Experts are still investigating why some people become addicted while others don’t. There are various reasons that a person might become dependent on marijuana. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you will develop an addiction to marijuana if you experience one or more of these risk factors.
Marijuana Addiction Criteria
“It has long been acknowledged that cannabis is a mood-altering substance with some potential for risk, including the risk of dependence. Some people who use marijuana will develop marijuana use disorder, meaning that they are unable to stop using marijuana even though it’s causing health and social problems in their lives. It’s illegal for anyone to drive under the influence of marijuana, although state laws vary considerably. The point is that some teenage marijuana users do drive under the influence. A 2017 study found that nearly half of adolescent drivers had driven a vehicle after using marijuana, and 1 in 8 (12.5%) reported driving under the influence of marijuana in the past month. Conveniently, rescheduling marijuana is also likely to spur in-depth study, in part by expanding research opportunities that were previously limited or nonexistent.
Drugs & Supplements
However, daily, long-term use of marijuana can lead to addiction and many other harmful effects. The likelihood of developing an addiction increases exponentially when marijuana use begins before the age of 18 when the drug can have a profound effect on the individual’s still-developing brain. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a drug must have well-defined and measurable ingredients consistent from one unit (such as a pill or injection) to the next.
What are the other health effects of marijuana?
A Yale Medicine-led study identified several gene variants that increase risk of cannabis dependence. However, more research is needed in order to confirm the findings and understand how these genetic factors might contribute to marijuana dependence. One of the biggest risk factors of marijuana addiction may be age. People are up to seven times as likely to experience marijuana use disorder when they start using before the age of 18. Additionally, men are twice as likely as women to experience marijuana use disorder.
Other agents being studied include the nutritional supplement N-acetylcysteine and chemicals called FAAH inhibitors, which may reduce withdrawal by inhibiting the breakdown of the body’s own cannabinoids. Future directions include the study of substances called allosteric modulators that interact with cannabinoid receptors to inhibit THC’s rewarding effects. Medicinal marijuana is used to treat and manage a variety of medical concerns, including physical and mental health challenges. Despite the risks, studies of medicinal marijuana use have shown effectiveness.
An addiction to marijuana (weed) is not common, but it is possible. Approximately 1 in 10 people who use marijuana will develop cannabis use disorder. If you suspect marijuana use disorder, dependence, or addiction in yourself or someone else, help is available.
- Higher THC levels may also mean a greater risk for addiction if people are regularly exposing themselves to high doses.
- When people begin using marijuana as teenagers, the drug may impair thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions.
- At that time, hemp plants were low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component of cannabis, and crops were valued for their role in industry.
Marijuana potency, as detected in confiscated samples, has steadily increased over the past few decades. In the early 1990s, the average THC content in confiscated marijuana samples was less than 4%.2 In 2018, it was more than 15%.29 Marijuana concentrates can have much higher levels of THC (see Marijuana Concentrates DrugFacts). It’s also important to note that, in 2017, among adolescents aged who used marijuana, 22% were depressed. A psychiatric disorder, particularly depression, also may increase the risk of marijuana abuse. According to SAMHSA, some adolescents (5%) had marijuana use disorder in 2022, which means they experienced adverse consequences of their drug use and yet couldn’t give the drug up. In addition, experts are investigating whether there are specific medications that can help with cannabis use disorder.
A 2014 study examined people who use drugs and who came to the emergency room with drug-related problems, which is a strong indicator that something is not manageable. They’re not driving under the influence of the drug or using the drug at work. They don’t get caught how to help an alcoholic in denial with marijuana and never enter the legal system. Instead of marijuana’s sedating effects, a person might get insomnia. And instead of marijuana’s characteristic dream suppression, someone in marijuana withdrawal might have intense, vivid dreams when asleep.
U.S. policy has also made marijuana research of any sort very difficult. Until recently, scientists had to obtain their supply from NIDA’s high-security Mississippi facility. (Six more sources were approved last year.) Researchers regularly complained that the marijuana was moldy, and far from the quality that regular consumers could purchase legally at their local dispensary, with less THC and CBD. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.
Marijuana use disorder, also known as cannabis use disorder, is when the use of marijuana negatively impacts a person’s health or life but they continue to use it anyway. Although anyone who uses marijuana has the alcohol withdrawal timeline potential to abuse it, there are risk factors that can make marijuana abuse more likely. Having these risk factors doesn’t mean you definitely will develop a substance abuse problem, but you may be more at risk.
In 2012, the THC concentration in marijuana samples confiscated by law enforcement averaged near 15 percent, compared with an average concentration of four percent in the 1980s. High-potency forms of the drug can expose new users to increased concentrations of THC and greater risk of experiencing adverse or unpredictable reactions. For frequent users, higher potency can increase the risk of marijuana addiction. People in mid-to-late adolescence are most likely to begin using cannabis. Some genetic studies suggest that developing cannabis addiction is hereditary.
Currently, 31 states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. In fact, 10 states and the District of 3 stages of methamphetamine withdrawal Columbia allow marijuana for recreational use. But family ties may also help some people avoid progressing to a state of addiction.
However, some people who use marijuana can feel some very uncomfortable side effects, especially when using marijuana products with high THC levels. People have reported symptoms such as anxiety and paranoia, and in rare cases, an extreme psychotic reaction (which can include delusions and hallucinations) that can lead them to seek treatment in an emergency room. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Sarah Y. Vinson says some adolescents use marijuana because it’s the only “medicine” they can access.
