Adolescent Marijuana Addiction Self Test

If you’re a teen who smokes marijuana regularly, then you might as well spend 2 minutes on a self-test to check yourself for signs of possible marijuana addiction.¹

Answer yes or no to the following 12 questions.

1. Do you smoke alone more than you used to?
2. Has marijuana ever gotten you in trouble with the police?
3. Have you ever been physically ill after smoking marijuana?
4. Do you ever feel apprehensive about meeting new people when you are high on marijuana?
5. Are you spending more time hanging out with friends who smoke marijuana than with friends who do not smoke marijuana?
6. Have friends told you that you smoke more than you should?
7. Have you ever passed out after smoking too much?
8. Have you ever felt very paranoid after smoking?
9. Have you ever had chest or lung pains after smoking too much?
10. Have you ever developed a nagging lung infection or cough related to your marijuana habit?
11. Do you ever worry about how much money you spend on marijuana?
12. Do you ever worry that you are drifting away from friends and family members that you care about?

Scoring

Count your yes answers:

• A score of 3 or more yes answers indicates likely marijuana dependence.*

*Marijuana dependence as based on DSM-IV-tr criteria. In independent testing of this scale (the CPQ-A-S), a cut-off score of 3 or greater led to the correct identification of 83% of subjects with confirmed marijuana dependence and a score of less than 3 correctly identified subjects as not marijuana dependent 77.5% of the time.

Do You Need to Take Action?

So if you scored three or higher on the test (indicating a likely marijuana problem) does this mean you need to take any kind of action – after all – even if you smoke too much, is it really doing you that much harm?

Well, this is something you have to decide for yourself, but to help you frame your thinking, compare your current situation to some common dependence-related problems and complaints; how many of these have you/do you experience?

• Weighing the balance: Is your marijuana habit providing you with enough enjoyment to compensate for any associated negatives? Do the positives still outweigh the negatives?
  

Complaints and Consequences²

• Do you have debts related to your marijuana habit?
• Have you ever sold or pawned your belongings to buy marijuana?
• Do you ever have to lie or make excuses to explain your lack of money?
• Have you ever been caught lying about money?
• Have you ever been seriously hurt after getting high? Have you ever had to go to the hospital for treatment after getting hurt while stoned?
• Has smoking marijuana led to unneeded weight loss?
• Do you take care of your physical health as well today as you used to?
• Are you as healthy right now as you used to be (before you smoked as much)?
• Do you have less energy today than you used to before you smoked as heavily?
• Have you recently felt depressed for a week or longer? Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?
• Have you given up previously enjoyable hobbies or recreational activities in favor of time spent getting high?
• Do you find that activities you used to find enjoyable aren’t as fun as they used to be (when not high)?
• Do you ever drive stoned?
• Is your concentration worse than it used to be?
• Are you as motivated to do well as you used to be (based on a personal definition of 'do well')?
  
• Do you ever worry about feelings of detachment or isolation?
• Have you become less interested in school work?
• Do you ever go to class high? Does getting high ever keep you from completing schoolwork?
• Are your grades as good today as they were before you started smoking heavily?
• Do you smoke marijuana on school property?
• Have you ever been suspended because of marijuana?
• Are you late for a full or part time job more often now than you used to be?
• Do you ever go to work high?
• Has smoking marijuana made you less capable at work?
• Have you ever been reprimanded at work for being high?
• Have you ever been fired from a job?
• Have you ever had an accident at work after getting high?

Is marijuana a relatively low-risk outlet or are you smoking too much and experiencing significant physical, mental health, social, legal or work/school consequences?

Only you can answer this question, but remember, habits that are benign in moderation can become harmful when taken to excess – there’s nothing wrong with a cookie now and then, but 50 a day will lead to disease and early death.

• If you recognize that heavy marijuana use causes you problems, then take steps now to quit or moderate your marijuana habit and minimize the potential harms.
• If you recognize that your habit does you harm and though you try, you cannot control your use, then getting professional help of some sort makes a great deal of sense.