[imiric]

By that definition, any substance is physically addictive. Quitting sugar and carbohydrates has withdrawal symptoms.

The difference with tobacco is that nicotine is one of the most addictive chemicals on Earth, and it is toxic to humans. Cigarettes have been engineered to make them even more addicting, by boosting the amount of nicotine and adding many other harmful chemicals. The comparison to cannabis and THC is laughable in that sense.

The usage amount is also highly relevant. Even "heavy" cannabis users don't smoke more than a handful of joints a day. Meanwhile heavy tobacco use can mean smoking several packs a day. The difference in the average amount of tobacco vs cannabis consumption is staggering.

[pclmulqdq]

Tobacco is up there with heroin, yes. Caffeine is probably also worse than THC. That doesn't mean that THC isn't addictive, though. It just means that it's less addictive.

[imiric]

Sure, but there are orders of magnitude of addictiveness between these. If THC is as addictive as sugar, we may as well consider it nonaddictive. But the narrative of the articles you linked to, and even from people experiencing THC withdrawal symptoms, is equating these levels, which is ludicrous.

Besides, is THC itself addictive? What about other cannabinoids? There are many non-toxic components of cannabis that people have been benefiting from for centuries. In comparison, there are few, if any, such components and benefits from tobacco. More research is definitely needed, but to address the original post: this is why people are against tobacco smoke. There is a world of difference between these plants, and equating them is further promoting the myths about cannabis we've been fed for decades.

[cykros]

THC isn't nearly as addictive as sugar. That's not to say it's not addictive, but more to point out that people seem to frequently underestimate just how insidious particularly refined sugar products can be -- mostly because most people have never taken the time to actually completely give up sugar for awhile to see the experience.

It's interesting that everyone acknowledges just how physically addictive alcohol is, and yet sugar, which is so closely related, is treated like an innocuous substance.