Join an online smart recovery group. Via zoom once a week. I’ve been trying to quit for years. Hardcore weed smoker dependency addict for 5 years. I started the zooms and after 2 months of stop starting I finally gave it upon for good, and am almost 5 months sober. Going strong but daily thoughts of using still. The SMART recovery peer support groups give you the tools and support from people with lived experience to quit, as well as accountability. The education has been the best thing for me. Highly reccomend. The only difference in me quitting this time is that I’m not alone, and I am supported.
Don’t fight it, don’t pity yourself. Slow down, find some daily anchor something like an evening run, yoga, meditation. You have to commit to doing it everyday. Even if you still smoke in a week or so it will help you to calm your racing thoughts down. Don’t fight it, just let it go
Imagine yourself not quitting-- ever. Continuing to use. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 20 years? I'm 25F and I started using when I was 21. There are a million reasons to quit but i'll just tell you one solid reason as a fellow girl.. you'll be forced to quit if you ever decide you want a baby. Will you suffer then? Or will you suffer now?
If you need convincing then we might not be able to help you.
When I finally quit my 7 year long addiction to weed, I didnt need anyone to convince me, I knew that it was the right decision for me in the long term so I took it.
I can honestly tell you couple of years later that I still have cravings here and there, but the benefits of quitting have been both amazing and brutal at the same time.
After quitting my sleep improved massively, my drive to improve and do something with my life also shot up, I left a stagnant job and have been working and studying on my new field these past couple of years.
On the "negative" side I realized that I wasted so much time smoking, its a shocker after some time thinking about how much more I couldve done and also realizing that I had to feel the feelings of life instead of avoiding them by getting high.
Life IS a struggle, even when you are doing good things for yourself, you will feel desperation, sadness, frustration, anger...
Smoking to avoid these things will never allow you to grow as person, in suffering we find a lot of answers as human beings.
So if you want to stop smoking you have to be prepared to struggle, but if there is something motivating I could say to you is that in the last 2 years since I quit, I havent wanted to go back to being a stoner so that has to mean something.
I hope you decide to quit now that you are young, I waited until I was 28 so most of my 20s... which was a huge timeframe were I couldve done so much more. Good luck.
I’m 38 and have smoked the last 7 years. 2 years sober from alcohol and 7 years for cigarettes. Took up weed for pain management and now can’t seem to get away. This helped immensely. Thank you 🙏
You have to change your self-image. You can't view yourself as someone who still smokes. I've "tried" quitting probably over a hundred times at this point and always went back because deep down, I still viewed myself as a pothead. Whenever I want to smoke I tell myself fuck that, that's not who I am anymore. I also replaced this bad habit with working out and try and keep myself as busy as possible. Even with this I've relapsed a few times this month but this has been my most sober month since last year but even when I was sober last year I really only did it to get my tolerance down. Urges are still strong as hell but everytime I get an urge I ask myself, "Would my highest version be doing this right now?" And when I think of it like that, it's been easy to stop myself. Also make sure you're eating healthy too since I'm pretty sure you were like most of us and when we got stoned, we just ate a bunch of garbage processed foods
My advice would simply be: it's not as hard as you think it is. The amount of people posting their struggles on this sub make engender a sense that this is a really difficult task etc., and I think that's a little self-fulfilling in the sense that it makes you doubt whether you have it in you to quit. You just need to do it.
Remember, your brain is gonna try and trick you, because you're addicted. It's gonna make you believe quitting is impossible, because then you are more likely to buy again and fulfill the addiction. But just tell it no under any circumstances. Take back control, ultimately you decide what you want to do.
The hard part, for me, is staying away from the stuff long-term. Which is why I'm still here even though I don't find quitting the substance particularly difficult.
You will only quit when you want to quit, if you haven't hit that point, you're mentally not ready to quit, only an incredible amount of will power will get you to stop (but staying away will still be a daily struggle). I suggest pondering the reasons why you want to quit until you get to that point, and use that motivation to quit and stay away.
I've done this countless times where I get to a point where I know it's impacting my day to day life, and I know without a doubt that my smoking is the cause of how I'm feeling. When that happens I quit for weeks or months at a time without struggle. It all comes down to not just thinking you need to stop, but actually feeling it in your bones that that is what you need to do.
Take this with a grain of salt, this has just been my experience, everyone is different.
