To help a friend qiut Marijuana for good....

Hi Everyone,
Here is my question. I have a friend ,18 year old male, who recently last year went back to smoking Marijuana. He is currently working at Target but lately there have been no random testing so he hasn't gotten caught. My reason for this is because he loves his job very much but takes it for granted. Lately he has been taking many things for granted. I would think that random testing would scare him to stop his drug abuse but it hasn't. I have asked him to stop on frequent occasions because I just hate to see people stoned and doped out, especially him because he had a bright future going. Ex: He was going to join the Marines, go to school Auto Mechanics afterwards and so on... But he continues he says " he can stop whenever he wants because he is not addicted to it" "he enjoys smoking pot because it 'relaxes' him" but i truly feel that it is breaking everything in his life up. From a 3rd person's perspective his parents have stopped trusting him, his 5 year relationship with his gf has gone down the toilet and he has no ambition to get his GED (he did not graduate highschool). Seeing him ruin his life has had quite a toll on his family and me. I want to help him and his family. His attitude started to appear when he started to smoke again. He has lost the desire for anything. The only people he has hung around with are gangbangers, drug dealers and potheads. He still has hope and a chance to get out and get help. He is not a lost cause yet. The help that I am seeking are programs like adult interventions for his age that can help him quit this drug abuse before it escalates into harder and stronger drugs. I've done my research and have read many times that Marjuana is the "gateway" drug to many other ones such as heroine, or even cocaine. If you can please help and send me links for interventions programs that can help him it would be much appreciated!!! Thank You!    

[gizzy32]

Just wanted to know if he has any desire to stop. Do you suspect he is taking any other drug on top of this?

[gizzy32]

What do you mean by adult interventions? Like having an intervention for him or what kind of help is there out there to beat addiction? Sorry i am a lil slow tonight, lol. Just wanted to help.

[dominosarah]

You sound like a very caring friend.  Does your friend want to quit?  I hope he will get his life back on track.  Learn all you can about addiction.  That will help you and your friend.  Keep us posted         sara

[Rockabillycherry]

Well i mean intervention programs for people to quit thier drug abuse. Any kind that can help him get counseling and stop his whole drug abuse.From my knowledge it has only been Marijuana. I feel that the only reason he does it is because he felt that he never "lived the life". And later it became some sort of addiction. Another reason i seek help is because he also has chronic asthma and from what ive read marijuana cause asthma!!! which can be worse for him :(  Thank you for your help!

[Rockabillycherry]

Thanks sara! I really do care for him because he is my best friend! I feel that he does it to be "cool" and it just became an addiction. i really hope and pray to God that he does get back on track because he truly is a bright guy!

[dominosarah]

Would he be willing to come and look around the forum??

[TysonRed]

The first thing is the kid is 18yrs old and at that age you really have no comprehension on what life is really about. If all he really does is smoke marijuana occassionally I wouldnt be extemely freaked out that hes ruining his life. Thats not to say he should be smoking or not, but in comparison to all other drugs including alcohol, in my opinion marijuana is far less harmful, again I dont want to sound like Im encouraging the situation, just putting it into some perspective. Now the thoughts about it being a gateway drug I totally agree that it can lead to other drugs, cause where there any drugs theres usually different kinds. The whole job situation thing he really should take into consideration because jobs are hard to come by these days, but I imagine he believes he could beat the tests with some sort of cleansing methods (fluids, clean urine) that can be bought at any smokeshop or online. I dont encourage anyone to use any sort of mind altering substance at this point in my life, but hes young and will have to learn, either the easy way or the hard way, hopefully easy. Keep posting about how things go, theres tons of people on here that can offer you advice and experience can only benefit you. I wish you and your friend the best of luck.

[twolve]

Please dont think I am making light of your friends situation, but many people smoke marijuana and it doesnt have to negatively affect their life. I dont smoke so I am not advocating anything, but I know a lot fo people who do smoke and it hasnt affected their ambition or their success and I am talking mid 20s so they have more responsibility..Most people on here have to face terrible withdrawals when they quit their drug, but your friend can quit when he wants to and he will not feel physical w/ds from it. I agree with you that the drug testing should deter him from smoking especially if he values his job like you say he does. Anyway i just wanted to let you know that he can easily help himself out and honestly his situation is very common and not as serious as u may think. There I go again coming across like I am telling you that your situation isnt important. Please understand I dont mean to come across that way, its just that I view marijuana as very different from the other drugs. The problem is that it tends to lead to worse drugs so I commend you for trying to get your friend to realize the issue early on. Sarah is right though, if he is willing to listen to some drug stories and people who struggle with addicition this is a great place to start. This website has changed the life for many people, myself included. I wish you nothing but the best.

[worried878]

If he is willing to get help..he is well on his way..true pot has no physical wds..but mentally i am sure it does...i never really had it and was a heavy pot smoker for 10 yrs or so..a long time ago...not telling my age here now!  LOL...but one day i just put pot down...easy to say isnt it?   not everyone can do this...cigarettes are another prime example of how hard "LIL" addictions in the scope of addiction can actually be when it comes time to quit
If ur friend wants this..then he can do this...but he has to want it..i have chiropractor friend who got a dui and gets tested monthly..but continues to smoke pot...her license is at stake every month..she will do a cleanse and always passes..but the stress she undergoes to continue pot astounds me..she brags of never even taking tylenol//"I dont take any pills"

I agree..pot gets people in way less trouble/as a rule/than alcohol..maybe it should be legal..as a rule pot smokers do not hit people, drive crazy or become violent with a pot high..fact is it remains illegal and alcohol does not..so often we must play by the rules of society...like it or not

[Rockabillycherry]

Thank you everyone who was willing to help me in this situation. I see many of your points about smoking marijuana but its not really about the addiction but more about how he is putting so much emphasis on wanting to do it. He use to be an ex drug addict and i just feel he went back to his old habits! I understand that an 18 year old does not have much experince in life but my point is how much of his life he reducing.I forgot to also mention that he also smokes cigarrettes when he is not smoking weed and drinks alcohol. To make a long story short i see the effects these habits have put his family in and its breaking them apart....but by all none its getting a hold of him.  

[newmanagment]

sounds to me like he is just quitting life bro. I think the weed is definitly being used as an escape, from somethin or nother in his life. Maybe he is scared to try and fail, or just tryin at all scares the **** outta him. but for some reason it seems like he is givin up on hopes and ambition. and hangin wit gangbangers sure ain gonna give him ne kind of motivation to have a better life, trust me on tha one. Try sittin him down and askin him wuts got him down on life, not just why he wants to smoke weed. I know you woulnt be here if ya wuznt a great friend , all of us here would be lucky to have friends care enough to spend their own time on our problems. so use that friend card and see wut it brings up, maybe he'll talk to ya maybe not, but i think he is tryin to get away from somethin. best of luck bro, let us know how it turns out