A Neuroscientist Explains How Marijuana Acts on the Brain and Why It’s Hard to Quit Smoking

So, it’s important to be especially aware of the signs of marijuana addiction. There are resources and treatment options available for those who are dealing with addiction. A person with marijuana addiction may struggle to maintain healthy relationships with their friends and family if they withdraw from socializing in order to use the drug. If you’re looking for more information or support, check out these resources on marijuana addiction help and weed addiction stories.

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In addition, it has been found that marijuana dependence may affect your ability to respond to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which allows us to feel pleasure. In one study, those who had marijuana dependence had fewer positive emotions, higher stress levels, and increased irritability. The increased potency of modern marijuana strains means that there is a greater risk for tolerance, dependence, addiction, and withdrawal. However, some who use marijuana develop the symptoms of addiction after chronic marijuana use.

How Do You Know If You Have CUD?

It is now known marijuana is addictive to some people, particularly chronic and severe users. Yale Medicine psychiatrists treat patients for all addictions, including cannabis use disorder. Yale Medicine doctors are conducting exciting research in the fields of marijuana and other addiction treatments. Preliminary results for clinical trials testing a drug that increases the brain’s cannabis-like proteins are promising — especially in terms of reducing drug use and withdrawal symptoms.

Is Marijuana Addictive? Can You Develop a Weed Addiction?

There’s also been, interestingly and notably for many of the people listening, an uptick in cannabis-related ER visits in adolescents and young adults since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s really important to point out that some of these groups are, like young adults, are more affected. As well as people who have mental illness are also at risk of using cannabis more. Despite the negative influence their addiction has on their life, however, someone with cannabis use disorder will continue to use marijuana. When someone regularly uses cannabis to the point that it is having negative consequences, they may have developed a loss of control over their use and be addicted.

Long-Term Effects of Cannabis: Behavior and Cognition

It’s important that your doctor knows about cannabis and any other drug you use. It will become part of your medical record, but that’s private information. Studies also note that if you’re at risk of a mental condition, you may be more likely to smoke marijuana at an earlier age, maybe as a way to medicate yourself. Recent research suggests that if you start to use marijuana at a young age, use it frequently, and for a long period, you could be at risk of having schizophrenia or other mental conditions that involve psychosis. This risk could be higher in young men or people assigned male at birth, especially between 16 and 25 years of age.

After one comes down, the lack of sorting makes it hard to recall what was so wonderfully urgent about those experiences. A renowned neuroscientist explains the unique challenges of quitting marijuana for good. They look at the immediate benefits and immediate costs to a greater extent than they do at the long-term costs and benefits of using alcohol,” Galloway added.

• Like any drug used medicinally, the potential risks of use are weighed against the potential benefits when deciding what should and should not be tried.
• If you use it every day, you might get withdrawal symptoms a day or two after stopping.
• In some states, doctors can prescribe marijuana for medicinal uses such as reducing muscle spasms, pain, nausea, and vomiting.
• As a result, users develop a tolerance, needing more cannabis to achieve previous effects.
• There’s evidence that in states where weed is legal, fewer people are filling their prescriptions for anxiety medications like Xanax and other benzodiazepines.

“Studies show that memory, motivation and executive function improve significantly within weeks to months of stopping,” Caplan says. He also suggests “engaging in mentally stimulating activities,” which help “strengthen neural pathways and restore executive function,” like reading, writing and problem-solving. Smoking and vaping tobacco can cause bacteria to grow underneath your gums, which can lead to this condition. Periodontal disease doesn’t just cause tooth loss but has also been linked to many other health issues, including heart disease and preterm labor. Norton said many organizations “concur that marijuana is addictive — specifically, THC.” Cannabis dependence is much more common than dependence on other drugs due to the sheer number of people who use marijuana.

Well, poison ivy is natural too, but you don’t see people lining up to roll around in it, do you? The natural vs. synthetic debate is a red herring when it comes to addiction potential. The journey from recreational enjoyment to full-blown addiction can be a slippery slope, often masked by society’s growing acceptance of marijuana use and the persistent myth that cannabis is harmless. Being addicted to cannabis can seriously harm your relationships, finances, health and your job. The user for example may spend a lot of time obtaining, using, or recovering from cannabis use. Like all addictions the causes for cannabis addiction are vast.

Instead of smoking, try another form, such as edibles or a tincture you put under your tongue. If you do smoke, don’t hold it in your lungs for more than a second. It’s a myth that the longer you hold it in your lungs, the higher you’ll get. No federal standards exist for the cannabis industry, but you have a better chance of knowing what you’re getting if you buy from a dispensary instead of is marijuana addictive off the street (which is still illegal). If you or your partner are trying to have a baby, doctors suggest that you both stop using marijuana.

And the more blunted their response to the methylphenidate, the more negative emotions they felt, including irritability, anxiety, depression, and aggressiveness. “It is very well-known that dopamine is one of the most important neurotransmitters that regulates reward, motivation, and self-control,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIDA and one of the authors of the study. THC also affects the brain’s reward system and the release of the “pleasure hormone” dopamine. “I’ve always found quitting marijuana to be easy when I needed to because of travel reasons or personal reasons, or professional, or what have you,” he told Healthline. This classification is something that really grates people who support legalization of marijuana.