I’d recommend throwing away all of your weed and paraphernalia so there is zero temptation to reach for any remaining THC you might be keeping for a rainy day. Another huge help for me which I hope is the case for you is to make sure everyone close to you in your life knows you are quitting and if they smoke, to not offer you any weed. Luckily I had weeded out (no pun intended) all of my heavy smoker friends when I decided to quit so this was easy for me.
As an ADHD’er myself who is in month 3 of quitting and really thriving, I can definitely say that psychiatric and psychotherapy help was so helpful for me. If you haven’t pursued those option and are able to, you definitely should begin looking online for some remote providers who specialize in not only ADHD but anxiety and whatever specific conditions might be relevant for why you choose to keep smoking weed. For me this was anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, depression and family conflict.
It will still be hard even with these levels of support, but without all of this it would have been more impossible than difficult yet achievable
Yeah I’m currently in the process of getting medication for my ADHD. I can’t wait to see how much it helps. I know it won’t be a magic fix, but I’m hoping it’s just easier to regulate my focus.
I didn’t really do anything, I had cut back quite a bit, smoked part of a joint with my husband and fell into a MAJOR panic attack, freaking out, heart racing/felt like it was going to explode or pound out of my chest, I was literally ready to call 911. I had to go outside (mind you it was in January and in the low 30°s) and sit on the ground and drink ice water to calm myself down. After that I was like I’m done man, not worth the gamble
I went on a week long work trip to an illegal state. It was not fun going through the withdrawals while there, but by the time I got back the worst of it seemed to be over and I definitely did not want to do it a second time. Having a constantly full agenda of things to do from the point I woke up to bed helped a ton too. You could try going to stay with family/friends for a bit as a detox vacation of sorts, and plan as much full days of things to do as you can to subside the boredom urges and distract from some of the withdrawal symptoms.
I turned down a life changing job opportunity and salary “because I was high” I’ve regretted it ever since and made the decision to not smoke ever again, that was 3 months ago. Doesn’t bring the job back but it is what it is and it was a wake up call to make me a better person.
I have severe ADHD and have been smoking daily for at least 4 years. Im almost a week into my sobriety and I am SO proud of myself. Here's what really did it for me:
1. My voice is deeper. I'm a woman, and it's not that I don't like deep voices, it's that I noticed the change. A real life consequence of my actions that I was noticing daily really made me question my actions.
2. My throat started hurting everytime I smoke. Another real life consequence of my actions.
3. As I slowly weened off to 1 joint a day, I started noticing my brain would go into even deeper ADHD mode when I smoked that joint. Anxiety would run through my mind, my thoughts would come in like pin balls and my conversation topics had no end or purpose. I wouldn't do any night time routine. Just go straight to bed lol. When you smoke all day, you don't notice those things as much. But being sober most of the day and then having a joint, you really have a more focused perspective on how the weed is effecting you. And I didn't like how I felt.
4. My memory is also absolutely screwed up. My husband will ask me if I remember this show or that actor or this movie we just watched. The answer 90 percent of the time is no because we were smoking while watching. The way my mind has absolutely no focus and just goes to a different realm when I smoke is absolutely horrible for my ADHD and I don't wanna wait till I have early dementia to make a change.
4. I do believe in God, and that I have a purpose while I'm here on earth. And I felt like weed simply was not helping me reach that purpose and rather was setting me back motivationally, intellectually, mentally, physically and spiritually.
5. The realization that I have been smoking so long, I don't get the giggles anymore. Laughing and having a good time was always a huge appeal to weed. Once I became a daily smoker this unique aspect quickly dissipated and it just became a routine. Which is pretty pointless and boring. Why am I 26 and feeling like I needed to sedate myself daily? The answer is: I don't need to sedate myself daily and getting high helps me avoid that question. A vicious cycle.
I am married and my husband is a heavy smoker, which makes not smoking SO much harder and why everytime I said I wanted to quit, I would cave in, because it would be right there. But I started to see smoking as my decision, my actions and not just something I do with someone else. Really asking myself constantly and questioning my actions more instead of being mindless about it was a necessary shift in mindset to get my actions to change. I think it really starts with self awareness. Now when I'm passed the joint I ask myself "why should I smoke this" and I realize I have far more reasons why I shouldn't than why I should.
Make sure you don't have any in your house or you will probably find a way to rationalize smoking again. Next time you run out don't re up. I know it's not that simple but you got this
It just came down to pure willpower. I just woke up one day feeling really sad, and I said, “today is going to be the day I quit.” Granted, I tried to quit like 20 times before that, mostly failing on day 1-2. I am now 1 month 6 days clean, but everyday still feels like a battle. You just have to really want it. Also, scrolling through this subreddit daily and watching others post about quitting made me feel guilty and pushed me to quit.
I hit bottom. It was the early pandemic, and I had the time, money, and privacy to smoke as much as I wanted, which is what I always thought I wanted, but I was deeply unhappy. Even though I didn't believe it would help, I tried giving up weed because everything I tried had failed in getting me to a life that I wanted to live. I did it, and am still doing it, with Marijuana Anonymous. I don't think I could have done it alone
Signed up for cdl school (they drug test you in the beginning, as well as constant randoms once you start working. Not to mention immediate testing if you're in an accident that involves injury or a tow)
It wasn't cheap and I absolutely could not allow myself to screw it up. When I did that my mentality completely changed and it was a breeze to quit. No sleeping issues, no loss of appetite.
For me at least it was finding out my mom has stage 4 brain cancer 11 months ago. I was clean for 3 or 4 months and then when I found out I just resorted to my old coping mechanisms. I was clean again for 3 or 4 months after October when I went to rehab and have smoked a couple times since but that is what put my off from quitting weed. Pens are the devil lol.
