Is Marijuana Addictive? Possibly, But It Depends

Understanding the complexities of marijuana use, its potential for addiction, and its impact on mental health is essential for informed decision-making. If you’re dependent on cannabis, you could go through withdrawal for weeks or relapse after you quit. That’s why experts are studying how medicine can ease withdrawal symptoms like bad mood, anxiety, restlessness, and sleep issues. They’re looking at antidepressants, cannabinoid agonists, mood stabilizers, and insomnia medication, but there are no FDA-approved meds for CUD. Cannabis use Drug rehabilitation disorder, or marijuana use disorder, is when a person continues to use the substance even though they experience negative health or life effects from use. Symptoms include excessive focus on marijuana use; ignoring school, work, or relationships; other problems caused by marijuana use such as an inability to resist cravings; and more.

Final Thoughts: Is Marijuana Addictive? Yes—And It’s Time to Talk About It Honestly

Although not nearly as extreme as heroin or alcohol withdrawal, quitting marijuana does appear to cause withdrawal symptoms in heavy, frequent users. In healthy people, marijuana is sometimes used as a substitute for other, stronger substances. Amanda Reiman, PhD, policy manager for the California office of the Drug Policy Alliance, and lecturer at the University of California Berkeley, shed light on this trend. The Canyon, a treatment center in Malibu, California, lists 10 signs that someone might have an addiction to marijuana. Among the signals is a growing tolerance for the drug’s effects, as well as using more marijuana than they initially intended to use.

• But it’s possible to get hooked on marijuana, also known as cannabis.
• (For example, is it an edible, a joint, or an oil?) Keep track of how it makes you feel.
• After regular use over time, they build a tolerance, where the effects of the substance are not noticed as much or at all.

Who becomes addicted to marijuana and why?

A 2017 study reported that adult cancer patients are using marijuana to ease nausea and other symptoms. In recent years, there have been a number of studies that have highlighted the use marijuana in treating certain medical conditions. Studies have found those who struggle with cannabis dependence often find dissatisfaction in various areas of their lives, including relationships, work, and education. John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine.

The upregulation of glutamate signaling during the anticipation/preoccupation phase may be counteracted with NAC treatment, reducing clinical symptoms of craving and therefore reducing relapse rates. A 2014 review article summarizes two studies that evaluated NAC therapy in CUD. In one study, the placebo cohort reported twice as many positive urine cannabinoid tests as compared to the NAC cohort (Asevedo et al. 2014). The other study did not report group differences in positive urine tests, but did find a significant reduction in self-reported cannabis craving in the treatment group (Asevedo et al. 2014).

Links to NCBI Databases

Medications such as antidepressants may be prescribed to treat co-occurring mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression. You can consult your healthcare professional to see if this is a viable treatment option. Studies suggest that THC is the substance that creates the potential for marijuana addiction because of its psychoactive properties.

• This means that when the drug wears off, the person’s heart could start to race, they could become irritable or depressed, or experience any number of other reactions called withdrawal.
• The longer dependency is ignored, the more damage it can cause—to careers, relationships, mental health, and quality of life.
• You might have this condition if smoking marijuana causes physical, emotional, or social problems.
• Volkow also conducted a 2014 study that found that the brains of people who misuse marijuana have a decreased response to dopamine.
• These findings support the theory that adolescent cannabis use causes lasting deficits in memory.
• Over time, users may graduate from smoking marijuana to using it in high-dosage edible forms or propane-extracted concentrates called dabs.

The intensity of these effects depends on the potency of the strain, method of use, and frequency of consumption. Drug rehabilitation Marijuana affects the brain’s endocannabinoid system, which plays a key role in regulating mood, memory, sleep, and reward. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, mimics natural neurotransmitters and overstimulates the brain’s reward system.

In addition to its role in HPA axis dysfunction and reward processing, the hyperactivation of the eCS may also play a role in the executive dysfunction sometimes observed in cannabis use. The eCS is highly active in adolescent brain development, particularly in the PFC, a region that exercises executive function (Dow-Edwards and Silva 2017). Activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors inhibits glutamate transmission onto GABAergic cells in the PFC, reducing the function of inhibitory prefrontal circuits. Therefore, hyperactivation by exogenous cannabinoids during development could disrupt the maturation of GABAergic interneurons in the PFC and desynchronize PFC circuits (Caballero and Tseng 2012). Thus, adolescent cannabis use may affect brain development and result in enduring alterations in the GABA/glutamate balance in the PFC (Renard et al. 2016). Medicinal marijuana is used to treat and manage a variety of medical concerns, including physical and mental health challenges.

• For those with PTSD who experience nightmares, it shuts down the process by which dreams form in the brain.
• You could also try to set limits such as only using marijuana  on certain days of the week, like the weekends.
• Medications such as antidepressants may be prescribed to treat co-occurring mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression.
• The only sure way to stop CUD from happening is to never use marijuana.

If you already have mental health problems, CUD can worsen them. People who use marijuana a lot are more likely to be jobless and not happy with life. If you use it every day, you might get withdrawal symptoms a day or two after stopping. These include insomnia, mood problems, or cravings you can’t control. While it may not carry the same overdose risks as opioids or alcohol, marijuana addiction is real, diagnosable, and treatable. The longer dependency is ignored, the more damage it can cause—to careers, relationships, mental health, and quality of life.

However, how a person engages with marijuana is an important factor as well. For instance, one study found that “solitary use,” or using the drug by yourself, was a strong sign that dependence would form in the future. The increased potency of modern marijuana strains means that there is a greater risk for tolerance, dependence, addiction, and withdrawal. Marijuana has THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol as the primary psychoactive ingredient.

About 90 percent of the people who used drugs and their primary drug of choice wasn’t marijuana met the criteria for abuse, compared to 47 percent of primary marijuana users. Research is mixed as to whether mental health issues are more often the cause of cannabis abuse, or whether dependence on cannabis can, in turn, lead to mental health issues. A 2020 study found that people have “genetic liability” with cannabis use disorder, meaning they are born with specific genes that increase their risk. However, experts agree there are usually more contributing factors, such as environment, access to marijuana, socioeconomic status, and more. Daily or weekly marijuana use has been found to increase the chances that a person becomes dependent on the drug in the future.

For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). But they may do better when loved ones are involved in treatment. You might have this condition if smoking marijuana causes physical, emotional, or social problems. Marijuana addiction can be challenging both for the person experiencing the addiction and for those around them. Marijuana use disorder, addiction, and dependence are treatable. For more information on addiction and recovery, you can visit National Institute on Drug Abuse.