Another research team has found that withdrawal from marijuana use is not only real, it can cause significant functional impairment to performing every day activities. The study also confirmed that marijuana withdrawal symptoms can be severe enough to cause users trying to quit to relapse.The more a person smokes marijuana, the more severe their functional impairment during withdrawal, the study found.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales studied a group of 49 marijuana users who were diagnosed as dependent on cannabis. They recorded the impairment the pot smokers faced during a two-week period of abstinence. They also recorded the subjects' level of marijuana use one month later.
Symptoms Can Cause Relapse
Lead researcher David Allsop found that in the more dependent users certain withdrawal symptoms were more likely to cause relapse than others. Those symptoms included sleep problems, anxiety, depression, mood swings, physical tension and loss of appetite.
Other symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and fatigue were less likely to cause relapse.
Other studies have found that marijuana withdrawals were significant enough to cause relapse, but the Allsop study also found that withdrawal from cannabis can be severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Allsop suggests that strategies to treat marijuana users trying to quit should focus on those withdrawal symptoms most likely to cause relapse.
"Tailoring treatments to target withdrawal symptoms contributing to functional impairment during a quit attempt may improve treatment outcomes" says Allsop.
Take the Quiz
What happens when you quit smoking marijuana? Do you have withdrawal symptoms? How severe are they? Take the Marijuana Withdrawal Quiz.
Source: Allsop DJ, et al. "Quantifying the Clinical Significance of Cannabis Withdrawal." PLOS ONE 26 September 2012.
More About Marijuana Withdrawal:
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I have consumed cannabis everyday for about 6 months then stopped (cold turkey) for another 2-3 months without any withdrawal symptoms on two separate occasions. I stopped because of the tolerance that is associated with daily consumption.
The withdrawal symptoms that are mentioned in the report are mostly due to the consumer going back to what could be called baseline. Cannabis does enhance sleep, increase appetite, reduce stress related anxiety and depression, all are reasons why one would consume cannabis in the first place – save increased appetite for borderline obese people.
The use of the word dependence is troubling, because it connotes control in the physical sense – like opiate addiction. These, so called, withdrawals are due to the active constituents metabolized and eliminated from the body. The stress is caused by the realization of returning (mentally, spiritually) to a hyper-real demanding and often negative social construct.
If we are able to observe our society from a distance we would see that we live in a rather obtuse manner that is a substantial mental and physical impairment to a more natural state of well-being. Cannabis is a means to bring about a temporary respite from our “dog eat dog” existence while expanding our conscious relationship with our world.
I am on my second day of abstaining from consuming cannabis – not an issue for me. I guess I am not like the pool of 49 (such a small sample considering the millions that consume cannabis) that were part of this subjective study.
This is just more prohibitionist propaganda disguised as science. I have been part of communities of cannabis consumers since the late ’60s. The worst “withdrawal” symptoms I’ve observed have been a few days of irritability, lowered appetite, and sleep disturbances. I’ve seen far worse when people with a three-cup-a-day coffee habit stop drinking it.
I frequently quit for days, weeks, or months when circumstances require it. The worst I’ve ever experienced are two nights of partial insomnia.
There is no addiction. Someone may have to get used to not consuming cannabinoids, and the absence will expose the things it was treating- it is not “withdrawals.”
I call bull. There is no such thing as withdrawal from marijuana. Everyone knows this. This article is nothing but a scare tactic.
if anything the withdrawal they talk about, is probably from the use of tobacco with marijuana, rather than the marijuana itself.
Why will they quit smoking
The solution is never quit keep smoking weed And you will never have these withdrawals
Works for me
To compare Marijuana addiction to say Nicotine addiction is preposterous. I have gone through both and Nicotine withdrawal is by far more debilitating; physically and mentally. Physically nicotine withdrawal is horrible; you shake and get cold sweats and at time you can’t even move of how tense your body becomes when your at a peak of a craving. Marijuana withdrawal is like missing an old friend you used to talk to everything when coming home from work; you miss it more than anything else but it doesn’t have that physical affect that nicotine has. As with anything that you use on a regular basis when you stop you will feel something, it’s only natural, just not what people describe as withdrawal, I would call it feeling estranged in regards to Marijuana.
This is stupid weed is going to be legal one day theres nothing that can stop it, look what happend to alcohol and your saying that the withdrawls from that are not 10 times worse Liberal idiots!
More propaganda.. I smoked super high grade medical grade cannabis for over 20 years. I got caught and put on probation. The withdraws were nothing.. for about 2 weeks I had problems going to sleep..