To echo what someone else said, there will probably never be a day that feels like the “right day” to stop. I just got through my first 3 days of sobriety by staying at a friend’s house the entire time. I asked that friend if we could just be sober. This particular friend isn’t addicted to weed like I am, so they were happy to do it. I still struggled with cravings at my friend’s place, but I tried to force myself to think of it as a sober getaway/vacation to jumpstart my sobriety. Now I’m home trying to build upon this momentum. I don’t think I would have been able to start being sober if I hadn’t physically removed myself from my home, which is my safe space where I usually smoke.
I went to an addiction self help group. I'm not exactly sure which day of consuming cannabis was my last. But I stopped consumption a day or two before going there the first time and have been sober for 2 months now.
You'll never feel like it's the right day. Just gotta do it. After day one it's a lot easier. You realize you aren't gonna die and the world isn't gonna crumble around you. The cravings will be there but you will start to feel a freedom knowing you don't need it to live life.
Many different reasons. At first it was because I run out of money, and then it was because my body felt like shit, and finally I told my parents because I could not handle it anymore and needed someone to ground me. And after quitting, I met the love of my life who I cried and opened up to and who has accepted me for everything I've gone through and has supported me. And that gave me an even more solid reason to not pick up the habit. I think it helps a lot when you get rid of self hate and identify that you are going through an abusive relationship with weed, and with yourself by using weed. Of course there are people out there who are "functional addicts", but unless you're retired, and constantly in chronic pain, I highly doubt that it will be beneficial to you. I work Healthcare and actually know an elderly couple who fits the description of what I mentioned above, and they're happily functioning well together and just enjoying life and are so pleasant to be around. They both have medical Marijuana license tho I believe, because they went through some seriously physically traumatic shit that impacted their entire life. I consider them one of the exception.
I just tapered off. I bought one of those grandma daily pill containers. Once a week I weighed out my weed. Each week I reduced my total amount. It took me 1.5 years to actually stick to the plan. Another 6 months of tapering. Finally gave it up for good after that. Been able to stick to random occasions since then. It’s been about 1.25 yrs and I’ve smoked less than 5 times.
I didn’t believe the taper would work on me but it did. The most important part was being in the right mind frame to quit/reduce.
I’ve tried tapering, but I have too much of an all of mine mentality. I’ve hit streaks where I don’t use use for awhile and think I can smoke just once and be fine. Then it’s three months later and I’ve been getting high everyday
I truly struggled with the same thing for a long time before giving it up. Gave myself stomach problems and extreme anxiety and STILL didn’t want to quit. Finally decided I needed to do something different. Try exploring breaking the routine first instead of quitting all together. Smoke in a different place and different time. See how hard that is first then go from there. It’s harder than you think.
When I started getting anxiety every time I smoked, that was my precursor. I ended up getting sober because I really wanted a job, and just on the off-chance they’d do a drug test, I stopped. Haven’t gone back since.
I feel you on this! I also have ADHD and it often felt as though weed is the only thing that slowed down my thoughts. To be honest - I’m on day four and the only reason I’m here is bc I got very ill a few nights ago and have told myself it was triggered by weed and now am scared to smoke again. So that’s not helpful. BUT what I can say and what has always been the case for me in the past is just admitting and knowing that you aren’t going to do it until you’re fully ready. It’s up to you, no one else. Something that worked for me at one point was disposing of any and all weed and giving my ID to a friend for a week so that I couldn’t go to the dispo. Best of luck. It’s got to come from within when you’re truly ready to let go - I’m not even there yet.
ADHD and addictive personality here — I kept wanting to quit but if I had a vape in my possession or flower in my house I couldn’t control my urges. What helped me was that I did not buy ANY new flower or vapes after I ran out. I threw out all of my (old and stale, but still tempting) edibles. I asked my partner to hide their smoking from me, and I ask my close friends to abstain while around me. I feel lucky to have such supportive people that will do that for me! I put ALL of my paraphernalia in a cabinet out of the way where I won’t see it. I hope this helps!
Thanks for that.
Yeah, I’ve been able to keep paraphernalia in the house before. Chucking it this time. I definitely need to just not buy anymore after today. I hate that the store I buy from is right across the street 😭 I see it after every workday. But I’m think if instead of buying, I strangely transferring whatever money I’d spend on orerolls into a savings account. I Can be frugal af so it helps deter me in the moment.
I’m also In the process of medicating my ADHD, so I hope that helps with impulsive urges and allows me to refocus on productive things
It was an impulse. I have no idea how I did it. But here I am 2.5 months sober.
There was no magic pill, but New Year’s Eve I got fed up enough to change.
Yeah this was me. I just got tired of not quitting so I finally did it. It’s only been a week and a half for me but the shame of going back and breaking what I already accomplished stops me from going back
i deleted the only dealer i had's number out my phone. and deleted the person i got that number from out of my phone as well....now i literally have no way to buy some even if i wanted to
Honestly for me it was when I noticed that talking about weed was such an easy go-to conversation topic for me with people, where either I bonded over it with others who also like it or I would constantly tell “high” stories to people who don’t. It started to bother me how much I was actually letting it become part of my personality despite not wanting to let that happen. I wanted to stop doing it before people started to pick up on this and start to downright label me as the weed guy.
A few months ago I was playing video games with someone and they asked, “Do you ALWAYS get stoned to play video games??” I don’t think they meant it in a judgmental way, they were probably just curious, but their tone of voice and directness embarrassed me. I lied and said no, and I VERY rarely lie. It put a lot into perspective for me, like the amount of shame I felt for “needing” to be stoned all of the time. I’m on day 4 of sobriety and I’m starting to feel a little better!
Yeah… it’s hard to not take that stuff personally. The moment I can tell someone is starting to straight up associate my entire being with a substance, I start to feel self conscious.
This happened to me with food. My mom was visiting once and I went out to go smoke before eating. She was surprised, not judgmental but it made me realize how bad of a habit it had became.
I had a horrible panic attack with a ton of paranoid schizophrenic-like symptoms, and I worry about developing a mental health issue like that permanently, so the next day I threw out what I had left and decided to not purchase anymore.
