frequently irrespective of the quantity of nicotine. Therefore sometimes a chain smoker consuming low nicotine cigarettes may quantitatively consume less nicotine in a day but is more dependent on cigarettes than a moderate smoker consuming a ‘heavier’ cigarette with higher doses of nicotine.

Every cigarette smoker, particularly those who have smoked for a long time, will at some point or the other think of and want to quit. However, deciding upon the best approach for quitting can be confusing – some argue that weaning off nicotine is the best option while others prefer going ‘cold turkey’. Many smokers would have tried one or the other and possibly not experienced success but both methods has its pros and cons. Going ‘cold turkey’ means to suddenly quit cigarettes or other nicotine products altogether whereas ‘weaning off’ means gradually reducing the quantity and frequency of cigarettes and nicotine products over a period of time.

Pornography addiction is still a hotly debated topic as it is unclear whether an overuse of pornographic material can really be classified as an addiction. There is not clear definition of pornography addiction, nor is there any scientifically-verifiable criteria to diagnose it. Therefore the label largely depends on the patient and the practitioner agreeing upon a dependence on the use of pornographic material. Overall it is a diverse condition, if it can be labelled as such, that can vary on the type of media and the content. A growing aspect these days is online porn given the ease and convenience of accessing specific adult content on the internet.