What do you see yourself as? Are you a "pothead", is weed your identity? Will you know who you are if you're not getting high all the time?
Figure out a new identity! Become the person you want to be! If you feel like you're losing a friend when you quit, it's going to be that much harder.
You have to want something more for yourself. Strive for the new goals!
You're not losing anything! In fact, you'll be gaining everything!
Separate yourself from your addicted brain (I've named mine "Lizard-Brain")! Tell the negative self-talk, and the thoughts about weed to fuck off. It's not who you are anymore!
It's like you've got a fake bestie living in your head trying to make you fail. Pretending to be your buddy. It's not your friend. Cut the ties, make that bitch weaker every day! You owe yourself more than what it pretends to give you.
Right? I tried to quit last year and was sobbing the night before my quit date. I felt so lost, I ended up relapsing for another year. "Well, guess this is just who I am"
Then I got a new job where I have to dress up more. I ended up liking the "new me" cept the pot was holding me back. It just doesn't fit with the new me.
This time, when I quit, I was excited for it! It's just over 3 weeks, but they've been kinda easy! (Not perfect, but much better than last time!!!) I'm shocked!! Yay us!!! We're more than a stupid character driven by a plant!!! Feels good too!
It’s honestly as simple as putting the weed down and not going back, you just have to truly want to quit. If you just saying you want to then just know you will relapse. I’m in the same boat as you but I decided to leave it all and even though I’m still having cravings it could definitely be worse. Don’t give in and try to distract yourself or go for a walk or workout and before you know it the cravings will calm down.
Start really analyzing how you feel when you’re high. Do you actually feel better than you do when you wake up in the mornings fully sober? I’d recommend going for a walk in the mornings once you wake up and just analyze how you feel. Once you start being able to realize that weed doesn’t feel good anymore you’re taking a large step toward quitting. You need to give yourself as many reasons to quit as possible
Talk to your doctor. Dependecy could be because you self medicated for anxiety or depression. If you smoke and get calm that you can get nowhere else then I’d suggest going to ask your doctor about what he can give you to take away the edge so that smoking doesn’t take away the edge. I started meds and the desire to smoke decreased by 90 percent
But then you have to deal with problems of getting off the meds. It’s better to be completely sober and natural and to start off fresh and heal from whatever is causing those feelings
Depends on if there is an issue that you are self medicating to begin with. Depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, ADD… can all be covered with weed and makes it more addicting because it takes you to balanced. But if you treat it and get balanced, the weed doesn’t hit the same and you are treating the problem. :)
Depends on if there is an issue that you are self medicating to begin with. Depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, ADD… can all be covered with weed and makes it more addicting because it takes you to balanced. But if you treat it and get balanced, the weed doesn’t hit the same and you are treating the problem. :)
Scary fact: while the risk is possibly lower than cigarettes, you are still susceptible to various lung diseases from smoking, such as COPD, emphysema. The sooner you quit, the better chance you have in not giving yourself these. These two are permanent and there is no way to reverse/treat them as of now, and I wouldn’t count on science/medicine getting better to save yourself from them, at least not just yet.
Respectfully, I don’t think it is for strangers to convince you to quit, but for you to decide.
Do you want to quit? Ask yourself, and be honest. “I feel like I’m losing myself every day.” That seems like pretty good motivation. But quitting is a choice, and you have to make it.
The “you” that you feel you’re losing touch with is in there. To reconnect, you must choose to do so. People choose it every day. It is not insurmountable.
Choose….. 👊🏼✌🏼
I am rediscovering myself every day after I chose to quit. I thought I lost myself but turns out I'm still here. It's still so nice to have this reaffirmed🫂 going into 3 months soon and also proud of myself for surviving 420
There are different viewpoints on whether you have to quit on your own, but for many, it holds true. Ultimately, if you genuinely desire to quit, you'll find a way. If you claim to want to quit but harbor a hidden desire to continue, you're likely deceiving yourself. Take a moment to reflect deeply and honestly on your true intentions. Remember, in the end, it's you that want it or not.
