Is Marijuana Addictive?
YES. THE FACTS ON MARIJUANA ADDICTION, WITHDRAWAL, AND RECOVERY
Is marijuana addictive? Yes. Marijuana addiction, which doctors call cannabis use disorder, affects 19.3 million Americans, nearly one in three people who use the drug, and half of the teenagers who do. The industry says otherwise. The science, the federal data, and millions of families say it is real, and so is recovery.
- SAMHSA · NSDUH
- NIDA
- CDC
- JAMA Psychiatry
- The Lancet Psychiatry
- JAMA Network Open
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- JAMA Neurology
- WHO
- Monitoring the Future
- Gallup
- Psychological Medicine
- Marijuana addiction is a recognized medical diagnosis. In 2025, 31 percent of past-year users met the criteria: 19.3 million Americans, up from 14.2 million in 2020.
- Starting young is the biggest risk factor. Half of teen users already meet the criteria, and people who begin before 18 are four to seven times more likely to become addicted.
- Today’s marijuana is far more addictive than the marijuana of the 1990s. THC potency has quadrupled, daily use is at a record, and marijuana addiction is rising while alcohol addiction falls.
- Withdrawal is real: nearly half of regular users get irritability, insomnia, anxiety, and cravings when they stop.
- Recovery works. Treatment is available, the brain heals, and stopping is protective at any age.
What is marijuana addiction?
Marijuana addiction is what the medical manuals call cannabis use disorder. It is listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 and in the World Health Organization’s ICD-11, and it is diagnosed the same way as alcohol or opioid addiction: by a pattern of use that a person cannot control despite the harm it causes. Two or more of the following in a year is a diagnosis. Six or more is severe.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s position is plain: marijuana use can lead to a substance use disorder, and in severe cases that disorder takes the form of addiction. Brain imaging of users shows structural changes in the reward center consistent with addiction, and a 2022 study found the risk of cannabis use disorder rises as THC potency rises.
How many Americans are addicted to marijuana?
19.3 million Americans aged 12 and older met the criteria for marijuana use disorder in 2025, according to the federal government’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That is 31.4 percent of the 61.6 million people who used marijuana that year, and it is up from 14.2 million in 2020. Among young adults 18 to 25, it is one in seven. Only alcohol addiction is more common, and the gap is closing: a 2026 analysis in JAMA Psychiatry found marijuana addiction rising sharply among adults while alcohol use disorder held flat or fell.
Marijuana addiction has grown by five million Americans in five years
Americans aged 12 and older meeting clinical criteria for cannabis use disorder in the past year, in millions
Source: SAMHSA, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2020 to 2025. Compiled in SAM’s Impact Report 2026-27.
For the first time, more Americans use marijuana daily than smoke cigarettes daily
Americans aged 12 and older reporting daily or near-daily use, 2025, in millions
Source: SAMHSA, 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Daily use is the strongest predictor of addiction.
Marijuana addiction is rising while alcohol addiction is not
Share of U.S. adults reporting two or more symptoms of cannabis use disorder, 2021 versus 2024
Source: Han et al., JAMA Psychiatry, August 2026. NSDUH analysis of 186,823 adults. Moderate-to-severe cases rose from 3.1 to 4.1 percent of men and 1.7 to 2.5 percent of women; alcohol use disorder held flat or fell.
Teens aged 12 to 17 who met the criteria for marijuana addiction in 2025: 50.3 percent of teen users, compared with 31.4 percent of users overall.
SAMHSA, 2025 NSDUH
Increase since 2017 in adults aged 40 to 50 meeting the threshold for disordered marijuana use, from 3.3 to 6.5 percent. Daily use among adults 19 to 30 hit a record 12 percent.
Monitoring the Future Panel Study, University of Michigan, August 2026
Share of American adults who now smoke marijuana, versus the share who smoke cigarettes. Marijuana smoking has more than doubled since 2013.
Gallup, August 2026
Young adults aged 18 to 25 met the criteria for marijuana addiction in 2025.
