Oftentimes, people don’t think weed is addictive, that is until they face marijuana withdrawal symptoms. Weed, THC, and cannabis can be intoxicating and fun, it can soon lead to addiction as it becomes legally accessible causing withdrawal symptoms in the users. Marijuana use is becoming more prevalent in the United States with use of the drug decriminalized in many parts of the country.
While marijuana use is becoming less stigmatized, there’s still a chance use can progress to compulsive and problematic levels for some people. Long-term marijuana users are also highly likely to experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if they try to stop using the drug. This serves to make the early period of recovery from marijuana dependence especially challenging.
Now, you may think you could stop smoking or dabbing weed any time you choose, and you may also hold onto the idea that marijuana isn’t addictive like other drugs. This is understandable as there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the addiction potential of this substance.
According to NIDA (the National Institute on Drug Abuse), roughly 30% of people who use marijuana go on to develop either a dependency or a disorder with the drug. Under-18s using marijuana are 4 times more likely to develop a dependence on weed than older users. Luckily, there are marijuana rehab programs available to help those suffering.
Let’s look at some of the common withdrawal symptoms of weed.
Common Marijuana Withdrawal Symptoms
Withdrawal symptoms from marijuana are not life-threatening, so you have nothing to worry about however you decide to stop smoking.
The primary danger of withdrawal symptoms is the chance of relapse preventing someone who truly wants to stop using marijuana from doing so.
Typically, marijuana withdrawal symptoms last for no more than a week or two. In some cases of PAWS (post-acute withdrawal syndrome), symptoms linger for weeks or even months.
Everyone’s experience of cannabis withdrawal is different. Many variables come into play from your size and health to your tolerance and the length of time you’ve been smoking weed.
Here are the most common roadblocks you can expect to encounter in the first 24 to 72 hours after you stop smoking weed:
- Cravings for marijuana
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- Sleep problems
- Headaches
- Other physical symptoms
- Paranoia
Cravings for marijuana
Even though most regular marijuana users don’t believe they are addicted to the drug, the vast bulk of former users report feeling strong cravings for the drug in the early stages of abstinence. Often, it seems like life isn’t worth living without marijuana, but these feelings soon pass.
The frequency and intensity of cravings vary from person to person, but they feature as a withdrawal symptom for most habitual marijuana users.
Anxiety
Anxiety can occur as a result of both marijuana intoxication and marijuana withdrawal.
Marijuana is well-known for triggering low-level paranoia in users to the extent that even popping to the store can seem problematic.
Sometimes, anxiety can worsen when someone stops smoking marijuana. This is a natural part of withdrawal from the drug, but it doesn’t make it any easier if you’ve found yourself shifting from super-relaxed to edgy and anxious after stopping smoking weed.
If the anxiety persists after a week of discontinuing use, you should speak with your doctor. Occasionally, using marijuana can trigger an anxiety disorder. Alternatively, you may have had an undiagnosed anxiety problem before you started smoking marijuana.
Depression
Depression often accompanies cannabis withdrawal.
Regular and heavy marijuana smokers find that the drug masks emotions to some extent. Even if this is not something you’re aware of while you’re smoking, when you stop using marijuana, you’ll need to tackle these emotions head-on.
As you detox and your mind starts clearing, you may become acutely aware of how much time and money you’ve wasted on marijuana. As you begin frankly examining what using this drug has cost you, you may become deeply depressed as a result.
Instead of succumbing to these feelings, you should accept them as a normal and healthy part of recovery. Use those wasted opportunities as inspiration to help you bring about the positive changes you want to put into practice.
When feelings of depression linger for more than a couple of weeks, or if they start impacting your daily activities, you should seek help from your healthcare provider. Depression is treatable, but it seldom gets better left alone.
Irritability
You are quite likely to find yourself feeling irritable when you first stop using marijuana. This is normal when you make any substantial change in life, especially when it involves a psychoactive substance.
From outbursts of annoyance to excessive anger, and even aggression, this irritability is a normal withdrawal symptom.
Warn anyone you live with that you’re likely to experience mood swings and do what you can to avoid conflict. It’s the last thing you need when you’re trying to quit marijuana.