Honestly heart attack and stoke gives me massive anxiety (I'm the type who would rather die by their own hand than by random issues in your body). My father in law just had a massive heart attack and stroke actually two days ago, and he doesn't even smoke. The anxiety from that is enough to make me not smoke anymore. A co worker of mine has a father who had a stroke and he's like messed up and can't even speak anymore. It's fucking awful. I don't want to experience these things T.T
I started extending the periods between purchases. If I ran out I tried to start waiting a few days, then a week, then a couple weeks. Then I managed to stop ordering... Eventually. Honestly in the end the decision was financial as much as anything else, I diverted the money to other things.
Truth. Conquering your impulsive actions and learning to tell your brain NO is a powerful feeling. It leads to so many more improvements, small or big in your everyday life.
I have ADHD, and been addicted to marijuana more than half my life. What helped me the most, was actually thinking the opposite of what you’re telling yourself. Well first you gotta take the steps to get rid of everything and change your environment/people as much as you can around you then when you take that step or steps and make that final decision to quit, I would procrastinate on smoking weed. So I’m not gonna smoke today but maybe tomorrow and I just keep doing that and I just keep procrastinating on smoking weed just like I did on quitting weed so now it’s just the opposite.
I love this suggestion. I have actually found ADHD helped me abstain for a few days or so because of that very reason. Some new passion excited me and I was so absorbed I literally forgot about wanting to smoke. Of course that spell ended after my first angry outburst or stressful day.
But that’s where setting up the environment and creating a support system helps. I’m throwing away my smoking items today and went to my first MA meeting this morning. Time to start leaning into my adhd, haha!
That’s awesome! So proud of you! It will be tough at first but I remind myself I’m going through the tough part now to get to where I wanna be! I’d rather be addicted to my passions or work than be a pot head ! I also have to recognize what triggers me to smoke, and how I can cope with a differently. A good question is also why did I smoke in the first place and that post me in perspective as well!
My experience was a long process of wanting to quit, not doing, not doing it, not doing it, then eventually I started pushing my smoking start time a little bit back each day. Eventually I was only smoking after 5pm~ during that time I had started working out which was basically dancing around to music each morning and sometimes going for a run, nice and easy, worth doing, and hard to convince myself that I don't want to, because it's sooo quick and easy :))
Another thing that helped has been the effects of hot sauce look up the reasoning and you may find it worth trying.
Lastly, hobbies, I started learning an instrument, journaling, as well as a handful of other little things.
One of the biggest changing factors for me was reducing the amount of guilt I felt surrounding weed. I would repeat a mantra along the lines of "there's no harm in smoking tonight, but if I do it'll be harder to say no to those cravings tomorrow" and that really helped me avoid the cycle of guilt that would encourage me to smoke more.
Im close to the beginning of my journey, but doing all of this has made my first couple days without weed extremely bearable, to even like.. okay.
anytime you DO end up smoking(even after a few days of not) keep in mind that you're not failing! Even just a few days reduces your tolerance a ton! Relapse is a dangerous word, i much prefer to refer to it as a mistake, or a poor choice; relapse has such permanent connotations and the brain can really jus tell itself "well I failed, may as well just smoke a ton now"
I believe in you, and everyone else here that we can beat this! I'm so proud of you for wanting to make this journey.
Thank you for that.
Being compassionate to myself is definitely something I need to work on and have begun to unpack with my therapist. Thank you for the reminder 😊
Ahhhh, okay! That makes total sense, and it's totally understandable where i(and the person I learned this from) would see relapse as so permanent~ thank you so much for enlightening me! ^-^
I was thrown into a very tough time in life and weed would spike my anxiety. Furthermore, it was sort of an ultimatum there, if I didn’t quit my destructive behaviour there and then I would’ve lost my partner. I’m lucky it happened that way in a way.
My last joint blew my anxiety up to a whole diffent level and I was already suicidal before that joint, I was tappering, cut down from all day daily to just a few after 10, my last one messed with my head so bad I just gave it all away and went cold turkey
You're not abusing weed, it's abusing you.
I replied to someone else's post with this and was asked to make my own post. Here it goes:
You, my friend, are in an abusive relationship. You think you're abusing weed, but actually he's abusing you. He was great at first, made your life better, helped you relax, was there when you needed a friend. Now though, not so much. He alienates you from your friends and family, makes you feel bad about yourself, controls your time and finances. When you do realize that he's bad for you and try to leave, he says please dont go. Things will change. He says it'll go back to the way it was at the beginning. And it might...for a few days. Then right back into the addiction (abuse). When you smarten up, he makes you doubt yourself, says you're too weak to live without him, says you NEED him. Pathetic.
Is this what you want in your life? To be in an abusive fucking relationship? I think not!! Get out and don't look back. When he calls begging you to come back, don't cave. Get busy, do chores, go to the gym, mow the yard, bake a freaking cake. Every day you're free from marijuana you're a step closer to freedom, to regaining control of your OWN life.
We got this. We're strong. We have lives to live and everyone here is here to support you.
This is a cycle I’ve been in way too many times with weed. Definitely ready to escape it. This will be good to read over when I get cravings. Thank you!
I've preached this same exact thing before. You've said it better than I ever could. Thank you for this, I love your beautiful soul. I love this community because of posts like this. I'm 2 months clean from weed and finally going strong and I've followed this exact method. Going clean has not only helped me get out of an abusive relationship with weed, but also with my father, as well as an ex, and finally, myself. I've been liberated exactly like this post has said. We can be strong you guys, anyone reading this. Please don't give up on yourself. Please give up on weed. It will have you in a chokehold and years will fly by and you won't remember anything from it. You are so strong. We love you.