SAMHSA, 2025 NSDUH
Share of past-year marijuana users who use daily or near-daily, compared with the share of past-year drinkers who drink daily. Only heroin has a higher daily-use rate among drugs surveyed.
SAMHSA, 2022 NSDUH
Increase in days of marijuana use per capita in the United States between 2008 and 2022, from 2.3 billion to 8.1 billion days a year.
Caulkins, Addiction, 2024
Marijuana is the most common primary drug for adolescents entering substance-use treatment in the United States.
SAMHSA, Treatment Episode Data Set
Even as more young people in legal states need treatment for marijuana addiction, fewer are receiving it.
Mennis et al., 2023
Why today’s marijuana is more addictive
Addiction risk rises with dose and frequency, and both have exploded. Average THC in seized marijuana quadrupled between 1995 and 2022. Concentrates, vapes, and dabs run 55 to 99 percent THC. Most of the research on addiction risk was done on a weaker drug than the one sold in dispensaries today, which means the true risk is likely higher than the studies show.
Vaping is now the fastest-growing way teens use marijuana, and frequent vaping is growing faster than occasional use. THC vapes deliver more THC, faster, than the joints of the 1990s ever did.
THC potency has quadrupled, and concentrates are in a different league
Average THC content by product and year
Sources: DEA potency monitoring via NIDA (2024); Chandra et al. (2019); NIDA (2020). Compiled in SAM’s Impact Report 2026-27.
Of the legal marijuana industry’s revenue comes from daily and near-daily users, the people most likely to be addicted. Like Big Tobacco, the business model depends on addiction.
Colorado Department of Revenue, Market Size and Demand 2017 update (2018)
Share of teens who use marijuana who use it daily, compared with the share of teens who drink who drink daily.
SAM Impact Report 2026-27, from Monitoring the Future
A 30 percent THC product delivers roughly three times the THC of a 10 percent product, even after users adjust how much they take.
Xu et al., European Journal of Health Economics, 2025
Who is most at risk of marijuana addiction?
Teenagers, above everyone. The brain keeps developing until about 25, and THC acts on the system that wires it. Every large dataset points the same direction: the younger the start and the higher the potency, the higher the odds of addiction. For where teen use is rising and why, see Youth Marijuana Use.
People who begin using marijuana before age 18 are four to seven times more likely to develop marijuana use disorder than those who start as adults.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Increase in marijuana use disorder among 12- to 17-year-olds in states after recreational legalization.
Cerdá et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2020
Adults randomly given a medical marijuana card had “increased incidence and severity of CUD” with no significant improvement in pain, anxiety, or depression.
Gilman et al., JAMA Network Open, 2022
Users aged 16 and 17 are more likely to have severe cannabis use disorder than adult users.
Lawn et al., 2022
The risk of developing cannabis use disorder increases as the THC level of the product increases.
Petrilli et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, 2022
Higher risk of cannabis use disorder among people with ADHD, a population the industry markets “focus” products to.
Froude et al., 2024
Of past-year “medical” marijuana users aged 40 to 60 met the criteria for marijuana use disorder. A medical card is not protection.
University of Michigan, 2026
Higher odds of a past-year opioid use disorder among people who started marijuana before age 15, with similarly elevated risk of heroin injection.
Washington University School of Medicine, Addictive Behaviors, 2026
Legalization is a risk factor in its own right. More stores, higher potency, and normalized daily use produce more addiction, and the increase shows up first in teenagers. “Medical” use is not a safe harbor either: a 2026 meta-analysis of 54 randomized trials in The Lancet Psychiatry found cannabinoids do not effectively treat anxiety, depression, PTSD, or psychosis, and warned that routine prescribing increases cannabis use disorder.
What are marijuana withdrawal symptoms?
The industry’s favorite line is that you cannot get physically hooked on marijuana. A meta-analysis of 47 studies and 23,518 people found that 47 percent of regular users experience a withdrawal syndrome when they stop. The DSM-5 recognizes it. The symptoms usually start within a day or two, peak in the first week, and can last two weeks or more.
The heavier the use, the more likely withdrawal
Share of marijuana users reporting withdrawal syndrome, by setting
Source: Bahji et al., JAMA Network Open, 2020. Pooled prevalence across all settings: 47 percent.
