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This article will provide a comprehensive guide to recognizing the signs and symptoms of weed addiction and offer practical steps and strategies for overcoming it.
Introduction
As more states have legalized marijuana, it has gained popularity as a recreational drug. In fact, 13% of adults use cannabis products regularly. However, as is the case with all drugs, there are potential long and short-term side effects that can be harmful and disruptive, as well as the risk of addiction.

If you or someone close to you starts to develop the signs of weed addiction, it’s important to know how to stop weed addiction and get the right treatment.
Understanding Weed Addiction
If you have asked, “Am I addicted to weed?” or “What are the signs of addiction to weed?” you are not alone. Today, daily marijuana use has become more prevalent than cigarettes.
What is Weed Addiction?
Weed addiction is any situation where your body is dependent upon weed to get through the day, where you have developed a physical addiction to it with uncomfortable side effects from withdrawal if you stop.
How Common is Weed Addiction?
Around 10% of those who start smoking weed will become addicted and need to learn how to quit weed addiction.
Signs and Symptoms of Weed Addiction
If you notice signs of an addiction to weed, you’ll need to figure out how to stop smoking weed when you’re addicted in order to allow the marijuana to leave your system. Prolonged marijuana use causes a buildup of certain elements and toxins in your body, and as soon as you stop smoking, you’ll experience withdrawals until such time that all the remaining toxins have been flushed from your system.
Physical Signs of Weed Addiction
Physical signs of an addiction to weed include the following:
- Increased appetite
- Excessive sleepiness
- Poor coordination
- Dry mouth
- Bloodshot eyes
Psychological Signs of Weed Addiction
The psychological signs of a weed addiction can include things like:
- Irritability
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Mood swings
- Poor judgment
- Poor responsiveness
- Indecisiveness
Behavioral Signs of Weed Addiction
The behavioral signs look very similar to other addictions and include things like:
- Being regularly absent or late to work or school without any explanation
- Experiencing decreased performance in personal or academic situations
- No longer having an interest in activities or hobbies that were once significant
- Lying or exhibiting secretive behavior about your activities and where you go
- Possessing and often hiding paraphernalia associated with weed
- Being unable to stop despite understanding the negative consequences
Emotional Signs of Weed Addiction
Many of the emotional signs of weed addiction overlap with the psychological signs and can include:
- Irritability or agitation that disrupts relationships
- Pulling away from friends and family
- Poor judgment in decision-making
- Dramatic mood shifts
- Changes to personality
Self-Assessment: Am I Addicted to Weed?
So, how can you determine if you are addicted to weed? Ask yourself some key questions, and don’t be afraid to use online tools and resources from medical facilities.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Do you regularly use more marijuana than you want or intend?
- Have you tried to reduce how much you use or quit using entirely without success?
- Do you experience extreme cravings for marijuana?
- Has marijuana use caused problems in your relationships?
- Do you continue to use marijuana despite the problems it causes?
- Is most of your time spent obtaining, using, or recovering from weed?
- Do you use weed while in dangerous situations like driving?
- Do you have to increase the amount of weed you use to get the same high?
- Have you started socializing less and less because you prefer to use weed?
- Do you experience withdrawals when you try to stop or reduce your weed use?
Using Online Tools and Resources
There are online tools and resources that can help you determine if you are addicted to marijuana and where to get help, such as the American Addiction Centers or HealthCentral.
How to Stop Weed Addiction
If you recognize the signs in yourself after asking, “Am I addicted to weed?” don’t hesitate to get help.

However, learning how to stop smoking weed when you’re addicted can be difficult on your own, and that is why it is important to seek professional help.
Seeking Professional Help
Figuring out how to quit weed addiction starts with admitting that you have a problem and then turning to professionals for help. When you work with professional therapists and treatment centers, they will start by helping you through your withdrawals with detox. The detoxification process can be painful and uncomfortable and comes with a risk of certain complications depending on your health.
With professional treatment centers, you will have constant supervision with medication to ease your discomfort during detox. You’ll also work with your team of professionals to develop a plan to quit. It’s not expected that you’ll learn how to stop weed addiction overnight, which is why you’ll learn to build a support system by way of individual and group therapy sessions. During these sessions, you’ll learn healthy alternatives and coping mechanisms to deal with things like stress or discomfort.
This is a highly personalized process. For some people, for example, they turn to weed when they are feeling stressed, in which case stress management techniques are very helpful alternatives. But for others, they turn to weed to relax, in which case relaxation techniques like meditation or full body relaxation might be viable alternatives.
How to Stop Smoking Weed When You’re Addicted
It is important to understand that relapse is a significant risk when you are struggling with addiction. Even if you relapse and end up using weed again, rest assured that this is a natural part of your long-term recovery process.
Don’t expect that having completed an inpatient or outpatient treatment plan for weed addiction will be enough. You might need help adjusting the way your brain chemistry works with long-term investments and things like transcranial magnetic stimulation, as well as healthy coping mechanisms.
A long-term strategy should be something in which you invest when you are trying to figure out how to stop weed addiction. These are things that, mentally, you need to accept as part of your long-term lifestyle changes rather than just a one-time change. This might include investing in emotional regulation, finding a new group of friends, changing your lifestyle habits, or even picking a new career.
Summing Up
Overall, the signs and symptoms of weed addiction center on your recognition of the harm it’s causing and your inability to stop despite this. Once your body has developed a tolerance, you’ll find that you need more and more weed to achieve the same high, or that you use weed more frequently, or even that you experience withdrawal symptoms whenever you try to quit. You can learn how to quit weed addiction with professional help today.