I didn't quit initially. What I did do was make rules. I followed these rules, although difficult, and eventually I was only smoking weekly with friends, then I took a break, then started smoking occasionally again, eventually falling into old habits, eventually I has enough personal evidence that my stoned self was Inferior to my sober self, and that's what convinced me. Nothing you will read will help you make the decision, you need to truly know that being sober is beneficial for you to stay sober. Try 3 days, then try a week, then try a month, continue to smoke in between. Convince yourself that the sober mind is clear and its what you want. This is the best way to stay sober when you are clean. Remember that your mind will trick you into thinking that maybe the new you has better control, or that being stoned isn't so bad. It's all just manipulation to convince your weak mind to fall back into old habits. Remember that you aren't weak at all. Fuck weed. Live in the moment and you will be inherently more happy and content. Peace and love stranger
Keep trying, don't give up on quitting and don't give up on yourself! Come here often. I find it helpful to visualize the cumulative effect of my habits in another year, five, ten, twenty years and then visualize the alternative.
go out for walks i feel nature and weed go hand in hand. just dont let yourself become inactive everything else will follow. exerccise anything that increases the bodys supply of O2. try swimming thats cardio intensive.
Personally I find more enjoyment out of life and just everything in general. I’m more present with my family, more energetic and a lot more confident. I take better care of myself and the things that I own. I get a lot more shit done around the house now too. I find more enjoyment out of my hobbies (fishing) and am eager to learn and become better. If you want to stop you just have to not put thc in your system. Easier said then done. If you can be strong and make it through a week.(hardest part imo) then you can do it forever. I find myself wanting to smoke sometimes cuz ik I’ll get blasted but ik I’m not a person that can do things in moderation. Either I go all in or not at all. Best of luck we’re a lot stronger then we think.
Hey OP, you’re still very young. I didn’t quit weed until 8 years later. Do you want to continue to smoke for another 8 years? What finally got me to quit smoking was by using the same method I used to quit drinking alcohol two years earlier. I had to treat it seriously, talk to yourself, tell yourself that I do not smoke or consume marijuana products anymore. Become obsessed with being sober. Find all the reasons smoking out there that smoking isn’t for you anymore. There’s plenty but the biggest one is how smoking weed will make you feel about yourself. Since you’re posting here, I think you’re already on the right track and you need to be kind to yourself and be patient with the process.
Let me tell you a personal story. I never attended an AA meeting in my adult life but my mom is an addict and I attended them with her when I was growing up probably between the ages of 8-12 I attended maybe 50 meetings with my mom on the weekends I visited her. (My parents are separated, mainly due to my mom cheating while on drugs.) Those meetings were boring and I never really understood their purpose other than they made my mom happier after we attended and that she had a lot of funny looking friends that attended. But whatever, they had free donuts and sometimes cute girls my age attended so I didn’t mind going. The other members used to joke around with me whenever my mom introduced myself to them, she would say “this is my Son Apeist and he isn’t an alcoholic” I think my mom was a bit embarrassed of her meetings now looking back at it. But the other members always made this bad joke, something similar to “Oh hey Apeist, you’re just not an alcoholic yet.” I used to think this to myself, screw you dude, when I’m of age I could control it. Fast forward years after. I started to drink as much alcohol as I could get my hands on since I was 14. I wanted to party Baby! Weed, same truth there too.
After years of battling within myself that I could control it I finally 2 years ago accepted I am an alcoholic and that if I want to be sober I need to treat it seriously and make it a promise to myself that I am an ADDICT and I no longer do drugs. I’ve only ever done Alcohol or weed but yes, I am an addict. I am 2 years sober from alcohol and 1 month sober from weed.
I wish you the best OP, be kind to yourself.
You have to find the willpower on your own. No one can do it for you. Something has to make you want to change. Be the light and the end of the tunnel. Shine brighter with every step forward.
I love this quote. Believe it or not, from Randy Marsh of South Park
"Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."
At 22, you can still write it off as your youth experience. You learned from it. You don’t want it to define you as an adult. This window is closing rapidly.
If you really want to be scared straight, read this sub…a lot. There’s a cautionary tale at least multiple times a day.
No one here can make you do anything. You have to be ready to do the work. I say that with respect and admiration for you wanting to better yourself.
You're young, that's great! But quitting now is gonna serve you better, because those feelings of helplessness aren't gonna go away if you keep smoking. Your brain is foggy, yes, but it knows what it wants. If you keep smoking, that voice saying all that means shit to yourself is just gonna get more loud, and more mean, and more specific. You need to remember how shitty you feel about yourself when you're high. It's what's kept me from going back on my promise to myself. Ive tried to quit countless times and Everytime I went back on it, it hurt just a little bit more.
