Spring Break
Common withdrawl effects found for marijuana and nicotine
Alex Vockroth
Issue date: 2/7/08
A new study led by Ryan Vandrey at the School of Medicine shows that marijuana withdrawal is similar in intensity to withdrawal from tobacco products. Vandrey's study involved 12 people who used both drugs heavily and found that withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anger and sleep disturbances were common for both substances.
Although other studies on cannabis withdrawal have been conducted, Vandrey's is the first to directly compare the symptoms with those of tobacco withdrawal, which are recognized by the medical field.
Unlike tobacco, marijuana's withdrawal symptoms were not classified in major catalogs like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) until recently because of a lack of data, despite the fact that rehab admissions for the drug have more than double in the past two decades. This makes the new study particularly important.
In the study, participants endured periods of abstinence from each drug in a random order over six weeks and reported their symptoms using an objective scale. Another finding was that half of the subjects reported that quitting both drugs at once was more difficult than ceasing use of one drug at a time, but for the other six, the opposite was true.
The full study is available in January issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Although other studies on cannabis withdrawal have been conducted, Vandrey's is the first to directly compare the symptoms with those of tobacco withdrawal, which are recognized by the medical field.
Unlike tobacco, marijuana's withdrawal symptoms were not classified in major catalogs like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) until recently because of a lack of data, despite the fact that rehab admissions for the drug have more than double in the past two decades. This makes the new study particularly important.
In the study, participants endured periods of abstinence from each drug in a random order over six weeks and reported their symptoms using an objective scale. Another finding was that half of the subjects reported that quitting both drugs at once was more difficult than ceasing use of one drug at a time, but for the other six, the opposite was true.
The full study is available in January issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
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