Can You Get Addicted to Marijuana?

Many who’ve tried out marijuana or are regular users of it are quick to defend the drug, claiming that it’s not addictive at all. This coincides with claims that nobody has ever died from a marijuana overdose. People who promote the legalization of cannabis across countries like the United States (which, according to its federal laws, claims weed to be a Schedule 1 drug barring local or state laws) spearhead this movement.

Dependence versus Addiction

Marijuana use disorder happens when a marijuana user uses marijuana too much, leading to a form of addiction in severe cases of the condition. According to recent data, 30 percent of cannabis consumers may have some degree of marijuana use disorder in accordance to the amount of the substance they consume, leading to some form of dependence on it that could lead to full-blown addiction.

In light of this, when it comes to dependence versus addiction, dependence is the first stage and addiction is the second or final stage of marijuana usage disorder. You’re also 4 to 7 times likelier to end up with the disorder if you begin using marijuana at a young age (to be more specific, before the age of 18).

Adults are less likely to end up with the disorder because their fully developed bodies can handle marijuana consumption better. At any rate, the best way to keep yourself from developing the marijuana use disorder is to use the drug responsibly.

So Is Marijuana Addictive?

Yes, marijuana can lead to addiction. However, it’s not as highly addictive as something like cocaine or heroin.

Withdrawal and tolerance symptoms are involved when it comes to addiction or discussing the addictiveness of a drug. So if marijuana were really addictive, then it should have those symptoms present. What’s more, physical dependence shouldn’t be confused with addiction even though those two phenomena are related to one another.

Even though it’s possible to develop physical dependence on a substance without becoming outright addicted to it, usually addiction is the next phase after you’ve become dependent on something. Addiction, meanwhile, is marked by behavioral changes caused by biochemical alterations in your brain itself after extended and extensive substance abuse or abusive drug use.

Marijuana Use Disorder and Marijuana Withdrawal Symptoms

You already have dependence to marijuana if you’re feeling certain symptoms when not consuming it. In regards to how to tell if someone is a stoner, he typically shares the same symptoms as someone suffering from marijuana dependence.

Marijuana use disorder happens when you feel withdrawal symptoms like:

• Anxiety
• Cravings
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Depression
• Nightmares
• Restlessness
• Mood swings
• Sleep difficulties
• Decreased appetite
• Anger and fluctuating emotions
• Various forms of physical discomfort
• And of course, craving usage of the drug

These symptoms peak around the first week of quitting marijuana. They can then last for up to two weeks. Marijuana dependence happens when your mind (that is, your brain) has adapted to large amounts of cannabis by reducing sensitivity to and production of endocannabinoid neurotransmitters.

This is why the first hit of marijuana is always the strongest to new users, with some of them suffering from a bad trip from the truly potent pot blunts and hash brownies. This is because they’re being overstimulated. However, like with all things, the more exposure you have to an overstimulating agent or stimulus, the less of an effect it will have on you (due to what’s known as desensitization).

According to the Cannabis and Health Hazards report, withdrawal effects can come about or get triggered by the use of the normal dosage of marijuana (which is about two joints per day that’s good quality) in just 11 to 21 days.

Cannabis in the Past versus Cannabis Nowadays

Withdrawal symptoms to marijuana decades ago aren’t the same as it is today, where strains are twice as strong or even stronger than that, as research would suggest. Withdrawal from them, especially once you’ve become hooked with marijuana use disorder or dependence, is a whole other kettle of fish.

The proponents of marijuana legalization typically argue that cannabis doesn’t have dramatic withdrawal symptoms like heroin or even alcohol for alcoholics, so that means it’s not addictive at all or as addictive. However, this line of thinking is bogus to say the least and should not be taken seriously. In order for marijuana to truly be legalized its effects should be treated with the honesty that cigarette smoking or alcoholic drinks are given.

Also remember that the withdrawal symptoms outlined above can be weaker or stronger depending on the person affected, depending on how much dope he’s smoking, the potency of the dope, his age (people below 18 are more susceptible to addiction), how long he’s been smoking, and his own bodily constitution and mental fortitude. What’s more, some people are simply more sensitive to drugs than others.