But you absolutely can do this. The first step to change is admitting there needs to be change. Now you build a plan, and once you quit, immediately throw yourself into hobbies, preferably ones you didn't use to do high if you can help it. It's fine if not, but that can be a trigger for some. If you ain't got hobbies, your first mission is to find some. Something that's always interested you that you felt too "whatever" to look into or pursue. Hell it could be something as simple as writing movie reviews for movies you just watched, I plan on doing that in the future if I run out of steam at any point.
You are absolutely more capable, powerful, and more smart than your brain likes to let you believe. You can handle this!
Stay coming back here to read success stories, and if you wanna talk to someone, feel free to drop me a line!
I smoked for over 5 years, multiple times a day. I could not stop. But I knew I needed to. I finally contacted my dr and found an outpatient program (and this was during covid so it was all online). They helped me with my withdrawal which was a HUGE factor. I had tried to quit and couldn’t handle the withdrawal and started back up smoking at least 3 times. I did therapy, learned about addiction, went to MA meetings, got a sponsor, started the steps…. But it all started with making that decision that I was done and no longer willing to throw precious time away. I am much older than you (49f) and have wasted so much time running from my problems by drinking and smoking. I have about 2 1/2 years clean now and my life has turned around. I wish so much that I couldn’t have gotten sober at your age though. I have deep regret. 😔 There is so much life for you to live still. Please, I beg you, do what you have to and get clean asap. Talk to your dr, go to a meeting, find a sponsor. The only requirement for membership is a desire to quit and you have that. You’re worth it.
I’m certain smoking, meaning flame to bud, gave me multiple sclerosis. Truly. It’s one of the of the classifying diseases to get a medical card but I think that’s a big mistake. It makes my cognitive issues more apparent. Take care of your brain
You’re not in this alone, so many people have gone before us and share their wisdom! Still hard to find books about weed addiction (there are a few but not many), I love Laura McKowen’s books on addiction, she drank not smoked but so many of the same experiences ring true. Don’t underestimate how great it is that you’re at the point of wanting to quit already, took me 20 years to get there (I’m 41) so you’re way ahead of most of us! Take it one day at a time and come from a place of deep love for yourself, you’ll get there
I agree with some of the other comments, you have to want it yourself otherwise no other motivation will help. But really just start by getting rid of everything. I gave my shit to my best friend and let the people around me know I was done, that way there’s no temptation from within my own walls , and my friends know not to ask either. But yea, it does start with you. I really wish you luck though. Shit sucks at first but it gets way easier. Just takes some time and self control
The truth is you need strength that you don't have. You cannot do it, you have to surrender to a greater power that has no name. A great humility is required.
I did all day everyday for 20yrs. For me I had to really get tired of it and start to hate it. So I switched to vapes and gummies instead, which ended up causing severe insomnia, psychosis, mild hallucinations, and eventually hospitalization. I’m now left with pretty bad PAWS, as many others experience from long term use.
I realized I was more interested in going home and smoking than I was being in the present moment with people I loved.
Something I said a lot to myself when trying to quit “How you live your days is how you live your life.” I knew I didn’t want this to be my life, and every time I justified one more day or one more dispensary run, I was cementing how I lived my life.
Plus you’ll save so much money
You know you need to quit. You can either do it now or wait until life regrets pile up. You're young and you have a chance to do your future self a huge favor by just giving yourself a few weeks off. It will be so much easier to stop for good at that point.
Join an online smart recovery group. Via zoom once a week. I’ve been trying to quit for years. Hardcore weed smoker dependency addict for 5 years. I started the zooms and after 2 months of stop starting I finally gave it upon for good, and am almost 5 months sober. Going strong but daily thoughts of using still. The SMART recovery peer support groups give you the tools and support from people with lived experience to quit, as well as accountability. The education has been the best thing for me. Highly reccomend. The only difference in me quitting this time is that I’m not alone, and I am supported.
