- Cannabis can be a helpful tool for people recovering from addictions to alcohol, opioids, nicotine, or illicit substances (like cocaine and heroin).
- While Cannabis Use Disorder is recognized as an addiction (and it is possible to become dependent on marijuana), patients can avoid this by seeking medically supervised cannabis treatment and using therapeutic products intentionally.
- Patients must dose precisely and do critical self-work to facilitate positive outcomes during medical cannabis treatment. The hard work pays off for countless patients.
If you’re looking to recover from an addiction (or you’re not sure if you’re ready to quit yet), you have options. One of them is medical cannabis treatment.
We know what you’re thinking. “Weed is a drug—if I’m trying to quit drugs (or alcohol, or nicotine, or opioids), why would I get hooked on another drug?”
This claim is based on two dangerous assumptions:
- Marijuana is a drug – While marijuana can be used for recreational purposes, it has powerful therapeutic properties. Cannabis is medicine, and it has been for thousands of years.
- Marijuana is addictive – Cannabis use disorder is real; however, it’s very avoidable. Patients can seek help from expert cannabis clinicians and employ intentional use practices to prevent dependence.
What does this look like for people looking to recover from an addiction? Read on to explore the potential role of cannabis in your recovery.
Medical Marijuana: An Option for Those Facing Dependence
How might you use cannabis to recover from your addiction? The answer will depend on the substance you’re addicted to. Let’s break down some of the most common substances you could kick with help from medical marijuana.
Alcohol
If you’re dependent on alcohol (or simply want to cut back), turning to medical cannabis could help you. Many medical marijuana patients have reported vastly improved quality of life after ditching alcohol for therapeutic cannabis.
Instead of thinking about how cannabis intoxication compares to alcohol intoxication, try to think deeper about the root cause of your alcohol consumption.
Many problem drinkers report that they’re trying to:
- Escape reality
- Numb the symptoms of a mental health condition
- Relieve social anxiety or “open up” in social settings
- Distract themselves from physical pain
Cannabis is so much more than an intoxicant: It can help you recover from the root causes of your addiction (chronic stress, mental health challenges, social anxiety, and physical pain). By eliminating the need to escape or distract yourself, you can stop relying on the substances you might use to do so.
Opioids
Opioids are powerful prescription pain relief drugs.
While they might work for decreasing pain for some patients, they carry dangerous baggage:
- They’re incredibly addictive
- They pose a substantial overdose risk
If you’re currently addicted to opioids, you might be worried about facing the chronic or acute pain you were trying to treat in the first place. By incorporating medical cannabis into your recovery, you can both improve your pain management outcomes and kick opioid dependence for good.
Cannabis is a strong pain reliever; both THC and CBD help countless patients improve their quality of life, decrease their pain, and support healthier lifestyles overall.
Nicotine
If you’re trying to quit smoking cigarettes or vaping nicotine, cannabis can offer a powerful harm reduction option.
There are two elements to consider when you quit nicotine:
- Nicotine is powerful – Nicotine is considered both a stimulant and a depressant. Whether you’re using nicotine to relieve stress, boost focus and performance, or both, you may feel the need to replace its effects with a healthier option—and medical cannabis can do that. Hybrid strains, in particular, offer a combination of stimulating and soothing effects that might help you find the focus and relaxation you currently crave from nicotine.
- Smoking can cause oral fixation habits – The sheer act of lifting your hand to your face and inhaling can be powerful and habit-forming—a behavior called oral fixation. If you’re having a hard time kicking the habit of smoking (rather than the stimulating and relaxing effects of nicotine), smoking cannabis instead of ingesting it might help you address oral fixation as you quit nicotine.
Illicit Drugs
On your quest to recover from addiction to substances like heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine, you face a steep hill—these substances are highly addictive and can be very difficult to quit.
As you approach recovery, consider why you started using these in the first place. To quell social pressure? Relieve stress? Avoid physical and mental symptoms? Like alcohol, illicit substances can offer an escape. Cannabis, however, can help you eliminate the need to escape to begin with.
While you can check out our complete guide to leveraging cannabis as a mental health recovery tool, here’s the gist of what cannabis can do during the recovery process:
- Cannabis creates a safe, serene space to think about, process, and move past automatic behaviors and emotional responses.
- When we have time to slow down and process our emotions and behaviors—the ones we’re trying to escape with substance use—we can unearth and work through events in our past that inform our present challenges.
- By intentionally processing and exploring our past, our behaviors, and our emotional responses, we can recover. Intentional cannabis use can help treat the root cause of our addictions.
Is Marijuana Addictive?
