Since more and more people in Germany have been given the option of using cannabis for medical purposes, the statutory health insurance companies have had to deal with the issue. These may ultimately be the institutions that pay for the costs of the natural medicine and thus theoretically provide their members with it.
The Barmer Krankenkasse has therefore published a longer article on its website five years after the Cannabis as Medicine Act came into force, which deals with the possible consequences of the medical use of cannabis. In the article “Cannabis – how to become dependent and how the withdrawal works”, the authors of the Barmer Internet editorial team try to describe which signs point to an addiction and what patients can do against this possible consequence of prescribed consumption.
Danger potential of addiction development
Right at the beginning of the article, the authors point out that several factors must be present before entering a addiction to cannabis could guess. In addition, the withdrawal symptoms would be relatively low compared to other drugs, so that it would often be possible to break the habit at home. The dependence potential of the plant material used as a medicinal product or its extracts is not rated particularly high overall. However, should a certain addiction be felt on the part of the patient, counseling at addiction and drug counseling centers would be recommended.
Depending on the research situation, only two to nine percent of regular users would become dependent, whereby this is primarily characterized by the desire for more use of the natural healing substance, which is also understood as an intoxicant. The sooner use is started, the more likely it is that addiction will develop. For people who smoke weed every day, such a risk would be between 25 and 50 percent. It would be important to know why one would resort to cannabis. In the case of cannabis patients, there is evidence that one in six can develop such a problem, although the dependence is always very mild. This was found in a study with 186 patients.
withdrawal symptoms less severe
Since the active ingredients in cannabis accumulate in body fat tissue during the period of consumption and are then only released gradually, this can be seen as an advantage in the event of a possible withdrawal. For this reason, the phase after discontinuing the natural medicine is relatively smooth. Withdrawal symptoms are nevertheless not to be dismissed out of hand, but they should stop after about seven to a maximum of 14 days. The occurrence is to be expected after 24 to 48 hours after the last consumption.
According to Barmer, notable symptoms include sleep problems, restlessness and nervousness, decreased appetite, increased aggressiveness, possibly depression, anxiety, muscle tremors, sweating, a high temperature and chills. Gastrointestinal complaints, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting as well as headaches and visual disturbances are also mentioned. All of the symptoms mentioned do not pose any health threats, so it can only be mentioned that it is primarily difficult for dropouts to resist their own desire to continue consuming.
Discontinuation of cannabis as medicine must in any case be done in consultation with the treating doctor and under his control and completely individually, since the focus should always be on the disease to be treated, the possible alternative therapy options and the wishes of the patient. Finally, investigations showed that the severity of dependency in the context of therapy would usually be very low.