Quitting Weed?

[quit-once]

Lately I have read a lot of posts on this forum about those who have quit weed or those who think they need to quit weed. I might be in the latter camp for several reasons. I would really like to hear from those who have quit for a while and how they think life got better without weed. I have always maintained a very defiant attitude about my weed usage but I am also open-minded to suggestions for self improvement. Thanks.

[rick]

Ok lets see. How has life gotten better without weed? Well to start off I am almost 5 months clean from weed. I believe that weed was mostly a filler in my life. It made me feel like I was actually doing something. I have time for more things that I actually feel good doing now. It has evened me out a bit because I believe that smoking weed more than once in a while leads to you feeling worse all of the time. It uses all of your stores of feel good feelings.

Basically I am more clear headed without weed. I certainly exercise more. One of the biggest things for me though was that smoking weed kept me in a self-centered lifestyle. All drugs used to get high are self-centered of course but I hate that about them. Smoking weed made me want to be high all of the time and thats why I could never go back. Almost all of friends smoked and thats all we ever did. I was NOT a casual smoker I smoked incessantly.

Me and my main smoking buddy always thought like this "Well theres no reason for us NOT to smoke weed". But really we just didn't want to face the facts. He still hasn't. Life goes on fine with or without weed but I believe the quality of life is just a bit better without it.

I am interested in hearing why you might be considering quitting weed?

[FALCON]

RICK

Hey there little brother I was high on weed for 8 years non stop every waking moment of the day. I know exactly how you feel you made a very wise choice by quieting a daily weed smoking habit you know something I think I have damage something in my brain by smoking so much weed in my younger days good for you you did it you stopped you realized that it was holding you back I have no problem with the acatonal use of weed . I even think its has its therapeutic value to it keep up your great will power little bro you are doing a great job getting your life back on track and don’t worry about school you will be OK the only thing you can do is your best Evert without the stimulants jest do your best that’s all anyone can ask from you we are all not supper men when it comes to academics it comes easy for some people and for some people it is hard work so jest do the best you can .

Your friend FALCON

[sky]

hey quit-once, since everyone's physiology is different, we all react differently to the weed, all use it or used it for different reasons-- I smoked daily, I got my medical marijuana card (literally called the doctor, said "I'm having trouble sleeping, I've tried drinking warm milk, I've tried counting sheep..." was as easy as that to get a prescription. Then buying weed became like buying wine... it wasn't just green bud and mexi weed, it was indica and sativa, and I always bought straight sativa because it was more "upper" and didn't make me AS much of a social retard as indica, which just make me flatline socially.... But I smoked daily, and would smoke before leaving the house, and then I wouldn't talk to anyone and was awkward and weird and I hated it cuz I met no one new, was just bla and boring, wasn't funny and if I made a joke it was kinda "huh?" cuz only I thought I was funny.... long story not that short, it got in my way.... I had been wanting to stop smoking weed ALWAYS, I knew it wasn't good any more, cuz I smoked daily, smoked before everything but work... I knew better than to smoke before working cuz my job requires me to be very social and on point and creative and I just can't smoke and do it... but sure as hell as soon as I got in my car, or got home or was able to I'd fire up the bong...

NOW things are different. It's been about 2.5 months, things are DRASTICALLY different.... I am much more social, much less awkward to not awkward at all (maybe a little awkward but that's just naturally me I guess), funny, I am not so self-loathing and don't beat myself up all the time. I still enjoy doing everything I used to do stoned, but I'm just not stoned. I don't wake up foggy in the morning, I can talk to strangers and girls and people I would normally have shied away from cuz I felt too self conscious cuz I was awkward cuz I was stoned.... I was able to do everything high, so I wouldn't say I'm more productive, I was never very productive to begin with, still not really, but it was a vice, it was something I felt was holding me back, it was something I could not stop doing, and I did, so I feel good about that.....

Why do you think about stopping? what's your story? I know a ton of folks who smoke and it doesn't seem to affect them adversely at all. Their eyes don't even get red (I'd smoke a little hit and my eyes turned glassy and red... no hiding it here), they get more creative, they can interact seemingly as if nothing is different.... that wasn't me.

[Motivation_Follows_Action]

I am much more social, much less awkward to not awkward at all (maybe a little awkward but that's just naturally me I guess), funny, I am not so self-loathing and don't beat myself up all the time.

Diversion alert: sky you make me burst out loud at least once a day. Today's gem was the costco-sized-trail-mix reference ... your sense of humor is awesome, and really really appreciated. I tend to get a bit fatalistic about things every now and again but you've usually got some encouraging but witty magic that acts a tonic to my blues. Thanks, dude.

