Fatboyanon

I used marijuana this weekend it wasn't even fun. I spent the whole time thinking about my sobriety. I live in a place where marijuana is legal I'm not condoning my behavior just explaining . I am not a regular user of marijuana. I would do it (before my alcoholic sobriety) in addition to drinking maybe once a month or every 6 weeks and only a very small amount. I have been dry from alcohol for almost 3 months, alcohol has always been my problem. Never any other drug. I'm not saying pot it isn't fun but it was more of an occasional thing for me. I don't plan on doing that anymore. I don't want it to get to the point of feeling those same addictive traits it brought out when I was drinking I am wondering if me doing that this weekend is a break in my sobriety or do I start a new sober date from pot? what's everyone's take on this?

IN2Q

I don't think it is, I am Canadian, we have pot available all the time, but it has never been my problem either, its been awhile since I smoked, but only a few months since my last brownie.
My sobriety quest is to overcome my dependence of alcohol. if I have a drink I would start day one again.

Dee74

For me pot hit all the same things that alcohol did for me later- it was an escape, a problem solver, a stress reliever...

It took over my life as completely as alcohol did.

I think it's even more insidious than alcohol in a way because it's a lot more subtle in its addiction.

D

MythOfSisyphus

Only you can define the boundaries of sobriety as it exists for you. There's no point to freaking out over it but I also wouldn't encourage using weed. If you have had addiction problems then dabbling in MJ is probably playing with fire. Still, don't beat yourself up. Just get up tomorrow and get back on the horse.

AlaskaGirl

I also live in a state that it is legal for recreational use, and have asked myself the same questions you posted about. I've used it once since quitting drinking. It's never been a thing for me. I could take it or leave it and I usually leave it, even though I am around it all the time. I have used it maybe five times in the past ten years, and it will likely be a long time before I use again. Should I reset my "sober" date? I don't think so. I am not addicted to marijuana. What do YOU think?

Done4today

It's your sobriety you define it. I don't have any drugs in my story. Last December a friend handed me a drink with booze in it. I took a drink without knowing it. I didn't change sobriety date. Main reason I didn't was the intent on the drink. I didn't take a drink to drink booze. I didn't know it had booze in it. I actually forgot about this whole situation until now. Hmm, I guess I will see if it weights on me. My sobriety date is a reminder that I can't drink not the reason I don't drink.

totfit

I think you should handle that as you wish. Alcohol was my issue exclusively. I have done other things, but nothing ever became an issue. I had a two day slip first of Oct. 2015 and am not even sure what my exact sober date is. I just keep on keeping on, because a drink for me creates an immediate monster, I cannot control and interferes with everything I have chosen for my life. It is just nonsense. I think you should feel comfortable keeping your "date", IF you feel comfortable keeping your date.

january161992

agree

PhoenixJ

If dates matter to YOU, what do YOU think? If it does not matter - then fine. BUT if you think you are rationalising your behaviour, then be honest with yourself.

hellrzr

I don't like to sugar coat things. Ya relapsed. No other way to say it. The good part if you seemed to have learned from it and it didn't have the effect you thought it would so that's good! Just be honest and keep going forward.

Cornbread

I'm of the school that mind altering substances are a relapse. I don't play around with anything effects my mood.

Outonthetiles

A relapse is a relapse. Own it and move on.

jv369

there are two very clear schools of thought on this. usually people that are around aa or na will tell you it was a relapse, no question. people who don't follow a 12 step program will tell you to determine sobriety for yourself. this is in general of course, not a hard and fast rule.

i go to na, i am doing the steps. personally i have the same history with pot as you do. i could always take it or leave it, it was never a big problem for me. that said, i don't plan on touching pot now that i am sober again.

but i will never tell another person what does or does not make a relapse. if people want to go by the definition of "mood altering substances" then they should be including caffeine and nicotine, but most aa and na rooms virtually live on both of those(for the record i quit smoking 5 years ago and i rarely drink coffee). so to me it is a bit of a grey area and why like i said i wont tell another addict whether they are sober or not. IMO it has more to do with the motives behind taking a certain substance than it has to do with the substance itself.

before my drinking became such a huge problem that i had to enter the world of recovery i knew people who never touched booze. they didn't because they knew early on that they couldn't handle it. they might smoke, drink coffee or smoke some weed now and then but it never interfered with their lives. were they sober or not? were they functioning members of society? it should be noted though that none of them really considered themselves addicts and none ever kept a sobriety date.

in short, do what works for you but above all don't lie to yourself.

soberlicious

My question is, to whom would you be reporting these new dates? The sobriety police? You decide what is right for you, no one else. It sounds as though being chemically altered is not how you want to live and as you said, you don't want to be in the hellish cycle of addiction ever again, regardless of the substance. That's always a possibility using any mind/mood altering substance and it looks like from your OP that you know that. Move forward and live accordingly.

Fatboyanon

Thanks everyone for the input. I understand both sides of the thought. I won't consider this a break in my sobriety because alcohol was and is still my problem. On the other hand I won't be using any drugs or alcohol in the future. I truly have an addictive personality and even though I don't want to use pot everyday I would never want it to get to that point or make that normal and go back to drinking that's how I will outline my sobriety.

Fly N Buy

As an alcoholic I appreciate that point made regarding the legal nature of pot in some states. The govts stamp of approval - I mean taxation - never deterred me from consumption of anything.

The underlying issues of why I need to be in an altered state is the question I have to ask myself. How come I have to pull away from reality.??

FLCamper

I wouldn't reset my sobriety date.
I haven't smoked pot in years. I would stay away from it now for several reasons. One being a fear of letting down my defenses and taking a drink.

MrMcTell

On resetting your date: To me, it sounds as if your problem is alcohol not marijuana, so I'd just keep counting. I you want to quit marijuana for good, then you could have a different "drug-free" date, too. That's just my opinion.

Smoking might make you more likely to slip with the drink though, so I would be extremely cautious...

Oddly, I actually had cravings for marijuana in the early weeks of recovery, even though I haven't ever liked smoking weed and haven't done so for many years... Just a lot of the unease with reality looking for an alternative outlet, I think.

digdug

I'll just share my own experience with this.

From ages 15-25, I almost exclusively used drugs, mostly pot but also dabbled in some other stuff - basically almost everything that was offered to me. I only drank occasionally at parties and social events, but never had more than a couple of beers or a glass of wine.

When I got clean at 25, I thought drugs were my problem, not alcohol. I see that a lot on this site. "Y was my problem, not X." So I thought it was ok to continue drinking like I did before. I started off drinking the way a drank before - just a couple here and there. But within a few years, I was drinking straight vodka day and night.

But the truth is, I'm a drug addict and that includes alcohol. It was foolish of me to think that only one type of substance would be an issue. When I look back at it now with some years of complete sobriety, I was still trying to accomplish the same thing with alcohol that I did with drugs - fill the void and escape reality. I was trying to use external substances to solve internal issues.

When I first got sober, my sponsor always reminded me to "check my motivations." Maybe think about what were your motivations to get high? Why are you so quick to say alcohol was your problem but weed isn't?

I try to follow the credo of "to thine own self be true." I have to be honest with myself before I can get honest with everyone else. So if I was in your situation, I would acknowledge that I purposefully used an external substance to escape reality and I would reset my date. I wouldn't beat myself up over it and just keep on trucking with sobriety.

Just my personal experience. Take it for what it's worth and good luck to you.

tomsteve

alcohol may have been my main DOC, but if I use some other substance to get the same effect alcohol gave me, im not sober.