Marijuana Addiction: Understanding the Risks and Realities
Despite its widespread use and availability, marijuana is still an illicit substance and carries addictive properties. Marijuana addiction, also known as cannabis addiction, cannabis dependence, or marijuana use disorder, is a dangerous form of drug use that can come with a myriad of side effects that impact daily life.
Educating oneself on marijuana addiction, its impact on a person’s wellness and lifestyle, and the effects of marijuana on physical and mental health can all inform the role of professional treatment in overcoming substance abuse for a healthier, marijuana-free life.
Understanding Marijuana Addiction
Is Marijuana Addictive?
Yes, marijuana can be addictive, especially with heavy or long-term use.
Heavy use of marijuana over an extended period of time can lead to marijuana dependence, with the use of the drug feeling like a necessary part of daily life. However, addiction is a complicated disease, and healing from marijuana addiction is a personal journey that addresses the addictive properties of marijuana as well as underlying needs.
For some cannabis users, using the drug is a response to other challenges, such as mental health disorders or traumatic experiences. It can be difficult to stop using marijuana if a person is not also engaging in other healing to address these challenges. Unaddressed challenges like anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (MDD), and more can lead to a reliance on these drugs to cope, potentially resulting in marijuana addiction.
What Is Marijuana Addiction?
Marijuana addiction, also called cannabis use disorder, is when marijuana use starts causing problems in daily life.
Those living with marijuana addiction may also continue to use marijuana despite mounting negative consequences, either to their personal health, relationships, or academic and professional performance. Disinterest in previous hobbies, self-isolation, and sudden financial challenges are also possible.
The use of marijuana releases delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, releasing dopamine into the brain, or the “reward chemical,” not just making a person feel good for using the drug, but also making it more difficult to enjoy other things. Over time, the THC in cannabis sativa feels necessary to “feel normal,” leading to repeated use of marijuana or using a large amount of marijuana to achieve these effects.
Those living with marijuana addiction not only feel as if marijuana use is necessary for daily functioning, but may also find it difficult to stop, even if they realize the healthcare benefits of ceasing their use, with withdrawal syndrome and symptoms being common.
How Common Is Marijuana Addiction?
Research in recent years shows that about 3 in 10 people who use marijuana may develop cannabis use disorder.
Because of how common marijuana use is, recognizing the signs of marijuana addiction is crucial. Harmony Grove Behavioral Health offers education on these signs and evidence-based treatment to address the prevalence of marijuana use and the effects of cannabis on not just individuals, but entire communities around Houston.
Signs and Symptoms of Cannabis Use Disorder
What Are the Main Signs of Marijuana Addiction?
The main signs include strong cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and continued use despite problems.
Inability to decrease use of cannabis, increasing tolerance to cannabis, or self-isolation from friends, family, and loved ones is common. Likewise, compromised personal hygiene is also common, alongside emotional symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, and anger, especially when a person does not have access to the drug.
What Are Cannabis Withdrawal Symptoms?
Withdrawal symptoms can include irritability, insomnia, anxiety, and decreased appetite.
Nausea, vomiting, depression, and mood swings are also possible. Whether you are an adolescent or a working professional, overcoming cannabinoid withdrawal symptoms can be challenging, with many returning to drug use simply to get these symptoms to stop. Treatment of cannabis use disorder often begins with professional detox to manage these withdrawal symptoms.
How Does THC Affect the Brain?
THC interacts with the brain’s endocannabinoid system, impacting mood, memory, and reward pathways.
Cannabis use can hijack the neurotransmitter connected to dopamine, making a person “feel good” for using the drug. However, this can quickly lead to challenges as the drug becomes necessary to achieve this feeling again, leading to repeated or heavy use of the drug to achieve these effects.
Risk Factors and Mental Health Impacts
Who Is Most at Risk for Marijuana Addiction?
Young adults, adolescents, and those with mental health conditions face higher risks.
Many young people may be exposed to marijuana use, with the substance being widespread and accessible. Even those receiving medical marijuana under a legitimate prescription can still be at risk for addiction. However, nobody is immune to addiction.
While the cannabidiol in medical marijuana can have some medical benefits, that does not make the drug in its entirety safe to use. Managing a person’s relationship with medical marijuana, such as military veterans, trauma survivors, and more, using as intended, and familiarizing oneself with the symptoms of addiction is still necessary.
