Cannabis: taking stock

This guide is psychoeducational content. It does not replace a consultation. If you hear voices, feel watched or persecuted, or if those close to you find your words strange, see a doctor promptly: see section 16. If you have repeated vomiting that goes on, seek medical advice; it may be an effect of cannabis itself. If you are thinking about dying, call your doctor the same day or, in immediate danger, the emergency services. Allow thirty minutes to read.

1. Before you begin

Perhaps you smoke in the evening, to relax or to sleep. Or from the moment you wake, without thinking about it. Perhaps nothing worries you, but someone made a remark. Perhaps you tried to stop and sleep brought you back.

Three things, straight away.

Taking stock commits you to nothing. You can read this guide without having decided to stop. Understanding your own use is already a change.

Cannabis is neither harmless nor diabolical. Many people use it with no visible consequence; some develop dependence, and certain effects are well established, particularly in people who start young and in those who use daily.

Stopping is easier when you know what to expect. Withdrawal exists, it is unpleasant, it is short. Cravings last a few minutes. This guide describes both.

Who this guide is for

For you if you use regularly and wonder where you stand.

For you if you want to cut down, or stop, alone or with help.

For you if you have already stopped and started again, and want to understand what happened.

What this guide is not

It is not a legal text: the status of cannabis differs from country to country, and this guide only talks about health.

It is not medical treatment. Some situations call for support, and the guide says which.

How it is organised

Part I — Understanding (sections 2 to 5). What cannabis does, where your use stands, what research says, and why stopping is difficult.

Part II — Deciding (sections 6 to 8). Measuring, weighing up the pros and cons, choosing between cutting down and stopping.

Part III — Taking action (sections 9 to 14). Preparing, getting through withdrawal, handling cravings, sleeping again, holding firm in risky situations, and understanding slips.

Part IV — Going further (sections 15 to 20). When cannabis hides something else, when to seek help, frequently asked questions, key points and sources.

2. What cannabis does

The main molecule

The main active ingredient in cannabis is THC. It acts on a system present throughout the brain, which takes part in regulating appetite, mood, sleep, memory and pain. That is why its effects touch so many areas at once.

Immediate effects

• Relaxation, euphoria, altered sensations.
• Hunger.
• Slowed reactions and coordination.
• Difficulty remembering what happens while intoxicated.
• Sometimes the opposite of what you were looking for: anxiety, racing heart, the feeling that others are judging you, more rarely ideas of persecution.

What has changed in thirty years

Analyses of products seized in several countries show that the average THC content has risen markedly over the decades, in herbal cannabis as in resin. A joint today is not a joint from the nineties. Someone who used when young and picks it up again at forty is not using the same product.

Tolerance

With regular use the body adapts: it takes more for the same effect, and the effect you were after — relaxation — gradually gives way to simply returning to normal. Many daily users no longer smoke to feel good, but to avoid feeling worse.

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