They can offer the encouragement and support that you need to be successful. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) generally favors a gradual tapering approach to help minimize severe withdrawal symptoms. It’s a lot like one your brain makes (anandamide) that sends messages between nerve cells throughout your body. If you use marijuana regularly, your brain can stop making its own version and start to depend on THC instead. Plants are often cultivated to contain up to 3 times the levels of THC once present, which can have dangerous effects on the brain and other body systems.
The Role of Counseling in Long-Term Recovery
You can either gradually wean yourself off the drug or stop smoking cold turkey. This article explores some of these tactics for how to stop smoking weed as well as information on the withdrawal symptoms you may experience. Once the brain comes to rely on the presence of the drug, it begins to demand increasingly higher doses to deliver the desired effect. This is called tolerance, and at this point, if marijuana use stops, withdrawal symptoms will likely occur, as the brain struggles to seek balance. Get professional help from an online addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp. Take our free, 5-minute marijuana addiction self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with a marijuana dependency.
Intervention Help
Finding others who are dealing with the same issues as you can be validating, and you can learn from one another about different ways to cope. Marijuana Anonymous is one such support group based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved any medications for marijuana withdrawal, specifically. But marijuana addiction researchers are actively studying medications for medically assisted withdrawal (MAW) of marijuana.
How to stop smoking cannabis (weed)
Marijuana use was higher in the male population of Nigeria with 18.8% men aged 29 to 34 using the drug but only 2.6% of the female population in the same age range. Marijuana continues to be the most widely used drug worldwide, with the overall estimated number of users showing an increase of roughly 30% between 1998 and 2017. According to the 2019 World Drug Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, an estimated 188 million people used marijuana in 2017. While the United States showed the highest increase, other countries also reported increased use.
Marijuana Addiction Treatment and Rehab Options
In an analysis of studies of more than 23,000 people, researchers found that 47% of people who used marijuana regularly experienced withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana (weed) withdrawal is the collection of mental, emotional and physical symptoms you may feel if you stop using marijuana after regular use. Some studies even suggest that marijuana may increase anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia and other mental illnesses in some individuals. In rare cases, studies have also shown that chronic marijuana use may lead to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. This condition includes recurring bouts of severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration that often require medical attention, but symptoms may disappear once you stop using marijuana.
- An intervention professional, also known as an interventionist, also could direct an intervention.
- Those who started using it before age 18 are 4 to 7 times more likely to than people who started later.
- However, when you try to broach the topic, they may be angry, defensive, and in denial.
- More research is needed to better understand these mental health links and ramifications.
- Whether someone is battling drug abuse, alcoholism, or another type of substance addiction, counseling plays a critical role in guiding them toward recovery.
Try to avoid judgment—remember, addiction is a disease that requires treatment. With the ongoing legalization of marijuana in the United States and around the world, it can be hard to say how this will impact marijuana use and abuse. More research needs to be done on potential treatments for marijuana abuse and how to increase support and accessibility for existing treatments. While many people use marijuana (it’s the third most commonly used addictive drug, after tobacco and alcohol) most won’t become addicted.
- This makes expressing your concern and finding out just how bad the problem is extremely challenging.
- As Mom grew older, she shared with me some lessons she had learned through her affiliation with Al-Anon, a support group for family members of loved ones struggling with addiction.
- Higher levels of marijuana use were also reported in Canada, with 9% of the population using in 2011, jumping to 14.7% by 2015.
- Most of these symptoms will wear off as the drug itself wears off, but for some, the psychological effects of marijuana can last many months or even years after the individual stops smoking pot.
Ultimately, hope for recovery lies in the individual addict’s ability to recognize that they have a problem and that they need help. The point at which one recognizes the need for help is commonly referred to as a “bottom” or a moment of clarity. The addict must have a true desire to stop using and the willingness to admit that the problem cannot be coped with alone.
Avoid False Expectations and Seek Understanding…
She asked me to stay clean and sober one day at a time and to use the lessons I learned in my own recovery to help others who were suffering. The stigma surrounding substance abuse is a significant barrier to seeking treatment. Many individuals delay getting help because of fear, shame, or judgment. Because marijuana use impairs the area of the brain responsible for motivation, it is often challenging for users to be sufficiently self-motivated to quit using the drug. The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported approximately 22.2 million people used marijuana in the month prior to the survey.
