Megan Feller smoked pot several times a day and couldn’t eat, sleep or function without it. But at the time, she didn't see the need to reach out for help.

“I think the attitude around it being not as bad or so normalized definitely kept me in my addiction for a much longer time. And I know that that's an idea that a lot of people still have towards weed,” the 24-year-old said.

This attitude is common. As more states legalize marijuana, use has become more normalized and products have become more potent. Pot use among young adults reached historic levels in recent years, according to a federally supported survey. Daily use even outpaced daily drinking, with nearly 18 million Americans reporting in 2022 that they use marijuana every day or nearly every day, up from less than 1 million three decades earlier.

Studies show a corresponding increase in cannabis use disorder — when people crave marijuana and spend lots of time using it even though it causes problems at home, school, work or in relationships. It’s a condition that researchers estimate affects about 3 in 10 pot users and can be mild, moderate or severe.

“Looking at our admission diagnoses here at the Center for Youth and Young Adults. So that's about 12, 13 to 25. And what we found was that people being admitted to our treatment center over the last 10 years, the number with a cannabis use disorder diagnosis increased 15%. And I would say the majority of those diagnoses are severe,” said Dr. Jennifer Exo of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Minnesota.

While pot isn’t as harmful as harder drugs, frequent or heavy use has been linked to problems with learning, memory and attentionas well as chronic nausea, vomiting and lung problems among those who smoke it. Some evidence has also linked it to earlier onset of psychosis in people with genetic risk factors for psychotic disorders like schizophrenia.

And today’s pot is not the same as that of the past.

“I think legalization, depending on the population, like the location, how easy it is to access, that matters. But I think what also matters is that you aren't just smoking a joint anymore. Like you're able to access THC in ways that people have not used it typically and now commercially ever in history, right? So, you know, legal edibles, legal drinks, you can get THC gummies and candy bars and snacks,” said Exo.

In the 1960s, most pot that people smoked contained less than 5% THC, the ingredient that causes a high. Today, the THC potency in cannabis flower and concentrates sold in dispensaries can reach 40% or more, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Pot is also increasingly available. Though it’s still a federal crime to possess it, 24 states allow recreational use by adults and 40 allow medical use as of late June, the National Conference of State Legislatures said. Dispensaries abound and more people are able to keep pot at home.

A study last year focused on Michigan found that legalization was associated with an immediate increase in the rate of ER visits for this condition among people of all ages, especially middle-aged adults.

Feller first tried pot at 16 and quickly went from smoking the plant to using vape cartridges that were easy to hide in her pocket. Soon, she could barely get by without it.

“I would wake up in the morning and I would feel sick until I smoked weed. So I could not go to class, I could not hang out with my friends, I couldn't eat until I smoked,” Feller said.

Feller was also drinking a lot and her parents sent her to a treatment center when she was around 18. It didn’t help because she wasn’t ready to get well. After her mother died, her substance use worsened.

At 22, Feller entered Hazelden on her own — but only to get sober from alcohol, which she did.

She kept using pot on and off, then finally sought treatment for cannabis use disorder and has been sober from marijuana for almost a year.

“What I was capable of, when I wasn't mentally obsessing over getting this substance, pushed me to stay sober from it, for sure. And my dreams seem attainable, which was amazing. And it is amazing, and I don't wanna give up on the person that I wanna be,” Feller said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.