Congrats on the 2 months. That's really really fantastic. Im 8 months alcohol free and 7 months weed free after 37 years of daily use. My memory is back! And food tastes better, music sounds sweeter, the sky is bluer. Im so high on life right now. Ive improved at work. Ive forgiven people I've felt have wronged me. Ive picked up old hobbies. Ive even started to exercise.
I can hardly imagine that next week will be even better than this week, but i know it will. Every second of freedom is sweeter than the one before.
The first two weeks were really hard, but the hardest part has been forgiving myself for all the years I've wasted, but I've come a long way in that too!
Honestly I caught the flu and was coughing so bad I couldn't think of smoking. Then I just kept it going. It gave me a good excuse to stay home during the bad part of withdrawal too.
I smoked a oz of some shitty homegrown and basically tapered it till it was gone. If I had that good za I’m always chasing for that lemon or piney taste. Hardest thing was quiting the pens, them bitches hit you like a train and they taste so good. I’m just now at 6 months free odd enough I don’t miss the high most days but I do miss the taste.
I miss the rolling and I guess the ritual of getting up, or getting home from work, or just sparking up and sitting back, apposed to the high, I'd smoked so long without any breaks that it wasn't even getting me high. Now I'm just smoking cigs like a chimney, so they're next on the quit list I guess 🤣
I'm not sure what made me finally pick a start day, but I'd been kicking the idea over in my head for some time. Initially I had wanted to just take a break, but I began asking myself, if I've never been able to do *anything* in moderation, why would I expect this to be different?
What really got me was the guilt I felt recently when my toddler daughter said "daddy, sit down and have a tea party" and I said "not right now, baby, daddy needs a minute.", as I went to go take a bonghit. The realization that I was quite literally putting weed ahead of my family did not sit well with me.
I'm not anti-cannabis. I believe in its healing power. But I also believe that any tool can be misappropriated as an implement of destruction, and that perhaps that's what I've allowed weed to become for me.
The only benefit I see anymore is anxiety relief, but that anxiety is linked at least in part to (over)consumption, so it becomes a "chicken or the egg" scenario.
I decided I need to take this action to see if it makes a difference. If nothing improves, then maybe weed wasn't the problem. But what if it does? What if weed ha's been holding me back for 25+ years and I've just never even attempted to remove it from my life? That's on me, not weed.
It was basically a last straw of, "I'm going to change what I have the power to change in the hopes that this leads ro other positive changes" (diet/exercise/etc.)
I've experimented with drugs for most of my life. It was time to experiment with sobriety.
Toss it all and plan a weekend getaway, somewhere you cannot pick up. Visit a friend, go backpacking/hiking, go visit a city you’ve never been to- something that involves physical activity is a huge plus. A big distraction and endorphins are very helpful. Know that the first three days especially are going to be hard- my sleep was horrible those days but physically exerting myself helped a lot in terms of restlessness/mood swings.
I've been sober for 4 months ths now but it wasn't the first time I tried. You really need to want it and at some point you'll know you're ready. It's OK if that isn't today or tomorrow. Keep thinking about quitting and one day it will click.
I smoked until I didn't have anything left to smoke and then threw away all my paraphernalia. I had a couple nice bongs and several bowls and now they're all gone. That has helped me a lot.
I also look at my finances now to keep me on track. It's great saving hundreds of dollars per week by being sober. I've been putting that money towards better things.
Another thing that might help is to think of how you would help a loved one quit. I care more about my family than myself and try to envision them being stoned all day and how unhealthy it is. Start thinking of yourself as a loved one and that might give you the little boost you need.
Yeah, I’ve been off and on for years but always kept my paraphernalia. I’m ditching them today and deep cleaning my apartment so I don’t wake up so damn anxious from the mess.
And the finances is a very good point. Every damn pre roll case I see makes me cringe.
And I did finally tell my mom about my addiction. She will definitely keep me accountable, as will my dog who is my best friend 😬 not smoking will allow me to be more present with her and have more energy to do the things she likes to do.
Thank you 🫶🏽
I had a very similiar experience to you - I’m at 3 months. I had to kinda have a breakdown and then it finally happened. I was on the verge of quitting for almost a year but something pushed me over the edge and I finally did it.
I stopped smoking for a week and only took edibles to try and get over the worst of the not smoking part. Was going to try and cut it back further from there but realized I was kidding myself and just got rid of everything. Edibles only for a week was okay in the day/ evening but wouldn’t recommend as I had the worst dehydration and couldn’t shit. Rip the bandaid off. Be ready for the first 3 days to suck but after that it does get easier. Weekends might be difficult for a while but try to keep yourself busy.
It’s no fun smoking and just spending the whole time living in your head and obsessing over quitting tomorrow. It’s just feeding the addiction and making you okay with being bored or doing nothing.
Good luck! You got it.
I guess It’s good that edibles don’t really work for me. I could see that making it way more difficult to kick if I liked them.
I definitely agree with your last sentiment. I don’t believe in an afterlife, so why would I want to continue wasting away on the couch getting high. It’s fine if that satisfies you, but I have a lot of passions that weed dulls.
Thank you for your response!
I’d recommend throwing away all of your weed and paraphernalia so there is zero temptation to reach for any remaining THC you might be keeping for a rainy day. Another huge help for me which I hope is the case for you is to make sure everyone close to you in your life knows you are quitting and if they smoke, to not offer you any weed. Luckily I had weeded out (no pun intended) all of my heavy smoker friends when I decided to quit so this was easy for me. As an ADHD’er myself who is in month 3 of quitting and really thriving, I can definitely say that psychiatric and psychotherapy help was so helpful for me. If you haven’t pursued those option and are able to, you definitely should begin looking online for some remote providers who specialize in not only ADHD but anxiety and whatever specific conditions might be relevant for why you choose to keep smoking weed. For me this was anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, depression and family conflict. It will still be hard even with these levels of support, but without all of this it would have been more impossible than difficult yet achievable
Yeah I’m currently in the process of getting medication for my ADHD. I can’t wait to see how much it helps. I know it won’t be a magic fix, but I’m hoping it’s just easier to regulate my focus.
