by John K. Wilson

Created on: January 22, 2009   Last Updated: February 03, 2009

Many people dismiss the idea that a marijuana withdrawal syndrome exists. For the majority of the world's population, the withdrawal from marijuana is mild if even noticed at all. The amount of time it takes for marijuana to exit the body makes for a fairly smooth withdrawal. It can be compared to quitting smoking cigarettes, where there is some very mild anxiety, but it's mostly a battle of wits against oneself to abstain for a long enough period of time to forget you ever smoked.

For a very small group of individuals, the symptoms from marijuana withdrawal can be as severe as those from heroin, meth, or alcohol. It can also last a great deal longer. Addiction medicine specialists report an unusually high rate of suicide attempts in users who have checked in for help with marijuana detox. These people are typically of Northern European or American Indian descent, or are children of heavy drug or alcohol users.

The most severe symptoms are insomnia and anxiety. Extremely heavy users may be unable to fall asleep naturally for several months after cessation. It generally comes to a surprise to these people, as there is not a great deal of literature cataloging the syndrome. The anxiety is often so severe that it can lead to low intensity panic attacks that last for several days.

Those suffering from marijuana withdrawal of this severity can generally expect symptoms to peak by about the third or fourth week. By this point, the severe anxiety and lack of sleep have activated a form of psychosis that is not well understood. Complaints range from the patient feeling a painful tightening in the forehead, ringing in the ears, episodes of muscle twitching and spasms throughout the body, and feeling extremely agitated and disoriented.

The mental state of a person suffering on this level is extremely unstable. Many emotions are in full force at this point including fear, paranoia, anger and depression. Although most suicide attempts are a result of depression, in the case of severe marijuana withdrawal syndrome, the leading factor is the unbearable anxiety.

The duration of this syndrome depends on several factors; body fat being the most important of them. Metabolites of marijuana are able to bond to human fat cells and can potentially remain in the body for decades. A person suffering a severe withdrawal syndrome who is more than 20 pounds overweight can expect to have symptoms slowly dissipate over a period of years, returning from time to time based on activity level or

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