Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD), as addiction is known in the medical world, is a recognized condition and estimates suggest that roughly 1 in 5 people who use cannabis can develop it. This increases significantly among those who start in adolescence and can be even higher among daily users. Even people consuming cannabis for medical purposes are not exempt: in their case the risk is even higher with about 29% of people in this group becoming addicted to it.
Cannabis addiction occurs when someone develops a pattern of cannabis use that becomes difficult to control, even when this causes them harm.
Physically this means that the body has adapted to regular cannabis exposure and has become more tolerant to cannabinoids, thus requiring higher doses to produce the same effects on their mood, sleep and dopamine production. From a psychological point of view dependence means feeling a strong need to consume cannabis, often to experience pleasure, relieve stress, sleep, or avoid unpleasant emotions.
when the body is flooded with THC all receptors are affected all at once, with a much higher dose than the body is used to and the effect lasts much longer
Addiction is thus the loss of control over the consumption, the cravings, and the continued use of cannabis despite the negative consequences. Not everyone who makes use of cannabis becomes addicted. Risk depends on the frequency of consumption, THC concentration, age at first use, and even genetics.
Cannabis contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main chemical responsible for its intoxicating effects. The cannabinoids in THC, like the cannabinoids naturally produced by the human body, bind to receptors which, and, among other things, put a brake on the system responsible for limiting the release of dopamine, the chemical which contributes to motivation, perseverance, reward processing, and learning which experiences are worth repeating. Dopamine is not simply a chemical that produces pleasure.
When this is triggered by the body’s own natural cannabinoids, the effect is relatively small and localized – for example, the release of cannabinoids can be triggered when we walk barefoot over a Lego brick and the body tries to mitigate the pain by releasing cannabinoids and hence dopamine enters the blood stream.
67.5%
Nicotine
22.7%
Alcohol
20.9%
Cocaine
8.9%
Cannabis
The lifetime risk of dependence. Half of the cases of dependence were observed approximately after 27 years for nicotine, 13 years for alcohol, 5 years for cannabis and 4 years for cocaine. The difference in the risk between this study and the previous is due to the stricter definition of dependence.
On the other hand, when the body is flooded with THC all receptors are affected all at once, with a much higher dose than the body is used to and the effect lasts much longer. This means that the amount of dopamine entering the blood stream is also much higher and that it stays longer.
Receptors in people who consume cannabis weekly or more frequently involuntarily desensitize their receptors to require ever higher doses of THC to release the same quantity of dopamine.
When THC consumption suddenly stops, the body’s adapted tolerance can temporarily disrupt sleep, appetite, mood, and other functions. Studies using brain imaging have found that receptor sensitivity can recover substantially after several weeks of abstinence.
airpix CC BY 2.0Cannabis withdrawal is generally not medically dangerous in the same way that severe alcohol or cocaine withdrawal can be. Nevertheless, symptoms can be sufficiently uncomfortable to cause significant distress and encourage relapse.
The longer term medical effects include respiratory problems, loss of cognitive functions and episodes of anxiety, paranoia and depression.
Respiratory problems are mostly due to inhaling smoke, especially when cannabis is mixed with tobacco, but can nevertheless cause serious damage to the lunges.
Heavy or frequent use of cannabis is associated with difficulties involving attention, memory, and learning, particularly during intoxication and shortly after. Some of these effects improve with abstinence, while the extent of persistent damage remains debated.
The risk of addiction is especially high among people using cannabis for medical reasons. Cannabis should be only consumed under careful medical supervision.
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