Article: Marijuana Withdrawal Is Real, Study Says Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily

[thestudent14]

When people try to quit smoking pot, they experience real withdrawal symptoms that can affect their daily lives, a new study from Australia says.

In the study, habitual pot users who were asked to abstain for two weeks experienced irritability, sleep difficulties and other symptoms that affected their ability to work and their relationships with other people, said study researcher David Allsop, of the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre at the University of New South Wales.

The biggest impairment to daily life was seen among users who were the most addicted to pot, Allsop said.

Moreover, the effects of withdrawal symptoms were on par with those of people going through nicotine withdrawal, Allsop said.

The idea that cannabis can be addictive has been debated. And although it is generally accepted now that the drug can cause addiction and withdrawal, researchers were not certain whether withdrawal from the drug was severe enough to interfere with daily life, Allsop said.

In fact, cannabis withdrawal is not included as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) — the bible of mental health disorders — although it is being considered for inclusion in the updated version that will be released next year. (In contrast, withdrawal from other substances, such as alcohol and cocaine, are included as disorders.)

The new findings show that doctors should be aware of the disorder, and educate patients about what symptoms they might experience when they try to quit, he said.

"I suspect that there is a long way to go still in changing the popular beliefs," about the effects of pot on health, Allsop said. But education that withdrawal "makes you irritable, tense and anxious, and disrupts your sleep, is one good place to gain some traction," he said.

Current treatments for marijuana addiction have shown very little success in terms of their ability to get people to abstain from the drug over the long term. Withdrawal symptoms could be contributing to this low success rate, Allsop said.

Providing tailored treatments for people going through withdrawal, such as stress management and sleep medication, could improve success rates, Allsop said.

The study involved 49 men and women from Sydney who were addicted to marijuana, and used the drug more than five days a week. Participants were asked to abstain from marijuana use for two weeks. Urine samples were collected to identify those who relapsed.

Ten participants relapsed during the study. These people were more likely than those who didn't relapse to have experienced greater impairment in their daily lives from withdrawal symptoms.

The withdrawal symptoms that contributed most to impairment were: physical tension, sleep problems, anxiety, depression, mood swings and loss of appetite.

The new findings, along with previous work, suggest cannabis withdrawal should be added as a disorder to the DSM, Allsop said.

"Cannabis is the most prevalent illicit drug all around the world — including in America — and current treatment options have very limited success rates for continuous abstinence," Allsop said. "Why wouldn't you include it?"

Because the number of users who relapsed was small, more research is needed to identify which withdrawal symptoms may predict relapse, Allsop said.

The study is published today (Sept. 26) in the journal PLOS ONE.

Pass it on: Cannabis withdrawal is a real syndrome that has an impact on daily life.

Follow Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner, or MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

http://www.livescience.com/23494-cannabis-withdrawal-symptoms.html

Not all that surprised to be honest.

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

IME a fair amount of pot smokers will spin with tobacco. What I'd like to know is whether tobacco was eliminated from these tests.

These withdrawal symptoms that 'resemble' nicotine withdrawals may have actually been nicotine withdrawals.

 

[DeathDomokun]

The only withdrawals I've noticed after stopping daily smoking is a decrease in appetite, and a groggy feeling (from impaired sleep, as a guess)
Adding anxiety and depression to everything, Cannabis just makes everything better. It's sobriety that has that effect, not a 'withdrawal'

 

[thestudent14]

I remember hearing that this study did eliminate tobacco, and it was purely done on Cannabis only smokers.

I know multiple people who claim have quit cannabis and continued to smoke ciggs during this period. They did have these withdrawal symptoms. However the withdrawal period for them only lasted about a week. After that all withdrawal affects seemed to be gone and they had no difficulty declining peoples offers to smoke weed whilst everyone else at the house was. Unlike tobacco where I have seen people quit for over a year and still crave ciggs and eventually be drawn back in.

 

[Busty St Clare]

More people around here smoke cones with tobacco and most daily smokers would get some unpleasant side effects once they stop. Headaches, Irritability and insomnia might not be as severe as those experienced when you stop opiates cold turkey but there is no denying you can get physically and psychologically addicted to cannabis.

 

[Captain Brewster]

I went onto a vape earlier this year, got me completely off tobacco. Now if I go without my green I get wd sweats, insomnia and quite a fair bit of anxiety, so yeah I'd definetly agree with this.

 

[laugh]

IME a fair amount of pot smokers will spin with tobacco. What I'd like to know is whether tobacco was eliminated from these tests.

These withdrawal symptoms that 'resemble' nicotine withdrawals may have actually been nicotine withdrawals.

exactly what i thought!!

 

[laugh]

More people around here smoke cones with tobacco and most daily smokers would get some unpleasant side effects once they stop. Headaches, Irritability and insomnia might not be as severe as those experienced when you stop opiates cold turkey but there is no denying you can get physically and psychologically addicted to cannabis.

so your saying people get addicted to the spin in their mix or the ganja?

i have heard many junkies / ex junkies swear that nicotine is more addictive and a lot harder to kick...i suppose its horses for courses?

ps sorry for the double post!!! how do i write one response with multiple quotes, like if i wanted to quote busty and then the captain in the same post? cheers

 

[Captain Brewster]

I noticed when I got rid of tobacco that I no longer crave smoking weed. But wd's are definetly there if I don't vape, the insomnia for me is similair to a very mild opiate wd. I have been smoking for around 8-10 years, not many days off that I can remember.