How Does Marijuana Use Affect Mental Health?
Heavy marijuana use can worsen anxiety, depression, and even trigger psychosis in vulnerable individuals.
There is no completely “safe” level of marijuana use. Those self-medicating with marijuana to address these challenges can often find themselves feeling even worse off when the effects of cannabis subside, leading to repeated use and an increased risk of addiction as they attempt to self-medicate these challenges.
Can Marijuana Use Lead to Other Substance Use?
Yes, marijuana use can increase the likelihood of alcohol use, tobacco use, or use of other substances.
Using marijuana and other substances in tandem may be done to increase the potency of both of their effects. However, it can also lead to a myriad of unexpected side effects and health risks.
Illicit marijuana can also have an array of other challenges, as it can be impossible to know if the drug has been cut with any other substances before use. Those using marijuana may be inadvertently exposed to opioids like fentanyl from illicit sources, which is cut to increase the addictive properties and effects of the drug, leading to further forms of addiction, mental health disorders, and public health issues.
Treatment Options for Marijuana Addiction
How Is Cannabis Use Disorder Treated?
Treatment options include behavioral therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), contingency management, and support groups.
Harmony Grove Behavioral Health offers dedicated outpatient care for overcoming marijuana addiction, personalizing each person’s journey to fit their needs and goals in treatment. With psychiatry and pharmacology support, we work with each person to make the most of their time in treatment.
Evidence-based treatment, combined with holistic healing options and a focus on the healing power of community, is all blended into each program to help each person discover their own best path to healing by receiving the tools, support, and skills necessary to facilitate their own change.
Are There Medications for Marijuana Addiction?
There are currently no FDA-approved medications, but research is exploring pharmacotherapy options.
However, that doesn’t mean that treatment is impossible. Rather, there are still effective therapy options to address marijuana addiction. Likewise, healing from any form of addiction demands a holistic approach to healing, with ongoing therapy, self-care, education, community, and life skills all being part of every effective sober journey.
What Role Does Counseling Play in Recovery?
Individual counseling helps address cravings, triggers, and co-occurring mental health disorders.
However, the role of professional counseling goes even further beyond. Overcoming marijuana addiction is a journey and takes consistent effort, focus, and motivation to maintain a healthy approach to a daily, marijuana-free life. Counseling in outpatient care can help:
- Address cravings and triggers
- Maintain motivation
- Adjust and update skills and coping strategies
- Adapt to new stresses and hurdles
- Connect to sober peers and a professional healing community
New stresses may emerge, and new challenges like starting a new job, changes in important relationships, or beginning a relationship, or challenges met down the road can all be difficult to navigate. Counseling provides not just new strategies to address these things, but also an atmosphere of support to improve each person’s resilience in recovery and improve relapse prevention for sustainable sobriety.
Supporting a Loved One With Marijuana Addiction
How Can I Help Someone Struggling With Marijuana Use?
Offer support, encourage treatment, and connect them with a recovery center or treatment program.
Helping a loved one struggling with marijuana use is complicated, and it is also important to ensure that each person is taking time for their own self-care and healing. Feelings of blame, anger, and resentment can be common, and tending to personal needs is equally important.
Those providing support can research different treatment facilities and their amenities to empower a loved one to make the decision themselves, rather than forcing a loved one into a particular recovery program.
Continuing to offer support, letting loved ones speak their side without judgment, listening to their concerns and challenges, and offering to provide transportation can all be great ways to help a loved one begin their healing journey.
However, it is crucial to avoid enabling behaviors. Enabling marijuana addiction is common, and many people may be enabling without knowing it, as these behaviors can be born out of a genuine desire to help.
Things like covering for a loved one, taking on financial responsibility, or not holding a person accountable for the consequences of their action can all facilitate further use. Instead of covering costs for groceries or rent, offer to go with a person to the grocery store with a list and a budget to ensure that finances are being allocated appropriately.
What Resources Are Available for Families?
Support groups, education programs, and counseling can help families navigate substance use disorders.
