I recently received an email from a reader whose life is basically under good control but who keeps slipping back into old habits when he attempts to quit cannabis for a few months to assess if his use impacts him in ways he is unaware of. He wrote to ask for guidance on how he could successfully stop using cannabis. After reading both of my books on cannabis (From Bud to Brain and Marijuana on My Mind: The Science and Mystique of Cannabis), he understood how the impact of frequent cannabis use on cognition, emotions, and relationships can be subtle enough to be difficult to recognize but pervasive enough to be important. The simplest way to explore whether any effects exist from your cannabis use is to take a vacation from use for 2-3 months. If this is not possible, the likelihood cannabis has a hold on your brain becomes even more clear.
I understood the reader’s difficulty and responded with the following advice, which I now am sharing more broadly in this blog post:
1. Our brain is altered by THC and CBD, which produces precisely the experience people like. However, too frequent cannabis use has a cumulative effect on the number of our functional cannabinoid receptors. This results in a deficit of receptors in between times we are high, and this deficit explains the ongoing impact of too frequent use. “Too frequent” is different for different individuals but may be as often as once a week for some people.
2. There are five signs you're using cannabis frequently enough to leave an ongoing deficit of receptors, and all are experienced as the opposite of being high (see 5 Signs of Using Cannabis Too Frequently for more detailed descriptions).
3. Search your experience honestly and note any of these five signs of using too frequently. Your brain’s cannabinoid receptors can take up to six weeks to return to their normal number. It is premature to assume any anxiety or insomnia during the first few weeks of abstinence is necessarily a sign of an underlying anxiety or sleep disorder. Insomnia, for example, is the longest-lasting withdrawal symptom and can last a full six weeks. When an underlying anxiety or sleep disorder does in fact exist, symptoms will persist and need thorough medical evaluation to recommend their proper treatment.
4. In addition to reducing your cannabinoid receptors, too frequent use can also prime the brain’s reward center to reflexively motivate you toward using cannabis when anxious or under stress. Counteracting this reflexive turning to cannabis requires developing interests and pleasures other than cannabis that you can turn to when the urge to use occurs. Get busy and get connected to other people during times of craving. Investing in interests that give a sense of purpose and meaning is especially useful. Sometimes people continue using simply because they have not developed the psychological tools and skills for self-soothing. Without psychological tools for dealing with stress and anxiety, we are more likely to resort to chemical tools — cannabis.
5. If you plan to stop using cannabis, you are more likely to succeed if you make yourself accountable to a few trusted friends. Let them know when you quit and promise them you will check in twice a week to honestly report what has happened. Even better is if you can connect with someone who has already successfully quit cannabis. If you don’t know anyone who has gone before you, check online for the nearest Marijuana Anonymous meeting. The people there have a lot of experience that can be useful.
6. You may have fewer withdrawal symptoms by cutting your use in half for 5-7 days, then cutting it in half again for another 5-7 days, before totally abstaining.
7. It is helpful to construct barriers to your use. Get rid of all cannabis in your home. Choose a time when you will be busy, or away on vacation. Set a quit date and tell your partner or a close friend the date you intend to quit.
8. Finally, there are some reports that a supplement called N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is associated with success in quitting cannabis when given to people in a structured treatment program. I tell you this for what it is worth, which is still uncertain. What is certain is that tobacco cessation products, including Zyban (Wellbutrin), have not been shown to be useful in quitting cannabis.
Quitting cannabis can be as difficult as quitting tobacco, with many withdrawal symptoms being equally severe. The benefits of quitting are different for everyone, but one benefit is common to everyone. Quitting is the only way to know for sure how your cannabis use is impacting your life.
Good Luck. The harder it is to quit, the more important it probably is for you to keep trying. Consulting an addiction professional or entering a treatment program may eventually be necessary for some. Whatever is required, success is worth the effort.
Practical Advice on How To Quit Cannabis
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17.04.2024
I recently received an email from a reader whose life is basically under good control but who keeps slipping back into old habits when he attempts to quit cannabis for a few months to assess if his use impacts him in ways he is unaware of. He wrote to ask for guidance on how he could successfully stop using cannabis. After reading both of my books on cannabis (From Bud to Brain and Marijuana on My Mind: The Science and Mystique of Cannabis), he understood how the impact of frequent cannabis use on cognition, emotions, and relationships can be subtle enough to be difficult to recognize but pervasive enough to be important. The simplest way to explore whether any effects exist from your cannabis use is to take a vacation from use for 2-3 months. If this is not possible, the likelihood cannabis has a hold on your brain becomes even more clear.
I understood the reader’s difficulty and responded with the following advice, which I now am sharing more broadly in this blog post:
1. Our brain is altered by THC and CBD, which produces precisely the experience people like. However, too frequent cannabis use has a cumulative effect on the number of our functional cannabinoid receptors. This........
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