Cannabis addiction: The risk of smoking weed is so high

Opponents of cannabis legalization often cite the risk of addiction associated with drug use. You can find out what this is about in this article.

Cannabis - addiction is possible

Cannabis can be consumed in different forms in different ways.

Whether you just smoke hash or weed, or eat cannabis as a cookie, the effective ingredients are always the same.
Cannabis contains two substances that are used on the body and psyche. On the one hand, this is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short. The other active ingredient is cannabidiol, also abbreviated CBD.
THC is responsible for the intoxication with cannabis use. In contrast, CBD does not cause a feeling of intoxication or happiness. It has an analgesic, relaxing and anxiolytic effect.
The psychoactive ingredient THC is said to be addictive. While this is possible, cannabis addiction rarely develops.
Research has shown that in Germany around 4 to 7 percent of cannabis users become addicted to the drug.
By the way, another psychoactive ingredient is much more common than THC - caffeine. As is known, addiction to coffee can also develop.

As previously mentioned, only a small percentage of cannabis users become addicted.

A cannabis addiction is usually only psychological. In some cases, you may experience physical withdrawal symptoms when you stop smoking.
These can be sleep disorders or anxiety, for example. However, neither psychological nor physical dependence can be compared to an addiction to other drugs such as heroin.
If there is a cannabis addiction, withdrawal from this drug is in any case much easier than, for example, alcohol, medication or heroin withdrawal.
It is not known why some people become addicted to cannabis, while others do not. It is known that it does not matter how much, how often and how long you use cannabis. There are people who regularly smoke pot over a long period of time and are still not dependent.
However, there are some factors that favor dependency. For example, the risk of addiction is greater in people whose parents were dependent on a drug.
The greatest risk of dependency is when you smoke pot to deal with problems.

It is often argued that prolonged cannabis use can cause psychosis.

This has also not been proven. It may be that people who use cannabis develop psychoses. However, the drug cannot be identified as the sole cause of it. The danger of such a development is very individual.
Cannabis has been shown to affect memory. Those who smoke a lot are likely to suffer from it.
However, it has been shown that after a certain period of time the memory will function normally again if you stop consuming cannabis.

Find out what you should know about hemp oil for pain in our next article.