Jordan P. Davis, Douglas C. Smith.
Heavy users of cannabis who experience withdrawal symptoms such as
nervousness and cravings when they quit are likely to use again sooner
than their peers, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of Illinois found that 85 percent of
people who met the criteria for a diagnosis of cannabis withdrawal
during their intake assessment for treatment lapsed and used cannabis
again within about 16 days, while other individuals stayed abstinent
about 24 days before using again, said lead author Jordan P. Davis, a
doctoral student in the School of Social Work.
The 110 young adults in the study sample were near-daily users who
consumed cannabis on average about 70 of the 90 days prior to entering
drug treatment. Participants who experienced withdrawal symptoms
reported an average of two symptoms, such as mood disturbances (48
percent), difficulty sleeping (40 percent) and restlessness (33
percent), according to Davis and co-author Douglas C. Smith.
Whether cannabis use leads to physiological dependence and withdrawal
symptoms when users quit has been a topic of fiery debate for years
among people who oppose -- and those who favor -- more liberal marijuana
laws, said Smith, a professor of social work and an expert on substance
abuse issues.
For the first time, the American Psychiatric Association included a
code for cannabis withdrawal in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders when it published the fifth and most recent volume of
the manual in May 2013, Smith said.
Withdrawal symptoms typically begin within one to two days after a
heavy user abruptly stops, and a patient must report experiencing at
least three symptoms to be diagnosed with cannabis withdrawal under the
DSM-5's criteria, Smith said.
A major implication from this study is that reducing the waiting time
between users' initial assessment and the start of treatment could be
highly beneficial for cannabis users who are experiencing withdrawal,
Davis said. Immediate treatment that helps former users cope with
withdrawal symptoms could help extend the period that they stay off
marijuana.
"For people to be included in the study sample, they had to be using
at least 45 days out of 90 days prior to entering treatment and had to
have made an attempt during the preceding week to quit or cut down,"
Davis said. "So they are what we would consider a pretty severe
population.
However, we excluded people who used other illicit drugs or
who were binge drinkers, to ensure that any withdrawal symptoms reported
by our participants could be attributed to cannabis and not to other
substances."
More than half -- 53 percent -- of the participants had been
diagnosed with lifetime cannabis use disorder, indicating that they had
incurred serious social and medical consequences from using the drug,
including intense cravings and increased tolerance for it, Smith said.
"Prior studies have found that it's very rare for marijuana users to
have physiological withdrawal symptoms, such as the muscle aches or
delirium tremens" that severe alcoholics or heroin users experience when
they quit, Davis said. "With cannabis, we know that the symptoms are
mainly psychological and very short-lived, typically lasting from two to
seven days."
"Marijuana is tricky because it stays in your body so long," Smith
said. "Highly addictive substances such as heroin have short half-lives
and leave the body quickly, whereas marijuana is stored in the fat cells
and can be excreted in a person's urine for up to a month -- or even
longer if you're a heavy user."
Marijuana's long half-life and users' reports of primarily
psychological withdrawal symptoms have fueled the longstanding
controversy among clinicians and researchers about whether physiological
dependency and withdrawal symptoms actually occur.
"This study shows that people who met the new criteria for marijuana
withdrawal in the DSM-5 had a harder time initiating abstinence, so we
do need to be concerned about people who are telling us they have these
withdrawal symptoms when they first try to quit," Smith said.
Most of the cannabis users in the study were being treated as
outpatients. Heavy users of the drug often have familial histories of
substance abuse, which may increase their difficulty of staying
abstinent, the researchers said.
No comments:
Post a Comment