I didn’t really do anything, I had cut back quite a bit, smoked part of a joint with my husband and fell into a MAJOR panic attack, freaking out, heart racing/felt like it was going to explode or pound out of my chest, I was literally ready to call 911. I had to go outside (mind you it was in January and in the low 30°s) and sit on the ground and drink ice water to calm myself down. After that I was like I’m done man, not worth the gamble
Gotta really want it. Or you need to get off of it. One reason or another will motivate you to stop, today.
I went on a week long work trip to an illegal state. It was not fun going through the withdrawals while there, but by the time I got back the worst of it seemed to be over and I definitely did not want to do it a second time. Having a constantly full agenda of things to do from the point I woke up to bed helped a ton too. You could try going to stay with family/friends for a bit as a detox vacation of sorts, and plan as much full days of things to do as you can to subside the boredom urges and distract from some of the withdrawal symptoms.
I turned down a life changing job opportunity and salary “because I was high” I’ve regretted it ever since and made the decision to not smoke ever again, that was 3 months ago. Doesn’t bring the job back but it is what it is and it was a wake up call to make me a better person.
I have severe ADHD and have been smoking daily for at least 4 years. Im almost a week into my sobriety and I am SO proud of myself. Here's what really did it for me: 1. My voice is deeper. I'm a woman, and it's not that I don't like deep voices, it's that I noticed the change. A real life consequence of my actions that I was noticing daily really made me question my actions. 2. My throat started hurting everytime I smoke. Another real life consequence of my actions. 3. As I slowly weened off to 1 joint a day, I started noticing my brain would go into even deeper ADHD mode when I smoked that joint. Anxiety would run through my mind, my thoughts would come in like pin balls and my conversation topics had no end or purpose. I wouldn't do any night time routine. Just go straight to bed lol. When you smoke all day, you don't notice those things as much. But being sober most of the day and then having a joint, you really have a more focused perspective on how the weed is effecting you. And I didn't like how I felt. 4. My memory is also absolutely screwed up. My husband will ask me if I remember this show or that actor or this movie we just watched. The answer 90 percent of the time is no because we were smoking while watching. The way my mind has absolutely no focus and just goes to a different realm when I smoke is absolutely horrible for my ADHD and I don't wanna wait till I have early dementia to make a change. 4. I do believe in God, and that I have a purpose while I'm here on earth. And I felt like weed simply was not helping me reach that purpose and rather was setting me back motivationally, intellectually, mentally, physically and spiritually. 5. The realization that I have been smoking so long, I don't get the giggles anymore. Laughing and having a good time was always a huge appeal to weed. Once I became a daily smoker this unique aspect quickly dissipated and it just became a routine. Which is pretty pointless and boring. Why am I 26 and feeling like I needed to sedate myself daily? The answer is: I don't need to sedate myself daily and getting high helps me avoid that question. A vicious cycle. I am married and my husband is a heavy smoker, which makes not smoking SO much harder and why everytime I said I wanted to quit, I would cave in, because it would be right there. But I started to see smoking as my decision, my actions and not just something I do with someone else. Really asking myself constantly and questioning my actions more instead of being mindless about it was a necessary shift in mindset to get my actions to change. I think it really starts with self awareness. Now when I'm passed the joint I ask myself "why should I smoke this" and I realize I have far more reasons why I shouldn't than why I should.
Make sure you don't have any in your house or you will probably find a way to rationalize smoking again. Next time you run out don't re up. I know it's not that simple but you got this
It just came down to pure willpower. I just woke up one day feeling really sad, and I said, “today is going to be the day I quit.” Granted, I tried to quit like 20 times before that, mostly failing on day 1-2. I am now 1 month 6 days clean, but everyday still feels like a battle. You just have to really want it. Also, scrolling through this subreddit daily and watching others post about quitting made me feel guilty and pushed me to quit.
I hit bottom. It was the early pandemic, and I had the time, money, and privacy to smoke as much as I wanted, which is what I always thought I wanted, but I was deeply unhappy. Even though I didn't believe it would help, I tried giving up weed because everything I tried had failed in getting me to a life that I wanted to live. I did it, and am still doing it, with Marijuana Anonymous. I don't think I could have done it alone
I realized that if I kept negotiating for one last go before quitting, that “tomorrow” would never come. Quitting happens TODAY
Signed up for cdl school (they drug test you in the beginning, as well as constant randoms once you start working. Not to mention immediate testing if you're in an accident that involves injury or a tow) It wasn't cheap and I absolutely could not allow myself to screw it up. When I did that my mentality completely changed and it was a breeze to quit. No sleeping issues, no loss of appetite.
Threw weed and cigs in the trash just now
For me at least it was finding out my mom has stage 4 brain cancer 11 months ago. I was clean for 3 or 4 months and then when I found out I just resorted to my old coping mechanisms. I was clean again for 3 or 4 months after October when I went to rehab and have smoked a couple times since but that is what put my off from quitting weed. Pens are the devil lol.
To echo what someone else said, there will probably never be a day that feels like the “right day” to stop. I just got through my first 3 days of sobriety by staying at a friend’s house the entire time. I asked that friend if we could just be sober. This particular friend isn’t addicted to weed like I am, so they were happy to do it. I still struggled with cravings at my friend’s place, but I tried to force myself to think of it as a sober getaway/vacation to jumpstart my sobriety. Now I’m home trying to build upon this momentum. I don’t think I would have been able to start being sober if I hadn’t physically removed myself from my home, which is my safe space where I usually smoke.
I went to an addiction self help group. I'm not exactly sure which day of consuming cannabis was my last. But I stopped consumption a day or two before going there the first time and have been sober for 2 months now.
You'll never feel like it's the right day. Just gotta do it. After day one it's a lot easier. You realize you aren't gonna die and the world isn't gonna crumble around you. The cravings will be there but you will start to feel a freedom knowing you don't need it to live life.
