Cannabis Questions – Part 2

Is cannabis addictive?

This is a very important question, in fact, probably the central question concerning the use of cannabis, so thanks for asking it. The answer here is based on the neuroscience literature, and also draws from the government of Canada’s website on cannabis (https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/cannabis.html).

What makes this difficult to answer is that it depends on your definition of addiction. If we take the broad definition of addiction that I describe in my book, we are referring to some practice that people perform to the extent that it interferes with them carrying out their other responsibilities, such as to family, work, home, or school. Of course, this definition allows us to include a very broad range of activities that would qualify as addictions. These would include consuming drugs, drinking alcohol, gambling, eating, having sex, checking your cell phone, surfing the Internet, consuming Internet pornography, working, running, collecting various things, and shopping, and this is certainly not an exhaustive list. What’s interesting about this is that these are all addictions that have been identified in the last decade or so, and they are occurring with much more frequency than they have in the past.

In this case, there are many individuals who will choose to consume cannabis rather than to study, or work, or interact with their children, or do housework. Similarly, they may choose not to attend important social gatherings or engage in other recreational activities and instead choose to use cannabis. It’s also possible that individuals can find that they need to consume larger quantities, and that they find themselves unable to reduce their intake, or regulate when they consume. In this case they are succumbing to the lure of the good feeling that cannabis provides them, and under this definition we can certainly classify these individuals as addicted to cannabis.

To support this overall conclusion, if we take a much more specific definition that is focused on drug use, the answer becomes clear. Addiction to drugs is usually characterized by the development of two conditions. First, users can develop tolerance, a condition where they need to use more of the drug to get the same effect that they used to. Second, removal of the drug results in withdrawal symptoms.

Evidence that users can develop tolerance supports the conclusion that there is definitely a potential for addiction. More support comes from the fact that cannabis users can undergo serious withdrawal symptoms, and the more heavily they have used cannabis, the more intense the symptoms tend to be. Symptoms include flu-like symptoms, excessive sweating, chills, and decreased appetite. Interestingly, these are quite similar to symptoms that accompany opiate and alcohol withdrawal. This is not really that surprising, because cannabis, like opioids and alcohol, is a central nervous system depressant.

On balance then, even with this more restrictive definition, the evidence seems clear. Cannabis can definitely be addictive. In fact, current estimates are that 1 in 11 users may use cannabis to the extent that they develop an addiction to it. There is of course, much more that can be said about this, but I hope what is here causes the reader to recognize the value of using cannabis in moderation.