As more states allow medicinal marijuana for debilitating disease conditions, one question being asked is “Are there addictive properties to marijuana?” With narcotic meds having highly addictive qualities if abused along with the potential for overdose and withdrawal symptoms, it is important to answer the question for marijuana. The answer is one can see a psychologic dependence with marijuana but not a physiologic dependence so it is not a true addiction.
Marijuana studies show the majority of users do not convert to long term usage. Research showed that in the 1990’s despite 31% of the US age 12 and over having tried marijuana at some point, only 0.8% of Americans smoked marijuana on a daily (or near daily) basis.
Chronic heavy marijuana smokers at times enroll in drug treatment programs for marijuana dependence. Not a lot, but some do. There is a significant distinction, though, between a true addiction and marijuana dependence. One can see some symptoms of withdrawal when a heavy user stops marijuana – people report slight nervousness and sleep disturbance 15% of the time. However, one does not see the sweating, nausea, vomiting, or hallucinations that are commonly seen with narcotic withdrawal.
In animal studies looking at high dose marijuana administration, no matter how much of the drug is given, animals do not self administer the drug after cessation. Narcotics are a different story.
The US Department of Health and Human Services issued a 1991 congressional report which stated “Given the large population of marijuana users and the infrequent reports of medical problems from stopping use, tolerance and dependence are not major issues at present.”
The main point here is that marijuana may cause psychological dependence, but not physical and physiologic dependence. Narcotics cause both and even if a patient is able to overcome the psychologic attachment to the drug, the simple fact that the side effects are harsh may prevent going “cold turkey” or being able to stop at all.
Thankfully marijuana does not act like that. Despite long term use, minimal physiologic reaction occurs upon stopping. Medical marijuana acts on the brain via a different pathway than narcotics. Potentially this may result in medical marijuana being able to decrease the amount of narcotics taken.
Also, medical marijuana produces a psychoactive effect of anxiety reduction and improving patient mood. This varies from opiates, where patients can experience a decrease in pain but also may experience depression. This can explain why so many chronic pain individuals need to take antidepressants along with the narcotics.
Want to find out more about AZ Medical Marijuana, then visit Arizona MMC’s site on how to choose the best AZ medical marijuana doctor for your evaluation.
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