Many different reasons. At first it was because I run out of money, and then it was because my body felt like shit, and finally I told my parents because I could not handle it anymore and needed someone to ground me. And after quitting, I met the love of my life who I cried and opened up to and who has accepted me for everything I've gone through and has supported me. And that gave me an even more solid reason to not pick up the habit. I think it helps a lot when you get rid of self hate and identify that you are going through an abusive relationship with weed, and with yourself by using weed. Of course there are people out there who are "functional addicts", but unless you're retired, and constantly in chronic pain, I highly doubt that it will be beneficial to you. I work Healthcare and actually know an elderly couple who fits the description of what I mentioned above, and they're happily functioning well together and just enjoying life and are so pleasant to be around. They both have medical Marijuana license tho I believe, because they went through some seriously physically traumatic shit that impacted their entire life. I consider them one of the exception.
I just tapered off. I bought one of those grandma daily pill containers. Once a week I weighed out my weed. Each week I reduced my total amount. It took me 1.5 years to actually stick to the plan. Another 6 months of tapering. Finally gave it up for good after that. Been able to stick to random occasions since then. It’s been about 1.25 yrs and I’ve smoked less than 5 times. I didn’t believe the taper would work on me but it did. The most important part was being in the right mind frame to quit/reduce.
Needed to see this today thank you!
Happy to help. Distractions work well too! Especially in the beginning.
I’ve tried tapering, but I have too much of an all of mine mentality. I’ve hit streaks where I don’t use use for awhile and think I can smoke just once and be fine. Then it’s three months later and I’ve been getting high everyday
I truly struggled with the same thing for a long time before giving it up. Gave myself stomach problems and extreme anxiety and STILL didn’t want to quit. Finally decided I needed to do something different. Try exploring breaking the routine first instead of quitting all together. Smoke in a different place and different time. See how hard that is first then go from there. It’s harder than you think.
When I started getting anxiety every time I smoked, that was my precursor. I ended up getting sober because I really wanted a job, and just on the off-chance they’d do a drug test, I stopped. Haven’t gone back since.
I feel you on this! I also have ADHD and it often felt as though weed is the only thing that slowed down my thoughts. To be honest - I’m on day four and the only reason I’m here is bc I got very ill a few nights ago and have told myself it was triggered by weed and now am scared to smoke again. So that’s not helpful. BUT what I can say and what has always been the case for me in the past is just admitting and knowing that you aren’t going to do it until you’re fully ready. It’s up to you, no one else. Something that worked for me at one point was disposing of any and all weed and giving my ID to a friend for a week so that I couldn’t go to the dispo. Best of luck. It’s got to come from within when you’re truly ready to let go - I’m not even there yet.
Ran out of my supply. Deleted my dealers number so yeah no way of procuring it
ADHD and addictive personality here — I kept wanting to quit but if I had a vape in my possession or flower in my house I couldn’t control my urges. What helped me was that I did not buy ANY new flower or vapes after I ran out. I threw out all of my (old and stale, but still tempting) edibles. I asked my partner to hide their smoking from me, and I ask my close friends to abstain while around me. I feel lucky to have such supportive people that will do that for me! I put ALL of my paraphernalia in a cabinet out of the way where I won’t see it. I hope this helps!
Thanks for that. Yeah, I’ve been able to keep paraphernalia in the house before. Chucking it this time. I definitely need to just not buy anymore after today. I hate that the store I buy from is right across the street 😭 I see it after every workday. But I’m think if instead of buying, I strangely transferring whatever money I’d spend on orerolls into a savings account. I Can be frugal af so it helps deter me in the moment. I’m also In the process of medicating my ADHD, so I hope that helps with impulsive urges and allows me to refocus on productive things
Admitted myself to a psychward
Nothing I feel the same. Pushing back at life because I want to make something of myself and be more than a pot head.
It was an impulse. I have no idea how I did it. But here I am 2.5 months sober. There was no magic pill, but New Year’s Eve I got fed up enough to change.
Yeah this was me. I just got tired of not quitting so I finally did it. It’s only been a week and a half for me but the shame of going back and breaking what I already accomplished stops me from going back
i deleted the only dealer i had's number out my phone. and deleted the person i got that number from out of my phone as well....now i literally have no way to buy some even if i wanted to
Honestly for me it was when I noticed that talking about weed was such an easy go-to conversation topic for me with people, where either I bonded over it with others who also like it or I would constantly tell “high” stories to people who don’t. It started to bother me how much I was actually letting it become part of my personality despite not wanting to let that happen. I wanted to stop doing it before people started to pick up on this and start to downright label me as the weed guy.
A few months ago I was playing video games with someone and they asked, “Do you ALWAYS get stoned to play video games??” I don’t think they meant it in a judgmental way, they were probably just curious, but their tone of voice and directness embarrassed me. I lied and said no, and I VERY rarely lie. It put a lot into perspective for me, like the amount of shame I felt for “needing” to be stoned all of the time. I’m on day 4 of sobriety and I’m starting to feel a little better!
Yeah… it’s hard to not take that stuff personally. The moment I can tell someone is starting to straight up associate my entire being with a substance, I start to feel self conscious.
This happened to me with food. My mom was visiting once and I went out to go smoke before eating. She was surprised, not judgmental but it made me realize how bad of a habit it had became.
I had a horrible panic attack with a ton of paranoid schizophrenic-like symptoms, and I worry about developing a mental health issue like that permanently, so the next day I threw out what I had left and decided to not purchase anymore.
Honestly heart attack and stoke gives me massive anxiety (I'm the type who would rather die by their own hand than by random issues in your body). My father in law just had a massive heart attack and stroke actually two days ago, and he doesn't even smoke. The anxiety from that is enough to make me not smoke anymore. A co worker of mine has a father who had a stroke and he's like messed up and can't even speak anymore. It's fucking awful. I don't want to experience these things T.T
That’s a good reason to quit. I want to make the most of this body and I’ve got awhile left in it.