What marijuana addiction does to people
Addiction is not a lifestyle choice with no victims. The largest studies, most of them from Canada’s universal health records and U.S. hospital systems, show what follows when marijuana use becomes a disorder: more mental illness, more emergency visits, more cancer, and more death.
Marijuana addiction and mental illness travel together. More than half of adults with marijuana addiction had a mental illness in 2023, and youth with cannabis use disorder face higher risks of schizophrenia and depression than youth addicted to other drugs.
Risk of death by suicide within five years among people who received hospital care for marijuana addiction. Overall mortality was nearly three times higher.
JAMA Network Open, 2025. 11.6 million Ontario residents.
Higher risk of a dementia diagnosis within five years among adults over 45 who needed hospital care for marijuana.
JAMA Neurology, 2025. 6.1 million Ontario adults.
Of adults with marijuana addiction had a mental illness in 2023, compared with 39.4 percent of adults with alcohol addiction. 24 percent had a major depressive episode, versus 8.5 percent of all adults.
SAMHSA, 2023 NSDUH
Increase in emergency visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, the cycle of violent vomiting caused by heavy long-term use, from 4.4 to 22.3 per 100,000 ED visits between 2016 and 2022. Ages 15 to 24 carry the highest burden. “Complete abstinence” is the only reliable cure.
JAMA, August 2026; CDC, MMWR, August 2026
Higher risk of later schizophrenia among youth with cannabis use disorder compared with youth with other substance use disorders, plus 30 percent higher risk of recurrent major depression.
Johns Hopkins, American Journal of Psychiatry, 2026. 740,000 medical records.
The risk of lung cancer among people with cannabis use disorder, in the largest U.S. study of its kind, with the risk persisting after excluding tobacco users.
Lung Cancer, 2026. 149,632 matched pairs.
Marijuana-related emergency department visits in the United States in 2023, up 11.5 percent in two years. In Nevada there are now more ER visits for marijuana than for opioids.
SAMHSA, Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2024; Soh et al., 2024
Schizophrenia cases among young men that could be prevented by preventing marijuana addiction. Marijuana dependence also predicts later alcohol and nicotine dependence.
Hjorthøj et al., Psychological Medicine, 2023; Shephard et al., 2023
“Users lost jobs, lost marriages, lost houses, lost money, lost time.” Addiction’s everyday cost, in the words of a reporter who interviewed dozens of people living it.
Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 2019
See Marijuana and Mental Health for the full psychosis, depression, and suicide evidence.
Marijuana addiction is treatable. Recovery is real.
People recover from marijuana addiction every day. Withdrawal passes. Memory, attention, and mood improve within weeks of stopping. Behavioral treatments that work for other addictions, including cognitive behavioral therapy, contingency management, and motivational enhancement, work for this one too. The hardest part is usually the first step: admitting that a drug everyone calls harmless has taken control.
Marijuana addiction is real
Why SAM talks about it, and why the industry does not.
Jordan’s story
A young man on how marijuana took over his life, and how he got it back.
Ben’s story
Addiction, recovery, and what he wants other families to know.
Need help now? SAMHSA’s National Helpline is free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day: 1-800-662-4357. Find treatment near you at findtreatment.gov. Peer support: Marijuana Anonymous. In an emergency, call 911 or 988.
Parents and families: the Parent Action Network connects you with others who have been through it.
“Marijuana isn’t addictive.” Who says so, and why.
The claim comes from the people selling it. Big Tobacco spent decades telling Congress that nicotine was not addictive while its own scientists wrote memos that said otherwise. Big Marijuana runs the same play: dispensary marketing calls THC “natural” and “non-habit-forming” while the industry’s revenue depends on the daily users who are most likely to be addicted.
61.6 million Americans used marijuana in 2025, and the share who use daily has climbed with it. The World Health Organization’s 2026 technical brief concluded that commercialization has made marijuana more harmful, and a 2026 Lancet Psychiatry review found commercial legalization is associated with increases in cannabis use disorder. The federal government’s own research agency says marijuana is addictive. The American Psychiatric Association says so. The World Health Organization says so. 19.3 million Americans say so. The only dissent is from the industry, and it has a financial reason to dissent.
