Is Marijuana Addictive?

Photo by Kimzy Nanney on Unsplash

Marijuana is addictive, despite what some people think. If it alters the user's mind, makes them feel good, then it has the potential for addiction.

Screw you, I can quit anytime I want.

Those of us who have experienced addiction of any nature knows quitting a habit is difficult. Quitting involves changing so many factors of the user’s life. They may have to move away from the substance, putting distance between themselves and the drug, old friends, and other potential triggers.

The user has to set firm boundaries in their relationships with friends and family members who are high risk. This can be a hurtful and difficult process to endure. I’ve learned to never shame a user, no matter their substance. Instead, encourage them to make the necessary changes to leave the substance behind.

But it’s just a harmless plant, exclaims the exasperated pothead, but a coca plant is just a harmless coca plant until the leaves are extracted and cocaine is produced.

But it’s legal…

Thirty-three states in America have legalized marijuana. But just because it is legal in some places does not mean cannabis is good for us to consume. Heck, opioids are legal and people overdose every day. Nicotine is legal although we know it causes lung cancer. Sugar is legal and people are unhealthily obese.

Know the Facts:

The DSM-5 biblical book of mental diagnoses is used by therapists and psychiatrists all over the world to properly diagnose their patients. In this book, cannabis use disorder is listed among alcohol and opioid dependence disorders.

“Cannabis is a mood-altering substance and if we use enough for long enough, we certainly can develop a disorder with cannabis, just like alcohol and other substances,” says licensed addiction counselor and family friend Richard Boggess.

Also take into consideration the results concluded by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, which is a part of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, in a report that shows various graphs displaying an obvious increase in potency found in cannabis seized by DEA, state, and local law enforcement agencies over the last thirty years. NCBI began their study of cannabis consistency in 1995 and is still practiced in labs today.

The NCBI report states that the cannabis samples tested in the early 1980s contained only 3% THC content, just 4% in 1995, increased to 12% in 2014, and has likely risen to 20% THC content in 2019 and 2020.

THC stands for the mind-altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol compound found in cannabis. These studies suggest the health consequences of marijuana use may be worse now than in the past.

Can cannabis cause psychosis?

Addicts in severe stages of addiction can experience a state of psychosis, an unconscious state in which the user is so impaired they lose contact with external reality. I asked addiction counselor Richard Boggess if psychosis were possible in marijuana users? Boggess recognizes THC as a hallucinogen and confirms the possibility is indeed possible for a marijuana user to experience psychosis, at least briefly.

New ways to consume cannabis, such as eating edibles and dabbing, delivers higher THC levels to the user at a faster rate, ultimately delivering a more intense high than stoners in the past got to experience. As the potency levels continue to rise, so does the risk for developing a marijuana use disorder.

If marijuana isn’t addictive, how do you explain cannabis withdrawal?

Yes, cannabis withdrawal is a real thing. I can recall being in the second week of drug and alcohol treatment when I complained of trouble sleeping and vivid dreams and nightmares. I’d been putting various toxins in my body for a long time, and the psychologists said it could be a month before the cannabis completely leaves my body. Additional cannabis withdrawal symptoms include irritability and anger, loss of appetite and sleep, and an increase in anxiety.

If you think you have a problem with cannabis use, I urge you to take caution using other substances as well. Marijuana users are at an increased risk for alcoholism, nicotine dependence, and other substance use disorders.

Long term marijuana use can cause the following symptoms:

• acute psychotic reactions can occur while under the influence of marijuana.
• chronic cough and increased risk for bronchitis.
• loss of IQ
• chronic inflammation of lungs
• changes in mood
• increased risk for motor vehicle accidents
• affects the vascular system (veins, arteries, heart)
• Changes in brain chemistry involving the frontal cortex, hippocampus, how parts of the brain talk to each other, and the brain’s reward system.

The DSM-5 Book of Mental diagnoses list 7 criteria for substance use disorders.

If you identify with 3 or more of the criteria below, it is suggested you seek professional help.

Am I addicted to cannabis? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Has your tolerance increased? Do you find yourself needing to use increasingly more amounts to achieve intoxication or the desired effect? And if you haven’t increased your dosage, have the effects diminished over time?
2. Experiences withdrawal symptoms and uses more of the drug to relieve or avoid symptoms.
3. The substance is taken in larger amounts or over a longer period of time than was originally intended.
4. There is a persistent desire to stop or control use.
5. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the drug.
6. Important social, occupational, and recreational activities are given up or reduced because of the substance.
7. The substance use is continued despite the knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance. Ex: continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer is made worse by alcohol consumption.

Do people seek treatment for marijuana use?

People most certainly do go to drug rehab for marijuana use. There is no hierarchy of drugs, each is dangerous in its own way. It frustrates me when people minimize the risk of marijuana, they think it’s nothing in comparison to ‘harder drugs’ such as meth and heroin, but I believe marijuana has its own story to tell. As the level of THC in cannabis continues to increase, the number of users who develop a cannabis use disorder will also increase.

Thanks for reading…