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smoking weed in AA

T

thedawn

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
528
hey all,title says it all.
what do you think about this?
is it morally wrong?

i am also on bupe so I don't consider myself sober.
but I do feel bad about claiming to be sober in meetings.

luckily I dont have a sponsor or work the steps right now.
then I would feel even more hypocritical.

I go to one meeting a day and smoke 24/7.
am I all alone?
 
There is nothing morally wrong with it. In my opinion and experience, your life won't really improve until you get sober and take the steps. Showing up to meetings is a really good start. The ONLY requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking (and using). Hang in there and keep coming back :)
 
mor·al (môrl, mr-)
adj.
1. Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character.
2. Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a moral lesson.
3. Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life.
4. Arising from conscience or the sense of right and wrong: a moral obligation.


The only person that knows the right way for you to act is you.. if you are not acting in a way you know you should.. then you will know because you will exspierince anxiety.

does the smoking of weed cause your life to be unmanageable, or does it cause you to want to use a substance that makes your life unmanageable? sounds like it doesn't so live by what you know to be the truth, and forget about the rest.. turn "All lies and jest, Still, a man (or a woman) hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest".. into "all lies in jest, till a man or woman here what they need to and disregards the rest;)"

guilt and self doubt are such a major weapon of addiction.. so throw that shit out the window.. If you are doing what it takes to remain happy and out of a destructive addiction then you are doing the right thing..

to receive the most out of the steps I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND doing them sober.. even if you remain smoking bud, take a little time off to work the steps and to do them.. do the work in the morning before you get lit, and when you actually do them take the whole day off from smoking until you are able to complete the step.. if you dont feel like you are walking on air after completing 5, 6, and 7, then you should consider taking a hiatus from the weed in order to do these steps with a clear mind.. weeds not going anywhere, but not getting the benefit from these steps, it is not worth not taking off a couple of days from smoking..

to get the full healing quit smoking until you are able to work through them.. IMO

many people smoke herb in aa, allot more dont.. do what works for you and know that that is right..

to aviod the guilt, stop counting sober days.. if all you need to be is sober from X, and all you need to do that is be sober for the day, then counting days is only a trap anyway.. give yourself a hand on everyday that you dont use the substances that fucks your life up, thats all you need and all you have to do, just for today im not going to use anything that kills my soul or ruins my life..

IMO very nice work on a "SOBRIETY" that works for you.. if it works for you then work it;)<3
 
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wow,neversickanymore,that was a good reply.
no,the smoking isnt ruining my health.I'm bipolar and on 3 meds for that.
the weed is medical marijuana.I rationalize that I'm "self medicating".

thing is,I used opiates for 8 years and was a street addict.
this new life with just weed is so fucking wonderful.
my wife came back.I digress...

but..I'm not sober yet.
to thine own self be true...thats where it's at.
think for yourself.

I know I just need to get rid of the shame and guilt.
 
It's pretty simple: If you still smoke pot then you're not sober since you're using and abusing a drug since you said you smoke it 24/7 and stay high all day. Also you're not fooling anyone by going to meetings very stoned.

Do you actually want to become sober? I know many addicts who like to fool themselves into thinking they can smoke herb but it's just a substitute addiction or a substitute drug, and then they return to abusing their drug(s) of choice including alcohol, opiates, or benzos.

I wouldn't say that it's morally wrong to go to AA while you smoke herb but it is hypocritical and you shouldn't call yourself sober. As you're not sober or completely sober if you do smoke herb and use other drugs.

Honestly though it's good that you're questioning this and that you realize this about yourself. Sometimes it takes people multiple tries before they actually want to become sober and do stop using drugs. Some people do it in steps with stopping alcohol or opiates first, and then quitting smoking/using herb, or others stop smoking/using herb and/or opiates first and then get sober from alcohol.
 
I know some people who attend aa but smoke all the time. They seem to do fine. Take care.
 
I've been in and out of NA/AA for a few years, known many people who have tried the "marijuana maintenance plan". Some make it days, some months, I've even known someone who made it a little over a year - without relapsing on the drug they went there for. However All of them did eventually relapse on alcohol/hard drugs (including me). Don't get me wrong, maybe you can do it - everyone is different. But I personally have never met anyone it worked for in the long run, nor anyone else whose met anyone it worked for.

Also, as mentioned already showing up to AA is a great start, but if you actually want your life to improve you need to work the steps. After a while just showing up to meetings is pretty pointless (in my opinion).
Good luck, because you're going to need it.
 
caseface99 said:
I've been in and out of NA/AA for a few years, known many people who have tried the "marijuana maintenance plan". Some make it days, some months, I've even known someone who made it a little over a year - without relapsing on the drug they went there for. However All of them did eventually relapse on alcohol/hard drugs (including me). Don't get me wrong, maybe you can do it - everyone is different. But I personally have never met anyone it worked for in the long run, nor anyone else whose met anyone it worked for.

Also, as mentioned already showing up to AA is a great start, but if you actually want your life to improve you need to work the steps. After a while just showing up to meetings is pretty pointless (in my opinion).
Good luck, because you're going to need it.
Click to expand...

