Withdrawal Symptoms From Smoking Pot?

Study Shows Heavy Marijuana Users Suffer Anxiety, Irritability When They Try To Quit

(WebMD)  Heavy pot users who quit cold turkey may find themselves lighting up again to quell withdrawal symptoms, researchers say.

In a study of nearly 500 marijuana smokers who tried to kick the habit, about one-third resumed use to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and anxiety .

There's long been a debate over whether pot smokers actually become addicted to the drug and whether withdrawal symptoms are real. They do and they are, says researcher David Gorelick, MD, PhD, of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore.

He predicts cannabis withdrawal syndrome will be recognized as a psychiatric disorder in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), considered the bible of mental disorders. It's due out in 2012.

Gorelick presented the findings at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.


Heavy Pot Smokers and Withdrawal Symptoms

The study involved 469 pot smokers, ages 18 to 64, who were recruited using word of mouth and advertisements. None of the participants suffered from recognized psychiatric disorders.

About one in four reported smoking pot more than 10,000 times in their lives -- the equivalent of daily use for 27 years. More than half smoked more than 2,000 times.

"These were heavy users," Gorelick says.

A total of 42.4 percent experienced at least one withdrawal symptom -- most commonly, cravings, irritability, boredom, anxiety, and sleep disturbances -- when they tried to quit.

Of those who reported withdrawal symptoms, 78.4 percent said they started smoking pot again to reduce them.

Overall, 33.3 percent of participants resumed cannabis use to reduce or avoid withdrawal symptoms.

"Heavy pot users should be aware that they may experience a withdrawal syndrome that will make them uncomfortable when they try to quit," Gorelick tells WebMD.

The problem, says the University of Pennsylvania's Kyle Kampman, MD, is that doctors don't have much to offer pot users to relieve their symptoms.

Kampman is involved in a study testing oral delta-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active ingredient in marijuana, as a potential treatment for marijuana withdrawal.

But other than to try to get patients enrolled in the trial, "the only other thing I can offer is inpatient care. Sometimes just keeping them away from marijuana will help prevent relapse," he tells WebMD.

Kampman says there is no doubt that cannabis withdrawal "is a real syndrome."

[mjpenterprises]

MONUMENTAL JOKE THIS "SO CALLED SURVEY" i have been smoking 40 years and raised 3 children that are respectively 33/29 /20 and all have graduated and also have productive life and so have i ! quit being the carrier of the White House agenda Its so clear they don''t want competition they are the Biggest drug importers!!Lets talk about Mercury in children vaccines and fluoride in water etc.... why are those things still allowed and legal???As the recent studies prove that those are harmful but being pushed by the same peoples that are doing studies to try to prove that pot is bad !!!

[gorph001]

I used to smoke alot of pot my junior year in high school. It got me all f*@^#%$d-up, & I was lethargic, wanted munchies, & never really accomplished anything!!!...It amazes me how I passed the courses that i passed while primarily being "stoned", most of the time!!!

[rushman71]

Man, I''m bushed. After a long day at work, I missed my moment at 4:20. But all of us pot smokers know that anytime, day or night, it''s 4:20 time!!!

Roll it up,
Light it up,
Smoke it up,
Inhale....Exhale.....

[randaids]

It''''s not normal to be addicted to -anything- where you need it 24/7/365.

Posted by shanev137 at 04:36 PM : May 08, 2008

Oh goodie, so by your definition I am quite normal since I only need to smoke pot 2/7/365

[rushman71]

kaitka: Be careful of being "bored" at work. Your boss may end up giving you a drug test!!!

[kaitka]

"boredom" is a withdrawal symptom? riiiight. real legit study.

[kaitka]

Lol! I love how "boredom" is a withdrawal symptom. What a joke that study is!

[kaitka]

Lol! I love how "boredom" is a withdrawal symptom. What a joke that study is!

horse3farm said: "I am really beginning to believe that WebMD is run by the government." Sounds like mid-stage symptom. I am so very grateful that I will get a chance to vote for someone whose brain has been enveloped by dope and who denies any damage. Probably enabled him to sit in that pew for 20 years and not be affected. Second-hand effects protected Michelle and the kids, too. Next thing he''ll be quoting Garrison Keillor, "I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it." Speaking of looking Obama straight in the eye, "sometimes when you look in his eyes you get the feeling that someone else is driving." (Thanks David.) And horse3farm, good luck with that river you are on.

[bigtblues]

I agree completely with all the above posted comments.
Try spending the hard-earned taxpayers''money on things that REALLY kill people & trash lives:
domestic violence
alcohol
tobacco
terrorists......
Leave the rest of us alone.......legalize & have a GREAT day.........

[bigtblues]

I agree completely with all the above posted comments.
Try spending the hard-earned taxpayers''money on things that REALLY kill people & trash lives:
domestic violence
alcohol
tobacco
terrorists......
Leave the rest of us alone.......legalize & have a GREAT day.........

[mandylou4u]

Hey cbs, if you''re still listening, we aren''t scared of the government over this. I don''t want to get "caught" because then me, pleasant, sweet, and kind, will have to go sit in a jail cell with murderers, rapists, and meth heads. Doesn''t seem right does it? There is too much money the government will loose if they legalize it. Think about it, every time they do a drug bust, they get all the money from that bust too. They only tell us how much they want us to know about how much money they got from the bust.

Sadley enough rushman71, chances are slim to none. Too many old farts in congress still. Gonna be another twenty years before our generation (born in 1960) can have any effect on that.

[rushman71]

Question to everyone: If Obama wins, what are the chances of him to:
a. soften the punishment of smoking/possesion of cannabis,
b. reduce the Federal regulations over cannabis for medical reasons,
c. reduce the Federal regulations for recreational use, or
d. completely legalize marijuana.

[rushman71]

mitchoncbs: I have read some bs articles that say that mj causes memory loss. Uhhh, just for the moment, ehh!!! What were we talking about? Oh yeah......Brownies!!!

[rushman71]

jmcgilvray: I concur!!! LOL

incog-nito, you are correct in so many ways. BUt when I run out, I do have some of the symptoms they are talking about. I think its more of a "bummed" out feeling than anything else. If I were to have been drinking every day for thirty years, well, I would be a superman, because it would have killed me long before that. I too am hardley ever sick, never go to the doctor for anything. Been firing up since 1976, have a BSEE, Masters in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Quantum mathematics. Work in the computer industry and tutor math pro bono. Have an excellant attendance record where I work, and am able to learn new things and retain them. So the studies they are doing I believe are tainted. Probably because they were drunk while running the studies, who knows?

[jjp735i]

Web MD is starting to sound more like Fox news, state run news.

[carlylaine]

This is pure BS.....but you start calling my love of POT a mental disorder and watch me go bullistic. F*ing monkeys.

[luvwknd69]

LEGALIZE IS THE ONLY ANSWER!