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0:01Weed is a serious drug that can have
devastating consequences for your life.
0:05This is an unpopular thing to say but it is true.
0:09We don’t think it should be illegal
because for most people using weed is
0:12not problematic or has only
mild negative consequences.
0:16But about 20% of people who have ever
tried it develop cannabis use disorder,
0:20and some of them become severely addicted.
0:23That’s actually a stunning
amount of people and many
0:25who start using weed don’t
know what they are in for.
0:28In the US, daily or near daily weed
use has skyrocketed since way before
0:33legalization and there are now more daily
users of weed than drinkers of alcohol.
0:37And most daily users consume very high amounts.
0:41In 2023, 1 in 15 adult Americans were
suffering from some form of cannabis addiction.
0:46In England, cannabis is by far the
top drug teenagers seek help for.
0:51Today we’ll ignore medical use,
casual users and people with mild
0:55problems and instead we focus on the
people who have a serious addiction
0:59or are in danger of developing one,
even if they are not aware of it.
1:03Weed is usually discussed in the
context of teenagers because using
1:07any drug while your brain is melting
and rebuilding itself is a bad idea.
1:12Instead we’ll have a frank conversation
about how it affects you in your 20s and 30s.
1:17We will combine research with our
own personal experience of weed
1:20addiction – unfortunately
we do have plenty of both.
1:24Please check out our sources but
also know this script is written
1:27by someone who used weed daily
for 15 years before quitting.
1:32Ok, so let’s get into it.
1:35Becoming Addicted By Accident
1:38Most people slip into
addiction gradually and slowly.
1:41They start using weed for a variety of reasons,
1:44to experiment, to cope or unwind from stress,
because it is fun and easily available.
1:49Weed can make you feel more
alive and things more exciting.
1:52Music sounds better, movies
are funnier, food is a delight.
1:56It can be great fun with friends
and a major source of comfort.
1:59The frequency with which you are consuming
weed is the most obvious thing to look out for.
2:04If you are using daily or almost daily this
is a clear sign you are developing a problem.
2:09As a daily user your risk of cannabis use disorder
is up to 30% and certainly a pretty relevant risk,
2:15since it might take years before
you realize the full weight of it.
2:19So if you are not careful about it,
2:21what started out as an occasional
high becomes more and more normalized.
2:26Bit by bit your weekends revolve around weed
or shift to activities that you can do stoned.
2:31Often other hobbies or obligations
become less of a priority.
2:35Then it creeps into most weekdays and finally
it is an established ritual every day.
2:40Over time, weed’s nature changes.
2:43The joy enhancing effects dissipate,
while a comfortable numbness takes over.
2:47Weed can become your primary method
of coping with life but it doesn’t
2:51make you stronger, better or more resilient.
2:53Instead it covers up negative emotions by
building a snail shell that you can retreat into.
3:00Do you have a problem with weed?
3:02Super easy test: Stop doing it
for four weeks, starting today.
3:08No matter what you have coming up.
3:09If that feels challenging or you can’t make
it, this should give you food for thought.
3:14Once weed has become a daily or near daily habit
3:17the cumulative damage to
your life can be profound.
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4:20and now back to weed.
4:27For problematic weed users, life can
sometimes progress in slow motion –
4:31the addiction keeps you where you are, while
your body ages and your friends move forward.
4:36But youth masks stagnation.
4:39For years you don’t notice how much
weed might be holding you back,
4:42because if you are young, life changes by itself –
4:45the outside world takes on the initiative
and provides a lot of support for you.
4:49You are surrounded by peers, may still have
childhood friends, progress through school,
4:54start work or university and
find new places and friendships.
4:58Moving slowly is kind of ok in
your twenties as life naturally
5:01throws experiences and challenges at you.
5:04But it is still not great for you.
5:06This is the time where your body is
probably at its peak and you can use
5:09it for things you will not be able to do later.
5:11From sports to dating and staying out
late, traveling and experiencing the world.
5:16It is the easiest time to
build a healthy social life,
5:19the greatest predictor of how happy
you will be over the next few decades.
5:23You will likely never have fewer responsibilities
again, so you can explore and take risks.
5:29Spending this time stoned with passive activities
5:31like scrolling over reposts on reddit
is something you might regret later.
5:36You’ll never get this period of your life back.
5:39As you age out of your twenties
things change massively.
5:43Around this time most people naturally tone
down their weed consumption or quit entirely.
5:47You are entering one of life's
great inflection points.
5:50And you risk getting left behind.
5:54Your Social Life is Different After 30
5:57Friendships need care, attention
and active time investment to
6:01survive and weed addiction works
against you on multiple levels.
6:05Studies show that for some people weed can worsen
6:07social anxiety especially if
you start using more and more.
6:11And once you feel anxious about socializing,
6:14it becomes pretty tempting to just stay
home and avoid events or new experiences.
6:19Since weed numbs feelings it’s easy to push
away FOMO or guilt about canceling last minute.
6:25You’ll go next time!! But will you?
6:28Speaking from personal experience – you
may turn into a friend that is unreliable,
6:33flaky or rarely shows up anymore.
6:36But the more opportunities to hang with friends
you skip, the fewer will be there in the future.
6:41Especially if you do weed alone it can
become the central focal point in your life.
6:46Reports show that many people with
addictions gradually reduce the
6:49activities or hobbies they once
enjoyed in favor of consuming.
6:52Bit by bit this can make you withdraw
from the people in your life.
6:56While this can be pretty bad for
your social life in your 20s it
7:00may be catastrophic by the time you turn 30.
7:02Because in their 30s most people are plenty busy.
7:06Careers, partners, travel, children and
their closest friends are now priorities.
7:11Free time becomes super valuable and casual hang
7:14outs turn into two adults
comparing their calendars.