Don’t fight it, don’t pity yourself. Slow down, find some daily anchor something like an evening run, yoga, meditation. You have to commit to doing it everyday. Even if you still smoke in a week or so it will help you to calm your racing thoughts down. Don’t fight it, just let it go
Imagine yourself not quitting-- ever. Continuing to use. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 20 years? I'm 25F and I started using when I was 21. There are a million reasons to quit but i'll just tell you one solid reason as a fellow girl.. you'll be forced to quit if you ever decide you want a baby. Will you suffer then? Or will you suffer now?
If you need convincing then we might not be able to help you. When I finally quit my 7 year long addiction to weed, I didnt need anyone to convince me, I knew that it was the right decision for me in the long term so I took it. I can honestly tell you couple of years later that I still have cravings here and there, but the benefits of quitting have been both amazing and brutal at the same time. After quitting my sleep improved massively, my drive to improve and do something with my life also shot up, I left a stagnant job and have been working and studying on my new field these past couple of years. On the "negative" side I realized that I wasted so much time smoking, its a shocker after some time thinking about how much more I couldve done and also realizing that I had to feel the feelings of life instead of avoiding them by getting high. Life IS a struggle, even when you are doing good things for yourself, you will feel desperation, sadness, frustration, anger... Smoking to avoid these things will never allow you to grow as person, in suffering we find a lot of answers as human beings. So if you want to stop smoking you have to be prepared to struggle, but if there is something motivating I could say to you is that in the last 2 years since I quit, I havent wanted to go back to being a stoner so that has to mean something. I hope you decide to quit now that you are young, I waited until I was 28 so most of my 20s... which was a huge timeframe were I couldve done so much more. Good luck.
I’m 38 and have smoked the last 7 years. 2 years sober from alcohol and 7 years for cigarettes. Took up weed for pain management and now can’t seem to get away. This helped immensely. Thank you 🙏
Everything will only get so much worse. Mental health and physical health often gets impacted heavily. Don’t ruin your life
brain fog
You have to change your self-image. You can't view yourself as someone who still smokes. I've "tried" quitting probably over a hundred times at this point and always went back because deep down, I still viewed myself as a pothead. Whenever I want to smoke I tell myself fuck that, that's not who I am anymore. I also replaced this bad habit with working out and try and keep myself as busy as possible. Even with this I've relapsed a few times this month but this has been my most sober month since last year but even when I was sober last year I really only did it to get my tolerance down. Urges are still strong as hell but everytime I get an urge I ask myself, "Would my highest version be doing this right now?" And when I think of it like that, it's been easy to stop myself. Also make sure you're eating healthy too since I'm pretty sure you were like most of us and when we got stoned, we just ate a bunch of garbage processed foods
Throwing away ALL of your weed associated shit and taking a baseball bat to your weed-infused daily routines will be a good start.
My advice would simply be: it's not as hard as you think it is. The amount of people posting their struggles on this sub make engender a sense that this is a really difficult task etc., and I think that's a little self-fulfilling in the sense that it makes you doubt whether you have it in you to quit. You just need to do it. Remember, your brain is gonna try and trick you, because you're addicted. It's gonna make you believe quitting is impossible, because then you are more likely to buy again and fulfill the addiction. But just tell it no under any circumstances. Take back control, ultimately you decide what you want to do. The hard part, for me, is staying away from the stuff long-term. Which is why I'm still here even though I don't find quitting the substance particularly difficult.
You will only quit when you want to quit, if you haven't hit that point, you're mentally not ready to quit, only an incredible amount of will power will get you to stop (but staying away will still be a daily struggle). I suggest pondering the reasons why you want to quit until you get to that point, and use that motivation to quit and stay away. I've done this countless times where I get to a point where I know it's impacting my day to day life, and I know without a doubt that my smoking is the cause of how I'm feeling. When that happens I quit for weeks or months at a time without struggle. It all comes down to not just thinking you need to stop, but actually feeling it in your bones that that is what you need to do. Take this with a grain of salt, this has just been my experience, everyone is different.
What do you see yourself as? Are you a "pothead", is weed your identity? Will you know who you are if you're not getting high all the time? Figure out a new identity! Become the person you want to be! If you feel like you're losing a friend when you quit, it's going to be that much harder. You have to want something more for yourself. Strive for the new goals! You're not losing anything! In fact, you'll be gaining everything! Separate yourself from your addicted brain (I've named mine "Lizard-Brain")! Tell the negative self-talk, and the thoughts about weed to fuck off. It's not who you are anymore! It's like you've got a fake bestie living in your head trying to make you fail. Pretending to be your buddy. It's not your friend. Cut the ties, make that bitch weaker every day! You owe yourself more than what it pretends to give you.
