Quitting weed

[CaioSG]

My experience:

 

It's very silly to say that quitting weed is easy when you smoked it like for just 2 years and probably not every day/every time.

 

I've been smoking for about 6 years now and the last 5 years i've been stoned almost 24/7, i've done all my graduation using weed, i've studied using weed, i went to the class using weed, and mostly i did my job smoking weed.

 

What happens when you are so into it is very different when you are just not a heavy smoker, i call an heavy smoker anyone who smoke all day long, most of the days more than 6 times per day. When you smoke so much, for so long time, it's REALLY difficult to drop out the stuff.

 

You crave for it, every time. You don't have the motivation to do your stuff, you say to yourself you are going to stop, but every time you fail again, and again. Yes, it's very easy to drop anything in your life if you are not really addicted to it. Your mind convices yourself that you are going to buy again, but this time you are going to smoke less, you will control yourself, that's bs, not happening at all. I've been trying to drop it since nov/2015, and it's been a big novel, going back and forth. If you have a level so big of addiction you can't never in your life smoke it again, IMO, every time you smoke again, you will feel the craving symptoms again, it's like starting from zero point.

 

In the beggining i had the same kind of thinking like: "weed is harmless, it's natural, it can do any harm". And i agree at certain point; but like anything in your life, for those who overuse it can/will become a very big problem in your life.  Just writing about it right now makes me feel a lot of desire to smoke it again.

 

Also, for who is struggling to drop out i can say that what has been more helpfull since i decided to really try to stop, and what made me even decide to stop was the meditation journey.

 

I'm sorry for my bad english.

[Myke]

  Mooji actually addresses this subject directly in a 6 minute video, right here. Mooji addressing hash

The idea that some thing outside of you needs to be added in order to feel whole is rooted in the minds dualistic nature.  Inevitably you will more separate and more incomplete.

 

 

[bbrennan1986]

I burn everyday... I'm a very productive member of society and while I consider myself a work in progress I'm told I'm a very good and attentive father. But since beginning this journey I found myself in my "goodie" jar less and less don't know if this is leading to a place where I no longer refer to the reefer but I wouldn't be adverse to that being a possible outcome. 

[Alexxx]

Some of the long-term weed effects is that it suppresses the emotions. It makes you less caring.

And when you stop smoking there would be something I call "emotional storm" for the next 2-3 weeks or so.

It can be psychologically very addictive for some personalities. 

Physically not so much, but if you are smoking for more than a 500 days, everyday (5+ joints) there would be some craving and sweating when you stop.  You might have a lot of dreams about weed as well.

I did very extensive research and I have a lot of personal experience.

It is definitely worth trying though. You can benefit doing certain activities while high. 

The plant sharpens your senses.

Listening to music, having sex and having a walk into nature ( also enjoying beautiful landscapes) are the best things to do while high.

 Meditating on it can be very intense but also beneficial as well.

My choice is not to smoke weed anymore though.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Alexxx

[DanoDMano]

I haven't smoked in a very long time but when I did it was every day for years. When I quit I couldn't sleep for two weeks. I had to fight with myself continuously to not get that bag. I couldn't even hang with those that smoked. I still can't. I have to avoid that circle at all costs because the minute I do one toke leads to two, one joint leads to two, one gram leads to two, you get the picture.

If you must get high I have some advice. Use the 4:20 rule. To me 4:20 is not a date it is a time. Don't wake and bake, be productive with your day and don't smoke until 4:20 pm or after. Now of course this depends on your routine but use this theory as a guideline. If you do quit though you will see life in a different light, that I guarantee, just as so many others have mentioned here.

