Just How Addictive Is Marijuana? Separating Fact From Fiction

Drug addiction transcends countries, ethnicities, social classes, and lifestyles. The wide variety of drugs available today is one reason for this. Perhaps one of the most polarizing drugs on the list is marijuana. Whether the drug is harmless or dangerous has been debated for decades, and the recent trend of marijuana legalization in many U.S. states makes the conversation polarizing.

While the debate surrounding marijuana has its twists and turns, one question almost always comes up: Is marijuana addictive? No doubt, there’s a range of answers to this question, but let’s separate fact from fiction about the drug’s effects.

Is Marijuana a Unique Drug?

At the outset, statistics show that marijuana is hardly an exception to the rule of drug use around the world. It is common enough that no one can argue for a specific ethnicity or social class surrounding marijuana use. Marijuana use is more popular in some countries than in others. But in terms of worldwide use, marijuana is not any different from other drugs.

In terms of how the drug affects the body compared to others, the answer is a bit complex. While we can typically divide drugs into whether they are stimulants or depressants based on how they react with the central nervous system, the issue isn’t quite as clear when it comes to marijuana. The reason for this is that marijuana’s effects can differ greatly from person to person. Marijuana can have the effects of a stimulant or a depressant, and some people even experience hallucinogenic symptoms.

With this in mind, it could be argued that marijuana is different from any other drug. However, with the shared similarities of marijuana, it could also be argued that it has the negative effects of all drug types, making it especially dangerous and unpredictable. These can include headaches, fatigue, hallucinations, and increased heart rate. Studies also show that long-term marijuana use can be linked to sudden cardiac arrest, death, stroke, and myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Abuse and Addiction

Even if people are willing to grant that marijuana shares some characteristics with other drugs, there might be a tendency to say that marijuana departs from those similarities when it comes to addiction. However, marijuana can certainly be a habit-forming substance when many people are experiencing widespread addiction. While marijuana addiction manifests itself in different ways, some of the warning signs include:

●     A loss of interest in family and social responsibilities

●     An intense desire to use marijuana when unable to do so

●     Feeling the need to use more marijuana to achieve the same effects of previous use

●     Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when reducing use or abstaining from use

One reason marijuana either becomes addictive or has a negative outcome is because of how the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in the drug inhibits certain neurons in the brain responsible for reward processing. According to one study, whether marijuana is a positive or negative experience and if use could lead to addiction depends on which two neurons in the brain are inhibited by THC. The experience doesn’t seem to follow one rule of thumb, so it is essentially a gamble for anyone who decides to use marijuana.

Unfortunately, the issue becomes even more complex today, with marijuana being just one drug in a long list of illicit substances that are now cut with other drugs, such as the potent opioid fentanyl. Cutting marijuana is nothing new for dealers, but it was much less common in previous years compared to today. With fentanyl’s unmatched potency, marijuana addiction becomes a much more likely scenario for users, along with an unwanted opioid addiction.

Legalization or Not

Some people point to this trend of illicit drug cutting as an argument for marijuana legalization. Having a regulated market for marijuana helps ensure the drug is legitimate and the dosage is much more predictable. In fact, statistics show that marijuana legalization prompts a decrease in opioid overdoses and addiction. While regulated marijuana is certainly safer, by comparison, this does not mean the drug is less addictive when legalized. While it is true that marijuana may not be addictive for everyone who uses it, either legally or illegally, evidence shows that long-term use damages the body.

Sources

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