[00:01] Weed is a serious drug that can have  devastating consequences for your life. This is an unpopular thing to say but it is true. not problematic or has only  mild negative consequences.
[00:16] But about 20% of people who have ever  tried it develop cannabis use disorder, That’s actually a stunning  amount of people and many In the US, daily or near daily weed  use has skyrocketed since way before
[00:33] legalization and there are now more daily  users of weed than drinkers of alcohol. And most daily users consume very high amounts. In 2023, 1 in 15 adult Americans were  suffering from some form of cannabis addiction.
[00:46] In England, cannabis is by far the  top drug teenagers seek help for. Today we’ll ignore medical use,  casual users and people with mild problems and instead we focus on the  people who have a serious addiction
[00:59] or are in danger of developing one,  even if they are not aware of it. Weed is usually discussed in the  context of teenagers because using any drug while your brain is melting  and rebuilding itself is a bad idea.
[01:12] Instead we’ll have a frank conversation  about how it affects you in your 20s and 30s. addiction – unfortunately  we do have plenty of both.
[01:24] by someone who used weed daily  for 15 years before quitting. Becoming Addicted By Accident
[01:38] They start using weed for a variety of reasons, to experiment, to cope or unwind from stress,  because it is fun and easily available. Music sounds better, movies  are funnier, food is a delight.
[01:56] The frequency with which you are consuming  weed is the most obvious thing to look out for. If you are using daily or almost daily this  is a clear sign you are developing a problem.
[02:09] As a daily user your risk of cannabis use disorder  is up to 30% and certainly a pretty relevant risk, since it might take years before  you realize the full weight of it. what started out as an occasional  high becomes more and more normalized.
[02:26] Bit by bit your weekends revolve around weed  or shift to activities that you can do stoned. Often other hobbies or obligations  become less of a priority. Then it creeps into most weekdays and finally  it is an established ritual every day.
[02:40] The joy enhancing effects dissipate,  while a comfortable numbness takes over. Weed can become your primary method  of coping with life but it doesn’t Instead it covers up negative emotions by  building a snail shell that you can retreat into.
[03:00] Super easy test: Stop doing it  for four weeks, starting today. If that feels challenging or you can’t make  it, this should give you food for thought.
[03:14] the cumulative damage to  your life can be profound. can become harmful without you  noticing it – no data security.
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[04:13] Use the code KURZGESAGT to protect your  peace of mind and get 60% off annual plans – and now back to weed. For problematic weed users, life can  sometimes progress in slow motion –
[04:31] the addiction keeps you where you are, while  your body ages and your friends move forward. For years you don’t notice how much  weed might be holding you back, the outside world takes on the initiative  and provides a lot of support for you.
[04:49] You are surrounded by peers, may still have  childhood friends, progress through school, start work or university and  find new places and friendships. throws experiences and challenges at you.
[05:04] This is the time where your body is  probably at its peak and you can use From sports to dating and staying out  late, traveling and experiencing the world.
[05:16] the greatest predictor of how happy  you will be over the next few decades. You will likely never have fewer responsibilities  again, so you can explore and take risks.
[05:29] like scrolling over reposts on reddit  is something you might regret later. As you age out of your twenties  things change massively.
[05:43] Around this time most people naturally tone  down their weed consumption or quit entirely. And you risk getting left behind. Friendships need care, attention  and active time investment to
[06:01] survive and weed addiction works  against you on multiple levels. social anxiety especially if  you start using more and more. it becomes pretty tempting to just stay  home and avoid events or new experiences.
[06:19] Since weed numbs feelings it’s easy to push  away FOMO or guilt about canceling last minute. Speaking from personal experience – you  may turn into a friend that is unreliable,
[06:33] But the more opportunities to hang with friends  you skip, the fewer will be there in the future. Especially if you do weed alone it can  become the central focal point in your life.