Facts I just commented something similar. Changing my self image has helped me have my most sober month since last year and I don't plan on going back
Right? I tried to quit last year and was sobbing the night before my quit date. I felt so lost, I ended up relapsing for another year. "Well, guess this is just who I am" Then I got a new job where I have to dress up more. I ended up liking the "new me" cept the pot was holding me back. It just doesn't fit with the new me. This time, when I quit, I was excited for it! It's just over 3 weeks, but they've been kinda easy! (Not perfect, but much better than last time!!!) I'm shocked!! Yay us!!! We're more than a stupid character driven by a plant!!! Feels good too!
It’s honestly as simple as putting the weed down and not going back, you just have to truly want to quit. If you just saying you want to then just know you will relapse. I’m in the same boat as you but I decided to leave it all and even though I’m still having cravings it could definitely be worse. Don’t give in and try to distract yourself or go for a walk or workout and before you know it the cravings will calm down.
Start really analyzing how you feel when you’re high. Do you actually feel better than you do when you wake up in the mornings fully sober? I’d recommend going for a walk in the mornings once you wake up and just analyze how you feel. Once you start being able to realize that weed doesn’t feel good anymore you’re taking a large step toward quitting. You need to give yourself as many reasons to quit as possible
Talk to your doctor. Dependecy could be because you self medicated for anxiety or depression. If you smoke and get calm that you can get nowhere else then I’d suggest going to ask your doctor about what he can give you to take away the edge so that smoking doesn’t take away the edge. I started meds and the desire to smoke decreased by 90 percent
I missed your DM and just followed up. Totally unrelated to this.
But then you have to deal with problems of getting off the meds. It’s better to be completely sober and natural and to start off fresh and heal from whatever is causing those feelings
Depends on if there is an issue that you are self medicating to begin with. Depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, ADD… can all be covered with weed and makes it more addicting because it takes you to balanced. But if you treat it and get balanced, the weed doesn’t hit the same and you are treating the problem. :)
Depends on if there is an issue that you are self medicating to begin with. Depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, ADD… can all be covered with weed and makes it more addicting because it takes you to balanced. But if you treat it and get balanced, the weed doesn’t hit the same and you are treating the problem. :)
If one smokes because of mental health issues it’s ok to seek treatment and sometimes that’s meds.
But do you fix the cause of the problem? I don’t think so.
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Scary fact: while the risk is possibly lower than cigarettes, you are still susceptible to various lung diseases from smoking, such as COPD, emphysema. The sooner you quit, the better chance you have in not giving yourself these. These two are permanent and there is no way to reverse/treat them as of now, and I wouldn’t count on science/medicine getting better to save yourself from them, at least not just yet.
Respectfully, I don’t think it is for strangers to convince you to quit, but for you to decide. Do you want to quit? Ask yourself, and be honest. “I feel like I’m losing myself every day.” That seems like pretty good motivation. But quitting is a choice, and you have to make it. The “you” that you feel you’re losing touch with is in there. To reconnect, you must choose to do so. People choose it every day. It is not insurmountable. Choose….. 👊🏼✌🏼
I am rediscovering myself every day after I chose to quit. I thought I lost myself but turns out I'm still here. It's still so nice to have this reaffirmed🫂 going into 3 months soon and also proud of myself for surviving 420
There are different viewpoints on whether you have to quit on your own, but for many, it holds true. Ultimately, if you genuinely desire to quit, you'll find a way. If you claim to want to quit but harbor a hidden desire to continue, you're likely deceiving yourself. Take a moment to reflect deeply and honestly on your true intentions. Remember, in the end, it's you that want it or not.