This is nothing like the withdraws I felt from quitting tobacco. OH MY! Once off Tobacco I felt suicidal, homicidal and couldn’t even function or think.. I could barely drive my car all i thought about was tobacco it impaired me worse than a alcohol drunk.
For over 2 months I sweated out that toxic tobacco slime from my system. in comparison i’d have to say cannabis(marijuana) withdraws were NOTHING COMPARED TO TOBACCO WITHDRAWS!
“Those symptoms included sleep problems, anxiety, depression, mood swings, physical tension and loss of appetite.”
Sounds more like you’re grieving then withdrawal.
No comparison to tobacco or for that matter caffeine The withdrawal from tobacco and caffeine is bad, I would never consider using these 2 substances again. Marijuana, you might miss it, you keep busy, time heals all, sounds like grieving to me.
what a waste of time and money; to find out pot withdrawal is a bit bothersome. which is something no one has ever denied. AS ADDICTING AS COFFEE; is what’s been said. had they even checked to see if pot had more of a correlation to the drug below it “coffee”, or the drug directly above it “tobacco. did they just think no pot being an annoyance = no tobacco, or did they think people – coffee= rays of sunshine.
49 people? You only studied 49 people and published this? Utter junk science.
As a glaucoma patient, my cannabis withdrawal symptoms include intra-occular pressures that are dangerously high. In other words, it ain’t gonna happen.
Nothing like the killer headache I get from caffeine withdrawal if I go without coffee for a day!
Many of the comments here are based on personal experiences. That’s fine. But, they think their experience with weed must be the same for everyone else. Pretty small thinking. Maybe due to smoking a little too much weed. The effects of marijuana, like all drugs varies with the user. The amount and frequency of use have a great deal to do with whether one experiences withdrawal symptoms or not. I have worked with many people whose use of marijuana has caused serious problems with, school, employment and important intimate and social relationships. What causes problems is a problem. For those people.
For those who are happy with their use, keep on smoking. I’m sure there will be no adverse effects…
I have quit after 15 years and its been 7 days. To put it mildly I feel like complete crap can not function and want to die. I have every symptom you can think of. So all you people must be crazy.
what concerns me about th e indicvidual comments here is that there does not appear on the whole a concern about the effects of weed on others. I see profound effects on a daily basis of whole communites being destroyed due to epidemic weed usage. For some people weed obviously does not have too bad an effect however, step out of your individual worlds and try to appreciate the profoundly negative effects weed is having particulalry on Aboriginal communites and the general community.
this is not anti weed propoganda it is an attempt to deal with issues effecting negativel in many cases the users and their communities.
you guys are all full of it how can u speak for everyone based on your experience, when i quit smoking weed i didnt sleep for 3 days i had sever anxiety to the point where i went into psychosis because my brains chemicals were so unbalance from quitting cold turkey so speak for yourself not every, Goof
Most of these comments are from very personal experiences, which are only marginally true for the population as a whole.
I don’t think there is an substance abuse doctor on the planet that would compare marijuana dependencies/withdrawals to the severity of caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, alcohol, or opiates. But without a doubt marijuana dependencies and withdrawal symptoms DO exist. The phrases “weed isn’t addicting” & “marijuana has no withdrawals” are just untrue statements.
to Micky:
“I see profound effects on a daily basis of whole communites being destroyed due to epidemic weed usage.”
- What effects do you see on a daily basis? I am very curious as to what you could possibly say.
“…profoundly negative effects weed is having particulalry on Aboriginal communites and the general community.”
What profoundly negative effects?
Um… what aboriginal communities? Are you talking about native Americans? Because to me “profoundly negative effects”, are things like… smallpox, and the manifest destiny… not anything-you-could-possible-say-involving-marijuana.
Micky I really hope you respond
Withdrawal symptons are very real for many people. My husband has smoked cannibis for 33 years on a daily basis so was heavily addicted. He gave up 3-4 weeks ago and it has been hell. To the point where our 15 year marriage is on the rocks. We have 3 small children and it’s affecting us all. He can’t sleep and when he does has terrible nightmares and wakes up in a big sweat. He is so moody and can’t tolerate anything. He is falling out with people. Every morning before he goes to work I hear him in the kitchen swearing under his breathe about anything and everything, it sucks, and I wait for him to leave before I get up and get the kids ready for school.
All those people who say withdrawal symptons are a load of crap are wrong – just because you, or anybody you know hasn’t suffered these symptons, doesn’t mean others are the same.