[06:46] activities or hobbies they once  enjoyed in favor of consuming. Bit by bit this can make you withdraw  from the people in your life. While this can be pretty bad for  your social life in your 20s it  
[07:00] Because in their 30s most people are plenty busy. Careers, partners, travel, children and  their closest friends are now priorities. outs turn into two adults  comparing their calendars.
[07:17] So people in their 30s are way more selective  about what and who they spend their time with. Smoking a joint drops way  down their priority list. Even without falling out, you may  simply become incompatible if your
[07:30] identity becomes tied up with weed, or when  your friends have a lot going on and you don’t. This happens a lot without weed,  but weed can supercharge it. friends and acquaintances who are also using weed.
[07:45] If your friends quit or they  withdraw to use it alone, Or you may feel pressure to keep using it  because you are scared of losing your friends.
[07:58] It is harder and takes longer to make  new friends in your 30s than in your 20s, energy and motivation – things weed  addiction makes much harder to muster.
[08:10] to cope – which is linked to  even more social isolation. Weed can fill the role of your best  friend. It is there when you are lonely, Your love life can also suffer.
[08:25] Social anxiety and complacency is a  great motivator to put off dating and having sexual experiences in your 20s and it  doesn’t get much easier as time passes. In relationships weed addiction  can be extremely disruptive.
[08:38] Reports show that partners of  daily users can feel neglected, that couple communication can break  down and that trust evaporates. are handling relationship issues and can  be blindsided when their love leaves them.
[08:53] And to be frank, in their 30s people want  a partner who is ready to share the growing responsibilities of adulthood and wants to  build a life together – the older you get, Ok but who needs friends or love  if you have a career, right?
[09:10] Long term studies show that heavy weed users  are more likely to end up with reduced academic performance, a worse education, lower income,  less savings, and less stable employment.
[09:24] Even when compared to people from similar  family backgrounds and social class. Many people with weed addiction struggle to  show up for work, they’re not productive, they procrastinate and they fail  to meet their responsibilities.
[09:36] The consequences of missed opportunities  and bad decisions slowly accumulate. Maybe you skipped networking events,  had no ambition and didn’t get promoted, It is also much harder to build up savings since  the addiction can cost you thousands each year.
[09:52] In your 20s you transition from being  useless to being good at something. And so in your 30s expectations from  others and yourself change sharply. People tend to cut you a lot of slack when you  are young, but this has an expiration date.
[10:06] yourself to peers that are moving on  in life and start achieving things. if you spend a decade or two using weed  all the time you grow less as a person.
[10:18] You probably traveled less,  went out less, met fewer people, had fewer interesting experiences and  in a way, lived less than your peers. In some studies, long term chronic weed users  had significantly lower life satisfaction, from
[10:35] their motivation and pursuit of personal goals,  social and love life to careers and options. Your life may just overall be much less  fun and fulfilling that it could have been. On top of all of this your mental health is  the final thing that you may erode over time.
[10:51] What makes weed addiction so devious is how at  first it can seem to improve your mental health. It can calm anxiety or depressive feelings,  make you more relaxed and feel less lonely.
[11:04] But weed acts on your brain’s reward system  and the effects can flip without you noticing. worsen anxiety or depressive feelings and  can escalate into serious mental disorders.
[11:19] Which you might think that you can self  medicate against by doing even more weed. This can impair your coping skills,  making you fragile and easily overwhelmed, unable to deal with stress, increase  anxiety or depressive symptoms,
[11:32] worsen your mood, cause mood  swings and irritability. The addiction can hold back a dam of  bottled up negative feelings that is Until eventually it doesn’t work anymore.
[11:46] Especially during a mental health crisis,  weed can make things much worse for you. give up weed experience a noticeable  improvement in their mental health.
[11:58] All the negatives we talked about, missing your  life as it flies by, social isolation and not even getting close to living up to your potential are  not happening some time in the future but today.
[12:10] If you find yourself addicted or in danger  of becoming addicted, there is a way out. You need to quit. And the earlier you do, the  better your life will be.