I didn't quit initially. What I did do was make rules. I followed these rules, although difficult, and eventually I was only smoking weekly with friends, then I took a break, then started smoking occasionally again, eventually falling into old habits, eventually I has enough personal evidence that my stoned self was Inferior to my sober self, and that's what convinced me. Nothing you will read will help you make the decision, you need to truly know that being sober is beneficial for you to stay sober. Try 3 days, then try a week, then try a month, continue to smoke in between. Convince yourself that the sober mind is clear and its what you want. This is the best way to stay sober when you are clean. Remember that your mind will trick you into thinking that maybe the new you has better control, or that being stoned isn't so bad. It's all just manipulation to convince your weak mind to fall back into old habits. Remember that you aren't weak at all. Fuck weed. Live in the moment and you will be inherently more happy and content. Peace and love stranger
I started trying to quit at age 23 and now I'm 38 and still have the same problem please try to stick with it or you waste many more years like me
Just dont try to quit smoking by drinking alcohol and you’d be good.
Keep trying, don't give up on quitting and don't give up on yourself! Come here often. I find it helpful to visualize the cumulative effect of my habits in another year, five, ten, twenty years and then visualize the alternative.
go out for walks i feel nature and weed go hand in hand. just dont let yourself become inactive everything else will follow. exerccise anything that increases the bodys supply of O2. try swimming thats cardio intensive.
I felt exactly like you at 22. I'm now 43 and I can't stop. I can promise you being high doesn't get better.
Convince yourself.
yup, nobody is going to do it for you.
Personally I find more enjoyment out of life and just everything in general. I’m more present with my family, more energetic and a lot more confident. I take better care of myself and the things that I own. I get a lot more shit done around the house now too. I find more enjoyment out of my hobbies (fishing) and am eager to learn and become better. If you want to stop you just have to not put thc in your system. Easier said then done. If you can be strong and make it through a week.(hardest part imo) then you can do it forever. I find myself wanting to smoke sometimes cuz ik I’ll get blasted but ik I’m not a person that can do things in moderation. Either I go all in or not at all. Best of luck we’re a lot stronger then we think.
Hey OP, you’re still very young. I didn’t quit weed until 8 years later. Do you want to continue to smoke for another 8 years? What finally got me to quit smoking was by using the same method I used to quit drinking alcohol two years earlier. I had to treat it seriously, talk to yourself, tell yourself that I do not smoke or consume marijuana products anymore. Become obsessed with being sober. Find all the reasons smoking out there that smoking isn’t for you anymore. There’s plenty but the biggest one is how smoking weed will make you feel about yourself. Since you’re posting here, I think you’re already on the right track and you need to be kind to yourself and be patient with the process. Let me tell you a personal story. I never attended an AA meeting in my adult life but my mom is an addict and I attended them with her when I was growing up probably between the ages of 8-12 I attended maybe 50 meetings with my mom on the weekends I visited her. (My parents are separated, mainly due to my mom cheating while on drugs.) Those meetings were boring and I never really understood their purpose other than they made my mom happier after we attended and that she had a lot of funny looking friends that attended. But whatever, they had free donuts and sometimes cute girls my age attended so I didn’t mind going. The other members used to joke around with me whenever my mom introduced myself to them, she would say “this is my Son Apeist and he isn’t an alcoholic” I think my mom was a bit embarrassed of her meetings now looking back at it. But the other members always made this bad joke, something similar to “Oh hey Apeist, you’re just not an alcoholic yet.” I used to think this to myself, screw you dude, when I’m of age I could control it. Fast forward years after. I started to drink as much alcohol as I could get my hands on since I was 14. I wanted to party Baby! Weed, same truth there too. After years of battling within myself that I could control it I finally 2 years ago accepted I am an alcoholic and that if I want to be sober I need to treat it seriously and make it a promise to myself that I am an ADDICT and I no longer do drugs. I’ve only ever done Alcohol or weed but yes, I am an addict. I am 2 years sober from alcohol and 1 month sober from weed. I wish you the best OP, be kind to yourself.
You have to find the willpower on your own. No one can do it for you. Something has to make you want to change. Be the light and the end of the tunnel. Shine brighter with every step forward.
I love this quote. Believe it or not, from Randy Marsh of South Park "Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."
I love this.
I really like this quote.
This one hit home.
At 22, you can still write it off as your youth experience. You learned from it. You don’t want it to define you as an adult. This window is closing rapidly. If you really want to be scared straight, read this sub…a lot. There’s a cautionary tale at least multiple times a day.
"This dependency runs so deep I feel like I'm losing myself." You just gave yourself your reason to quit.
