When people stop taking marijuana it is common that they feel very different, even weird and have a loss of motivation.

These feelings usually occur because marijuana changes how people think, feel and behave and, once you stop taking this drug (GREAT work by the way :-) ), your body gets back to behaving how it normally does without drugs. It can feel very confusing as these adjustments happen so it is really helpful to surround yourself with people who know you, care about you and want to support you to not do drugs.

What is known about marijuana is that it does affect the brain in terms of:

• short term memory loss
• sleeplessness (e.g., go to sleep but wake up a few hours later, or having broken sleep all night)
• depression
• anxiety.

These problems can be overcome across time, for example, if people stop using marijuana then the short term memory problems disappear. However, anxiety and depression can hang around for a while. This can be because marijuana has THC in it that can stay in the body for quite a long time and it's the THC that gives the high and does the damage (as you probably know). The length of time that anxiety and depression stay usually depends on:

• how often you smoked
• how much you smoked
• how your body is wired.

It can also depend upon whether you are taking any other drugs as well (including alcohol).

The feelings you are having at night time could be linked to anxiety and the fact that if you usually smoked at night time then your body is still looking for something to settle it down at night time.

There are heaps of things people can do to decrease anxiety including relaxation, for example, relaxing body muscles, talking quietly to your body asking it to "stay cool" and "chill out", blocking negative thoughts by distracting the mind, listening to calming music, imagining you are in a safe, pleasant place etc.

It is also helpful to talk to people who you trust, not only friends but also adults (teachers, counsellors, church people etc.) who can help and teach some new ways of thinking and coping with life without drugs.

Basically, what you are feeling sounds 100 per cent normal in the circumstances. It will simply take some time for your body to adjust. However, please reach out for some help and start talking about what is happening for you. Try to be kind to yourself.