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Related: Watch VICE's documentary 'Canada's War on Weed'
Jeffrey said his chronic use led him to feel more depressed and emotional."I was just much more self critical. I had all these feelings of insecurity and they were very much heightened."He also said he stayed indoors alone more, stopped hanging out with friends who didn't also smoke, and stopped caring about his diet or his interest as a musician. Three years ago, he posted a thread on Reddit titled "How heavy-marijuana smoking ruined my life," where he described "scouring the disgusting carpet for weed crumbs, sneaking nugglets from my friends when they weren't looking, lying to my parents about needing more money, and having panic-attacks when I couldn't find weed."Bertram told VICE he sees patients who use weed to ease their anxiety; it works at first, but eventually, as they build up a tolerance and consume more and more to achieve the same effect, some experience "rebound anxiety" where their symptoms actually worsen due to the marijuana. While it's rarer, he said people also have physical withdrawal symptoms stemming from marijuana dependence, including breaking into sweats and vomiting.The primary treatment, he said, is cognitive behavior therapy—a form of psychotherapy that helps people develop specific techniques to deal with their everyday thoughts and problems. A secondary option is a drug called nabilone, which mimics the therapeutic effects of the cannabidiol (cbd) in cannabis but not the psychoactive one.
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