Your Questions About Medical Cannabis Answered

​​Is Marijuana Addictive? 
How addictive is marijuana? 
How addictive is marijuana compared to other drugs?

Let’s talk about that big ‘ol scary concern that comes to mind when you think about marijuana...addiction. 

First question that probably comes to your mind is...is marijuana addictive? Yea, marijuana does have the potential for addiction just like most other drugs and medications.

Now, exactly how addictive is marijuana?
In a study done in 1994, the researchers surveyed about 8000 people aged 15 to 54 who specifically reported using marijuana to get high, the dependence on marijuana was found to be 9.0% - 1 out of every 11 people.

Obviously, these folks were using what’s considered toxic doses of marijuana. We’ve yet to know what the dependence rate is in patients that are using therapeutic doses of marijuana. I imagine it’s less than the recreational users.

The statistic will make better sense to when compared to dependence on other commonly used substances like, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.

How addictive is marijuana compared to alcohol?
In the same study that I mentioned, amongst the 15 to 54 year olds who drank on average more than 12 drinks in a year, the dependence on alcohol was found to be 14.1% - 1 out of every 7 people.

How addictive is marijuana compared to tobacco?
Again in the same study, amongst 15-54 year olds who at some point in their lifetime smoked tobacco on an every-day basis, the dependence on tobacco was found to be 24.1% - 1 out of every 4 people.

How addictive is marijuana compared to caffeine?
According to Dr. Jack Henningfield who once worked at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, (what’s also known as NIDA), on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the most serious and 6 being the least serious, he rated dependence on caffeine as a 5 and dependence on marijuana as a 6.

More specifically, compared to marijuana, 
It’s more difficult to stop using caffeine 
You’re more likely relapse into using caffeine again
A greater percentage of people are more likely to become addicted to caffeine 
More people report a need to use caffeine
More people continue to use caffeine in the face of evidence that it causes them harm

Overall, based on the particular study that I discussed, marijuana certainly has less of a likelihood of dependence compared to alcohol and tobacco. Per Dr. Jack Henningfield, marijuana has less of a likelihood of dependence compared to caffeine.

In case you’re wondering what exactly constitutes dependence, here’s some more info.

At the time that this study was done, the American Psychiatric Association had established the following criteria to define substance dependence. Any patient that met at least 3 of the criteria for at least 1 month was considered dependent on the substance. 

Substance is often taken in larger amounts or over longer period than intended
Persistent desire or one or more unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to get the substance (e.g., theft), taking the substance (e.g., chain smoking), or recovering from its effects
Important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced because of substance abuse
Continued substance use despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent social, psychological, or physical problem that is caused or exacerbated by use of the substance
Marked tolerance: need for markedly increased amounts of the substance ( less than 500/ increase) in order to achieve intoxication or desired effect, or markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount
Characteristic withdrawal symptoms


Keep in mind that these criteria were defined back in 1987. The criteria have since changed.


Research Referenced:

Comparative Epidemiology of Dependence on Tobacco, Alcohol, Controlled Substances, and Inhalants: Basic Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey: http://bit.ly/2gKGTqC

Cannabis in Medical Practice: A Legal, Historical and Pharmacological Overview of the Therapeutic Use of Marijuana: http://bit.ly/2fEbM3W

A comparison of DSM‐III‐R, DSM‐IV and ICD‐10 substance use disorders diagnoses in 1922 men and women subjects in the COGA study (see Table 1): http://bit.ly/2gl9buQ

Read the full article about marijuana addiction: http://www.drrachnapatel.com/is-marij...

Learn more about medical marijuana: http://drrachnapatel.com

DISCLAIMER

The information in this video and on the website (http://www.drrachnapatel.com) is for educational and informational purposes only. It should not take the place of seeing a physician and should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease. It also does not establish a physician-patient relationship between you and Dr. Patel. Individual results may vary. The information contained in this video and on the website (http://www.drrachnapatel.com) has not been evaluated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).