I agree with your post. The OP is playing with fire, and the whole "marijuana maintenance" is just another bullshit substitute addiction that will make you go back to drinking alcohol and abusing other drugs.

username13 said:
I know some people who attend aa but smoke all the time. They seem to do fine. Take care.
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So do I. NONE of them are actually sober or clean, and they may pretend to be sober or clean, or "seem to be doing fine" but actually they still binge drink and use drugs-pretty much any drug they can get their hands on.
 
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username13 said:
I know some people who attend aa but smoke all the time. They seem to do fine. Take care.
Click to expand...

me too, but there are more that fall.

DrunkardsDream said:
So do I. NONE of them are actually sober or clean, and they may pretend to be sober or clean, or "seem to be doing fine" but actually they still binge drink and use drugs-pretty much any drug they can get their hands on.
Click to expand...

I have seen people live amazing lives for decades completely making this untrue for everyone.. but i have also had good people close to me get sucked back out and die attributed to this, but then i've seen so many just get sucked back in:(<3 ... honesty is the key, always find the truth as to our own situations.
 
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I should probably pay more attention to my own use of "marijuana maintenence" because since quitting oxy I got to have my smoke and want it every day......and even though I am broke as fuck, somehow I always have friends who will smoke me out.

Ugh. Seems like this stage of my life just keeps coming back to bite. I'm looking forward to the day when I can look back and see that I've been truly sober and truly engaged in other activities because without that last part, we're juts waiting to get high again.
 
One of my good friends JUST died in a car accident, they were on the "marijuana maintenance" plan. She relapsed on heroin, relatively quickly I might add - Drove her car fucked up and crashed. Was in a coma for about 10 days and just recently passed. :(

Fuck... Just another statistic now... Too many of my friends are gone... Too fuckin' many...

I know there was a ton of variables involved in this, but I thought I would still post it in this thread. Just a real life example of what can and does happen all the time when people think certain drugs wont lead them back to harder substances. Is it really worth the risk? Is it fucking worth it? Because I want you to give me ONE good reason to smoke pot in recovery other than to GET FUCKED UP.
 
I am on the bupe maintenance plan, but I also smoke daily. I've been off heroin for a little over a month, and sometimes I go to NA meetings because I can 'take what I want and leave the rest'. I don't claim to be clean or sober, I'm not, I'm stoned half the time. I never get cravings to use heroin or anything else really, which I attribute to the bupe. From what I have found, the fellowships are also 'against' maintenance drugs like bupe, so lately when I have gone to meetings its hard to listen for a good message, because I just feel so guilty for what I am doing. I think this is imagined guilt, and my OWN moral compass needs to be slightly realigned. When I think that other people are judging me, I tend to judge myself even harder.
 
I am sober, and get kind of irked when AA members use the term "marijuana maintenance plan" with that derisive tone of voice. I smoke not all, but most nights, late, to help wind down from the day. A few hits from the bong. It calms my typically racing mind, and relaxes me physically just enough. I never smoke before AA meetings, and if for some reason I do, like if I visited a friend who offered me some, I don't attend that day. (there's that guilt y'all have mentioned.) I don't really have a hugely positive psychological association between alcohol and marijuana, besides BAD memories of getting the spins. And I certainly don't equate them. If I was really "replacing" the booze with weed, I'd be smoking weed first thing in the morning, nonstop, until I pass out at night. It would siphon all my funds and be my only priority. I really just refuse to equate the two, despite the popular opinions of many AA's. A lot of them are also completely against non-alcoholic beer. But, for me it is an absolute miracle- I work in nightlife and could not be more grateful for the sense of normalcy non-alcs provide me in that setting. Anyway, that's my two cents. I may not be "clean" but I am sober. Others can think what they will. All I know is that I am blessed to be off the booze, AA is an amazing gift, and I am proud of my progress and extremely grateful.
 
^ I think it sounds like you have found a balance that works for you and I think you should be proud of where you are. Glad to hear you are.<3
 
thank you so much,herbavore.
your posts are always very thoughtful.
after 3 years off everything but pot,I'm starting to feel like a human again.
I never thought that would happen.
I was suicidal with a plan,bipolar or schizoaffective,for over 10 years.

I got on suboxone in 2008,but binged on crack and benzos until 2010.
so five years off opiates.

I'm now in the process of going down on my psych meds.
I used to be on abilify,lamictal and celexa.high doses.
I recently started taking less abilify,and I feel clearer and more aware.
I am working with my psychiatrist.

I appreciate all the replies.
this is all a help on my journey back to myself.
peace.
 
I know alot of people who go to meetings who drink coffee all day long, hell most meetings even have it set up in the lobby.

its quite hypocritical for them to say who can and cannot smoke a non habit forming drug with no withdrawals whatsoever.

If marijuana helps you stay away from the drug that got you into the meetings in the first place, then I think you should be able to use it as much as you want as long as it doesnt affect your judgement and make you relapse.

some people can, some people cant. but to say all people cant is pretty pretentious
 
There is only one step out of all twelve that mentions alcohol/addiction. That should tell you something about the nature of what you are dealing with. IMO addiction is a problem that really stems from deficient spiritual and emotional development. The next eleven steps treat the root of the problem.

Switching from heroin to methadone or alcohol to weed is just like the various remedies that alcoholics tried as it is written in the Big Book "only drinking natural wines, switching from scotch to brandy", etc. It may help for a while and reduce overall harm. But it doesn't get to the heart of the matter.
 
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