Oh, and in my head you always speak like Fred Armisen doing The Californians

[sky]

lol, I love The Californians....

my accent is much more pronounced though, his is more "California lite"...

[rick]

thanks falcon! unfortunately i too worry that i may have quit weed too late as it has been about 5 full years for me (14-19). I think that it is important though not to dwell on any and all past substance use and instead to look to the future.

i plan on going into next semester with that mind set though! I will not sacrifice my sanity for A's.......

also on a side note--- i live next to a nature reserve and the birds that i have around me are astonishing sometimes! i swear we have hawks and all kinds of crazy stuff. yesterday i accidentally awoke a GIANT turkey vulture and it swooped in to attack me and i had to duck loll

[FALCON]

Do not worry about you damaging your brain you have common sense enof to quit smoking weed every day Your OK little brother like forest gump said your brain is like an rubber band it will regain its shape keep up the good work and don’t you relapse you here me now.

Your Friend falcon

[FALCON]

SKY

My brother man you are trowing me into a tail spin your explanation on your weed use was fabulous very coherent and to the point and a interesting read .Sky I remember when you first came on line to quitting adderall your first post was so fucked up scattered and incoherent rambling on about noting at all jest all over the board with your subject mater .I remember I posted you and asked you what the hell you where tying to express. I could not understand what you where trying to say you responded back to me by saying you do not use spell check OK I left it alone butt today I see a new SKY. Man brother you jest made a 360 I am so fucken proud of you brother you keep on keeping on you sound great . Do not go back to that dark place you where in .

Your thru friend FALCON

[sky]

hahahahahaha yeah I remember that.......... that was like day 2 or 3.... I said I was writing Stream of Consciousness and yeah was prob a mumbo jumbo of thoughts and ideas as my brain swelling returned to normalish. If you remember, I was VERY excited in those early days, the idea of being compelled and excited about getting off the addy was exciting me, I was giddy, I was excited to be a new me. It had gone on long enough, and I was excited to redefine myself and watch the world unfold and open up in front of me... that delusion gave me the will to get thru that kinda tough part to now. Things are better and getting better now for sure. Was a good decision. I'm glad you were there to give support for sure, all of ya'll, I'm telling you, this forum definitely helps... even when I was on the mission to get a cig a little while back, I thought of this forum and didn't smoke, and I was glad the next morning that I didn't........ so props, raise the roof, whoot whoot.........

[quit-once]

Sky and Rick,

Thanks for your responses. Two very different takes on reasons for quitting and how it was used, and niether one like my own. I didn't realize that people use weed for so many different reasons and in so many different ways. So here's where I am coming from:

I have used it ever since I was a teenager and that was about 35 years ago. My use has tapered down to about an ounce every six months or so, and I smoke it on most days, but not always daily, and usually only a few tokes once in the evening or maybe twice on a weekend. I use it to unwind after work and I really enjoy the high. It keeps me from getting bored. And, like adderall, it makes cleaning the house a little more enjoyable for me. Also like adderall, I can do some really good thinking when I am high and I get some really good ideas that pass the test of evaluation when I am sober. I really don't have many friends that still smoke so there is no social aspect to it - it is something I enjoy doing alone in my home. I have never ever felt guilty about using weed nor have I encountered any health problems from it. So why would I consider quitting?

I just came off a month long experiment with the Atkins diet - the hard core phase where you cannot consume more than 20 grams of total carbohydrates in any one day. While reading the book, I convinced myself I had a carbohydrate addiction. You see, I had been successful at knocking off about 25 lbs of extra body fat last summer and fall. Then came the dark season with little exercise and I started binge eating. I gained almost ten pounds during the month of November so I had to do something. I was going to stay on Atkins for the reccomended two weeks of heavy carb restrictions. But at the end of that two weeks, I had only lost about five pounds and I was still binge eating, except now it was cheese, meat, eggs and fatty sausage. You are supposed to easily be able to control your appetite on Atkins so what was causing that? By chance, I noticed on the days I didn't smoke weed I did not binge eat. Fuck. It was the munchies all along! This took me at least three weeks to nail down.

So in addition to noticing my appetite was easy to control when I didn't smoke, I also noticed I was getting a lot more things done. I was able to stay up late like I prefer doing. Weed makes me crash early, and I am not a morning person so I would rather stay up till midnight. One more thing and that is related to this place - I became aware that my memory is not as good as it used to be and that it was possibly due to using weed thanks to InRecovery, Falcon and MFA.

I am considering cutting back to using weed only on the weekends or maybe quitting altogether to see if that makes a difference in the four areas of my life that still need some fine tuning: eating, sleeping, doing, and remembering. Thank god weed is not physically addictive so it is only the mental urge to use I will have to resist. any thoughts from anybody?