I've never been sure what the difference between physical and psychological addiction is supposed to mean anyway. What we call psychology is a complex of physiological processes. What matters is that marijuana accounts for 17% of rehab admission, more than any other drug with the exception of alcohol. Cute sophistries that we're also addicted to coffee or air will not change the fact that this "psychological" marijuana addiction is a serious threat to quality of life.
>Rehab stats for weed have nothing to do with addiction.
Primary marijuana admissions were less likely than all admissions combined to be self- or
individually referred to treatment (18 vs. 37 percent). Primary marijuana admissions were most
likely to be referred by a criminal justice source (52 percent) [Table 2.6].
Anecdotal, but I do know one person who chose jail when given the choice between successfully completing rehab and staying clean for a year, or 90 days in jail immediately. She knew that rehab probably wouldn't work and she'd end up in jail anyway (with a longer sentence) so she just got it over with.
The difference between physical and psychological addiction is that things that cause physical addiction are actually addictive themselves — that is, using them tends to create dependency as a matter of course — whereas psychological addiction depends on the user's state of mind, and people without that state of mind can use them safely. You can be psychologically addicted to virtually anything.
When people point out that marijuana isn't physically addictive, the point isn't that people's psychological addictions aren't serious. The point is that they don't appear to reflect a danger posed by marijuana.