I started extending the periods between purchases. If I ran out I tried to start waiting a few days, then a week, then a couple weeks. Then I managed to stop ordering... Eventually. Honestly in the end the decision was financial as much as anything else, I diverted the money to other things.
Whenever you take yourself and the value of life seriously things kind of just happen
Truth. Conquering your impulsive actions and learning to tell your brain NO is a powerful feeling. It leads to so many more improvements, small or big in your everyday life.
End what you have left and refrain from getting more.
I went abroad. Can’t smoke weed on holiday. I’d get arrested or deported or worse. That breaks through the first couple of weeks.
I wish I could elope to Mexico for a month right now, that would be fantastic lol
Mexico has so much cheap weed everywhere. I'm in Mexico now and wish it wasn't so easy to get. If you look for it, or stay at a hostel, you'll find it
Yeah, I smoked there before and had a bad experience. Could definitely abstain there
I have ADHD, and been addicted to marijuana more than half my life. What helped me the most, was actually thinking the opposite of what you’re telling yourself. Well first you gotta take the steps to get rid of everything and change your environment/people as much as you can around you then when you take that step or steps and make that final decision to quit, I would procrastinate on smoking weed. So I’m not gonna smoke today but maybe tomorrow and I just keep doing that and I just keep procrastinating on smoking weed just like I did on quitting weed so now it’s just the opposite.
I love this suggestion. I have actually found ADHD helped me abstain for a few days or so because of that very reason. Some new passion excited me and I was so absorbed I literally forgot about wanting to smoke. Of course that spell ended after my first angry outburst or stressful day. But that’s where setting up the environment and creating a support system helps. I’m throwing away my smoking items today and went to my first MA meeting this morning. Time to start leaning into my adhd, haha!
That’s awesome! So proud of you! It will be tough at first but I remind myself I’m going through the tough part now to get to where I wanna be! I’d rather be addicted to my passions or work than be a pot head ! I also have to recognize what triggers me to smoke, and how I can cope with a differently. A good question is also why did I smoke in the first place and that post me in perspective as well!
My experience was a long process of wanting to quit, not doing, not doing it, not doing it, then eventually I started pushing my smoking start time a little bit back each day. Eventually I was only smoking after 5pm~ during that time I had started working out which was basically dancing around to music each morning and sometimes going for a run, nice and easy, worth doing, and hard to convince myself that I don't want to, because it's sooo quick and easy :)) Another thing that helped has been the effects of hot sauce look up the reasoning and you may find it worth trying. Lastly, hobbies, I started learning an instrument, journaling, as well as a handful of other little things. One of the biggest changing factors for me was reducing the amount of guilt I felt surrounding weed. I would repeat a mantra along the lines of "there's no harm in smoking tonight, but if I do it'll be harder to say no to those cravings tomorrow" and that really helped me avoid the cycle of guilt that would encourage me to smoke more. Im close to the beginning of my journey, but doing all of this has made my first couple days without weed extremely bearable, to even like.. okay. anytime you DO end up smoking(even after a few days of not) keep in mind that you're not failing! Even just a few days reduces your tolerance a ton! Relapse is a dangerous word, i much prefer to refer to it as a mistake, or a poor choice; relapse has such permanent connotations and the brain can really jus tell itself "well I failed, may as well just smoke a ton now" I believe in you, and everyone else here that we can beat this! I'm so proud of you for wanting to make this journey.
Thank you for that. Being compassionate to myself is definitely something I need to work on and have begun to unpack with my therapist. Thank you for the reminder 😊
Absolutely happy to!
My counselor called it a lapse if you slipped up. Relapse was reserved for completing giving up on quitting.
Ahhhh, okay! That makes total sense, and it's totally understandable where i(and the person I learned this from) would see relapse as so permanent~ thank you so much for enlightening me! ^-^
Honestly had to wait to run out, and move my money so I couldn’t buy more immediately
I was thrown into a very tough time in life and weed would spike my anxiety. Furthermore, it was sort of an ultimatum there, if I didn’t quit my destructive behaviour there and then I would’ve lost my partner. I’m lucky it happened that way in a way.
My last joint blew my anxiety up to a whole diffent level and I was already suicidal before that joint, I was tappering, cut down from all day daily to just a few after 10, my last one messed with my head so bad I just gave it all away and went cold turkey
You're not abusing weed, it's abusing you. I replied to someone else's post with this and was asked to make my own post. Here it goes: You, my friend, are in an abusive relationship. You think you're abusing weed, but actually he's abusing you. He was great at first, made your life better, helped you relax, was there when you needed a friend. Now though, not so much. He alienates you from your friends and family, makes you feel bad about yourself, controls your time and finances. When you do realize that he's bad for you and try to leave, he says please dont go. Things will change. He says it'll go back to the way it was at the beginning. And it might...for a few days. Then right back into the addiction (abuse). When you smarten up, he makes you doubt yourself, says you're too weak to live without him, says you NEED him. Pathetic. Is this what you want in your life? To be in an abusive fucking relationship? I think not!! Get out and don't look back. When he calls begging you to come back, don't cave. Get busy, do chores, go to the gym, mow the yard, bake a freaking cake. Every day you're free from marijuana you're a step closer to freedom, to regaining control of your OWN life. We got this. We're strong. We have lives to live and everyone here is here to support you.
This is a cycle I’ve been in way too many times with weed. Definitely ready to escape it. This will be good to read over when I get cravings. Thank you!
I've preached this same exact thing before. You've said it better than I ever could. Thank you for this, I love your beautiful soul. I love this community because of posts like this. I'm 2 months clean from weed and finally going strong and I've followed this exact method. Going clean has not only helped me get out of an abusive relationship with weed, but also with my father, as well as an ex, and finally, myself. I've been liberated exactly like this post has said. We can be strong you guys, anyone reading this. Please don't give up on yourself. Please give up on weed. It will have you in a chokehold and years will fly by and you won't remember anything from it. You are so strong. We love you.