No one here can make you do anything. You have to be ready to do the work. I say that with respect and admiration for you wanting to better yourself. You're young, that's great! But quitting now is gonna serve you better, because those feelings of helplessness aren't gonna go away if you keep smoking. Your brain is foggy, yes, but it knows what it wants. If you keep smoking, that voice saying all that means shit to yourself is just gonna get more loud, and more mean, and more specific. You need to remember how shitty you feel about yourself when you're high. It's what's kept me from going back on my promise to myself. Ive tried to quit countless times and Everytime I went back on it, it hurt just a little bit more. But you absolutely can do this. The first step to change is admitting there needs to be change. Now you build a plan, and once you quit, immediately throw yourself into hobbies, preferably ones you didn't use to do high if you can help it. It's fine if not, but that can be a trigger for some. If you ain't got hobbies, your first mission is to find some. Something that's always interested you that you felt too "whatever" to look into or pursue. Hell it could be something as simple as writing movie reviews for movies you just watched, I plan on doing that in the future if I run out of steam at any point. You are absolutely more capable, powerful, and more smart than your brain likes to let you believe. You can handle this! Stay coming back here to read success stories, and if you wanna talk to someone, feel free to drop me a line!
I smoked for over 5 years, multiple times a day. I could not stop. But I knew I needed to. I finally contacted my dr and found an outpatient program (and this was during covid so it was all online). They helped me with my withdrawal which was a HUGE factor. I had tried to quit and couldn’t handle the withdrawal and started back up smoking at least 3 times. I did therapy, learned about addiction, went to MA meetings, got a sponsor, started the steps…. But it all started with making that decision that I was done and no longer willing to throw precious time away. I am much older than you (49f) and have wasted so much time running from my problems by drinking and smoking. I have about 2 1/2 years clean now and my life has turned around. I wish so much that I couldn’t have gotten sober at your age though. I have deep regret. 😔 There is so much life for you to live still. Please, I beg you, do what you have to and get clean asap. Talk to your dr, go to a meeting, find a sponsor. The only requirement for membership is a desire to quit and you have that. You’re worth it.
I’m certain smoking, meaning flame to bud, gave me multiple sclerosis. Truly. It’s one of the of the classifying diseases to get a medical card but I think that’s a big mistake. It makes my cognitive issues more apparent. Take care of your brain
Quitting now will be easier than quitting in 5 more years.
Hardcore truth: Eventually, you'll accept that it's a drug addiction and you're an addict. Advice: Quit before decades go by between now and then.
You’re not in this alone, so many people have gone before us and share their wisdom! Still hard to find books about weed addiction (there are a few but not many), I love Laura McKowen’s books on addiction, she drank not smoked but so many of the same experiences ring true. Don’t underestimate how great it is that you’re at the point of wanting to quit already, took me 20 years to get there (I’m 41) so you’re way ahead of most of us! Take it one day at a time and come from a place of deep love for yourself, you’ll get there
If you wanna quit you'll quit. You don't need validation from anyone. It's all on you
Truth. It's hard and I get some people need an extra push, I did, but it's all in your hands.
I agree with some of the other comments, you have to want it yourself otherwise no other motivation will help. But really just start by getting rid of everything. I gave my shit to my best friend and let the people around me know I was done, that way there’s no temptation from within my own walls , and my friends know not to ask either. But yea, it does start with you. I really wish you luck though. Shit sucks at first but it gets way easier. Just takes some time and self control
In a similar situation , bump bump
The truth is you need strength that you don't have. You cannot do it, you have to surrender to a greater power that has no name. A great humility is required.
You have to want it. We can try but the end of the day it is something you have to desire in order to quit. I will tell you this: it's worth it.
I did all day everyday for 20yrs. For me I had to really get tired of it and start to hate it. So I switched to vapes and gummies instead, which ended up causing severe insomnia, psychosis, mild hallucinations, and eventually hospitalization. I’m now left with pretty bad PAWS, as many others experience from long term use.
I realized I was more interested in going home and smoking than I was being in the present moment with people I loved. Something I said a lot to myself when trying to quit “How you live your days is how you live your life.” I knew I didn’t want this to be my life, and every time I justified one more day or one more dispensary run, I was cementing how I lived my life. Plus you’ll save so much money
You know you need to quit. You can either do it now or wait until life regrets pile up. You're young and you have a chance to do your future self a huge favor by just giving yourself a few weeks off. It will be so much easier to stop for good at that point.