How long till withdrawal effects are noticeable?

[Nailhead]

You guys who're so sure there aren't any withdrawal symptoms haven't done enough reading. Even though it's not a traditional drug of addiction like a narrcotic, cannabis still binds to nerve receptors and causes a chain of cellular reactions that create a high and other responses. Any substance that changes our neurochemistry, especially when it's been taken regularly, can cause some withdrawal effects when people stop taking it. It's not the same violent, craving-filled withdrawal that happens with drugs like poppy-based narcotics or stimulants, but it's type of withdrawal just the same. You see the same effect with Paxil, other SSRI antidepressants, and various other heart and neurological drugs that work by changing neurochemistry or neurotransmitters in other parts of the body. While the cessation of those drugs won't cause withdrawal in the same way that would happen with traditional drugs of dependence, people certainly can have withdrawal effects when stopping them. Headaches, lack of appetite and trouble sleeping are classic cannabis withdrawal symptoms that people report all the time.

Erowid, one one of the best sources available for unbiased information about cannabis, has a heading on the page I'm linking below called "Withdrawal Symptoms."
Erowid Cannabis (Marijuana) Vault : Effects

But some of what they list are not really true withdrawal symptoms, they have "finding non-stoned life a bit dull, increased boredom" as a withdrawal symptom, but come on, if you use that as a withdrawal symptom then you could say Soda has withdrawal symptoms such as: "dry mouth, less alert" relating to the fact that someone is simply not drinking it anymore, and not getting the caffeine high. But is that really a true withdrawal symptom?

I have a hard time believing something like "difficulty sleeping" is really a true withdrawal symptom of marijuana use. Rather, I'd say the user was most likely dependent on marijuana as a sleep aid, and without that sleep aid he/she had to adjust and get use to sleeping without it. So I don't really see the marijuana being the cause behind the difficulty sleeping. Or maybe my definition of withdrawal is incorrect, but I always assumed a true withdrawal symptom was something caused by not using the drug, not just a users adjustment to dealing with things such as difficulty sleeping, anxiety, headaches, etc., without that drug. Does that make any sense?

[orangeman]

Nailhead that is not true. Sometimes when I'm finally stuck with nothing to do I usually am more bored than I was before I started. Probably because I had something to fill in that boredom time, when I don't have anything to take that time up I almost feel like I'm gonna go crazy from boredom lol. But Dalfir I really don't even think you've been smoking long enough to face any serious withdrawal symptoms. Just don't get to a point to where you can be faced with them because it's really nothing fun to experience. Every body is different so they can speak for them selves but when I go through withdrawal it's not a pretty thing. Nothing violent just really messed up mood swings and appetite problems and I can't sleep and sometimes I feel very weak and get headaches.

[Nailhead]

^Which probably is true because I've never been a person that has had addiction problems. Despite alcoholism in my family I have never had a problem with drinking, I quit smoking cigs with relatively no problem, and of course never had an issue with any other drugs or substances. I do think some people are more likely to have issues with addictions, whether its a mental or physical thing I don't know, but I was just pointing out that some of those withdrawal symptoms didn't really sound like they were reactions from the body not getting its usual intake of marijuana. I don't see boredom as being a withdrawal symptom, if you are bored then that is just saying something about how you live your life. I doubt a very active person quitting marijuana would have the same problem, which is why I can't see that being a true withdrawal symptom.

I'm not saying there aren't withdrawal symptoms, I'm just saying there is a difference between what the body does when abstaining from cannabis, and someone just realizing without getting stoned they don't have much else to do, or that without a sleeping aid they have a hard time going to sleep. I know there has got to be some sort of scientific term to help me out with trying to explain what I'm talking about, but damnit I'm just not smart enough to know what that is lol

[zino11]

weed is not a drug its labeled that but its an herb no withdrawels trustme ive been smokin everyday heavy for two years and quit recently cause of probation im fine except my stress went back up but thats why i first started

[birdgirl73]

Check the link I posted above, Zino, from Erowid, which I'll place below, too. Simply scroll down to the heading that says "Withdrawal symptoms." You're filtering what you're saying through your own experience, and just because you haven't experienced withdrawal symptoms doesn't mean other people do not. Every body and brain are different, and some people do have those symptoms. A better term for them would be "cessation side effects" because, again, they're not classic craving-sick withdrawal like what occurs with narcotics. But in plenty of people, those symptoms do happen. I urge everyone to open up your minds and look past your own personal experiences on this. That's a skill that'll come in handy in your future lives in all sorts of areas.
Erowid Cannabis (Marijuana) Vault : Effects

[wayoftheleaf]

i went from an ounce every 4-5 days to absolutly nothing for two weeks. i want to smoke but i havn't had any withdrawl. i'm sure youll be fine.

[Dalfir]

weed is not a drug its labeled that but its an herb no withdrawels trustme ive been smokin everyday heavy for two years and quit recently cause of probation im fine except my stress went back up but thats why i first started

Dude, it's a drug. Don't kid yourself.

[beachguy in thongs]

In Entrez PubMed (covers the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences), studies show that at seven days of abstinence, symptoms of cannabis use are, pretty much, non-existent.

[chantoke]

some people use weed to self-medicate. if they stop self-medicating, and a medical condition comes back, an ignorant observer might attribute the problem to "withdrawal".

nailhead, your post is intriguing. i think it's similar to the debate that started the 'FDA conspiracy theory' (FDA conspiracy theories - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) or the same thought process that got roosevelt to create the organization in the first place.