Some of you may know me. I separated from toxic ex in Feb 2014. Started dating a wonderful man a few months ago. He recently confided that his oldest daughter (same age as mine - 22) was using pot, a lot, but shut it down completely and was struggling with withdrawal. I commend her actions; not sure how to help. Anyone else gone through this before?
I have never heard of anyone who is physically addicted to pot, and I’ve known people who smoke it regularly for over 40 years. So I think the whole idea of “getting off” pot is probably purely psychological.
What do people do to break habits? Install new ones? If she was in the habit of sitting around in the evenings smoking pot and watching TV, having something social to do that didn’t involve that would be helpful. Whether you, as her father’s relatively new GF, can actually help is another matter. Probably being supportive to him is about all you can do. Maybe suggest to him that he ask her to do stuff with him more frequently?
Thanks Consolation – good advice. Yes, I think my role here is supporting him. I wasn’t sure if anyone knew of a method or remedy that helped with withdrawal, but your ideas are sound.
If she has been self medicating, then I’d have her consult with a psychiatrist. I’ve heard many teens tell me MJ helps with their anxiety.
There are mixed opinions as to the veracity of marijuana withdrawl. That said, if sheis truy committed to getting off pot, this will involve behavioral changes and should see a specialist to help with the process.
“I have never heard of anyone who is physically addicted to pot, and I’ve known people who smoke it regularly for over 40 years.”
Good grief. If they’ve smoked it “regularly” for over 40 years, don’t you think that they might have an addiction??
Yes, pot can be addictive, according to National Institute for Drug Abuse:
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive
“It is estimated that 9 percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it. The number goes up to about 17 percent in those who start using young (in their teens) and to 25 to 50 percent among daily users.”
There are organizations that can help:
Oh give me a break, quest. People consume caffeine regularly for decades and (almost) no one calls that an addiction.
The question would be why is she quitting. Pot is about the least harmful “drug” out there. Is it because of a job/drug testing? Pressure from dad? Etc. This will probably determine how she kicks the habit.
No experience with drugs of any kind, including pot, but people DO get addicted (physically addicted) to caffeine. I actually know a person who broke her caffeine habit, and she was going through physical symptoms when she cut it out.
I think there are a lot of good reasons not to do drugs that don’t involve pressure from job or family.
Well, medical experts emphatically state that pot can be addictive. See the .gov link. Can you cite medical research that contradicts those conclusions?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana-addiction
Research on whether it is physically addictive in the way that heroin or whatever is is extremely controversial.
Sorry, I don’t give a hoot about what the government, who has led a villification campaign of pot for nearly 100 years (the origins of which, by the way, were to protect young white women from men of color). So you’ll excuse me if I don’t take their cherry picked papers as conclusive evidence.
The reason I asked about reasons for quitting is because there is going to be a much different response to quitting if it’s coming from an external vs internal place.
(and no, I don’t partake. But I am the odd one out in my family. And no, it’s never interfered in any of their lives.)
Even the experts have trouble defining what an addiction is in the abstract. Arguing about that won’t help.
What is worth knowing is that, on average, if a person has been smoking pot regularly for more than a few months, they are apt to experience symptoms ranging from irritability to severe anxiety in their everyday affairs. If, as is typical, the same person is accustomed to going to sleep high, they are apt to experience some degree of insomnia. (And that insomnia will worsen the next day’s anxiety.)
How much anxiety and insomnia varies with many factors. A lot of smokers will simply swap in a different drug, usually alcohol, to help with the transition. Obviously, that is fraught with risk. A kind doctor might suggest tiding over the withdrawal period with a benzodiazepene like Ativan. A very kind doctor won’t, since benzo withdrawal is even worse, and who wants to risk that. Ambien might work, but that came along after my time, so I can’t really say.
Maybe the most supportive thing you can do is to keep reminding the person that the worst will pass in a few weeks. A few sleepness nights are not the end of the world, even thought they may seem like it at the time.