Sleep problems
Many marijuana smokers come to rely on weed as a nightcap.
Almost half of those who stop using marijuana report experiencing insomnia, disrupted sleep, vivid dreams, and night sweats during withdrawal from cannabis.
The good news is, once the marijuana has left your system and you start living without THC in your body, you’ll start sleeping more soundly than ever before. Restlessness and even occasional sleeplessness may persist for a few months, but once you’re out the other side, you’ll be sleeping like a baby every night without needing to suck down a bong hit to do so.
Headaches
Occasionally, headaches can occur for a few days after quitting marijuana. While these headaches can be intense, they’ll typically subside by the end of the first week of detox.
Other Physical Withdrawal Symptoms of Marijuana
Other physical symptoms can present, but they are usually less intense. They also peak sooner and fade more rapidly than the above laundry list of psychological side effects.
These can include:
- Changes in appetite
- Weight loss
- Weight gain
- Stomach pain
- Flu-like symptoms
3 Approaches to Quitting Weed
There is no single best way to quit weed. What works wonderfully for your friend might be useless for you.
Sometimes, the trial and error approach to quitting will show you what doesn’t work, leaving you to focus on a method that will.
We’ll present you with three strategies to stop smoking weed so you can see how you feel you would cope:
- How to Quit Smoking Weed Cold Turkey
- How to Quit Smoking Weed Gradually
- How to Quit Smoking Weed if All Else Has Failed
1) How to Stop Smoking Weed
What can you do if you need to quit smoking weed right now?
Maybe you have an upcoming drug test at work, or perhaps you have issues with your relationship, job, or schoolwork. You might even be facing legal issues as a result of marijuana.
Alternatively, you may feel that the all-or-nothing approach that led you to become dependent on marijuana would work when trying to discontinue use.
While the phrase “cold turkey” has negative connotations and associations with addiction to hard drugs, all it means is to abruptly stop using a substance.
Now, this strategy is likely to generate rapid results, but it’s also liable to trigger withdrawal symptoms. Given the inevitability of these side effects, you need a strategy in place to cope with cravings and to mitigate those withdrawal symptoms.
You might feel mentally prepared and ready to put down your joint and never look back. Is your body also ready for the changes it’s about to undergo, though? Even though THC can stay in your system for up to a month – this is what makes marijuana so problematic with workplace drug tests – this won’t be enough to stave off cravings if you’ve developed a tolerance for THC.
Prepare for cravings and marijuana withdrawal
In order to better prepare yourself for a weed-free life, ask yourself what role marijuana is filling in your life. From here, establish some alternatives to plug that void.
If, for example, you use marijuana as a sleep aid, you could try the following instead:
- Relaxing before bed with a warm bath and some gentle stretching or yoga
- Creating a soothing sleeping environment with blackout shades
- Eat less before sleeping to minimize issues with digestion
- Stay away from the blue light emitted by electronic devices before bedtime
- Keep the temperature of your bedroom between 60 and 67F. Make sure, too, that it’s well-ventilated
- Listen to some relaxing music
- Experiment with listening to white noise or binaural beats at bedtime
- Exercise for 30 minutes before 5pm daily so you’ll feel more tired
If you find you’re using marijuana to help you cope with stress at work, brainstorm using the same principle of finding superior and healthier coping strategies.
By thinking about these issues in advance, you’ll give yourself more chance of successfully navigating cravings for marijuana during those early and challenging days of recovery.
Remove the substance from your life along with all the paraphernalia
With your initial preparation in place, you should get rid of any marijuana in your possession, and you should commit to not buying any more.
If you live in a state where marijuana is legal, or you hang out with lots of people who use the drug, you’ll need iron resolve.
Delete your weed dealer’s number from your phone and consider blocking it. If you’re reluctant to do this, perhaps you’re not yet ready to quit cold.
With the substance gone, you should also drive out all the accessories and paraphernalia you accumulated as a smoker. From weed grinders and bongs to lighters and pipes, get rid of anything that will induce cravings or tempt you to return to your old ways. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. You’re making a statement to yourself that you’re about to embrace a weed-free life. Don’t allow anything to hold you back.