What SAM is calling for
- Potency caps. Vermont and Connecticut cap concentrates at 60 percent and flower at 30 percent. Every legal state should, and none should sell 99 percent THC to anyone.
- Addiction warning labels on every THC product, modeled on tobacco, stating that marijuana is addictive and that the risk is highest for people under 25.
- Treatment funding tied to sales. Any state that sells marijuana should fund adolescent and adult treatment from marijuana revenue, and report how many people enter it.
- A ban on “non-addictive” marketing claims, enforced by state attorneys general the way tobacco claims are.
- No federal rescheduling that tells the public a drug 19.3 million Americans are addicted to has been declared less dangerous.
- Close the hemp loophole so intoxicating THC is not sold in gas stations to teenagers with none of the above.
Where to go next
Take the DSM-5 list above honestly. Two or more is a reason to talk to a doctor. Call 1-800-662-4357.
Join the Parent Action Network for the warning signs and how to talk to your teen.
Download the one-pagers and book a SAM training.
Read the 2026-27 Impact Report. Every figure has a primary source below. Interviews: info@learnaboutsam.org.
Marijuana addiction: frequently asked questions
Is marijuana addictive?
Yes. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Health Organization all recognize marijuana addiction (cannabis use disorder). In 2025, 31 percent of Americans who used marijuana in the past year met the criteria, 19.3 million people, and among teenagers who use it the figure is 50 percent.
How many people are addicted to marijuana?
19.3 million Americans aged 12 and older in 2025, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, up from 14.2 million in 2020. That includes 1.1 million teenagers. Among young adults 18 to 25, about one in seven has a marijuana use disorder, and addiction is rising fastest among adults over 35.
What are the symptoms of marijuana withdrawal?
Irritability, anxiety, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, restlessness, depressed mood, and physical symptoms such as headaches, sweating, and stomach pain. About 47 percent of regular users experience withdrawal. Symptoms usually begin within one to two days of stopping, peak in the first week, and fade over two to three weeks.
Can you get addicted to edibles, vapes, or dabs?
Yes, and the risk is higher. Addiction risk rises with THC dose and frequency. Vapes and dabs deliver 55 to 99 percent THC, many times the potency of the marijuana studied in the 1990s and 2000s.
Why do people say marijuana is not addictive?
Because the industry says so, and because older, weaker marijuana produced milder withdrawal that was easy to dismiss. Big Tobacco made the same claim about nicotine for decades. NIDA’s director said in 2026 that “the notion that cannabis is not addictive may basically be incorrect.”
Is marijuana addiction treatable?
Yes. Cognitive behavioral therapy, contingency management, and motivational enhancement therapy all have evidence for cannabis use disorder. Withdrawal passes within weeks, and thinking, sleep, and mood improve after stopping. SAMHSA’s free helpline, 1-800-662-4357, can connect you with treatment.
What is cannabis hyperemesis syndrome?
A condition caused by heavy, long-term marijuana use in which people suffer repeated cycles of severe nausea and vomiting, often relieved only by hot showers. About 6 percent of past-year users report symptoms, emergency visits for it rose fivefold between 2016 and 2022, and the CDC reports the highest rates among people aged 15 to 24. The only cure is stopping marijuana.
Marijuana is addictive. 19.3 million Americans, and half of the teens who use it, are living proof. Get the facts to the people who need them.
Download the Impact ReportJoin the Parent Action NetworkMarijuana and Mental Health
Sources
- SAMHSA. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2020, 2023, and 2025 detailed tables (2025: 61.6 million past-year users; 31.4 percent with cannabis use disorder; 50.3 percent of users aged 12 to 17).
- Han B, et al. Trends in cannabis use disorder and alcohol use disorder among U.S. adults, 2021 to 2024. JAMA Psychiatry. August 2026.
- Monitoring the Future Panel Study, University of Michigan. National data on substance use among adults ages 19 to 65, 2025. August 2026.
