smoking weed in AA

[neversickanymore]

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.

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IMO addiction is a vicious circle.. the alcoholism or addiction causes the deficient spiritual and emotional development which in turn drives the addiction witch makes the deficiencies worse which drives the addiction harder... hence the "progressive" illness.

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.

I have a totally different view on this.. yes taking alcohol in any form will cause a relapse.. as it is obviously ALCOHOL.. and I think since NA is based off AA it thought it would just adopt that policy.. but if you look at it alcohol will lead to alcohol seems correct.. tripping lsd will lead to a heroin relapse IMO and personal experience utter nonsense and taking Lsd may get to you closer to the heart of the matter. But again thats me and the way my mine worked.. everyone has to figure out what works and doesn't for them personally. But by all means if a person is going to work the steps do it sober or you may just be wasting your time for the most part.

Its all about taking steps in the right direction. Rome wasn't built in a day.

couldn't agree more.. just have to make sure the vast majority of those steps are moving you forward.

 

[cashmunny]

Research indicates that all drugs of abuse end up stimulating dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in the brain. The so called reward pathway. The way I think of it is this: there are lots of different foods (drugs). They all taste, look, and smell different. ( just like all drugs have different subjective effects) Some people may like brussel sprouts others like milkshakes (just like addicts have different drugs of choice). But the end result of eating (using) is the same, the feeling of being full (dopamine release).


I think what matters is intent. Addiction is about being on automatic pilot, low brain functioning, amygdala driven behavior. Intent is about high brain prefrontal cortex driven behavior. I have known many opiate addicts in recovery who have been able to use narcotic pain killers sucessfully after major surgery and such. The reason they were able to use essentially their drug of choice was because their intent was pure, high brain functioning in action (and they had a lot of support, they were honest about their addiction with their doctors, and were really careful). Essentially they had put in place a bunch of external mechanisms in order to ensure that the autopilot (amygdala) didn't take over.

 

[neversickanymore]

good post.. but if you do not abuse another drug then you will remain at good dopamine levels and there will not be a push to use unless that is a specifik trigger.. I guess if you are worried about stimulating the nucleus accumbens then you should stay away from meetings cause the dopamine released in meetings is one of the main benefits received from them.. in a na meeting.. the felling of belonging=dopamine, the just for today self applause recognition=dopamime, hug=dopamine, solving one of your problems through speaking=dopamine, getting a new key chain and getting the hugs=dopamine, a moment of silence for the addict that still suffers=dopamine as prayer and meditation create a dopamine release.. also the rush of public speaking is an adrenalin release followed by a high.. your on the right path with the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry but if you are able to break down the fellowship and how it actually works without it losing power it gives you to fight your addiction then i think you will understand whats going on with addiction a little better.. dopamine released in a manner that does not cause a significant crash demotivates the limbic system from pushing the addiction. There are also drugs that are clear immediate triggers for a persons drug of choice.. say for instance an addict liked to use coke and alcohol together.. then i totally agree that coke will lead to booze and booze will lead to coke.. or if a substance is abused(including daily use or use to shield or hide from an aspect of their world) that manipulates the VTA and thus causes tolerance and the drop of over all dopamine levels or a lowering below the normal homeostasis of the brain chemistry.. see diagram as this was probably unclear then the addict will receive a huge addiction push or drive.. of course this is just my opinion.. I'm really glad you are doing well and enjoying recovery and enjoy your posts

this is a graugh of what i mean.. so as the persons "normal felling" drops so does their addictions push for their drug of choice..

if you want to read a really good book check this out.. The Compass of Pleasure

EDIT: the three chemicals in food that trigger the greatest dopamine release by far are fat, sugar, and salt.. wanna see if my theory on dopamine release actually being a positive thing in addiction.. next time you are craving or starting to notice addictive symptoms.. eat some poppy cock.. or reese's peanut butter cups and watch if fade or disappear.. :D

oh and you are exactly right there is always a root to the addiction.. it the reason we used in the very beginning and because we hid from it with use we never dealt with it so we better deal with it and the steps are a good place to try and do this..