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Quitting weed

B

Beat Narrative

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
306
Location
Melbourne
I am 30 and seem to have gotten most of of my substance abuse issues in check but the one hurdle i can't seem to get over is weed. I have been smoking pretty regulary for the last 16 years, virtually every day for the last 12 years and weed has become so normalised that i think of having a bong as regular act as having a coffee.
My biggest problem is that i get anxious when i start running out to the point where i get scared about the thought of not having any, thankfully this occurence only occurs once a year or so but i have realised the one area in life that i am incredibly organised with is maintaining my stash of weed.
I have made some fairly big decisions in the last year, i have recently gotten over an opiate habit and cut down my drinking in a big way but the idea of quitting weed seems impossible
The weird thing is i only really smoke at home, if i am out and someone offers me a smoke i normaly decline, but when i am at home i smoke constantly, so it really sux that the one environment i associate my usage with the most is the place i spend most of my time.
I don't even really enjoy being stoned, it has little effect on my thought and just makes me sluggish and unmotivated mainly but i have turned this into thinking this is how i relax at home
I guess after cutting down other things it has given me some perspective as to how much i smoke and the amount of control it has over my life and thats the thing that pisses me off more than anything, the fact that i feel something has an element of control over me
I am just wondering if there are many people who have had the feeling they need to stop something and successfully stopped something that is so habitual that they have no idea how to even begin stopping, i know this seems like a very minor issue and in the greater scheme of things its is but at this present point in time it seems to be consuming my thoughts and providing a mixture of motivation to quit and also making me frightened about the sheer notion of having none let alone quitting entirely
I still have to work out if i want to quit or cut down, i think its all or nothing with me as moderation does not seem to be something which i have had much success with and i know making the decision for myself is the first step but i am at a loss as to what strategies i can put on place to eliminate it from my life if thats the choice i make
 
i too am taking a break from marijuana.. as i am trying to focus on other aspects of my life that need improvement.


it is not that hard to take a break. the first few days are hard, but sober life isn't that bad after all. there is little withdrawal affect imo from weed, and if u controlled your opiate addiction this should be a walk in the park.

try taking a small break and see how it works for you. never feel inclined that you have to smoke.
 
I guess my post was born out of sitting here thinking, should i text my dealer to restock my supply, or should i just try and go without, the immedaite anxiety that occured was kinda frightening.
I find with myself that i associate my environment with certain behaviour, opiates were a mechanism for me to cope with a stressful job i hated and it really helped my ability to function and reduce anxiety, i have since quit the job and after going through the wd's i have found it not to difficult to stay away from it because i had eliminated the environment that was the trigger. This has only happened in the last 2 weeks mind you, so i will see if i can maintain this abstinence
Weed is what i do at home, makes it really difficult to alter my environment, i am just at a loss as to what strategies i can use to stop myself from going crazy with anxiety at home if i decide to stop smoking
 
Beat Narrative said:
I guess my post was born out of sitting here thinking, should i text my dealer to restock my supply, or should i just try and go without, the immedaite anxiety that occured was kinda frightening.
I find with myself that i associate my environment with certain behaviour, opiates were a mechanism for me to cope with a stressful job i hated and it really helped my ability to function and reduce anxiety, i have since quit the job and after going through the wd's i have found it not to difficult to stay away from it because i had eliminated the environment that was the trigger. This has only happened in the last 2 weeks mind you, so i will see if i can maintain this abstinence
Weed is what i do at home, makes it really difficult to alter my environment, i am just at a loss as to what strategies i can use to stop myself from going crazy with anxiety at home if i decide to stop smoking
Click to expand...

try making small changes in your life. do different things and adjust to different environments. change your daily smoking routine habits. even the most negligible changes can have a prominent effect on your habit. adjusting little things like that can help you rid addiction.
 
Break time OP... I really not sure about how u gonna change ur enviornment iv had trouble with this also and smoked for a good 15 yrs odd wiht only a few Forced tollerence breaks inbetween, Yea Sublime is right the first days suck, mormaly the first week for me, but after that it does bring clarity of mind and if u dun really enjoy it ul be surprised how much better you will feel within urself. Decide a Quit day maybe, Get someone to hold onto ur bong or pipe or just get rid of it if u can easilly replace it, and Go fot it;) sorry theres not really an easy around it after ya smoked so long...

I dont condone this idea as im stuck on benzos,However if ur anxiety gets way outta hand and u got a good doctor that ur honest with about wanting to stop smoking pot they may give you a short course of a light benzo to help with coming thru it a little better but IMO its not needed. Wishin u the best OP... you can do it its a mindfuck... but its doable:\
 
Sublime, it can be very hard for people to quit, and saying it's not hard doesn't help.
OP have you thought about some CBT?
Quitting a habit of over a decade of daily use overnight isn't easy, especially cold turkey. Maybe try only smoking once every 3 or 4 days for a little bit, and seeing if you can't slowly reduce your intake until you're satisfied. A tolerance break wouldn't hurt regardless, if you didn't smoke for a month, the first time you smoke will be great. You should respect Cannabis, and she will treat you nicely.
It's great that these 2 guys found it easy and got great effects from quitting, but if you're expecting the outcome SMFG got you may be disappointed.
A jug fills a drop at a time, the journey begins with the first step, if you get up one more time than you fall, etc. Good luck, there is plenty of support at TDS.
 