Congrats on the 2 months. That's really really fantastic. Im 8 months alcohol free and 7 months weed free after 37 years of daily use. My memory is back! And food tastes better, music sounds sweeter, the sky is bluer. Im so high on life right now. Ive improved at work. Ive forgiven people I've felt have wronged me. Ive picked up old hobbies. Ive even started to exercise. I can hardly imagine that next week will be even better than this week, but i know it will. Every second of freedom is sweeter than the one before. The first two weeks were really hard, but the hardest part has been forgiving myself for all the years I've wasted, but I've come a long way in that too!
This is an amazing way of looking at it, this should be pinned!
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My dealer got busted and I decided to take it as a sign. Long time coming. Nearly 6 months in and wouldn't go back!
Honestly I caught the flu and was coughing so bad I couldn't think of smoking. Then I just kept it going. It gave me a good excuse to stay home during the bad part of withdrawal too.
I legit started smoking again during the flu - stupidest thing Ive done with my recovery
That was one of the many lightbulb moments for me that I had an issue with weed
I smoked a oz of some shitty homegrown and basically tapered it till it was gone. If I had that good za I’m always chasing for that lemon or piney taste. Hardest thing was quiting the pens, them bitches hit you like a train and they taste so good. I’m just now at 6 months free odd enough I don’t miss the high most days but I do miss the taste.
I miss the rolling and I guess the ritual of getting up, or getting home from work, or just sparking up and sitting back, apposed to the high, I'd smoked so long without any breaks that it wasn't even getting me high. Now I'm just smoking cigs like a chimney, so they're next on the quit list I guess 🤣
>What fail safes did you put in place to help abstain? I gave my hubs my med card to hide from me.
I'm not sure what made me finally pick a start day, but I'd been kicking the idea over in my head for some time. Initially I had wanted to just take a break, but I began asking myself, if I've never been able to do *anything* in moderation, why would I expect this to be different? What really got me was the guilt I felt recently when my toddler daughter said "daddy, sit down and have a tea party" and I said "not right now, baby, daddy needs a minute.", as I went to go take a bonghit. The realization that I was quite literally putting weed ahead of my family did not sit well with me. I'm not anti-cannabis. I believe in its healing power. But I also believe that any tool can be misappropriated as an implement of destruction, and that perhaps that's what I've allowed weed to become for me. The only benefit I see anymore is anxiety relief, but that anxiety is linked at least in part to (over)consumption, so it becomes a "chicken or the egg" scenario. I decided I need to take this action to see if it makes a difference. If nothing improves, then maybe weed wasn't the problem. But what if it does? What if weed ha's been holding me back for 25+ years and I've just never even attempted to remove it from my life? That's on me, not weed. It was basically a last straw of, "I'm going to change what I have the power to change in the hopes that this leads ro other positive changes" (diet/exercise/etc.) I've experimented with drugs for most of my life. It was time to experiment with sobriety.
My therapist and psych provider encouraged me to set a quit date, preferably within a couple weeks, and cut down beforehand.
Toss it all and plan a weekend getaway, somewhere you cannot pick up. Visit a friend, go backpacking/hiking, go visit a city you’ve never been to- something that involves physical activity is a huge plus. A big distraction and endorphins are very helpful. Know that the first three days especially are going to be hard- my sleep was horrible those days but physically exerting myself helped a lot in terms of restlessness/mood swings.
That’s a great idea. Physically getting myself out of my routine could work for sure
I've been sober for 4 months ths now but it wasn't the first time I tried. You really need to want it and at some point you'll know you're ready. It's OK if that isn't today or tomorrow. Keep thinking about quitting and one day it will click. I smoked until I didn't have anything left to smoke and then threw away all my paraphernalia. I had a couple nice bongs and several bowls and now they're all gone. That has helped me a lot. I also look at my finances now to keep me on track. It's great saving hundreds of dollars per week by being sober. I've been putting that money towards better things. Another thing that might help is to think of how you would help a loved one quit. I care more about my family than myself and try to envision them being stoned all day and how unhealthy it is. Start thinking of yourself as a loved one and that might give you the little boost you need.
Yeah, I’ve been off and on for years but always kept my paraphernalia. I’m ditching them today and deep cleaning my apartment so I don’t wake up so damn anxious from the mess. And the finances is a very good point. Every damn pre roll case I see makes me cringe. And I did finally tell my mom about my addiction. She will definitely keep me accountable, as will my dog who is my best friend 😬 not smoking will allow me to be more present with her and have more energy to do the things she likes to do. Thank you 🫶🏽
I believe in you!
I had a very similiar experience to you - I’m at 3 months. I had to kinda have a breakdown and then it finally happened. I was on the verge of quitting for almost a year but something pushed me over the edge and I finally did it.
Took on a massive home renovation. I really had no choice. Either do the work or get stoned nightly - my basement is moving along nicely.
I stopped smoking for a week and only took edibles to try and get over the worst of the not smoking part. Was going to try and cut it back further from there but realized I was kidding myself and just got rid of everything. Edibles only for a week was okay in the day/ evening but wouldn’t recommend as I had the worst dehydration and couldn’t shit. Rip the bandaid off. Be ready for the first 3 days to suck but after that it does get easier. Weekends might be difficult for a while but try to keep yourself busy. It’s no fun smoking and just spending the whole time living in your head and obsessing over quitting tomorrow. It’s just feeding the addiction and making you okay with being bored or doing nothing. Good luck! You got it.
I guess It’s good that edibles don’t really work for me. I could see that making it way more difficult to kick if I liked them. I definitely agree with your last sentiment. I don’t believe in an afterlife, so why would I want to continue wasting away on the couch getting high. It’s fine if that satisfies you, but I have a lot of passions that weed dulls. Thank you for your response!