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Marijuana Maintaince :: Veins stay drug free

E

evilbrain

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 19, 2013
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looking back at hades hangin at the bodega on main
ive been very successful over the years staying away from dope, coke, and speed. however, being that i smoke weed, and drink occasionally, i feel hypocritical going to n/a meetings. during my early recovey they were extremely helpful, but their resistance to my feelings and actions on soft drugs made my memershit not possible. does anyone else feel like this? are there any resources for people in recovery from hard drugs that smoke weed and drink socially? its been over 20 years since i lived that horrible lifestyle. thats for the feedback
 
The reason people are so against it is because more often than not, people either use it as a soft way back to hard drugs, or just become addicted to the "soft" drugs themselves. It also alienates you from a completely sober lifestyle, making you much more susceptible to using hard drugs again.

However, if you actually are just using them occasionally and your life isn't negatively effected (i.e. being depressed about using them or having them prevent you from doing more productive things) then i really can't see what's wrong with that. I would just say for all those things to be ACTUALLY ruled out is pretty damn unlikely. At the same time, unlikely isn't the same thing as impossible.

Happy trails.
 
Pretty proud of myself for coming up with the "soft way back to hard drugs" bit ahahahahaha
 
I was addicted to opiates for more than 10 years.
I'm still on suboxone.I was a street addict.homeless hustler.smoking crack.
it's been 5 years since my last encounter with Tar.

I live in California where weed is legal for medical reasons.
I have a card so i get it legally.

i'm also in AA.it's a bitch with the honesty thing and that I'm smoking weed every night.
i don't tell anyone.
i don't have a sponsor so i don't have to lie.
i don't share anything about new comers or birthdays.

however,I had NOONE for a long time.no real life people in my life.
i go to AA just to sit and chill and be surrounded by other addicts.
I know too much isolation makes you crazy.
ideally,i would stop the weed,get a sponsor and work the steps and do what they do.

so i know what you're talking about.
i don't know what to do about it though.

don't stop AA/NA.
go high on weed if u have to.
it's your life,you need to not kill yourself.
you will hopefully pick up something that can lead to sobriety.
 
I can understand your feelings of guilt, however in my opinion I would try to let them go. The way I look at it is as long as you're not in active addiction, you're doing great.
 
I personally don't think that marijuana is a risk to falling back into addiction. I can manage it, and it actually helps me in a spiritual way. The only frustrating thing is when your weed dealer sells other drugs.

Alcohol's a bit more difficult because it lowers your inhibitions and makes you rationalise stupid behaviour. If I have one drink, it's a guarantee that I'll be on my phone ordering heroin and cocaine before the bartender can pour me a second. This is why I now don't drink at all.

AA/NA takes that stance, at least I think, for two reasons: 1) They don't want to condone anything at all, or else they will lose the respect of society and 2) decades of socio-political programming has convinced a lot of people that "a drug is a drug is a drug." And as a program that thrives on recited and recycled information and matras, it's easy enough to see how its people can get caught up in this.
 
If you are doing what you need to stay away from active addiction to the substances that kill and the ones that you are using are a positive thing in your life then really whats the problem.. I think the idea of one drug automatically leading to use of the drugs we had life crushing problems with is based off the idea that alcohol is alcohol.. this makes sense that an alcoholic will likely experience problems if they used to drink whiskey and they talk themselves into thinking its ok to drink brandy. There are also drugs that can be clear triggers for certain addicts.. like the ability of alcohol to trigger many cocaine addicts who consumed alcohol allot when they used.. this may be due to the cocaethylene combination or it may just be a normal trigger.

I say focus on whats right.. and thats staying away from active addiction to the substances that kill us and our lives. Throw all the guilt and shame out the window as it does us no good and promotes use. Never understood why the fellowships used these awful emotions so much. They can promote such good things but they use the shame and guilt to much IMO.
 
That's a tough one.... I just quit drinking (did my drug run years ago) - switched it all to alcohol I guess. Been smoking weed at bedtime and on weekends and it has helped with sleeping and some of the mindfuck. But, I'm still having morning cravings to drink and had a good think about having a smoke this morning (at 9am) and I don't want to use it that way.... I've even taken a few kpins and I'm trying not to do that either. I'm not going to any meetings but would sort of like to find a sponsor BUT I don't think one would work with me if I'm not working the program.... so it's just me and a therapist right now - I'm even keeping it all from my husband with is not very smart at all (he has no idea of my problem as I hid it so well - except the blackouts LOL) - but talking daily about all of this with a guy who I'm trying not to have an affair with. :/
 
yea i feel you. people who conquered addiction feel the need to abstain from anything considered a vice BUT WILL FUCKING RIP BUTTS LIKE ITS NOBODIES BUSINESS. i guess nicotine is nothing compared to heroin though right?

the slippery slope back to addiction is whatever you want it to be.

its not weed or pills or alcohol or even cigs and coffee.

its your decision at the end of the day.
 
If you're smoking herb or using cannabis in other ways then you're not sober. It's just a substitute addiction or a substitue drug. I know a lot of people who as someone else said did start using cannabis or alcohol and then it lead them back into using their drug(s) of choice and a relapse. Or instead of using their DOCs they just wind up abusing cannabis by using it daily. I don't use cannabis since for me it was directly linked to drinking alcohol and taking other drugs since I would smoke or use it while on alcohol and other drugs. I do not smoke or use tobacco either. I personally have never been to AA/NA but while I'm sure there are a lot of people who are sober because of it and still go to meetings, I have known people who are addicts who when they're not at an AA/NA meeting or after a meeting will go out and get drunk or use drugs alone or with other people they've met there since talking about drugs or alcohol in AA/NA gets them craving and it's a trigger for them.
 