I don’t know the age of the previouse commentators but to argue that you can’t be physically addited,or any other way addicted is either being in denial, or you yourself are not experiancing the withdrawal. To say this is Bull is just plain negligant and acting on behalf of oneself instead of looking at the studies and seeing the negative effects of marijuanna chronic use, and the effects on peoples lives. Also the people who have to live with the addict.and the heart ache they have to endure. Be more responsible and if you have something to say back it up with proof man.
You guys dont smoke enough to make it into the list of 49. When you are getting up at least twice a night to smoke a bowl so you can get back to sleep then you qualify as addicted or dependent.
I have quit nicotine, cold turkey, no problem. Cocaine cold turkey no problem. How hard was it to quit something that tasted bad, cost a lot of money and did not get me high? One of the easiest things I have ever done. Cocaine was slightly more difficult but all I had to do was remind myself of the constant need for more and the lack of satisfaction that brings about and again, no problem. Physical withdrawal symptoms are easy.
I am on hour 6 without a bowl? Everything feels pointless. Everything IS insignificant, and all I need to do to fix that feeling is smoke one little bowl and my brain will be flooded with chemicals that make my insignificant existence much more enjoyable simply because I will lack the awareness to realize my insignificance.
The lack of sleep, combined with the dreams of every person you love dying is also pretty difficult to deal with. Its like weed silences every subconscious worry and abstinence brings them to the forefront. Funny because this is made worse by lack of nutrition and sleep which are two of the main problems with quitting smoking.
Also nausea occurs, which again I normally use weed to cure. It is better then any other nausea treatment, no matter why your stomach is upset, weed will cure it. The hangover that occurred the one time I managed to abstain for two weeks is what made me relapse.
Another big thing is indica vs sativa. I smoke a lot of indica which makes withdrawal symptoms much much worse. If i switch to a sativa for a few days I will feel slight withdrawal, and after a week of use I notice many improvements in my mood. Its like weening yourself off. My guess is the withdrawal symptoms have more to do with the cbd then the thc.
ROSE. you need to help your husband. Weed makes us think everything will be ok. It is our safety net. You need to be there for your husband instead of the weed. He needs to realize everything will be ok because he has you and your children. Weed makes it so we can put up with life, a person to love and children makes it so life is worth living…..
Marijuana withdrawals are real, if I hear someone call what im going through fake they’re getting hit
It is very irritating to see people on here saying there are no withdrawal symptoms as I lie here in bed tossing and turning with an annoying headache along with hot and cold flashes. I don’t care what you’ve heard, because when you go from being constantly high day in and day out to completely sober, it is a shock to your system. And I’m experiencing the VERY REAL effects of quitting weed. Surely, they are not as bad as withdrawal from pills and alcohol, because your body isn’t chemically dependent on it, but it is VERY noticeable and certainly uncomfortable and stressful. Another thing I’ve experienced is nausea when trying to eat and extreme irritability. Don’t tell me it’s not addictive when I’ve told myself over and over that I need to stop, yet continue to spend bill money on it the minute I’m out, and no I don’t do any other drug. I have quit in the past with no noticeable symptoms like some of you (and my bf who is sound asleep beside me), but I had never smoked as habitually as I have for the past year and every one is different. These symptoms don’t make me want to relapse but strengthen my resolve to quit.
Two years ago I quit smoking cigarettes, and I can say that although I am not CRAVING weed as badly as I did nicotine, I am physically feeling worse than I ever did during the first weeks of quitting cigs. Do some research other than what you have heard all your life and you will realize I, by far, am not the only one.
I Only started smoking pot 7 months ago, ive tried to stop on and off. But this time i have really dedicated myself to quit.
Except the withdrawal symptoms are extreme!
- gain appetite at dinners
- loss appetite from morning to dinner.
- extreme high and lows of motivation
- hearing voices
- seeing shadows
- hearing echos
- seeing pixels
- mood swings
- emotional
- weak
- pimples
- drained easily.
- loss of smell
- bad eye sight
- loss of taste
- bad hearing
this may be because all my senses are returning back to me.
but i would really consider that if you are willing to quit. you make sure you keep busy, occupy yourself, and dont even think about smoking,,, you will only disappoint yourself… all that pain and effort for nothing.
atleast now i can have a proper conversation with someone and actually function and think they are the pros!
the cons are: i miss that concentration feeling when high, anytime i wanted to get stuff done.
32 years old. Been smoking weed almost everyday for over 10 years.
If I stop for a day I go crazy.
I go through 5-6 grams a day. If I’m not at work, I’m smoking at least a cone every hour.
You can definately suffer withdrawals from weed. Especially when you become a chronic smoker.
Those who say you don’t get withdrawals from weed, please speak for your ignorant selves and not for the rest of us.