The More You Use It, the More Dependent You Get

• The First Hit: The first hit, as discussed above, is the strongest hit. You can take small doses of cannabis and work your way up or take it strong from the beginning if you can take it. It overstimulates some from the beginning, with others not bothering to ever take pot after their bad trip.
• Subsequent Hits: In moderate amounts, you’ll get a regular high. Not as intense as your first high, but for some people who get stimulated easily, that’s a good thing because now they can better handle the high and they’re not overstimulated by it. They’re now occasional marijuana users.
• Moderate Hits: Every subsequent hit gradually decreases both your sensitivity and pleasure from cannabis. You might try other strains of the drug to get new sensations that your body isn’t used to. However, it’s the same thing with those strains. The more you smoke them, the less pleasurable they get.
• Immoderate Hits: Some users might start trying out stronger stuff or more potent strains that either stone or stimulate them. It’s because they’re chasing that first high (or if the first high was a bad trip, the subsequent highs where cannabis smoking or consumption actually feels good). Because they’ve built up so much tolerance to the drug,
• Marijuana Use Disorder and Dependence: This is where you’re close to the point of addiction. In the earlier stages, you can quit and only get minor, but tolerable cravings for cannabis. However, like a developing drunkard, once you’re dependent, getting pulled away from marijuana usage actually results in withdrawal symptoms that can last for two weeks.
• Marijuana Addiction: Once you’re at this point, you should seek rehabilitation help from one of many affordable luxury rehabs out there. You know you’re addicted once, you cannot stop using cannabis, even though it’s already interfering with your life. This is also the point where the withdrawal symptoms are pretty high and you tend to relapse easily into more marijuana usage. You’ve also (ironically) built up so much tolerance to the drug that you need to abuse it to get some sort of sensation from it.

Rising Potency Has Caused Rising Addiction Rates

As covered in the previous sections, marijuana addiction happens when you use too much of it. It can also happen when you take particularly potent marijuana, such that in order to recreate the stimulation of your first few (stabilized) highs, you’ll need to take more of the potent cannabis while working with a higher threshold of stimulation compared to weaker strains of marijuana of the past. To wit:

• Potency Has Risen: The confiscated samples of marijuana nowadays show over the decades, marijuana strength and potency has steadily and definitely increased. In the Early Nineties, confiscated cannabis has the average THC content of 3.7 percent. In the relative present of 2014, it was 6.1 percent.
• New Methods of Eating or Smoking Oil: THC consumption has also increased among cannabis users because the new methods of consuming THC-rich oil also increase your dosage of the chemical. For example, “dabbing” puts high THC levels into many a person, leading to dependence and eventual addiction.
• 50 to 80 Percent THC: The average extract of marijuana has more than 50 percent of THC, and there even samples that can go as high as 80 percent. This and many other trends have increased concerns that the occurrence of addiction can be worse nowadays than in previous decades.
• Think of the Children: As mentioned earlier, children and teens or anyone below 18 years of age are likelier to get addicted by marijuana compared to legal age users of the substance. This is because their brains are still developing, thus the long-term effects of marijuana on the brain are far more powerful on their young minds compared to a fully developed adult with a fully developed brain.

What Are the Odds of Being Addicted to Marijuana?

According to studies on marijuana use disorder, marijuana dependence, and marijuana addiction:

• Across the Board andthe Vulnerable Youth: About 1 in 11 people who use marijuana can get addicted. This means all users of all ages. Teenage use of marijuana can lead to a higher risk of addiction compared to adults consuming cannabis. To be more specific, teens have a 1 in 6 chance of addiction to marijuana.
• Thousands of Marijuana Addicts Seeking Rehab: 360,000 people were admitted to addiction treatment back in 2010 and they list marijuana as their gateway drug or the primary drug of choice for their abuse, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They sought rehabilitation because of cannabis side effects on their minds and bodies.
• Troubled Teenaged Addicts Among the Victims: About 28 percent or 103,000 of the above mentioned cannabis addicts seeking treatment were between 12 to 17 years of age. The actual number for this might be even higher because this is a figure taken from publicly funded rehab centers. 43 percent were under 21 years of age. 18 percent claim that their primary drug was cannabis, but 21 percent said that weed was their 2nd or 3rd most problematic drug.
• Few Received Proper Treatment: Only 1 out of 10 people receive the required treatment for marijuana addiction or even the stages before that, marijuana dependence or marijuana use disorder. Therefore, it’s estimated that about 3 million Americans are potential drug addicts and they don’t even know it. A third or about a million of them might be high school students or even younger than that!
• Marijuana-Related Visits to the ER: Along with the increased potency of marijuana came increases in its side effects like panic disorder, mental distress, and the like. Around 2011, about half a million emergency room visits occurred that are related to issues regarding marijuana usage Common problematic cannabis symptoms include paranoia, panic attacks, anxiety, high blood pressure, vomiting, and nausea.
• Daily Users of Marijuana: As for the 2013 World Drug Report, there are about 1 in every 15 high school seniors in America who are daily or nearly daily users of marijuana. This can affect the teenager’s ability to do well in school or be a model student for sure. Many of them are probably influenced by parents who smoke weed every weekend or during parties in a casual manner.

