Dr. Patricia Halligan and Dr. Laurence Westreich discuss whether or not marijuana is actually addictive.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Patricia Halligan:
So, is it addictive? I know in the past people laughed and thought it was a soft drug and didn't have a reputation for being addictive. Would you say that it's addictive now?
Dr. Laurence Westreich:
Absolutely. The DSM in 2013 added withdrawal to the list of a consequences of THC use. So it's very clear in the field that there is withdrawal from THC, that it is addictive. And not withstanding, all the advice that people give their friends or that sometimes our kids here in health class, certainly THC is addictive. The data are very clear that about between 9-15% of people who try marijuana will meet DSM criteria for dependence six months later. Now it's true that dependence on marijuana is different than dependence on opioids and less dangerous and less likely to cause a fatal outcome. Nonetheless, they meet criteria for dependence in the sense they're spending a lot of time getting it. They're letting go of responsibilities that they would otherwise take care of because of the drug. And they have sometimes withdrawal and tolerance to the drug. So it's real dependence. It's real addiction and it's real withdrawal.
Dr. Laurence Westreich Bio:
Laurence M. Westreich, M.D. is a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of patients diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs).
Dr. Westreich completed a residency in Psychiatry at New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center and a two-year fellowship in addiction psychiatry at New York University/Bellevue Hospital. He is board–certified in general psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry.
Dr. Westreich is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, and the author of Helping the Addict you Love (Simon and Schuster, 2007), and A Parent’s Guide to Teen Addiction (Skyhorse Publishing, 2017). Dr. Westreich is Past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and serves as Consultant on Behavioral Health and Addiction to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
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