Harmony Grove Behavioral Health also offers family follow-up counseling to ensure the continued development of communication strategies, honesty, and healing at home. There are also support groups for families all learning to support loved ones overcoming addiction while working out their own challenges due to the disease, to foster understanding and work towards forgiveness and change.
Why Is Early Intervention Important?
Early intervention helps improve treatment retention, prevents worsening symptoms, and supports long-term recovery.
The earlier that marijuana addiction can be identified, the more proactive a person can be to address its symptoms before they worsen. Addiction isn’t a disease that will simply “go away” with time. Rather, it can continue to worsen as a person uses heavier and heavier amounts of the drug or combines it with other substances to further their effects.
Early intervention can prevent the most disastrous symptoms while learning the skills to prevent addiction from affecting other areas of life, from personal relationships to professional or academic ambitions.
How Does Outpatient Treatment Help?
Harmony Grove Behavioral Health’s outpatient treatment helps balance ongoing healing with personal and professional responsibilities.
Nobody should have to choose between their health and their responsibilities. Outpatient care empowers individuals to manage their daily responsibilities at home or at work while also benefiting from professional care and a dedicated healing community. With flexible schedules to fit each person’s daily schedule, Harmony Grove Behavioral Health provides care and community to Houston and the surrounding areas.
Outpatient care is also dedicated to the unique challenges commonplace in those overcoming marijuana addiction while still tending to stressful duties. With individual and group therapy, peer support, holistic treatment options, nutrition support, movement, mindfulness, and much more, each person is empowered to address the effects of marijuana addiction while exploring an entirely new lifestyle in sobriety.
How Does Aftercare Support Ongoing Sobriety?
Ongoing aftercare programs provide access to community, professional care, and support to address new challenges that may arise.
Overcoming cannabis use disorder is a journey, and it does not begin or end at our walls. Rather, outpatient treatment is just part of each person’s story. Ongoing aftercare options, alumni hangouts, sober events, and virtual alumni meetings are all ways to continue staying engaged in each person’s recovery and the healing community.
There is no “end” to addiction recovery. Aftercare programs ensure that each person always has access to understanding supports, trained professionals, and a community of peers to address any new challenges that arise.
Being an active and involved alumnus can also empower others to pursue their own healing, facilitating the community support championed across Houston by giving back to those just beginning their journey to overcome marijuana addiction.
FAQs About Marijuana Addiction
Can You Overdose on Marijuana?
While fatal overdose is rare, high doses can lead to panic attacks, psychosis, or ER and emergency department visits.
Is CBD Addictive Like THC?
CBD is not considered addictive, but products may contain THC, which can be habit-forming.
However, that does not mean that a person’s use of CBD does not still need to be monitored.
Can Quitting Marijuana Improve Mental Health?
Yes, many people notice better sleep, mood, and focus after stopping cannabis use.
How Is Marijuana Used?
Marijuana is typically smoked, but it can also be put into a vape or put into baked goods and consumed.
Can I Go to Marijuana Treatment Today?
Yes! Harmony Grove Behavioral Health offers a fast, 24-hour admission process so you have access to care as soon as you pick up the phone.
However, determining the level of care necessary is also important. Harmony Grove Behavioral Health is a dedicated outpatient treatment facility.
Depending on your healing journey thus far and unique needs, detox programs or residential care may be more appropriate. Calling to talk to a trained professional about your needs, goals, and expectations in treatment can empower you to make the most informed decision about how to begin your healing journey.
What Is the Difference Between Marijuana Addiction and Marijuana Dependence?
Marijuana dependence occurs when the body adjusts to expect cannabis use, whereas marijuana addiction is a pattern of lifestyle and behavioral changes to facilitate substance use, even in the face of negative consequences or a personal desire to stop.
While both marijuana dependence and marijuana addiction benefit from professional treatment, early intervention during marijuana dependence can prevent marijuana addiction from developing or manage the consequences of marijuana use before they become too severe.
Calling a treatment facility to learn more about addiction can empower families and individuals to decide how to address the effects of marijuana use in their lives and the programs best suited to their needs.
Marijuana addiction can impact entire families. With how prevalent marijuana use can be, knowing the signs and symptoms of addiction is crucial to exploring treatment as soon as possible. To learn how we at Harmony Grove Behavioral Health can help you, call to speak to us today at (713) 564-6468.