As an increasing number of states legalize marijuana for medicinal usage to qualified patients, as among the queries asked"Is medical marijuana addictive?" With opiate drugs being highly addictive if abused by important risks of overdose and withdrawal, it's necessary to either affirm bud having addictive attributes or to refute the idea. The solution is that medical marijuana might have a psychological dependence however it doesn't generate a physiological dependence so hence not an actual dependence.
Studies of marijuana users entire show a sizable majority don't become long-term users. In the 1990's, studies showed that although 31% of Americans 12 years and older had tried marijuana at some point, only 0.8 percent of Americans smoked marijuana on a daily or near daily basis.
It isn't unheard of for significant chronic marijuana users to register for a drug treatment plan for marijuana addiction. There's a substantial gap, however, between an dependence on bud and a legitimate dependence. Are there any signs of withdrawal when a heavy or regular person stops smoking? The solution is - maybe. Some people report nervousness and a few sleep disturbance - roughly 15 percent of their time. However, you don't observe the perspiration, nausea, hallucinations, vomiting, etc which is often viewed from narcotic withdrawal.
In animal studies looking at large dose bud management, however much of this medication is provided, creatures don't self administer the medication after cessation. Narcotics are another story.
Back in 1991, a statutory report by the US Dept of Health and Human Services said:"Given that the huge population of marijuana users as well as the rare reports of health issues from stopping use, dependence and tolerance aren't major problems at the moment."
The major point here is that marijuana can cause emotional dependency, but not bodily and physical dependence. Narcotics cause both and even when a patient can overcome the emotional attachment to the medication, the very simple actuality that the side effects are unpleasant may stop going"cold turkey" or even being able to stop in any way.
Happily marijuana doesn't behave in that manner. Even following long term heavy use, there's minimal if any physiological response upon cessation. Marijuana acts on the mind at a different pathway compared to opiate medications. This will allow medicinal marijuana being used to effectively reduce the number of opiates patients desire for pain management, and sometimes completely replace them.
Additionally, medical marijuana has a psychoactive effect of diminishing anxiety and enhancing mood. This can be different than opiates, in which patients can observe a decline in pain but in addition may observe a manic effect. This can help explain why many chronic pain sufferers will need to take anti-depressant drugs together with the narcotics.