Let’s return to one of the complications posed in the introduction—isn’t marijuana addictive? Not exactly. Let’s dive into the nuances.
Cannabis Use Disorder
Cannabis use disorder is real. Anyone who continues to use medical or recreational marijuana to the detriment of their work, personal lives, finances, or relationships might be facing some degree of marijuana dependence.
Acknowledging this is crucial. However, cannabis use disorder is avoidable. The same tactics you’d use to recover from a cannabis addiction can help you avoid dependence—a convenient fact for people looking to overcome alcohol, opioid, nicotine, or illicit drug reliance on cannabis.
Intentional Use
Intentional use can make the difference between haphazard substance replacement and real recovery. It can also help patients prevent dependence on cannabis. What does intentional cannabis use look like for medical marijuana patients?
Medical Supervision
First, medical cannabis treatment should be supervised by a licensed, expert clinician with experience and knowledge about therapeutic marijuana applications.
Getting this professional support is simpler than ever before for a few reasons:
- You might need the recommendation to get access to medical cannabis – In states with medical-only cannabis legalization, patients need a healthcare provider’s recommendation for cannabis to apply for a medical cannabis card (or access their state’s dispensaries or pharmacies). To help patients meet this requirement, many states maintain lists and databases of providers authorized to recommend cannabis; this makes it easier for patients to find the expert help they need.
- Networks are expanding access – Online cannabis care networks like TeleLeaf actively connect patients with cannabis-informed, licensed providers who can both offer recommendations and support patients throughout their medical marijuana treatment.
With supervision and insight from a medical professional, you can create an intentional, healthy cannabis treatment regimen that works for your needs and lifestyle.
Precise Dosing
Your medical cannabis healthcare provider can help you create a precise, consistent dosing schedule that produces the effects you’re looking for at the lowest possible dose.
This can require some experimentation (which your provider can help you with). We’ve also compiled a complete guide to finding your perfect dose, and this step-by-step process can help you establish your first dose and adjust it as needed.
With an understanding of the dose of cannabis, you need to produce your desired effects, you can use marijuana consistently and with a clear objective—instead of constantly increasing your dose and chasing that temporary escape.
Self-Work
When you’re trying to avoid that never-ending pursuit of relief, you need to eliminate the need to escape in the first place—that’s where intentional self-work enters the picture.
Cannabis can help you create a safe, calming, or inquisitive mental space where you can use the following complementary exercises without overwhelm or fear of judgment:
- Journaling
- Somatic exercises, including:
- Full-body scans
- Acupuncture
- Ice baths
- Movement or exercise
- Talk therapies
- Creative pursuits
All of the above self-work practices can help you unearth the root causes of your addiction, parse these factors, and learn to move forward and past them. Medical cannabis is a tool that can help facilitate this process safely and productively.
Turn to TeleLeaf for Medical Cannabis Support
Recovering from addiction isn’t easy, but you don’t have to recover alone. If you’re considering pairing your recovery process with medical cannabis treatment, turn to TeleLeaf—the compassionate community of licensed providers who can help you find healing.
TeleLeaf partners patients with medical cannabis experts who can provide medical recommendations, help patients get their medical cards, and curate customized treatment plans.
Ready to discover how medical cannabis could help you recover? Schedule an appointment now.
Sources:
The University of Sydney. History of Cannabis.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/lambert/medicinal-cannabis/history-of-cannabis.html
Business Insider. I Gave Up Alcohol and Turned to Weed Instead, and Now I’m a More Present and Patient Parent.
https://www.businessinsider.com/gave-up-alcohol-for-marijuana-made-me-present-patient-parent-2021-7
University of Rochester Medical Center. Social Drinking vs. Problem Drinking.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=870
Mayo Clinic. How Opioid Use Disorder Occurs.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/how-opioid-addiction-occurs/art-20360372
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US Overdose Deaths Decrease in 2023, First Time Since 2018.
https://www.cdc.gov/
GoodRx. Using Cannabis for Pain Relief.
https://www.goodrx.com/
Ochsner Health. Nicotine and Tobacco Products.
https://www.ochsner.org/
Lume. Indica vs Sativa vs Hybrid – Which Strain is Right for You?
https://www.lume.com/indica-vs-sativa-vs-hybrid-cannabis-strains
Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Quitting Smoking Cold Turkey? 3 Ways to Break the Habit.
https://eirmc.com/
Yale Medicine. Cannabis/Marijuana Use Disorder.
https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/marijuana-use-disorder
Johns Hopkins Medicine. Somatic Self Care.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/office-of-well-being/connection-support/somatic-self-care
Dr. Chance Miller 
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