Jauburn

I have no doubt that if it were easier to get (and use) pot, I would have little use for booze at all. But I have used booze over the years as an alternative, and now I use it too much. I fantasize about moving to colorado or washington so that I can toke legally and forget that crap known as alcohol. Anyone done this?

caboblanco

yes..but you won't get much support on that here as many have had bad experiences with marijuana

Pipefish

Personally, I think it's easier (if not necessarily easy) to aim for clean and sober.

Wish you well

readerbaby71

Yes, but there is no just "getting over" booze. You still have to work on recovery and self-growth. Pot can be addictive as well. Be careful.

MIRecovery

Then when you get hooked on weed you can go back to alcohol. Addiction is addiction there is no easier softer way. I had to be 100% clean and sober to get well

falseemperor

Pot even addictive and harmfull.

LadyBlue0527

So what you're saying is that weed is your drug of choice but since it's not readily available you use a backup of alcohol so now you also have an addiction to that?

You're going to get a lot of different replies here. Personally I have no issues with weed. Smoked it numerous times years ago and as an adult didn't have a problem with it. If you can smoke it and it causes no issues in your life that's one thing. If you have to use an alternative if your doc is not present you might want to take that into consideration.

An addiction is an addiction is an addiction. I would be looking more to figure out why I needed something so badly that if I couldn't get my hands on it I needed an alternative.

Why do you need to smoke pot?

poolsideGal

Yes.

But then I have to deal with getting out of the weed habit. Lately, my habit's been, "Ok. This is my last smoke. I'll drink a little alcohol when I come down, so that it doesn't feel so bad, then quit both tomorrow."

Going around in circles.

Stay away from the weed, if you can. Sure, it's fun, at first, then it's a prison.

PurpleKnight

Addiction is addiction . . . one door closes, another door opens, check out the Substance Abuse section of the Forum:

Substance Abuse - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

There are guys over there posting on a regular basis, struggling to break the cycle of weed addiction, in the same way people do here in the Alcoholism section.

It's no easier or less destructive than alcohol!!

Stoogy

Personally I have never used pot at all, but I have a couple of friends on here who have kicked the pot at the same time as the booze as they find them much the same as a dependency they want to leave behind.

Quitting one or the other is better than quitting none but my opinion is if you are going to suffer withdrawals it may as well be from both my friend.

missboots

My husband tried that. Failed and got hooked on both. Just another expense.

Riel

I haven't done it myself, but have met people who claimed pot helped them get off booze, and who seemed sincere.

If you fantasize about moving to Colorado or Washington, you should do it.

It may seem risky, or otherwise difficult to move, but there's nothing riskier than abusing alcohol.

leviathan

MJ is a drug. Misaligned and demonized, but mood altering. Most with experience know that the side effects arent EVEN CLOSE to those of alcohol

That said, you should drop it too.

Two reasons: first, you want your brain chemestry to reach baseline (how it was designed to function) as soon as possible. After alcohol abuse, it can take from weeks to months, depending on howmuch/how long. Messed up chemistry is why you here so many stories of depression after people dry out. why not avoid confusing things with another chemical (theres actually a couple in good cannibis)

Secondly, if you have an addiction problem, you have to learn strategies to deal with that. If not, your enduring a dry-out only to relapse again, right? Learning these strategies and fellowship are why we are all here in the first place. Otherwise we'd just hang it up. I dont think you can really apply all the strategies if you are still leaning on a crutch.

When i said sober out loud, i reallized the herb had to go to. I satisfed with that decison, as i know im going through all this in a fully attentive state. I messed some stuff up, and i think i can get things back on track better without being stoned.

leviathan

Oh yeah, im still on the caffeine. Coffee consumption has gone up a bit. I find it funny though, that i actually have constructed moderation rules for coffee. FAMILIAR?!? Ha! -the games we play...

It'll take a friggin intervention to pry this mug out of my hand!

CAPTAINZING2000

If I'm doing one I'll do the other

LBrain

It's kinda like... The pain in my shoulder is really bothering me. Maybe if I drop a cinder block on my foot I'll get over my shoulder pain.

Jauburn

I do not think pot is addictive in the same way alcohol is. My own experience proves it.

Jauburn

I like to smoke pot because it makes me contemplative and creative. I have no desire not to smoke pot; i just do not have any connections. I do not worry about those folks who claim it is an addictive drug like alcohol, for I know that the two drugs do not compare. Marijuana is much, much less harmful. To me, it just sucks that it is so hard to get.

readerbaby71

I think it depends on the person. A longtime friend and ex-boyfriend of mine was a heroin and crack addict before I met him. He is very intelligent and was a nurse. Almost lost his job for stealing drugs from the hospital.He kicked it by himself, living in his parents' basement for four months.

He came back to SF and started smoking pot and selling it. He's a total pothead but lives a productive, happy life. I know a lot of people don't believe in harm reduction but if he'd continued to do hard drugs there's no question in my mind that he'd be dead. So what's the lesser of two evils? If it works for him I think no one is in any position to judge, but I also have to add that part of the reason I broke up with him is because he couldn't do anything without being high and it irritated me.

Everyone is different. Some can handle it, some cant. Only you know yourself, but addiction has a strange way of convincing us that we're in control when in reality there's no control involved.

Whatever you decide, good luck to you.

jaynie04

I have been clean off benzos and booze for almost a year. I made a true shift in my mind that using or drinking just was no longer an option. Truly understanding that that part of my life was over has made the journey one of the most pivotal and self directed choices of my life. I don't believe sobriety can happen without some sort of existential shift.

I no longer use substances to modify my reality. I am a non-drinker. I can't really express how freeing it is to know that something external no longer holds power over me. When I read your posts I feel that old anxiety I knew so well. I can feel the energy that you are exerting to try to find a way to work a substance into your life.

You are giving your power away. Jonesing for this versus that.. is still jonesing. I thought drugs and alcohol made me creative too. I have done more painting and print work this week than I have done in 20 years. I am in awe of what has been waiting to be applied to canvas, and there in no way I could have tapped into this intensity under the cloud of substances.

Don't buy that bs. We settle for less and less as long as we are at the behest of drugs.