Make yourself accountable for marijuana withdrawal symptoms
If you’re looking to quit weed, make full use of your friends and family if you feel this will strengthen your chances of success.
You may like the idea of quitting abruptly and then announcing it as a done deal. You may also try this approach and fail. Don’t be disheartened and don’t feel you need to go it alone. One important provision here, though: you can draw strength from others when you’re trying to make a change like quitting weed, but you’ll ultimately need to do this for yourself, not for the benefit of others. By removing marijuana from your life if it’s reached the stage of dependence, others will naturally benefit when you become weed-free once more.
If you feel your willpower slipping, check in with your accountability buddy and they could mean the difference between another weed-free day and slip away from your well-intentioned plan.
Create plenty of distractions
If you’ve been spending hours on end getting high, you are likely to find yourself with what seems like masses of time on your hands when you quit.
Whether you take up an old neglected hobby or you start something new, you should strive to fill your life with activities you enjoy to minimize cravings and to start re-establishing a healthier and more productive lifestyle than spending your days clouded by marijuana.
2) How to Quit Smoking Weed Gradually
Now, stopping abruptly, even with the proper planning, is not effective for all marijuana users. An alternative is to take a more gradual and tapered approach to quit.
We’ll walk you through a less extreme way of moderating your usage and then stopping completely if that’s your end goal.
How much weed do you smoke?
You’ll need an accurate idea of how much weed you’re currently using.
Perhaps you smoke a gram of weed on weekdays and 2 grams daily on the weekend. Write this down.
While it’s the quantity you’re interested in here, you should also consider writing down the amount you’re spending on weed. Calculate how much you spend weekly, monthly, and yearly on weed along with all related expenses. Sometimes, this alone is enough to inspire you to put down the pipe for good.
Now you have a solid idea of how much you’re smoking, it’s time to think about reducing your consumption gradually.
How much do you plan to cut down?
You should be realistic when you’re deciding how much you can reduce your consumption.
If you opt to slash the amount you smoke in half, be prepared for withdrawal symptoms in the form of strong cravings.
Instead, be methodical and realistic. Draw up a workable plan and stick to it.
Set a quit day
Now’s the time to decide when your tapering will be complete and you’ll be ready to start living weed-free.
You should create milestones every 3 to 5 days when you’re reducing the amount of weed you smoke. Without these markers, it’s too easy to backslide.
Resist the temptation to set this quit day too far in the future or you might struggle to stay motivated.
Be flexible
When you’re deciding how much to cut down your consumption, you may find you’ve been too ambitious. Don’t lose heart, but instead adjust your plan and react accordingly. Adapt to the major changes you’re going through rather than relapsing at the first sign of discomfort.
Focus on food and hydration
If you’ve been smoking weed heavily, you may find that your diet has suffered.
You could also find that when you stop smoking weed, your appetite seems to have diminished. If you find this is happening, eat mechanically for a while. By this, we mean simply eating at regular times (breakfast, lunch, dinner) so you can reintroduce a balanced diet even if you don’t really feel like food. Start with small portions and your body will soon normalize.
Drink at least 2 liters of water daily to flush your system of all the toxins.
Learn from your mistakes and be prepared to try again
If you try the above and fail, try again. When you do so, learn from what went wrong and adjust your plan to suit.
How about if you really feel unable to stop smoking weed, either gradually or abruptly?
Well, don’t lose hope, there is still a way to quit…
3) How to Quit Smoking Weed If All Else Has Failed
For many habitual weed smokers, quitting seems easy on paper.
If you feel you’ve exhausted all your options for quitting weed, have you considered speaking to a professional?
Marijuana Rehab at Renaissance Recovery
While there’s still much debate over whether marijuana is addictive, there’s no doubt that many users become dependent to the extent that quitting with outside help seems unmanageable. Luckily, that help is at hand here at Renaissance Recovery.
You could take advantage of virtual outpatient programs if you need some structure and external assistance to stop smoking marijuana.
Regular outpatient programs for addiction can also be tailored to help you quit weed.
If all else fails, residential rehab could help you to get back on track. Through a combination of counseling and talk therapy like CBT, you could rediscover life without weed quicker than you imagined. Call us today at 866.330.9449 if you can’t do this alone.
