Marijuana abuse.

[wantingabetterfuture]

Hi, i am new to this site and finding it difficult to come out and admiting i have a problem with several issues discussed on here. but my question for this forum, is how after maybe 4 years of heavy use am i ment to give up a marijuana habit. now i say habbit because i do not fiend it, i dont go out committing crime to gain this drug it is just something i enjoy, lately however that enjoyment has been taking to another extreme and i have to say i am getting sick of it. its easy to just to tell me that just by saying no it will stop. where i am from it is too easy to get, most of my so called 'friends' smoke it, and overall i have become dependent on this drug to be happy. when in reality, it is only bringing me down further then i already am, which is killing the relationship between my mother, father, sister and I. i gained the habit from seeing my father smoking it regularly throughout my younger life and figured because he was always doing it with friends and also just his partner and him so i thought thats what you did with friends. now because of it, i have lost more of my 'friends', lost pretty much all self esteem, and am always down in the dumps. i do not blame my father for this though he did give me the incentive i guess to start. I chose to take that first toke, which i take responsibility for but it has not done me any good what soever so now i am taking the first steps to giving up completely to show all the people i CAN and WILL be a better person then i have been so far. i mean, what is life without change huh? thanks, for reading. i hope for those who understand what i am going through will give advice and help a young man in need :)

[ZJILLIAN]

I think it is GREAT that you posted!!! Stopping smoking marijuana is so hard because you probably are surrounded by people who are smoking/having fun, smoking/offering it to you. and what the H***else would you be doing with your time? So stopping smoking means a very big change. New friends? Easier said than done, right? Something else to do? Like what?

You have made 2 really big steps. 1. you posted on this site for everyone to see and said you have a problem (hard thing to admit) and 2. even harder: you admit that you feel helpless about stopping and need help.

Very big start and very good work! What now?

For me it is keep reading all of the posts on this site even if you don't post yourself. The next depends a lot on your age and situation. You mention your father and mother and sister. How about sitting them down and telling them what you said to us in the post. If that is too hard you can write it in a letter. Tell them that you want to stop and just can't and ask for help. Now help could be a drug counselor (good place to start) or a drug help group.

If you are older another variation of the above skipping the talking to parents part. Go directly to yellow pages and look up what type of drug counseling is in your area.

Find someone who doesn't use anymore. Keep them as a support. And keep posting.
You CAN stop! Life CAN be better and you CAN begin to feel good about yourself.

[Axl_0113]

You know...I used to smoke alot.  I started smoking when I was about 16 and smoked non-stop until i was about 30 or so.  I mean- I was high every day, all day long.  And at one time, I wondered how I was ever going to quit....Up to that point, I had never even attempted quitting, becuase I had no reason to.  Well....then one day I got pulled over for an expired inspection stick, and of course, I had some herb on me.  The cops found it, and found my pipe and I was arrested.  Well...a couple of weeks later, I had to see the judge.  He was a total *** (for lack of better terms) and threatened to throw me in jail for 6 months (for not even a dime's bag!!!).  So...long story short....I had to quit smoking.  I was put on probation for 6 months, and was required to do drug testing once or twice a month.  I racked my brain trying to figure out how I was going to stop smoking....i mean- I had been smoking at that point for like 13 years.  Well, I did quit, and to be honest with you...it was really, really easy.  I believe that the addiction to weed is mostly mental.  You don't go thru any withdrawal when you stop using it....or at least very, very little.  I think that if you have your mind made up, and you really want to stop, I honestly believe that it will be easier than you think.  Have you ever tried to quit before?  I don't think it will take finding new friends, and starting a "new" life and all that stuff, but it will require some changes.....and your mind will have to be sure about this.  If you want to quit- you can do it!  

[salsinator]

Hi Wanting,

Welcome to the forum.  Like Axl, I smoked pot daily for years, probably close to 20.  I finally got sick of always being in a fog and being stoned all the time, so I decided to quit.  It was easy after the first couple of days.  there is no withdrawal, it's purely the habit of smoking - it's totally psychological.  You can quit if you really want to.  I did have to change the crowd that I was hanging around with - completely.  Otherwise, like you have experienced, it is so easy to just continue using.  You have such a long life in front of you and by realizing that quitting is something you need to do, you have taken the first step.  Keep posting, we will help you every step of the way.  