[dmc3dante]

@khalid I suggest you quit completely. You can have a read of the below:

 

[Joe Distasio]

Hi Khalid, thank you for sharing your thoughts.  I myself have been an avid cannabis smoker for a couple of years.  I recently have decided to make a change in my life as well.  Here are my tips to you.  After reading the book The power of Habit i have learned a few things.  A habit consists of 3 main components.  A Cue, a routine, and a reward.  Step one to overcoming a habit is to figure out your cue.  Write down every time you have the urge to smoke cannabis.  The next step is to figure out what triggered this cue.  Was it boredom? Anxiety? Stress? Once you trigger your cue, your next action is to change your routine.  Substitute your cannabis smoking with something else more productive.  For example, i would smoke cannabis for any reason i could give myself.  The truth in the matter is, i struggled with self control and enjoyed the feeling cannabis gave me.  So as i sat down and went through this regimen i realized my main reason for smoking cannabis was boredom and the ideology that "Everything is enhanced when your stoned".... A common mindset of your average stoner.  Now, each time i find myself having the urge to smoke cannabis, i change my routine.  If its because of boredom, i open a book and expand my mind and my reward is learning something that i didn't know before.  If its because of anxiety, i sit and meditate to alleviate the unnecessary stress i am causing myself.  The truth of the matter is you can do this.  You have to WANT to change.  Try this routine and let me know if it worked for you as successfully as it has for me.

[Simon Zackrisson]

10 hours ago, CaioSG said:

I'm sorry for my bad english.

"I'm sorry for my bad English."

Capital letter for languages.

Haha, I am struggling with improvement of grammar too. (feel free to correct me ;P)

 

@dmc3dante

Waoow.

Such powerful.

Very argument.

 

Taking pictures of a random propaganda book, without mentioning name and author, and expecting people to not apply critical thinking when considering your post.

 

Yes, I am a tad defensive about this, and that is because I am sick of the beaten to death propaganda about weed. It's not my intention to be aggressive though.

 

Fun fact: The reason cannabis became illegal was never about the concern for human health.

It was about a person owning business in paper, and not wanting competition.

(The cannabis plant can be processed into hemp, which in turn can become a form of paper, only that it is stronger then normal paper.)

 

 

(Video isn't perfect, music and audio are a little bit annoying, but it's a decent enough compilation.)

Edited February 10, 2016 by Simon Zackrisson

[Dhana Choko]

On 8.2.2016 at 0:01 PM, WaveInTheOcean said:

I'm not saying weed is good nor bad, but I really don't get how you can just label it "aritifical shit" when you have never personally tried it? 
Weed is pretty harmless, yes it can be misused as seen in this thread, but that doesn't mean it's a useless "substance".
 

If everyone who smoked weed everyday in their life would have instead of smoking weed, meditated for 30min - 1 hour (or how long ever it takes to come off), they would be in completely different place in their life. It is not that smoking weed is that bad, but it is the things that you do not do because of it that makes it dangerous. 

There are many people talking about the "benefits" of weed but it depends completely on what you want out of your life. Most people smoking weed do not use it to cure cancer, but to escape their feelings, their problems and their life. If everytime instead of smoking weed, they would have done a one small thing to make their life better instead of smoking weed, their life would be very different, especially if smoking weed has lasted for many years. That is a very tough pill to swallow and it makes ego crazy, but there is no way around it. This "harmless" substance does affect lives and how the lives are lived. It is tough to realize something like this personally, BUT the realization is also a way to a better life and better choices and happier life in general.

[Abeo Maria]

I think every situation is unique and that's one of the things @Leo Gura talks about as far as authenticity and being the "author" so to speak of your own experience. If you feel it's causing a dual nature in yourself, not born of a place of peace and awareness then do what you need to do.
Everyone is different and weed affects everyone differently on their journey. It's up to you to place its value in alignment with your self development work. 
From personal experience I don't like to smoke weed. I used to smoke it every day and it felt like I was cheating. It felt like weed was opening up feelings, moods, emotions, consciousness in me that already existed. The weed only unveiled it so to speak. Knowing that it wasn't that weed creating the feeling, more so just opening me up to the feeling, I started realizing it takes a lot of work and a slow-steady stream of consistency to mastery to get to those same feelings weed can provide for you. 
It's an easier route with weed for sure. But like I said, definitely be the author of your own experience and do what you believe may or may not work for you.

