I really hope that comment is chock full of sarcasm. If not, WTF?
I could say the same for you, lol.
I agree. I've seen several people (less than 10 and more than zero) ruin their livelihoods because they wanted to continue smoking weed. So, while not physically addictive, I don't know how else you would describe it if you are willing to give up your job and any future prospects in that industry just to be able to smoke weed.
Litos covered it:
I think that's called being a slacker. They throw their lives through the window for smoking weed, come on, it isn't crack or heroin. That's a complete lack of willpower to overcome a thing that is less addictive than coffee
Zack, I think you misunderstand addiction.
There is physiological and psychological addiction. I think if you were willing to visit a drug and alcohol counselor about your use of marijuana he or she would be more than happy to explain to you the addictive properties of marijuana and even help you determine whether or not you were at risk of abuse yourself.
The problem with pot is that the active components linger in fat cells for a very long time. So even if you don't use regularly, remnants from your last usage remain. So when you do use again, you "reload" and increase the amount stored in those fat cells. If you use regularly enough, well... you can build up quite a store of those active chemicals. You can maintain a low-level of chemical balance in your system that you arent' even aware of.
Most people don't realize that about pot. That's why they can get great samples from your hair etc. for as long as a month after use.
I understand it perfectly well, as a daily pot smoker that has up and quit for months at a time cold turkey. We switched to a vaporizer a couple years ago so it's healthier for our lungs and it conserves the product. But to give you an idea, we go through a 1/4-1/2 ounce a week even with the vape. On our weekends off we will smoke pretty much the entire day and on workdays we smoke a few times a night. IF marijuana were addictive, we'd have surely gone through some sort of withdrawal over the multiple times we've quit. In fact, I'm looking for a new job and am on day 5 of cold turkey without incident. When I got my factory job in 2013 where they do a hair follicle test, I quit cold turkey for 6 months. Oh, and the hair tests can detect up to 3 months, not just 1.
Mental dependance =/= addiction. If you're in a susceptible mental state (clinical depression, anxiety, et cetera), you're at a higher risk of becoming dependent on it, but this dependance is no different than someone that is "addicted" to eating themselves into oblivion. They won't go into withdrawal if they stop eating 5,000 empty calories a day, but they feel like they are incapable of stopping. Another analogous situation: hoarding. My mother was/is a hoarder (I don't have contact with her anymore) and she claimed she was unable to stop, unable to get rid of anything, addicted to purchasing crap. It's a mental dependance on something you feel you can't give up.
As to THC being stored in fat cells, yes this is true, but that doesn't mean that THC is an addictive substance. It's highly fat soluble and will be released into the blood stream as fat is metabolized and be passed through urine/sweat, which can cause you to fail a urine test if you're not careful. I'm not sure why you brought this up, as the THC stored in fat cells isn't getting anyone high when it's sitting there or being passed, lol. If that were true I'd be getting ******* stoned while lifting 4 days a week as a heavy user for many years.