RedLeader said:
I personally don't think that marijuana is a risk to falling back into addiction. I can manage it, and it actually helps me in a spiritual way. The only frustrating thing is when your weed dealer sells other drugs.

Alcohol's a bit more difficult because it lowers your inhibitions and makes you rationalise stupid behaviour. If I have one drink, it's a guarantee that I'll be on my phone ordering heroin and cocaine before the bartender can pour me a second. This is why I now don't drink at all.

AA/NA takes that stance, at least I think, for two reasons: 1) They don't want to condone anything at all, or else they will lose the respect of society and 2) decades of socio-political programming has convinced a lot of people that "a drug is a drug is a drug." And as a program that thrives on recited and recycled information and matras, it's easy enough to see how its people can get caught up in this.
Click to expand...

I'm not one to speak for AA/NA, but scientific evidence points to any re-stimulation of the meso-limbic reward system (from weed to dope) as putting one at an incredibly high chance of relapsing. I mean why risk it?
 
dirzted said:
I'm not one to speak for AA/NA, but scientific evidence points to any re-stimulation of the meso-limbic reward system (from weed to dope) as putting one at an incredibly high chance of relapsing. I mean why risk it?
Click to expand...

I have been looking for the studies that show this and I have been having trouble finding them.. not saying at all they dont exist but if you or anyone has a link It would be great if it could be posted. Thanks in advance if anyone can do this.
 
dirzted said:
I'm not one to speak for AA/NA, but scientific evidence points to any re-stimulation of the meso-limbic reward system (from weed to dope) as putting one at an incredibly high chance of relapsing. I mean why risk it?
Click to expand...

Weed improves my spirituality, which in turn keeps me connected to the universe around me and very much aware of the future I want and the person I want to be - a future which using the hard stuff won't allow me to ever have. I only want to do H when I feel more like dying than living. This life-affirming quality of weed (same applies to most psychedelics), for me, overrides any "re-stimulation of the meso-limbic reward system." In my personal understanding of it, weed is a medicine, a spiritual healer.
 
Also since cafine and nicotine stimulate the VTA and dopamine reward pathway but are consumed in high percentages by members of fellowships I want to see and think about the reward pathway stimulation and relapse studies make this distinction. As far as alcohol I think this can definitely lead to relapse on DOC drugs as it hampers the function and power of the cerebral cortex. I think of the biggest points in recovery is when we are able to go from doing all we can to not do something and transition into not wanting to do it anymore. Does this mean we are no longer addicted no, but it means we have finally seen through the illusion that addiction casts. It sure is easier to resist a crave when you know its totally full of shit.

What do you guys think about the idea that if a person who is in a total abstinence program who decides to use another substance may just be already close to relapsing anyway.


This being said i think that anything that is used continually which stimulates dopamine release, creates tolerance, and depletes dopamine can definitely cause a addictive push.
 
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OP, you sound exactly like me (though I do not drink, only smoke and occasionally take Kratom). I see no reason as to why you should feel hypocritical. NA specifically promotes abstinence from all DRUGS. IMO, marijuana, kratom, psychedelic mushrooms, or anything from the Earth that does not undergo a single chemical process to be utilized is not a drug. These things are herbs and are natures medicine and answer to the problem of drugs that we have created and perpetuated with The War On Drugs.
 
I think when we start looking for what is bad/good, legal/illegal, hard drug/soft drug, or chemical vs herb or any other dichotomy we set up false premises. AA and NA have a point in that there is value to learning to live without any mind or mood altering substance but even they miss the point IMO with not taking it far enough. Shopping can be, and is for the vast majority of Americans, an addiction with all the same activation of reward systems in the brain.

The bottom line to me is simply balance. I think there are certain substances that next to no one will be able to keep in balance over time. Other substances can be more easily kept in balance by more people but not everyone. Yet still the truth is that anything can be used to separate us from our own true selves and leave us operating from unquenchable need--not just substances. Learning to embrace the things that cause pain like loneliness, uncertainty and self-doubt, (to name the biggies), without using anything for distraction or denial or escape is for me the focus. The more I have stopped running from emotional discomfort in my life, the less I have discomfort I have to run from--strange, but true.
 
neversickanymore said:
I have been looking for the studies that show this and I have been having trouble finding them.. not saying at all they dont exist but if you or anyone has a link It would be great if it could be posted. Thanks in advance if anyone can do this.
Click to expand...

I got it from the book "Clean" by David Sheff, I can't find it right now but he lists his references so I'll be sure to post it if I can uncover whereever that damn book is hidden.

Regardless of just scientific evidence though, I think it's pretty damn well accepted that using soft drugs puts you at a high likelihood to pick up hard drugs again, aside from all the "meso limbic reward system stimulation" etc.

And RedLeader if that works than fine, I don't have anything against it I just evaluate the risks/benefits of doing that for the majority of people and the comparison seems pretty unbalanced.
 
Also, the disease of addiction is permanent, it never goes away (as you probably know of course) so on a much simpler level one could just point out that the use of substances will be the same as it was prior to the period of abstinence since the disease never completely left the individual.

Obviously this varies from person to person, but addiction is more accurately represented on a spectrum than in terms of black and white (a person is an addict or they aren't) so when someone picks up using again they may seem to have more control but they are just on a different part of the spectrum as they were before due to their period of abstinence/treatment.

That's not an end all statement about addiction but just seems to be the most logical conclusion one can conjure given the evidence (to me anyways) let me know what you think guys!
-thanks
 
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