Marijuana continues to be one of the more controversial drugs of our time.  A small collection of people are allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, yet it remains an illegal and highly abused drug in every other way.  Its physically and emotionally addictive properties make it harmful for many people who start using it.  Marijuana addiction may not get as much press time as crack cocaine or crystal meth, but addictions are bad news no matter how you slice them.

Affects of Marijuana

Marijuana use and availability has been increasing lately.  Marijuana may be touted as “harmless” by some, but it is also notorious as a gateway drug.  Many times, marijuana users also use alcohol and other drugs together.  Not matter what anyone says, this practice is most definitely not harmless.

Again, addressing the myth of harmlessness, marijuana addiction has been known to affect memory and other brain functions.  Any time you purposely do something to reduce your brain’s ability to work well, there must be other compelling reasons to continue.  Such is the nature of addiction.  Despite the evidence that what you are doing is hurting yourself, those you love, and pushing your life into a downward spiral, you still cannot help but use the drug.

How Women and Addiction Come Together

Addiction is a problem for both men and women.  One key difference is the way addiction and women come together.  Generally speaking, women are simply different from men when it comes to emotional sensitivity.  The lattice of emotional connections inside a woman’s brain is vast.  The parts of the brain that center on emotion are generally larger in women than in men.  Because of this, women are far more aware of emotional subtleties in communication.  Women attach emotional meaning to events more readily, and they can read another person’s emotions more quickly and accurately.

However, this very sensitivity can also mean that an addiction is likely to follow a well-worn negative emotional path inside a woman.  Feelings of depression, inadequacy, and anxiety can cause such deep pain.  These feelings are also magnified through the context of their relationships.  All of these factors can lead a woman to seek solace in an addiction. (more…)