[Choks]

I've been smoking weed since i was 18, i am 25 now. In my college years i used to smoke everyday, but i was really lucky i've always been the kind of person that can say "NO" when necessary. I can quit whenever i want and i've never been dependent on any substance to the point it ruins my life. I also quit smoking cigarettes from one day to another, but everybody is different. I would advice you to take a break (at least 6 months) and after that really try and use personal development to control your desire of wanting to smoke weed everyday. I disagree with people demonizing weed. In fact, without weed, i wouldn't have been able to achieve certain level of open-mindedness and it helped me to become awake since i went through a lot of suffering. Despite my heavy use of marihuana in my college years, i graduated and have a major in business, and found my life purpose.

Weed brought a lot of suffering in my life once. I liked how it made me feel, but at the same time I was totally identified with my ego (pessimistic, low self image, no confidence, no life purpose, hated life and a lot of other issues). If it weren't for weed and all the suffering it brought into my life, i probably never would have realized how the ego works or i wouldn't have started my journey to enlightenment. Now I have a job that i love, i am really happy and positive all the time and basically that's all i need since i'm grateful for all the things i have right now in the present moment. After my break (almost a year), I started smoking weed again but only on weekends (some weekends i don't even smoke) and just really makes me enjoy the small stuff or little things in life or have some ME time (this doesn't mean I can't achieve these feelings without weed). So if you don't want to quit forever, it doesn't have to be one way or the other (smoke all day err day, or never smoke again in your life). After your break, practice self control and set your priorities. If i can have a job, wake up at 4:30 AM everyday, workout, and do personal development everyday, and still control myself to wait and smoke weed in the weekend. You can do it to. Hope this helps 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Choks

[Elton]

On 2/7/2016 at 0:14 AM, khalid said:

So i've been consuming weed everyday for 2 years now, i'm a 19 years old guy , i'm expecting to pass a huge exam that's going to determine my life. The problem is that weed kill my concentration in class, it also made me more lazy and the most critical part is that i should prepare for my exam , and evrytime i smoke i procrastinate.i need people's experience to help me set my future and quit weed. 

 

my down fall era and the weed peak era was at the same time .. now 7 years passes since i'm smoking however i had realized that i cannot use all this as an excuse for not studying in-fact  in the last semester weed gave me a certain calm and my fear and anxiety would just vanish away in-spite of weed i would concentrate for hours, deep down i know its bad habit but i am not really sure if it leads to self destruction or what? after all its just a plant; a part of nature. However do not use weed as an excuse for not concentrating in class and being lazy, i would smoke a j and sit for the lecture with full concentration .its better you quit now because i feel like i need it now and its very emotionally difficult to quit . spiritual enlightenment can help you leave i guess , just i had started to understand that concept and i was able to quit cigarettes now again I've backslided though :-/ but i'm trying my best hypnosis affirmations maybe visualization might be the key.

[xXxXx]

Hey @khalid

I know your struggle! Too much of this stuff will stop one from achieving goals for sure.

I can give you a few insights in the pharmacology of THC, i think it will help you:

You can get CBD extract (Cannabidiol), it is legal in the US, EU and almost every county i know. CBD (Cannabidiol) is a non psychoactive compound in cannabis, it is a negative allosteric Modulator of THC receptors, means it will weaken the effect of it. And now the interesting part: it lowers the effects of THC on concentration and short term memory.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23550724

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20884951

A very profound problem of today's cannabis is the THC/CBD ratio, natural (land race) cannabis is much higher in CBD, thus the impairing effects are not that harsh as of today's commercial strains.

Probably this will be a good short time solution, applying CBD (no side effects), the rewarding feeling of THC will be much lower, if you still consume weed.

Good luck for the exam!

Edited February 17, 2016 by Locooig