Is Medical Marijuana Addictive?

18.05.2011

As more and more states legalize marijuana for medicinal use to qualified patients, one of the questions asked „Is medical marijuana addictive?“ With opiate medications being highly addictive if abused with significant risks of overdose and withdrawal, it is important to either confirm marijuana having addictive qualities or to refute the notion. That way Glendale Marijuana Doctors will know. The answer is that medical marijuana may have a psychologic dependence but it does not produce a physiologic dependence so therefore 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.

It is not unheard of for heavy chronic marijuana users to enroll in a drug treatment program for marijuana dependence. There is a significant difference, however, between a dependence on marijuana and a true addiction even if recommended by a Kingman medical marijuana doctor. Are there any symptoms of withdrawal when a heavy or frequent user stops smoking? The answer is – possibly. Some individuals report nervousness and some sleep disturbance – about 15% of the time. But you do not see the sweating, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, etc that is commonly seen from narcotic withdrawal.

Animal research evaluating high dose marijuana administration has shown that notwithstanding how much of the drug is given, animals will not self administer marijuana after the drug is ceased. Opiates 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 essential point is that medical marijuana may in fact cause psychologic dependence, but neither physical or physiologic dependence even if recommended by Phoenix Marijuana Doctors. Narcotics may result in both. Despite individuals being able to get past the attachment psychologically to the drug, the harsh side effects may prevent the person from stopping at all.

Thankfully marijuana does not act in that fashion. Even after long term heavy use, there is minimal if any physiologic reaction upon cessation. Marijuana acts on the brain in a different pathway than opiate medications. This may allow medicinal marijuana being utilized to effectively decrease the amount of opiates patients need for pain control, and in some cases entirely replace them.

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.

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