Dr. Daniel Amen

How hard is it to get off marijuana?

Easier than some things.

Julius got off after he saw a scan.

I see that a fair amount when people go, oh, this is not really helping me.

It's damaging me.

Well, it takes a while.

It takes a couple of months, I think, for that to fully get out of their system.

And it depends on do they get off and substitute brain healthy behaviors that help

rehabilitate their brain.

And that combination makes it easier to get off if they get off and then replace it with vaping or replace it with sugar.

they're much more likely to relapse.

And when you go to AA meetings, I always found this very interesting.

They'd have the donuts and everybody's smoking and they're eating donuts and coffee with a lot of sugar.

And I'm like, maybe we could replace those things with healthier things, healthier choices.

Well, they're just trying to replace feeling good because sugar works on the dopamine centers of your brain as well.

And I always thought, why isn't brain health part of addiction treatment centers?

I wrote a book with David Smith.

So David is the founder of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco.

He's considered the father of addiction medicine.

And we wrote a book together called Unchain Your Brain, Breaking the Addictions That Steal Your Life.