7:17So people in their 30s are way more selective
about what and who they spend their time with.
7:22Smoking a joint drops way
down their priority list.
7:26Even without falling out, you may
simply become incompatible if your
7:30identity becomes tied up with weed, or when
your friends have a lot going on and you don’t.
7:35This happens a lot without weed,
but weed can supercharge it.
7:39So many problematic weed users
focus on a small circle of
7:42friends and acquaintances who are also using weed.
7:45This can create an isolation trap:
7:47If your friends quit or they
withdraw to use it alone,
7:50you can face sudden isolation and loneliness.
7:53Or you may feel pressure to keep using it
because you are scared of losing your friends.
7:58It is harder and takes longer to make
new friends in your 30s than in your 20s,
8:02so to change your situation you need courage,
8:05energy and motivation – things weed
addiction makes much harder to muster.
8:10Worse still, people who feel
lonely tend to use more weed
8:13to cope – which is linked to
even more social isolation.
8:17Weed can fill the role of your best
friend. It is there when you are lonely,
8:21it makes you feel ok in the moment.
8:23Your love life can also suffer.
8:25Social anxiety and complacency is a
great motivator to put off dating and
8:29having sexual experiences in your 20s and it
doesn’t get much easier as time passes.
8:34In relationships weed addiction
can be extremely disruptive.
8:38Reports show that partners of
daily users can feel neglected,
8:42that couple communication can break
down and that trust evaporates.
8:46The addicted partner usually
doesn’t realize how poorly they
8:49are handling relationship issues and can
be blindsided when their love leaves them.
8:53And to be frank, in their 30s people want
a partner who is ready to share the growing
8:57responsibilities of adulthood and wants to
build a life together – the older you get,
9:02the more unattractive your
weed addiction makes you.
9:05Ok but who needs friends or love
if you have a career, right?
9:11The Achievement Delay Machine
9:13Long term studies show that heavy weed users
are more likely to end up with reduced academic
9:18performance, a worse education, lower income,
less savings, and less stable employment.
9:24Even when compared to people from similar
family backgrounds and social class.
9:28Many people with weed addiction struggle to
show up for work, they’re not productive,
9:32they procrastinate and they fail
to meet their responsibilities.
9:36The consequences of missed opportunities
and bad decisions slowly accumulate.
9:40Maybe you skipped networking events,
had no ambition and didn’t get promoted,
9:44or hopped between entry-level jobs.
9:47It is also much harder to build up savings since
the addiction can cost you thousands each year.
9:52In your 20s you transition from being
useless to being good at something.
9:56And so in your 30s expectations from
others and yourself change sharply.
10:01People tend to cut you a lot of slack when you
are young, but this has an expiration date.
10:06The older you get, the worse it feels to compare
10:08yourself to peers that are moving on
in life and start achieving things.
10:12And it is not just career goals,
10:14if you spend a decade or two using weed
all the time you grow less as a person.
10:18You probably traveled less,
went out less, met fewer people,
10:22had fewer interesting experiences and
in a way, lived less than your peers.
10:27Which also really becomes noticeable in your 30s.
10:30In some studies, long term chronic weed users
had significantly lower life satisfaction, from
10:35their motivation and pursuit of personal goals,
social and love life to careers and options.
10:41Your life may just overall be much less
fun and fulfilling that it could have been.
10:45On top of all of this your mental health is
the final thing that you may erode over time.
10:53What makes weed addiction so devious is how at
first it can seem to improve your mental health.
10:59It can calm anxiety or depressive feelings,
make you more relaxed and feel less lonely.
11:04But weed acts on your brain’s reward system
and the effects can flip without you noticing.
11:10Weed can damage your ability to
regulate your emotions and can
11:13worsen anxiety or depressive feelings and
can escalate into serious mental disorders.
11:19Which you might think that you can self
medicate against by doing even more weed.
11:24This can impair your coping skills,
making you fragile and easily overwhelmed,
11:28unable to deal with stress, increase
anxiety or depressive symptoms,
11:32worsen your mood, cause mood
swings and irritability.
11:36The addiction can hold back a dam of
bottled up negative feelings that is
11:40ready to crash into you and the
people around you, at any time.
11:43Until eventually it doesn’t work anymore.
11:46Especially during a mental health crisis,
weed can make things much worse for you.
11:51On the flipside there is research
that shows that addicted people who
11:54give up weed experience a noticeable
improvement in their mental health.
11:59All the negatives we talked about, missing your
life as it flies by, social isolation and not even
12:05getting close to living up to your potential are
not happening some time in the future but today.
12:11If you find yourself addicted or in danger
of becoming addicted, there is a way out.
12:16It is not fun and it will be hard.
12:20And the earlier you do, the
better your life will be.
12:28There is a whole life out there, waiting for you.
12:30Sometimes, seeing your progress
can make all the difference.
12:34The author of this video used our Human
Era Calendar to track not just his reduced
12:39weed consumption, but the amazing things he did
instead – trips taken, friends met, goals reached.
12:45Of course, you can use any calendar, but
if you want a unique work of art that
12:49also supports kurzgesagt, the 12,026
Human Era Calendar is available now.
12:55This year’s edition tells twelve
breathtaking stories about our
12:59connection to the stars – to inspire
your own journey into a new life.
13:04And because this is our 10-year calendar
anniversary, we’ve gone all out!
13:09We created the first-ever kurzgesagt artbook:
13:13a huge, shiny collection of every
calendar illustration we’ve ever made,
13:17packed with behind-the-scenes
sketches, stories, and fun facts.
13:21So, join us and the global community of birbs who
13:24get the calendar every year – to
fund another year of kurzgesagt.
13:29We hope we get to be part of your new
life and amazing adventures in 12,026.