Researchers and Their Take on Marijuana Consequences

It’s still unknown by researchers how much marijuana affects the body and what the full extent of its consequences on the brain is, particularly when it’s a developing brain of a child, preteen, and a teenager. It’s still a mystery what high THC concentrations can do to the brain and whether the recent increase in emergency room visits by people who’ve tested positive for the drug has a link with the rising potency.

There’s no definitive link between the two and it’s a fallacy to automatically assume for a fact that correlation equals causation. The amount of potency increased by smoking cannabis differently or smoking it less is not known either. There are recent studies and research that show how experienced people can prevent marijuana use disorder by adjusting how much they inhale and the amount of weed they smoke.

Meanwhile, the National Institute on Drug Abuse alleges that heavy usage of cannabis has links with the following issues or effects:

• Relationship problems
• More workers’ compensation claims
• Worsening mental and physical health
• Less career success compared to peers
• Increased absences from school or work
• Lower grades and reduced academic success
• Higher probability of dropping out of school or abandoning goals

Addicts to marijuana will use marijuana despite such consequences due to their addiction and dependence. A cannabis smoker can stop caring about the damage of smoking to himself and his life in favor of staying stoned. It’s at this point that addiction truly is established, when you cross this point or threshold.

The Controversy of the Addiction Numbers

According to cannabis research, about 9 percent of adult marijuana users will become dependent upon the drug while 17 percent of teen users are likely to fall under dependence. Also, back in 2015, it’s said that 4 million Americans have met the criteria to be diagnosed with marijuana use disorder. Of these millions of people, 138,000 of them volunteered for treatment for their dependence.

Many marijuana proponents don’t like talking about marijuana addiction, claiming their numbers are small because they’re supportive of the agenda of marijuana legalization. Therefore, estimates on marijuana addicts tend to be a controversial topic to say the least.

What’s more, there are arguments claiming that it’s possible to become dependent on marijuana (such that can still quit or taper off usage even though there are withdrawal symptoms involved now) without being outright addicted.

Additionally, many people who also have an agenda against marijuana legalization and view it as a Schedule 1 gateway drug of the worst kind that could lead to the use of other drugs (the “Reefer Madness” contingent of the marijuana legalization debate) as well as their epidemiological studies often use dependence as an addiction proxy (since dependence is such a slippery slope towards addiction).

The Bottom Line Regarding Marijuana Addiction

Right off the bat, it’s been established that marijuana is addictive when abused or used by people who are under 18 years of age. It’s also true that marijuana supporters and groups who are in favor medical marijuana or legalization in the whole U.S. tend to sweep this question under the table or the carpet because it defeats their purpose.

Cannabis nowadays is more potent than ever before plus statistics support its potency and addictiveness (or how much it raises your chances of suffering from marijuana use disorder that can lead to addiction). Regardless, it’s hard to compensate for potency variations in today’s weed, although it’s a step in the right direction to simply decrease the amount of weed you smoke to prevent marijuana abuse that can lead to dependency and addiction.

Marijuana advocates have long been battling against the stigma of marijuana being a gateway drug to harder drugs, after all. Nonetheless, it doesn’t change the fact that cannabis is addictive and deflecting on the subject and claiming it causes more dependence than addiction is a highly disingenuous argument.

If you want to become free from addiction to marijuana, visit Marijuana Addiction Treatment Center.