[BIKERDAD1963]

Smoking pot is what started the other addictions for me. pot is usually a stepping stone to the other drugs. My father gave me my first bag when I was young after I had my wisdom teeth pulled and it led to a lot of worse things for me. You are really lucky that you have managed not to add onto your pot smoking. I found that smoking pot was more of a habit than an addiction. I could go days without smoking. You mite find it to be easier than you thought. You will have to stay away from pot smokers and the parties.

[Beccabeccalynn]

How much clean time of pot? My sister smokes pot every day and she like you doesn't steal and all the stuff you mentioned except she doesn't think that possesing and smoking was a crime. I have always been the black sheep in my family because of my meth use. That's my doc . I have been in recovery for twelve months with three months clean time. I have used twice in twelve months a complete marvel to me. Anyway I wish my sister could see how " only pot" changes her. So good on you and keep it up.

[newmanagment]

Weed is a funny issue, most people have done, will do, or are doing it for one reason or another. Most people here wont care for my opinion, but ive never been known to care too much bout that. Several states have legalized marijuana for legitimate long term pain managment. But then again, most people with pill addictions aquired that addiction with a prescription. vicodin, percs, lortabs, ..... on and on. One thing is that marijuana will not have any withdrawl affects when stopped, unlike all the aforementioned. Another good point , many people can still manage a daily life when using marijuana to cope with pain. Hard core addiction like , whens my script getting refilled, doc shopping, all that is not usually the case when marijuana is the script. Thats kinda my 2 cents on weed, but heres something I gotta say about addiction to weed. I smoke pretty much daily (actually nightly now) , have for over 26 years. If you feel that weed is ruining and running your life, then you have an addiction to it and need to get control. anytime you feel that something your doing is not right, or it controls you to the point you cant help yourself, your addicted and need to step back and evaluate the situation. Most here only think of that when they are dope sick, but Ive met gambling addicts and shopping addicts. they will tell  you its no different for them. So if its bummin you out bout the weed. just stop , its really not that hard if you just focus and say nufs enuf. good luck ;)

[worried878]

substance abuse is substance abuse..be it alcohol, pot, cocaine, adderall (adderrall), narcotics, benzos...and more...we r all on the same boat and can learn from each other...quitting is all really the same in a way..a doc can have worse physical wds than another,,,but the common factor with all is mental wd..and that is the toughest part

[Revann]

Hmm... thats odd. I smoked all threw out high school. Once I graduated I dead stopped cold turkey, i had no withdrawals... sure i had some cravings. I guess it affects everyone differently.

Weed is less addicting then any other drug out there. Ciggerettes, alcohol, hell caffeine is more addicting than weed is. Trust me dude, quitting wont be to bad. Just stay away from it. And remember, it doesnt make you a bad person to be addicted to something.
You can do it bro.

[wantingabetterfuture]

thank you for the posts :) i have been clean for the past week and am feeling a whole lot better for it. although it took me moving down the coast with my father to a place where a lot of people may say would be heaven for a pot smoker, funnily enough this town is somewhere that i do not feel the need to toke up.. it really wasnt hard at all to just give up toking and i am happy i have. I knew coming off this there would not be any physical withdrawals, no pain or suffering to get back into it, but it become such a routine for me to get high everyday that, that was really all i knew what to do. a friend of mine has really helped in this situation having gone through some of the psychological strains i had experienced over the past 6 months or so and although he still smokes it was good to know that i wasnt alone as that is what i came to think. i think the reason for my habit spiralling out of control was because as i was getting older, terrible things from my past began to come back to me and when i got high, for that amount of time i was able to hide it from myself not realising i was only making it worse and it all started to add up untill i had what i thought was a break down. over the past year or so i had tryed to quit many many times, but it wasnt until the breakdown did i really make the effort to give it up. I actively looking for employment and now trying to keep myself busy 24/7 to keep my mind on other things. To end this, i am not going to lie, like bikerdad said, it is a stepping stone, and i have dabbled occasionally in other drugs but they are things that i can control only using at certain worthwhile events like most but the unfortunate thing with marijuana was that i let it control me. thank you all again for the advice and notes, all have been very much appreciated and i will make sure to keep you all posted :)

[SophieShine]

Way to go, congrats on your week clean!!! and good luck on your employment hunting!
Keep us posted on your progress. xoxoxo. sophie.