- Gallup. U.S. marijuana smoking ties record high at 17 percent, surpassing cigarettes. August 2026.
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Cannabis use disorder among young people linked to psychiatric disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2026.
- Washington University School of Medicine. Early onset of cannabis use and risk for opioid use disorder across two decades in the United States. Addictive Behaviors. 2026.
- University of Michigan. Cannabis use disorder among past-year medical cannabis users aged 40 to 60. 2026.
- JAMA Insights. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. JAMA. August 2026.
- International Journal of Drug Policy. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome prevalence and risk factors in the U.S. 2026.
- Lung Cancer. Association of cannabis use and lung cancer: a retrospective cohort study. 2026.
- The Lancet Psychiatry. Efficacy and safety of cannabinoids for the treatment of mental disorders and substance use disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 54 randomized trials. 2026.
- The Lancet Psychiatry. International cannabis policies and their association with cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, and other psychiatric outcomes. 2026.
- World Health Organization. Technical brief on cannabis. August 2026.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Cannabis (Marijuana) Research Report: Is marijuana addictive?
- Hasin DS, et al. Prevalence of marijuana use disorders in the United States between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015;72(12):1235-1242.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5): cannabis use disorder and cannabis withdrawal.
- Bahji A, et al. Prevalence of cannabis withdrawal symptoms among people with regular or dependent use of cannabinoids: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(4):e202370.
- SAMHSA. Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), adolescent admissions by primary substance.
- Mennis J, et al. 2023. Treatment admissions for cannabis use disorder in states with recreational legalization.
- NIDA. Cannabis potency data, 2024; Chandra S, et al. 2019; NIDA 2020.
- Xu et al. European Journal of Health Economics. 2025. THC intake by product potency.
- Colorado Department of Revenue. Market Size and Demand for Marijuana in Colorado, 2017 Market Update. August 2018.
- Monitoring the Future, University of Michigan, as compiled in SAM’s Impact Report 2026-27.
- Cerdá M, et al. Association between recreational marijuana legalization in the United States and changes in marijuana use and cannabis use disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020.
- Gilman JM, et al. Effect of medical marijuana card ownership on pain, insomnia, and affective disorder symptoms in adults. JAMA Network Open. 2022.
- Di Forti M, et al. The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2019.
- JAMA Network Open, 2025. Cannabis use disorder and mortality (Ontario, 11.6 million).
- JAMA Neurology, 2025. Cannabis-related acute care and dementia risk (Ontario, 6.1 million).
- CDC. Trends in Emergency Department Visits Involving Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome Identified Using a New Diagnosis Code, United States, January 2023 to May 2026. MMWR. August 6, 2026.
- Hjorthøj C, et al. Association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia stronger in young males than in females. Psychological Medicine. 2023.
- Lowrey A. America’s Invisible Pot Addicts. The Atlantic. January 23, 2019.
- U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Testimony of Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, 2021 (cited in SAM Impact Report 2026-27).
- Volkow ND, et al. Adverse health effects of marijuana use. New England Journal of Medicine. 2014.
- Gilman JM, et al. Cannabis use is quantitatively associated with nucleus accumbens and amygdala abnormalities in young adult recreational users. Journal of Neuroscience. 2014.
- Petrilli K, et al. Association of cannabis potency with mental ill health and addiction: a systematic review. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2022.
- Keyes KM, et al. Cannabis vaping among U.S. adolescents. Addiction. 2022.
- Lawn W, et al. 2022. Adolescent versus adult cannabis use and severity of cannabis use disorder.
- Froude AM, et al. 2024. ADHD and risk of cannabis use disorder.
- Caulkins JP. Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022. Addiction. 2024.
- Shephard et al. 2023. Marijuana dependence as a predictor of alcohol and nicotine dependence.
- SAMHSA. Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2023 findings. 2024. Soh et al., 2024 (Nevada).
- Twohey M, et al. As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms. New York Times. 2024.
- SAM. Lessons Learned from State Marijuana Legalization: Impact Report 2026-2027.
