Is cannabis or marijuana addiction real? Contrary to popular belief, research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests that marijuana addiction in teens is even more common than in adults. At Destinations for Teens, we provide marijuana addiction treatment for teens that promote long-term healing.

TEENS ARE MORE LIKELY TO NEED MARIJUANA ADDICTION TREATMENT

According to Psychology Today, about 17% of teens who use marijuana develop an addiction. This figure is higher than the 9% of adults who use marijuana.

At first glance, these numbers seem low. However, consider that nearly 22 million people used marijuana in 2015. Even a small percentage of a large number is a lot of people.

What do these numbers mean? About one in six teens who use marijuana develop an addiction. It’s scary to think of how common marijuana addiction is.

At Destinations for Teens, we don’t take these numbers lightly. We know that marijuana abuse may continue to rise. As more and more states legalize the drug, the number of people who develop an addiction may also increase. These potential issues make teen treatment programs more important than ever.

MARIJUANA WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

If people can develop an addiction to a drug, they can experience various withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana is no different. People who use weed for a long time experience withdrawal symptoms such as:

• Drug cravings
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Sleeplessness
• Decreased appetite
• Irritability

These effects are common when people stop taking drugs because of the chemical imbalance in the brain. The longer they smoke weed, the more likely that they are to have an imbalance.

HOW TO SPOT MARIJUANA ABUSE

In most cases, teens won’t seek help themselves. The key to helping your teen overcome a weed addiction is to get help as soon as possible. Most of them don’t want to stop smoking weed because they don’t see it as a problem. In these cases, it’s up to parents to recognize signs of weed abuse within their children.

One of the first signs is a dip in academic performance. It tends to start small, but eventually, it can grow into failing grades. Declining grades are most noticeable in the subjects in which they excel. Dropping grades in the subjects in which they struggle don’t always indicate drug use.

Another sign is when teens start hanging out with different friends. They typically want to hang out with others who do drugs. In most cases, these friends are different from their usual hang-out group.

Lastly, teens start to lack interest in activities and hobbies that they used to love. For example, maybe they love to play football or other sports but suddenly don’t care anymore. This behavior is a sign that they have something else on their mind such as drugs.

LET DESTINATIONS FOR TEENS HELP YOUR TEEN BEAT DRUG ADDICTION

Just because marijuana abuse is common in people who smoke doesn’t mean that there’s no hope. At Destinations for Teens, we offer marijuana addiction treatment. Our goal is to help teens who have mental health problems such as addiction. Some of the teen substance abuse treatment options that we offer include:

• Residential treatment
• Outpatient treatment
• Teen partial hospitalization program
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Yoga therapy
• Family therapy
• Group therapy

Destinations for Teens also believes in helping families of teens who struggle with addiction. Treating the whole family improves everyone’s overall sense of well-being. Furthermore, many addiction and mental health problems start in the home. It’s our job to address those issues.

Don’t let people fool you into thinking that weed isn’t addictive. Get the marijuana addiction treatment that your teen needs today. Reach out to Destinations for Teens at 877-466-0620 for more information about how we can help.