Your thoughts on weed.
 

I am now on day 7 without alcohol. I am 40 years old and have been drinking pretty heavily for 15 years or so. Just this year believe it or not I discovered marijuana. I have been smoking it to help with anxiety for maybe 6 months. I have to say that it has helped immensely with the withdrawal symptoms from alcohol and the associated anxiety. Is it ok that I use this through, say, the first 30 days of not drinking?

Whatever works for you.

For me, marijuana always led me back to my drug of choice.. but if you can use it without drinking, good for you!

good luck.

The funny thing is I'm fine with just the marijuana. It completely takes my mind off drinking and for some reason it doesn't associate itself with drinking for me I don't get it.

I've smoked weed before and found that it makes me stupid, so I'd never do it. Alcohol made me stupid enough! But that's me.

My thoughts on it... hmmm, tried it once, hated it. I thought I was sinking into my chair, weird feeling. Never tried it again, plus its illegal ;)
I did, however nearly kill myself with alcohol.
Erm, thing is... will it be only for the first 30 days? Will it be... 31, 32, 33 ....?
I hear you can get hooked on it too, plus the side effects are paranoia and irritability... my thoughts would be its up to you but maybe you are trading one addiction for another... just my thoughts :)

For me,it's just replacing one mood altering drug with another. It's not being sober/clean. I've never taken it but I know others say it relaxes them but leads them back to alcohol

I dont want to alter my mind anymore.

I used to smoke all the time. For a time I thought it helped me keep away from drink.

But I always ended up drinking again so obviously it didnt help me that much/long.

This time I am finished with any substance abuse period.

Whether its okay or not I have no idea, I guess it's a personal call. But are you sure you want to exchange one substance abuse problem for another. Anyone who claims weed is not addictive is wrong. My husband is a chronic and when he attempts to quit he definitely experiences withdrawal. I'm not sure if there's any physical endangerment like alcohol withdrawal, but his anxiety and anger go through the roof, his withdrawal is very real.

In 1988 I quit smoking pot after ten years of being an all day, every day smoker. But I didn't quit drinking because, "It wasn't a problem for me."

Yet here I am, on SR for alcoholism.

If you have anxiety, see a doctor. Don't self medicate.

I have friends who quit smoking weed and found it really hard... and it isn't meant to be addictive. One of my best friends started smoking it to help with anxiety and now she can't stop and she's in fear of losing her job if anyone finds out. It is illegal after all.

It might help you feel better right now but that's because you're totally sidestepping the psychological aspects of addiction. This is just cross addiction. But it's one thing to replace drinking with over eating and another to replace it with another psychoactive drug. It's not really recovery.

Dear Beligerent,

My ex used weed a lot - I met him when he wasn't under the influence and fell head over heels in love with him...sadly when I met him stoned, he wasn't the person I thought I knew.

It was like jekyll and hyde.

I personally, would not consider myself sober if I was smoking weed, but hey, that's your business.

Ask your doctor on this one. If he/she gives you a perscription to use it knowing that you're an alcoholic then perhaps consider it. I liken it to any other doctor perscribed drug. Opiates are often used by the medical field. The problem with this is that many perscription drugs are also abused by folks like us... it's one of the reasons that I declined taking benzo based drugs early in my recovery, even though it was suggested at one point. The last thing that I need is another type of dependancy to go along with my alcoholism. I simply don't smoke weed because in my mind I know that it will increase the chances that I will drink and that will lead to my death. Please talk to your doctor about this one as no one on this site is qualified to give you medical advice about this kind of thing. God bless!

I smoked marijuana for something around seven years and have chosen to quit both. Marijuana may help with the withdrawals, but did alcohol not also seem to help with a lot of things? It helped with stress from work, anxiety, helped us celebrate the dogs birthday...

We found out that these things were a lie to keep the addiction going. The line between medication and addiction is blurry and dangerous to teeter on. Most of us started using alcohol occasionally, it took a long time to develop the drinking habits that eventually brought us to this forum, so does it not also make sense that marijuana could lead down the same path? Alcohol is not the problem the problem is that we have addictive personalities, and any substance can fill that role.

I've been there and really can't recommend it, just seems like playing with fire.

There are all sorts of opinions on this and I don't think anybody really knows for sure. The rule here at SR is to not promote any sort of illegal substance use. Period. Lots of members here have come here just because they smoke weed. So you're likely to find only one opinion about this here, and that's completely appropriate for the kind of forum this is.

Personally I would ask myself what the real reasons are for using it. I would ask myself about the legal status in my state and whether or not you can get under a doctor's supervised care. I would examine my history with weed, especially as it relates to alcohol use. Does it bring you back to drinking? You said you've discovered it this last year but you've only been sober 7 days - how come? That's a red flag for me.

Anyway. There's no black & white answers. On SR and in AA and other recovery circles you're likely to hear that it's never okay. Other places will tell you that it's always okay. It's something you really need to figure out for yourself. Just be completely honest with yourself about your motives for using. See a doctor if you can.

My husbands use is doctor prescribed and completely legal, it doesn't negate the fact that it's addictive.

To be fair, there's a distinction to be made between whether it's physically and psychologically addictive. That said, there's a lot of people addicted to things that don't cause actual physical withdrawal - food, sex, porn, etc.

Just goes to show what a complicated issue it is. If you've got problems with alcohol, Beligerent, you're probably treading on thin ice here. You could talk yourself into substituting pot for alcohol which might solve some of your physical problems but do nothing to address the emotional/mental/spiritual side of your addiction. Addiction is a holistic problem, IMHO, not just a physical one.

I know I'd just become dependent on that instead. I know that because during intense cravings I've considered what else, anything else, I could do for some effect.

It's illegal if you don't have a prescription, which hardly anyone does. Don't do it.

It leads me back to drinking.