Last updated : December 23, 2024
The sensible answer to “Can You Get Addicted to Marijuana?” is “Yes.” Since people regularly get addicted to gambling, pornography, and other vices that don’t even involve ingesting chemicals, it stands to reason that any activity which produces high pleasure for a low investment would be addicting.
That being said, there’s more to the story than with other drugs. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists marijuana addiction as “cannabis dependence,” a diagnosable and treatable condition. The dependence is a weak physical dependence but a strong mental dependence. There are both increased tolerance and withdrawal symptoms present in habitual marijuana use, signifying that there is a physical dependence. As with tobacco and caffeine, the physical dependence is weak relative to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin, but still a factor nonetheless.
People in certain risk categories have a higher tendency to develop marijuana addiction. Certain native and ethnic people of Oceania show a marked propensity for addiction.
Adolescents have an extremely high risk for dependence, as marijuana has an effect on the young and developing brain that is a greater impact than on more mature adults. Thus, a person who started smoking marijuana at age 16 has a higher risk for addiction than someone who started smoking at 25. Even if marijuana is tried experimentally at a young age and then ceased, there is a noted mental effect in the user, which may include increased tendency towards depression and anxiety, reduced memory and motor skills, and an overall apathetic personality.
Finally, people already afflicted with psychiatric disorders have an overwhelming tendency towards addiction, although some of this might simply be the person trying to medicate themselves. Marijuana addiction is found to be co-morbid with anxiety and mood disorders, depression, and acute psychosis, which can create a greater dependency.
Physical symptoms of marijuana addiction include cognitive impairment, lack of energy, physical cravings and withdrawals, and respiratory ailments. Smoking marijuana carries many of the same health risks as smoking tobacco.
For the most part, marijuana addiction appears to be a matter of the mental domain. With the exception of the case for younger adolescent usage, there appears to be no long-term ill effects from the drug once all usage has ceased for a stable length of time. However, long-term psychological effects do seem to linger for a longer time and be more pronounced. Like any drug, moderation is the key to managing potential harmful side effects.
