Addiction and marijuana
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have tested the idea that marijuana is not addictive. Their results might surprise some marijuana users.
The researchers looked at data on 127 14- to-19-year-olds at an outpatient substance abuse disorder clinic. Ninety percent said marijuana was the substance they used most commonly.
Researcher John Kelly noted cases of withdrawal, as a classic sign of addiction.
“The common perception out there is that it is not addictive and that it can’t cause withdrawal. And this study shows the opposite – that it is addictive, people do meet criteria for addiction and it produces withdrawal in about half of the cases that present for treatment.”
The study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
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HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.