Cannabis Withdrawal Symptoms in Teens

Although cannabis — commonly known as marijuana — is broadly believed to be nonaddictive, a study has found that 40% of cannabis-using adolescents receiving outpatient treatment for substance use disorder reported experiencing symptoms of withdrawal, which are considered a hallmark of drug dependence.

 The current study enrolled 127 adolescents between ages 14 and 19 being treated at an outpatient substance use disorder clinic, 90 of whom indicated that cannabis was the substance they used most frequently.  The commonly reported cannabis withdrawal symptoms reported were: anxiety, irritability, depression and difficulty sleeping.    Of the 90 cannabis-using participants, 84% met criteria for cannabis dependence — which include increased tolerance and use of cannabis, unsuccessful efforts to reduce or stop using, and persistent use in spite of medical and psychological problems made worse by cannabis. 

Interestingly the presence of withdrawal symptoms did not significantly impact the ability of participants to reduce their use of cannabis during the 12-month follow-up period.  The factor that did appear to make a difference was whether or not an individual recognized having a problem with substance use upon entering the study.  Participants who both reported withdrawal symptoms and recognized having a problem had a small but steady improvement in abstinence through the entire study period.

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