The answer is clearly "yes." Marijuana use, like other drugs, poses
multiple risks for teens. One of those risks is addiction. Addiction involves both psychological and physical components. This may mean that you find yourself often using more
marijuana than you had planned, (for example, using more on a single occasion or more often than you thought you would). In other words, your use starts feeling out of control.
Similarly, you may promise yourself that you won’t use anymore or that you won’t use so much or so often, and then find yourself back using at the same or greater rate than before. You may notice that the process of getting pot, using it, and being high, is taking more of your time each week, and you stop doing things you used to do like sports or other activities. You may find that you need more marijuana to get the same high, or find that the same amount doesn’t produce the same effects that it used to; this is called developing “tolerance” to a drug.
Last, if you smoke pot frequently (multiple times per week or per day), you may notice when you stop that you may feel irritable, nervous, restless, have sleep problems, less of an appetite, and maybe even feel depressed. These are withdrawal symptoms that have been associated with quitting marijuana.
You might also want to know that teens appear to be at a somewhat higher risk statistically for developing dependence on marijuana than adults because of the stage of a teen’s brain development which makes them more vulnerable. We are not sure why teens are more vulnerable, but it may have to do with the stage of a teen’s brain development, the general feelings of invincibility, rebellion, and impulsivity that are a normal part of teen development, or environmental influences such as peers or friends that get high or the struggle to fit in socially.
Read more about the risks of smoking pot.