Marijuana Users' Semantic System of Addiction: Presenting a Grounded Theory

Objective: The present research aimed to discover the semantic system of addiction from the perspective of marijuana users. Method: The research method was grounded theory in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 young people in the city of Rasht who had a history of marijuana use, and the data were collected by theoretical-purposive sampling and analyzed with open, axial, and selective coding. Results: The identified and extracted factors affecting the pleasurable addiction included: a) underlying factors, including being recognized as abnormal and differentiation of viewpoints, b) underlying factors, including individual social insight, expansion of worldview, and individuality orientation, and c) interfering factors, including friends’ socialization and increasing the quality of friendship. Also, the strategies included awareness of substance quality, self-control, and consumption framework among marijuana users. Conclusion: Institutional, social, and individual factors are effective in the users’ semantic system of addiction. Given the type of use, and considering their actions rationally and consciously and the appropriate functions of marijuana in their social life, and relying on the idea that I wish marijuana was free in Iran, activists do not consider marijuana use an addictive act. On the other hand, they view the definition of addiction originating from society and structures as a label that leads to the loss of their current social position. In addition, users' semantic system of addiction is also created and strengthened in the process of learning and modeling with peers, and they believe that marijuana is different from other drugs and consider it a normal activity.