^I cant exactly say that i found it easy, CBT is an excelent thing also though ive returned to smokin since and am on the verge of maybe quitting for good or a bit more of a decent t break... Cuting down is a good thing to do i agree, for me however i had to finish up my bags, pack shit up and go no more.
This is where its tricky as its different for everyone... My kids mother went thru utter hell for a couple of weeks comin off tha stuff, others i know are just social smokers. Hope you find ur way though OP, Did not intent to make out that givin up weed after 15-16 yrs is a walk in the park @ all, which is why i mentioned seeing a doctor.
keep us updated with how you go eh :)
 
Thanks for the replies, i know quitting weed is pretty trivial compared to what most peole on here go through but when something seems to hold a degree of control over your a behaviour whther it be caffeine, weed or heroin its a problem, i guess its just the ramifications of the addiction that differ mainly

I almost feel as though i am addicted to owning weed. The anxiety i used to exerience when i had none at all is now the experience i start to feel when i am down to my last few grams, its like i am afraid of the notion of not having weed in my posession as opposed to the actual act of being stoned. Also i don't smoke cigarettes but smoke bongs with tobacco mixed with my weed, i am sure i have a hysical addiction to tobacco by now but associate it with weed as thats how i smoke it

I have been seeing all my mates i grew up with straighten themselves up and i am still waking up and ripping a bong first thing in the morning regardless of what the day ahead beholds

My mates who have been chronic smokers and stopped have told me that i will get to a point when i am just fed up with it, i am not sure whther i should just wait for this to eventuate or make a concerted effort to at least cut down, i go through phases when i just get annoyed with myself that i am so dependent and other moments when i appreciate and love weed, i wish i could strike a point of moderation but i dont see it hapening

One thing that worries me though is that i hope i don't compensate alcohol for weed if i do quit, my mum drank herself to death and I got told she went back to drinking after two years sober because of a weed drought in our home town, two years later she was dead. I drink fairly heavily as is and always have this anecdote about my mum in the back of my mind, i know i am my own person but i am fairly sure i am an alcoholic and weed balances it out and seems to be the thing that holds those few drinks from becomming way to many drinks

sorry, after wrtiting this it would appear that i have a few more issues than quitting weed on my plate but the beauty of BL is that it is a cathartic method for processing things that are on your mind, thanks for allowing me this platform
 
for health reasons I would quit drinking and smoke more cannabis. For most people it's all about reassociating things in your head. For example i always have to be high to watch a movie. So to reassociate my enjoyment of film I have to watch a movie and not be high and it's actually really rough at first but it gets easier. And you can do this for each association you have with enjoying cannabis. It's basically the same thing as CBT but cheaper. If you have an underlying anxiety problem it will help a lot to talk about it and figure out why you feel that way (cannabis often ends up causing anxiety in long term users so quitting may even resolve it).

i think every smoker gets a bit anxious when they run out and don't want to quit. Just knowing that if things get really bad you can still get high really helps, maybe just keep a 1/4 ounce tucked away somewhere and you can feel secure if you run out or decide to quit. I stash stuff everywhere and usually forget about it so when i am rummaging around with no cannabis I usually find some :)

i smoke tobacco with my cannabis in bongs as well lol and you probably have an addiction to the tobacco and the bong, I can quit cannabis but i still end up smoking tobacco bongs, as gross as it may sound it keeps me sane and satisfies that hunger for a bong rip, although it's far less healthy than cannabis.
 
It's not trivial, there have been people who find Cannabis to be their most addicting drug, more so than Heroin in the example I'm thinking of.
Do you have the willpower to stop whilst keeping some weed? That way you have the security of knowing you can get stoned if you want.
Strictly physically speaking, being addicted to/ingesting Cannabis is better for you than Alcohol, so I don't know.
Wish I could be of more assistance.
 
Beat Narrative said:
Also i don't smoke cigarettes but smoke bongs with tobacco mixed with my weed, i am sure i have a physical addiction to tobacco by now but associate it with weed as thats how i smoke it
Click to expand...

Yes, you will have a physical addiction. I quit smoking weed heavily around 2 years ago, and quit smoking any at all around 9 months ago. However I've not been able to shake the nicotine habit, tho I did switch to ecigs. Personally I would try and deal with the nicotine habit and the weed habit separately, it will make things considerably easier imo.
 
Hey B.N -

Despite popular belief, quitting weed is much harder than it seems. I guess to set you up on what to expect, when you quit you're gonna have trouble sleeping and eating. It sucks, but it's hurdle you have to get over. When I quit, I get a huge mood crash after about a week and I get pretty depressed, but luckily that doesnt last long. Basically anything that you do stoned will seem pretty boring when you do it sober all of the time, but the best way to deal with doing that is to switch up your routine and find other things to do. Change how you do something in the morning, where you go out to eat, leisure activity, etc. Quitting weed, while it might not be fun, is actually very rewarding, I noticed I generally feel a lot better when I do.

When you get down to it, quitting weed is about willpower. My parents tried to force me to quit many times and I lasted 2 weeks at the most. When I finally decided to stop for myself, only then did I succeed. Please let me know how it goes :)
 
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