Cannabis

Contrary to what many weed smokers believe, addiction and dependence can occur when using cannabis. Medical practitioners call it Cannabis use disorder. However, it seems to be true that cannabis shows much lower dependency rates than other recreational drugs, such as alcohol and nicotine.

Read more about dependence here.

In the long term

Cannabis can have long-term effects when used heavily (i.e. daily or almost daily).

However, all the negative effects of cannabis seem to wear off after a relatively short period of total abstinence, usually 4-6 weeks^{1 2}.

Cannabis compounds affect a system that is crucial for the development of your brain. Therefore, people who started using cannabis during adolescence may develop:

• Impaired spatial orientation
• Impaired verbal fluency
• Reduced inhibition

In terms of the effects on daily users, there are discrepancies in the scientific literature on the subject. But the most common negative effects are thought to be^{4 16}:

• Difficulty making decisions
• Difficulty learning new things
• Difficulty making future plans

If you mix cannabis with tobacco, you significantly increase the harms, and aggregate the risks of developing health problems.

Check and compare your drug use anonymously with the Drugsmeter Cannabis app.

Learn more above in the "How you take it matters" section.

Lung cancer

Many of the harms of cannabis stem from the fact that it is smoked. It seems that smoking cannabis doesn't cause cancer but we still don't have enough data to say this for sure. What smoking cannabis definitely does, is cause a variety of chronic lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Watch this video if you want to know more about medical cannabis and its impact on human health.

When you want to quit...

While withdrawal symptoms are mild and can be easily overcome, weaning yourself off weed does have some unpleasant effects. As with every single drug, the intensity of the withdrawal depends on the quantity you’ve trained your brain and body to tolerate/expect.

Here are some psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms you may experience when you are trying to quit:

• Craving
• Insomnia and nightmares
• Demotivation
• Lack of enjoyment
• Aggressiveness and/or anger
• Irritability
• Unpleasant corporal symptoms
• Decreased appetite
• Nausea
• Weight loss
• Mood changes

Remember: Don't hesitate to look for medical help, you won't get in trouble.

Nicotine is often consumed with cannabis. Some withdrawal symptoms are common for most recreational drugs, but for daily users of cannabis and tobacco combined, the double withdrawal is stronger than if you choose to consume cannabis on its own. This is another great reason to go for vaping/eating.