Thousands of Americans enroll into rehab every year to cure their addiction to marijuana. This drug can be psychologically and physically addictive. Chronic marijuana use can cause serious social and health problems. Therefore, if you think someone close to you is hooked onto marijuana, read on to learn how to detect it.
Physical Signs
Common physical symptoms of marijuana addiction are food cravings, fatigue, short-term memory loss, increase in heart rate, dry mouth, bloodshot eyes and dilated pupils.
Look for Paraphernalia
Check for small seeds, rolling papers for cigarettes, or pipes. Marijuana smokers can utilize even used soda cans to make bongs. Check also for incense, which can be used to mask marijuana odor, and eye-drops to treat bloodshot eyes.
Watch Out for Slang
The user may refer to marijuana as boom, ganja, skunk, reefer or use similar slang words. Marijuana also has street names such as chronic and Texas tea.
Check Social Behavior
Drug users may stop social interaction as they become more and more addicted. After a while, marijuana addicts may need more quantity of the drug to get the same ‘high’. Therefore, their life may start to center around how to get and use more marijuana. This could isolate addicts from their peers.
Psychological Symptoms
Common symptoms include mood swings, social withdrawal and depression. Overdosing can cause anxiety, delusion and psychosis. These symptoms can be forerunners of destructive behavior. Therefore, urgent medical attention is required.
Give Useful Advice
Help the addict by talking to him/her. Marijuana users may not know how to quit, even though they may desire it. As informed earlier, regular marijuana use can cause physical and psychological addiction. As a result, the addict often needs personal help to understand the serious nature of his/her addiction and to overcome it.
Offer Rehab Help
Convince the person to start rehab as soon as possible. If he/she is unwilling to join a rehab program, arrange for a therapist to intervene and help the addict recognize the implications of his/her addiction. The therapist can even help chalk out an effective quitting program.
