Adult child has gone back to using marijuana

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I went out of my way to go with my daughter (29) to a psychiatrist appointment, where the doctor was very clear that cannabis was counteracting her medications, and very likely leading to more confusion and less ability to handle work and everyday life. It had to do with dopamine, and regular cannabis depletes the dopamine so that the stimulants she needs to function have to work just to get her back to baseline, rather than enabling her to focus better. I went out of my way to meet with my daughter and her partner to discuss what the psychiatrist said. Their plan was he would lock up the cannabis, not use it in front of her, and not give her any.

So lately she's been doing worse, and today she tells me was high this morning.

I am so very disappointed, and scared too. I definitely think the cannabis makes it harder for her to function, although I suppose it makes her feel good while she's stoned.

She doesn't want to discuss this with me, and my husband (her step-father) thinks I should butt out. I myself feel an intervention (small or large) might be needed. I should add that marijuana is not legal in our state, so in addition to affecting her synapses, she is also breaking the law.

Any suggestions, support, or insights?

In my experience cannabis works far, far better than any antidepressant or pain medication I've ever taken, with far, far less side effects.
But that's only my experience.
And it's illegal here too, so I'm unable to medicate legally.
I'm not even eligible for medicinal cannabis.

Thank you for your reply, Raleigh. My daughter in addition to autism has a history of multiple concussions, so her brain doesn't always function very well, although she is very intelligent. She has problems with dizziness and confusion. At the same time, she would like to develop a job skill and get a part-time job. It seems to me that being stoned will simply torpedo her ability to meet that goal. She was using daily prior to the session at the shrink that I attended, and doing really badly. (meaning, could not follow through on social or work plans, had to cancel and stay home, etc.)

I agree that marijuana should be available legally and has many important medical uses. No argument there from me. But I also see that the psychiatrist's perspective on dopamine is probably valid in my daughter's case. It mostly troubles me that we had a plan and she was not able to follow through, and her partner enabled this after agreeing not to provide the drug.

Maybe I am making a mountain out of a molehill.

Well for me, I can't function either way but just prefer to be high.

Seems to me its a measure of happiness vs functioning better or worse.

For me, I am a few months clean and I am not doing too great but at a min I am heavily sedated off seroquel. Those around me could have hung it up without seroquel and I still think weed is better but I am trying to not push my luck while it seems the entire world is conspiring against me. Oddly enough I am much more paranoid off weed to the point I can't function and think I am being watched 100% of time and its causing suicidal thoughts but there is sedation from seroquel. Plus absence is making me want to do harder drugs, I am VERY tempted to abuse pain meds cause its cheap and readily available from people I know.

Also no drug, marijuana included is going to improve social skills, I am still the same social idiot I was on drugs off drugs and on seroquel.

Additionally, as far as work is concerned, does she seem visibly intoxicated / can she safely work while on weed and can she stay clean enough to pass a drug test. Those are really the only questions that would concern a job, of course if she could not be stoned at work that would be great but hell I was and I lasted for a few years and got a raise so all is well.

Also I would not recommend breaking the law, it might be laced which leads me to. Weed only caused confusion in me once and it might have been laced or it was unrelated but still.

I'm afraid it's really hard for you as a parent to do something in this situation. Even though she's an adult, a lot of people go back to the teenage "you can't tell me what to do"-thing when parents start interfering with their way of life. When you tell a teenager not to drink, they'll likely just do it more. I don't know your daughter, but my impression is that it's a similar situation.

I've been using cannabis since I was 16, and I know that there's not much my parents could've said to change that.
From my own experience, cannabis can be both good and bad. It's good because when I use it I don't get as much anxiety, and it helps me stick to routines (especially to keep my sleeping-rhythm). But it's really bad if I start overdoing it. That usually happens along with me getting depressed. Then it's not self-medication anymore, it's just a self destructive escape.
Starting the day off by getting high is a big warning sign. When I feel like smoking the first thing in the morning, I know that I need to drastically cut down before it gets out of hand. Unfortunately, that's something I need to figure out myself.
If my boyfriend tells me to cut down, I will just get defensive.
However, if he don't bring up my cannabis use, but rather focus on the things around it, I will be more open to conversation. If he says that I'm smoking too much, I'll say "no I don't", but if he says that he's been noticing that I haven't been feeling so good lately, I won't deny that, and the conversation can go from there. I might realize that I need to make a change, not necessarily regarding the smoking, but that usually comes along as a "bonus".
For example, he can remind me that I seemed to be in a much better mood when I started my days with taking a walk, and if I take that up again, it will not only stop me from lighting up a joint the first thing when I wake up, but since the walking is something that really does improve my mood, I will be less likely to light up when I get back in again, and after a while I won't feel as much need for it anymore.

I think it's better if you try to focus on the problems that are causing your daughter to self-medicate, rather than the cannabis use itself. And find things that can replace the cannabis, like my morning walks. But without spelling out that it is a substitute for the drug.
She's the only one who can figure out that it's time to cut down, and the only thing anyone else can do is to be supportive.

It could be just the doctors opinion that it's interfering with her meds.I had an older psychiatrist that thought it was problematic,but the younger one I have now is all for it being used medically.
I know it helps me,and soon I will have it legally.Medical was approved in my state but none is avalible yet.Ill get my card then.
It seems to slow my brain down and I function better on it and get more stuff done.But like any drug,it's effects can vary from one person to the next.