He smokes every day but still works — so there’s no problem?

How a working person becomes dependent on weed

Viacheslav starts with an honest caveat: cannabis has medical uses, and in certain doses it helps some people with anxiety and low mood. And far from everyone who tries it becomes dependent — just as not everyone who has a drink at a bar on weekends becomes an alcoholic.

The conversation is about those who gradually “slide down.” The scenario is typical: a person works, is busy, gets tired and starts smoking “a little” to relieve stress. At first it really helps, and the brain remembers the link: stress means it’s time to smoke. Then the stress starts to feel constant, he can no longer manage without weed, he needs a daily dose, and it keeps growing. That’s how life “from joint to joint” begins: before work, after work — and neither the person himself nor his family sees a problem in it.

Why this addiction goes unseen

With hard drugs everything is obvious: behavior changes quickly, the person stops working, and everyone sees the problem. Someone who smokes marijuana can keep a job and status for years — and the family has no “visible reasons” to explain to him that something is wrong.

Viacheslav shares a case from his practice: a man got high, got behind the wheel, was distracted by his phone and had a serious accident. He didn’t connect the accident with weed, went on sick leave — and because of the “stress” started smoking even more. Then came tension in the family, isolation, suspiciousness, the risk of losing his job. And all this time the same argument kept coming up: “but it’s legal.”

“But it’s legal” — and the same path with alcohol

Arguing at home is almost pointless: “you drink on weekends yourself, and that’s legal too.” Viacheslav shows that the path with alcohol is similar: a glass of whiskey after work, “happy hour” at a bar, then a drink at four, at three, at two in the afternoon — a mistake at work, getting fired, and now the person is drinking in the morning “while looking for a job.”

Many of these people share a common background — constant anxiety. They relieve it with alcohol or weed, but the more they relieve it, the stronger it comes back: a vicious circle. And most of them, to be honest, smoke not because of stress but for the “high” — to escape reality.

Teenagers and psychoses

Teenagers have it easiest: free time, “it’s legal,” and sometimes an example at home — “Dad smokes a little on weekends too.” The longer and heavier the use, the higher the risk of mental disorders, up to psychosis. Viacheslav stresses: it doesn’t matter whether it was “synthetics” — if a person in that state is dangerous to himself and others, the harm has already been done, and he doesn’t realize he’s acting under the influence of a substance.

What parents should do

If your child’s behavior goes beyond the usual and that worries you, there’s no need to spend a long time wondering whether the substance is legal or not. There is a fact: your child is behaving abnormally. Besides, “I just smoked a little” is a convenient explanation that may hide something else.

The first step is to get a consultation: describe how old your child is and how he behaves, and figure out what to do next. But Viacheslav advises against starting a preventive talk “about the harm of weed” without preparation: imagine someone came to talk you out of your favorite evening drink. It would only cause rejection. Every situation is individual, and you need to come to a conversation with a teenager equipped with the right tools.