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-   -   Smoking Pot (https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/newcomers-recovery/145253-smoking-pot.html)

timeforchange 03-04-2008 08:19 AM

Smoking Pot
 
Ok...Now I'm curious. Why does everyone say smoking pot will lead me back to the bottle? I guess I've never thought about this. In my experience, when I want to drink, and I smoke a little pot instead, the urge to drink is gone. So how will it lead me back to the bottle? Do you mean over time it will? I guess I'm just not thinking that far ahead...I do wanna try to wean myself off of it. It just helps calm my nerves and helps me sleep. I know the times when I have tried to quit smoking pot, I would replace it with alcohol. So that's why I'm afraid to try to stop it. I guess I dont wanna go through the anxiety and lack of sleep from not smoking and drinking, but I guess that comes with the territory huh? Anyway, I would just like to hear more about why pot will make me go back to the bottle. Thank you!

Rowan 03-04-2008 08:23 AM

IMO it sounds as though you are replacing one addiction with another.

I attend AA, and have heard of many who were on the 'marijuana maintenance program' whereby they quit booze, but continued to smoke pot. Almost invariably, they relapsed on booze and sometimes on other substances.

Anna 03-04-2008 08:24 AM

In my opinion, addiction is addiction.

If you are smoking pot, then you are not in recovery. This is just my belief. If someone is taking pain medication, under drs supervision, that's different, but if you are smoking pot to take the edge off, then that's not recovery.

Also, I think that anything that weakens one's resistance, is apt to lead one back to drinking. That could include being stressed, being sick, smoking pot and many other things.

adore79 03-04-2008 08:40 AM

What really is the difference between pot and alcohol? They both bring about mild euphoria, they are both bad for your health, they both make you hungry (I think from lowering blood sugar.) I know a few pot smokers who don't have a problem with alcohol, and I know a few drinkers who tend to abuse pot. It is all an attempt to escape reality, which you can't do if you want to recover IMO.

User_Name 03-04-2008 08:47 AM

For me pot is a way to shut my mind off and escape. I used weed daily for many years while I was drinking and for me it's just another way to get ****** up. It's your program and your choice but I will say for me I can't touch it because after a while weed alone won't be enough and I'll want to add booze.

coming_clean 03-04-2008 08:48 AM

as how I see it...

by being addicts, there is a hole in our soles, created by our own efforts to destroy ourselves. (there are also scientific ways to look at this, adrenaline, endorfine etc. but i prefer this one). filling this hole up with another drug doesn't close it. You keep your open wound, only you change the type of bandage. You still look for something that just is not there.

By being in recovery, wether you use the steps or another programme of some kind, the wound actually heals over time...

RK2007 03-04-2008 08:51 AM

Smoking pot is something I stopped even before I stopped drinking - didn't agree with me, it used to shut me off from the outside world completely and would even trigger unpleasant flashbacks back to my wilder days... :(

I agree with anybody that says it's not really a good idea - recovery is probably better when not using any other substance except what's prescribed by your doctor...

coffeepot 03-04-2008 09:13 AM

i tried substituting pot for alcohol - it didn't work for me because pot couldn't get me drunk - alcohol is my drug of choice & i tried & tried to use weed to reach the same level of intoxication i could get from alcohol, but i never could smoke enough - so after smoking pot for just over four months i decided that since i could handle marijuana - i certainly could handle beer - if i can handle beer i can handle vodka -- 2 days later i was back in the hospital from alcohol poisoning - the pot clouded my mind and lowered my resistance to the old behaviors - i was hiding pot & smoking all day & arriving late for work & taking 2 hour lunches, etc.... the same addictive behaviors surrounding my alcohol use, and i didn't even recognize this pattern because i was high - my thoughts and actions were drugged thoughts and actions & drugged thoughts and actions will kill me

grateful2b 03-04-2008 10:47 AM

a crutch is a crutch is a crutch...........grateful,aka,former pothead

reed 03-04-2008 11:25 AM

I agree with all that has been said. & I was a huge ganjasmoker, got kicked out of highschool for it. Keep if for late nite only if you are gonna use it. No wake and bakes. I just lent my lighter to a guy who lit his blunt with it & no urge to smoke arose in me.

Change4life 03-05-2008 02:31 PM

T4C. Im still on the fence on this one.

I prefer to think that smoking is okay. Im still not sure I fully believe it is addictive, but i do agree that it is a crutch. I havent been doing coke since i went back to smoking and I might be wrong in thinking this way, but I really feel like Im much better off smoking a little weed than being a crack head. It also helps with my naseau, insomnia, anxiety , stress, and pain. If i didnt smoke I would probably have to pop a bunch of script meds, but that a cant be good for you either. Im just not sure.

With that said I have to admit I question myself on whether I should abstain from everything.

Freedom1990 03-05-2008 02:38 PM

Today I have used up the right to chemical peace of mind, including alcohol, pot, methamphetamine, opiates, and everything else in between :)

Personally I have to remain brutally honest with myself in recovery.

I'm sure not going to talk you out of smoking pot if that's your thing.

Heck sakes if quitting hadn't been so damned uncomfortable for me, I sure wouldn't have had the incentive to stay quit!

FightingIrish 03-05-2008 02:57 PM

I wondered about this when I went into treatment for alcoholism. I was an occasional smoker (about once every couple of weeks and then only with one or two particular friends) for years and years.

I never had any troubles with pot, and, in fact, I share the experience of finding that smoking it actually reduced my desire to drink. (However, for that to be an effective tool I would've had to smoke all the time, which didn't appeal to me.)

The few times I actually managed to get my hands on my own supply, I usually found myself eventually throwing a bunch of it away because it would dry up and go bad. That's how seldom I actually used the stuff, even when I was fully stocked.

All that said, I have come to the realization that, since getting sober and beginning to work the steps, I no longer have any desire for acute chemical mood enhancement. I could probably rationalize using it because it wouldn't cause me harm (though it probably would), but the fact is I just don't want to.:atv

gutterman317 03-05-2008 03:10 PM

I had an AA sponsor once and I told him that I thought pot was my problem. The ol' SOB got angry and said, " you are the problem". I will never forget that.
The problem is in your brain. I never thought I would see the day that I would use no mind altering chemicals. I have a went through a thinking change, and I am comfortable with who I am! I have no need to live a lie these days.


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