@romanigypsyeyes From your own link:
“A realistic concern for recreational users of marijuana is whether or not they will become addicted. There are no easy answers to this question. In my opinion, the most unbiased book on this and other related topics is The Science of Marijuana (2008). The Science of Marijuana is written by Leslie L. Iverson, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Cambridge in England. In the book, he reviews decades of international research on marijuana, both laboratory research and survey research. Based on his review of the scientific literature, between 10 to 30% of regular users will develop dependency. Only about 9% will have a serious addiction.”
The last two sentences are entirely consistent with the .gov conclusions, so it certainly doesn’t appear that that the .gov data is “cherry picked” or that there is a “vilification campaign”.
Since you think that anecdotal evidence is compelling, I’ll contribute that in my family relationships have been ruined and teens have floundered because of pot addiction.
One of my roommates my freshman year in college was addicted to pot (and I didn’t believe “addiction to pot” existed before living with him day to day). It was definitely interfering with his life, and he was always trying to quit. He got complete support from the rest of his suitemates for doing that. After we realized the seriousness of his problem, and that didn’t take long, no one but he ever brought pot into our living area. We engaged in endless attempts to find ways to get him past his pot cravings. None of them worked. Once he had gone 24 hours without getting high, you could tell how long it had been just by watching him – he got increasingly more anxious, tense, hyper, distracted. He never made it much past 72 hours, and rarely that long. And every time he smoked, it was a heartbreaking personal defeat.
From my readings, pot is a low addictive substance, generally lumped in with alcohol. But of course it’s addictive: it causes psychological dependency and enough use can cause the body to expect certain stimulus. By low addictive, I mean it’s not like an opiate. Personally, I don’t think using the word “addiction” is very helpful. Caffeine is clearly addictive but the actual physical dependency clears the system quite quickly. Physical pot addiction apparently clears a bit slower but both have psychological dependency issues that linger. I’m addicted to toasted corn and my dad was a chocoholic.
Pot dependency is more, as I understand it, the classic “crutch” dependency. That can be very hard to break. People can use the various 12 step methods but I’m not a fan of these (based on the research into efficiency). IMHO, the best way to deal with that is to make specific changes that both distract and provide alternative uses of mental and physical time. A physical change can be as simple as not seeing the people who smoke or not seeing them in the places where they spoke - like not going to bars if you have an issue with drinking or not bringing home sweets if you eat too much candy. It can be simple life changes - like organizing your room, making your bed everyday, going for a run every day - or more profound ones like enrolling in a class, taking on a challenge - like getting ready to do a marathon or some other physical or mental challenge. I’ve had to convince my wife that she should not buy toasted corn because she knows I like it - so stop being nice to me! - and now if she buys it (because she likes it) she puts it in a drawer and doesn’t tell me.
I consider pot on par with alcohol. Used recreationally in moderation it should present no problem to most people. I have no thoughts on whether it is physically addictive, but if it becomes a daily habit it’s likely to become a problem. I think you can have a glass of wine at lunch and return to the office and have a productive day. But I do not think you can smoke a joint at lunch and return to the office and conduct business as usual.
Perhaps I didn’t express myself clearly.
For over 40 years, I have known people who smoked pot regularly. Some of them smoked it regularly for a while, then moved on as their lives moved into a different phase: work, family, etc. Some of those continued to smoke occasionally in social situations. Some of them smoked it regularly and decided to stop because they ultimately didn’t like how it made them feel, the same way that a person who is not an alcoholic can decide to limit their alcohol consumption because they don’t like the way the act or feel when drunk. Some continued to partake in their leisure time.
It’s all over the map.
One thing that all of these people have had in common is that it never interfered with their daily life: holding down a job, going to school, etc.
BTW, the one person I can think of who continues to smoke the most regularly also drinks two large glasses of 2% milk every night. Is he “addicted” to that?
Sorry to hear that. But I’d suggest two things:
A) if a person is sitting around smoking pot and not functioning, the likelihood is that they are self-medicating and that they have real problems that need to be addressed professionally; and
B) Most of the lives that have been “ruined” by pot have been casualties of our nation’s idiotic War on Drugs and the draconian penalties associated with it.