'I find it hard to sleep if I haven't smoked weed. Do I have a problem?'
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Q: I've been smoking weed on and off since I was about 13 and am worried I might be using it too much now. I find it really hard to sleep if I haven't had a smoke. Do you think this is a problem? Jo, 18. |
our online advisors reply:
Hi and thanks for contacting us. Weed or cannabis is believed to have no physical addiction but it can have a psychological addiction, which you may be experiencing.
Users often find that cannabis has a mild sedative effect. Generally cannabis makes people relax and if you have been using the drug to relax and sleep it is possible that you have built up a dependence. It may be that rather than the cannabis helping you to sleep, not smoking means that you cannot relax enough to sleep. Frequent users often find that they become edgy and irritable and are unable to relax when they are not using.
Regular users can become psychologically dependent and come to rely on using cannabis to get them through the day or night. It is not unknown for some people to use cannabis so frequently that they are almost constantly stoned.
However, it is possible over a period of time to regulate your sleep patterns and return to a more normal way of sleeping without the need of cannabis. This article from Malehealth gives advice about dealing with sleep problems.
For more information on cannabis and its effects, you might find the following websites useful:
- www.talktofrank.com/azofdrugs/C/Cannabis.aspx
- www.sorted4.info/html/400/434.html
- www.drugscope.org.uk/druginfo/drugsearch/
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