marijuana is an addictive drug

Marijuana is a drug that is acquired from the cannabis plant. It is also referred to as cannabis and it is a psychoactive drug (Miller, Oberbarnscheidt and Gold 1). Marijuana is used for recreational or medical purposes. Across the world, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug and it is classified as Schedule 1 controlled substance. It alters the mood of a person and affects almost every organ in the body. The cannabis plant is normally dried out, ground up, and smoked. The drug comes in many forms and it can even be baked. In most instances, it is added in the ingredients for cookies and candies for it to be consumed. This produces the same effect as that of smoking it. Marijuana being a psychoactive drug alters perception. It contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a chemical compound that causes the effects of the drug (Uhl, Koob and Cable 8). People experience different effects when they consume marijuana and it also depends on how they consume the drug. When marijuana is smoked it produces a faster but short-lived high than when it is taken orally. The most common effects of marijuana are feelings of happiness, mild hallucinations, reduced anxiety, and increased appetite. The risk of overdosing on marijuana is low when compared to that of cocaine. Marijuana is also used for the treatment of chronic pain, anorexia, nausea, muscle spasticity, and sleep disturbances and in this case, it is referred to as medical marijuana. Medical marijuana contains either whole marijuana or the ingredients like cannabidiol (CBD) that forms the base of a limited number of approved medications. There is no government standardization for medical marijuana, which makes its ingredients and potency to be unknown.
When a person uses marijuana, cannabinoid receptors in the brain get activated by the neurotransmitter called Anandamide. THC blocks and mimics the natural actions of neurotransmitters like Anandamide to a point where the individual's body no longer produces sufficient Anandamide on its own. This causes the user's brain to be reprogrammed to require marijuana to feel normal. In case the user does not take marijuana the body will not get THC and the user will experience withdrawal symptoms due to the lack of Anandamide (Hefner, Starr and Curtin 129). This is what causes addiction to marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) have identified marijuana as an addictive drug. The drug causes physical dependence, which means the person cannot function properly without getting the drug. When the person has not had his or her daily intake they will become irritable, trouble sleeping, appetite loss, cravings, and restlessness. This is an indication that the drug is addictive. An addictive substance is any substance that causes the user to not function normally when they have not partaken of the substance. Addiction to marijuana mostly occurs due to the dependence one has on the drug. Dependence normally results in tolerance and with tolerance one needs to increase the amount of marijuana they take to achieve the desired effect (Wong and Lin 51).
Controlled and monitored usage of the drug will not lead to addiction. This is true since the body will not become used to the drug and there will be no blocking of neurotransmitters of the brain. However, this is highly unlikely since most users tend to consume the drug frequently, which causes dependence. There are recreational users who have managed to avoid being addicted, but the level of discipline required to attain this is high. Not many people have this kind of discipline. According to NIDA, 30% of users will develop an addiction to marijuana. Those who begin to use the drug below the age of 18 years seven times more likely to develop an addiction when compared to those who begin smoking after 18. Statistics have shown that fewer people get addicted to marijuana than cocaine. Since the potency of the drug is low, people tend to use it for recreational purposes and they do not get hooked to the drug. This is not the case for other drugs like cocaine. Therefore, there is a reduced risk of a person getting addicted to marijuana.
The NIDA has indicated there are rising cases of marijuana addiction currently. This could be due to the high potency of marijuana as detected in the samples they have confiscated. There has been a steady increase in the potency of marijuana over the past few decades. In the 1990s, the THC content of the drug was less than 4% (Ford et al. 259). However, in 2018 the potency was found to be more than 15%. There are samples that have shown marijuana extracts exceeding 80%. This is worrying and it could be the reason why there have been increased cases of marijuana addiction in the recent past.
In conclusion, while the risk of a person becoming addicted to marijuana is less when compared to that of other drugs the risk is still there. The chemical changes that take place in the body at the neurotransmitter level could be serious and one can end up losing the normal functioning of their neurotransmitters. This chemical change takes place over time and one will not notice it happening till the day they will not get their usual shot of the drug. Therefore, it is best to keep away from the drug and not to partake in it even for recreational purposes. People who support the usage of the drug will focus solely on the fact that it does not cause addiction if not abused. However, the usage of marijuana is only controlled by the user, which means that the person has to be quite controlled to not overuse the drug. Dependence can occur at any time and one will not realize it.


References
Ford, Benjamin M, et al. "Synthetic Pot: Not Your Grandfather’s Marijuana." Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 38.3 (2017): 257-76. Print.
Hefner, Kathryn R, Mark J Starr, and John J Curtin. "Altered Subjective Reward Valuation among Drug-Deprived Heavy Marijuana Users: Aversion to Uncertainty." Journal of abnormal psychology 125.1 (2016): 138. Print.
Miller, NS, T Oberbarnscheidt, and MS Gold. "Marijuana Addictive Disorders: Dsm-5 Substance-Related Disorders." J Addict Res Ther S 11 (2017): 2. Print.
Uhl, George R, George F Koob, and Jennifer Cable. "The Neurobiology of Addiction." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1451.1 (2019): 5. Print.
Wong, Su-Wei, and Hsien-Chang Lin. "Medical Marijuana Legalization and Associated Illicit Drug Use and Prescription Medication Misuse among Adolescents in the Us." Addictive behaviors 90 (2019): 48-54. Print.