I received this letter as a comment on another site. It is reproduced with the permission of the writer. Edited for clarity in one place (brackets).

I’ve been smoking pot for about 3 years now, and was smart enough never to get into anything hard because that would equal death.

Around 16 yrs. of age I was put in a juvinile program “rehab” due to all my marijuana tickets. Things were alright for the first couple weeks without out my bud, but as they days went on things became very dysfunctional. I always felt stoned without out the euphoria. My reflexes were slow, I was socially impaired, i couldn’t concentrate, and had mad swings of emotions. I’ve never cryed as much as I did that year. I felt suicidal and very depressed.

I’ve been going on what I call smoking binges for awhile now. I smoke literally all day. I couldn’t work or go to school, because by the time i smoked a few bowls i would be completely sober in a half hour. I had to be high. My tolerance became to high and the bud was not enough, no matter how much i smoked i couldn’t get high because i always felt fried, wihtout the euphoria.

I was wondering if PAWS could [result from] HEAVY MARIJUANA USE? I’ve been having these symptoms for over 3 years now, because everytime i sober up i make usually to 4 months and every thing is so dysfunctional and scary i relapse into another binge. THank you SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT.