The US has now reclassified medical cannabis as a less dangerous drug, but not everyone agrees on how lightly the risks should be treated. For some people, the debate is not just about policy, but about the real effects weed can have on daily life.
It was confirmed earlier this week that Donald Trump’s administration would take the major step of moving medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The change marks a shift in how the federal government views medical cannabis.
The reclassification is welcome news for people who use cannabis to manage medical symptoms, such as chronic pain or the side effects of cancer treatment. Before the change, it was grouped with Schedule I drugs such as heroin, meaning it was treated as having no accepted medical use under federal law.
Under its new Schedule III classification, medical cannabis will be treated as having accepted medical uses and a moderate to low potential for dependence. That does not make it risk-free, but it does change how the drug is viewed in a medical setting.
Quitting can also be hard for people who have built up a dependence. One woman in the US found that out after she documented the first few days after stopping weed and showed how rough the early withdrawal period could be.
YouTuber Onlyjayus shared the reality of going just a few days without weed with her nearly two million subscribers. She described the drug as “addictive, no matter what anybody tries to say,” and said the first stretch after quitting hit her hard.
She said: “The first three days were definitely the most difficult. I had this constant excruciating headache that wouldn’t go away, no matter how much water I drank, and my appetite was non-existent.”
“I was trying to force myself to eat and it just wasn’t happening. My insomnia that I thought I had beaten a year ago came back. My energy level was just on the floor, I couldn’t get through any of my workouts and that was extremely frustrating.”
That kind of reaction can be frustrating for people who are used to seeing cannabis described as mild or easy to stop. For someone who has smoked for years, the first days without it can feel like a real shock to the body and mind.
Onlyjayus also made it clear that the withdrawal symptoms affected her routine. She struggled to eat, had trouble sleeping, and could not get through workouts the way she normally would.
Even with the new federal move on medical cannabis, the US still treats most recreational marijuana as a Schedule I drug. That shows officials still take the possible harms seriously, especially because the reclassification only applies to marijuana distributed through state-licensed medical programs.
Recreational marijuana is legal in 24 out of 50 states, while medical cannabis is legal in 40 states. Because of that patchwork of laws, it is still unclear how much the federal change will affect people who use cannabis outside medical programs.
“Moving it out of that classification allows us to have policy conversations that don’t start and end with that definition,” Fox said.
“Lots of policymakers continue to fall back on that, and really won’t even discuss the issue as long as cannabis is Schedule I.”
Even as the legal debate continues, Onlyjayus’ video is a reminder that the risks should still be explained clearly to anyone who chooses to use weed. Her experience shows how difficult quitting can feel once a person has developed a dependence after years of smoking.