I used to smoke alot then stopped but every once in awhile I would have a little bit…..but Is it just me….. I have a tendency to space out alot and can never focus on anything for long but after I smoke a bit I can focus better and not space out for a couple days I am good then I go back in to a unfocused state of mind…so my question is it the pot that helps me focus or just me?
Im withdrawing right now, and i’m happy, no depression, no anxiety, lovely sunny day, big smile on my face, we are all different, all individual, and it all effects us differently, i fear withdrawal everytime i give up, and it never happens. I usually stop for a month or two if i’ve got no cash, or i’m busy. the reason i usually start again is lack of withdrawal, I’v had problems with every drug under the sun, had awfull time giving up with illness’ etc, but pot seems very diferent to me, the hardest thing I ever gave up was Alcahol.
My husband I smoked FOREVER and I think it depends on the person. I was ok but he was a mess. Crying, angry, breaking things, elated. His moods were enough to get me back on the sauce! Ugh.
Those claiming marijuana withdrawal doesn’t exist are likely not smoking heavily enough to experience it. Co-dependent psychological issues could also be a factor in my case. My personal experience, as I’m going through it right now (the reason I stumbled across this article): I’ve cultivate MJ for the last 6 years. My primary strain was RezDog Seeds 2005 ChemDog crossed with Satori from Mandala Seeds and bred out to an F5 stock. Phenotypes were chosen for very specific reasons, anxiety relief primary with pain relief as a secondary. You would call it an indica leaning hybrid. I’ve been to ICMag’s Cannabis cup twice, and found that even cup winning strains only matched mine for potency. I have severe sleep issues, and am lucky to get 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I would smoke roughly twice an hour, 24 hours a day, around a 1/4 to 1/2 an ounce a day (generally out of a Volcano, occasionally a bowl or joint). I’ve smoked this amount for 6 years, and up until Monday (currently Thurs) haven’t gone over 24 hours without smoking. I’ve been a daily smoker, to a lesser extent, for over a decade. Today is my fourth day abstaining. My current symptoms include:
(below)
-Terrible night sweats: last night I changed my sheets once, my boxers twice, and my GF slept in a different bed. In the morning my mattress itself was damp and sheets soaked.
-Unbelievably vivid and memorable nightmares. I can tell you exactly what happened, who was in it, the expressions on faces, etc. Mostly revolved around my GF and dog dying. Prior to the last few days I can’t remember the last time I had nightmares, or could remember them to this extent.
-Lack of appetite.
-Weight loss. I lift weights religiously and eat a keto diet, and am in great shape. I’ve been a consistent 6’3″ 200lbs for years. In 4 days I’ve lost 9lbs.
-What I can only describe as “electric shocks” in my head. Moving it too fast causes a rush of nausea and a feeling of electric “fuzziness.”
-Constant headache that isn’t alleviated with NSAIDs.
-Nausea & vomiting.
-Dizziness, with hard angles appearing soft.
-Lack of concentration. I’m typically a quick typist and this post has taken far longer than it should.
-Irritability
As these symptoms are rather similar to the flu, I saw my GP earlier in the week. Negative. Quitting MJ has been the only change (albeit a major one) in my lifestyle. Again, this is only my personal experience. However, to call other people’s experiences “preposterous” and “propaganda” is in itself preposterous. You have no idea what another person feels. I was a pack a day smoker for a decade and am an alcoholic; neither affected me nearly this negatively when quitting. I would gladly trade nicotine cessation for this. Again, YMMV. To quote the physicist Richard Feynman, “It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.” In my experience MJ withdrawal is very real, and very debilitating.
I do agree however that a 49 person experiment is not even close to adequate.
what ever happened to moderation? ive been smoking for 15 yrs and yes if you quiit cold turkey you will feel awful. keep a little on hand is my advice. having nights sweats and keep waking up? have 1 not 2 not 10!!! have one toke. breathe easy and start over. day by day it will get easier. come down the latter slowly. your brain and everyone around you will appreciate it. have the discipline to ween off slowly. dont be so hard on yourself. take a day at a time. slowly but surely you can go from smoking an oz. a week to a cpl tokes a day… then to a toke to set u straight… to hopefully nada. it will only ruin you if you allow it to.
Marijuana withdrawal is DEFINITELY REAL. I am going through it right now…it feels how I imagine heroin withdrawal would be. CAN’T EAT, have to force myself by plugging my nose to at least get something down to stop the severe nausea. Constantly feel like I’m gonna puke even though my stomach is empty.
Maybe those who haven’t experienced withdrawal don’t smoke enough. I smoked the past 10 years, 3-5 times a day. I never want to feel like this again. It’s so hard not to go buy some more just so I can feel hunger again