I've heard a lot of people state that marijuana doesn't get you addicted. Now that may be true, but the reason an addiction is a problem is the same reason overindulging/being dependant on anything is a problem.
Just because the term addicted may get replaced with dependent doesn't change why someone should change what they're doing.
Also a lot of people are use the term medication/medicating, but unless you have a prescription I really wouldn't consider it medication/ medicating oneself either any more than taking some advil (yeah you're taking said substance, legally, of your own volition, but that doesn't mean you necessarily should be, but you can)
Dependent has different connotations around here. That is usually for when addiction has gone over and then they can't function without the substance -- I have met alcohol dependents and it is not that they can function having dropped half a bottle of whiskey in the morning but that they have to have said whiskey else they start hallucinating and whatnot. Don't recommend that one.
Alcohol, nicotine, most of the opiates we know of, caffeine... these are examples of chemically addictive substances. If you introduce them to your body then after a while it will start to crave them and stopping their input causes chemical withdrawal symptoms, potentially extremely serious ones in the case of alcohol and opiates.
Weed, and a lot of psychedelics, are not what you would call chemically addictive. It is entirely possible to get yourself into a state of mind where using them is so necessary that it is damaging to your general well being (the general list is quite long and something of a guideline more than a hard list but prominent things to feature are things like not eating properly, not drinking properly, not cleaning yourself, not sleeping properly, not socialising, not working, finding yourself compelled to go through pain to do something, becoming agitated if it is not available and acting in a manner that is distressing to yourself or those around you), and chemically they or their common forms may have their own less than ideal effects. It is however a distinction that is made in such circles and one I care to uphold here. In such a regard weed is held as being as addictive as anything else, which is to say not addictive, though one can still be addicted to the action of taking it, the same as one can be addicted to gambling, to texting, to internet, to games, to masturbating, to exercise, to food, to shopping, to money saving... all things that might well benefit from having the relevant medic on hand to guide you through until you regain control and develop a positive relationship with the concept but still not a chemically addictive thing. As far as I am aware it is not any more likely than anything else to lead to that state, and I am willing to hear if people have something to say that is more tricky for those of a certain group, or likely to have other effects (some mention it could induce psychosis in some, or make its onset harsher and sooner, but no idea of hard data on that one) but as far as addiction goes I just said my piece there.
