Benefits of quitting cannabis

A lot of new members to the site this week which has been good to see,but because we are so new, people have been commenting on how empty the success stories section appears, so I've decided it's time I posted my own story , including the life changing quit which in years to come became the reason we started this site. 

I started smoking cannabis in secondary school in my late teens . Back then it was just a hobby , I won't say it controlled me , and I also don't think this would be delusional on my part . It was something I did at weekends,and not even every weekend at that .  It was something a lot of people did , and the idea of being addicted to cannabis at the time would have appeared ridiculous.  Looking back I realise the people I knew then seemed to grow out of smoking cannabis , while at the same time I rapidly increased my use .  The turning point came when I started smoking alone , before this point it had been a recreational activity , something I did for a good time , before I knew it , it became something I needed to do to see me through the day , or at least something I had to know was waiting for me to finish off theday. 

I started university , and lagged behind terribly ,in hindsight obviously a result of my chronic cannabis smoking , but at the time I didn't seem to realise exactly how much damage it was doing, not just to my academic life but also my collapsing social life . None of the people I associated with during my degree smoked cannabis, which lead me to avoid any social life I could have had with them , instead I'd find myself arriving late, sitting through lectures watching the clock and dashing back to my small one bed roomed flat to light up .  I had originally started living in university halls, but after my cannabis smoking became noticeable I moved into a place where I could smoke alone and undisturbed . 

I somehow graduated 4 years later ( it took me an extra year through wasting time with cannabis )  I started working for a large company , and found myself a comfortable position .A position in which I didn't have to excel myself to cope with the job should I not decide to . Well being a typical stoner, I decided not to, and instead wasted a further 7 years aimlessly drifting in a job which I now realise was the bottom rung of a long ladder, and one which cannabis stopped me seeing past the first step. 

As the years passed by I would promise time and time again that I would quit the addiction once and for all , looking back it's amazing to see how many nights I told myself it was the last night I would ever smoke cannabis again . I wouldn't be exaggerating to say it was into 1000s. 

Having played around with other recreational drugs during my teenage years,none of them really sat with me quite like cannabis, even alcohol wasn't desirable over a bag of weed, after a couple of smokes any plans to leave the flat soon evaporated in a puff of smoke anyway .   I wouldn't say I was a complete loner, far from it , I knew a lot of people, and found outside of work  , many other stoners lived equally as miserable existences to mine, and with them I formed a unity .  I don't know how many hours I spent sitting with the aforementioned members of my stoner party , but it's cringe worthy to think about .It's not the fact we spent so much time together, but more how we spent it , often in absolute silence, often talking over one another ,ignoring anything anyone else present had to say, or some other mind numbingly boring activity , turned into something creative and beautiful by the stoned atmosphere we were so used to . 

I spent my time out of work with these people, if I was not with one  I was with another, hating my own company I woke up on my days off work wondering who I would spend the next few hours smoking with . The outside world was like a far away place after the first smoke of the day , I say after the first smoke of the day because before it the world felt as real as it can , the realness' of the world to an addict used to being stoned comes as a shock and the urge to escape that sense of realness would become intense.  Only after the first smoke would I find the confidence to vow to never smoke again . This was an endless circle for many years. Lonely yet surrounded by people , avoiding reality , and posing in a shell for work , to see through the day, before escaping back to the bubble I had come to know as life. 

I finally realised things had to change , it's not like it came to me in a moment of inspiration , I literally hit rock bottom . My relationship with my family had dissolved to almost nothing, I avoided real friends like the plague , my only associates were those had to work with and other than that , those who smoked cannabis . 

My life made me feel like a hamster in a wheel , reality seemed only a jump away , yet every time I came to make the jump the gap between reality and I only got wider and more difficult to make . 

It was Xmas day almost 6 years ago that I finally realised something had to be done for the last time, or the addiction was going to take the rest of my life . I realised it was time to stop mourning over the loss of years I had given to cannabis, to stop wanting to punish myself further for wasted years and time to focus on changing the huge mess I had myself managed to create. 

I woke up alone on Xmas day , and unplugged the telephone, I had supposed to be spending the day with relatives, few of which I had seen in several years. Nerves and cannabis fueled paranoia got the better of me, and I ended up canceling on Xmas eve feigning ill health.  I paid the price on Xmas day it's self, alone and feeling guilty , I waited for my stoned associates to finish their family Xmas matters andeveryone gathered round my flat to get stoned . 

6 of us sat in my one bed roomed smoke filled flat .  Looking around at the people I was with , I realised these people were never going to be anything to me , and I was never going to be anything to any one of them . We were like aliens to each other, we cared only to find associates to smoke cannabis with , not for any real friendship on any level .  I had traded in Xmas day withmy family and old friends to  be able to be present for this . This is what everything had come to . 

That ended up being my last stoned session , from that moment on I decided I was never going to smoke again .  I realised it had to be all or nothing, I realised there was no taking it to weekends and evenings only , there was no making exceptions for an occasional party joint , I knew it had to be the end , the end completely, and that's exactly what happened . 

I spent a week not seeing any of my former associates. A week sounds like a short time, but as any addict knows, the first few days often feel the worse .  I was surprised at how fast I started to feel good . The first week I locked myself away from the world even more so than I did when I was still smoking cannabis. I was already off work with the Xmas period , and had a week in my flat , leaving only to stretch my legs and get fresh air . A process which I usually carried out around 4am when I knew I could be alone . 

After the first week I started to feel alive, I couldn't believe how different life not stoned felt , not only this but I couldn't believehow great and alive it made me feel .  I moved faster both mentally and physically , and within 3 months was in line for a promotion at work .After 7 years in a job which I had not once been noticed, and 3 months post cannabis quit there I was in line for a promotion . 

I couldn't believe the rate at which my life started to turn around ,Bridges were being built between friends and relatives, and a part ofmyself that had lay dormant for years was suddenly allowed out again . 

Physically I started to look a lot better , spending more hours in the gym and running the parks, I toned up within months, needless to say getting rid of stoner munchies helped no end . 

9 months into the quit I got complacent , and decided I had been quit long enough to enjoy an odd smoke . The smoke was not pleasant , it only reminded me of an old life, a life I no longer longed for , a life I feel I have left behind .  I felt very guilty after the smoke , and suffered with nightmares following it , that everything had been ruined.  This is a stage I am long passed, I never fear I will smoke cannabis again because the desire and frame of mind I had when I felt I needed to use cannabis has gone .  I have not smoked for many years, and I will never let the addiction catch me again , I can only ever be 100% sure of that, by never allowing myself even one smoke of cannabis again in my life . 

After I accepted it had to go completely , it was a matter of buckling down and doing it.    I can not even begin to explain how much quitting cannabis changed my life , before I quit cannabis I didn't have a life,I was a puppet controlled only by the drug , now I feel 100%responsible for my actions, I am in control of my own life, and never again will a drug control my actions or dictate my lifestyle . 

I hope this is the first of many more success stories to come here , I look forward to reading some other experiences of successful cannabis quits . 

Keep up the good fight everyone 

Bruno [:cool:] 

Givingupcannabis.com

Givingupcannabis

Firstly, I want to say a HUGE thanks for creating a website like this. As you likely know, there are few of them out there, for whatever reason. Ipersonally think because many stoners are contempt going through entirelifetimes in a hazy daze. They are fine with it and never admit they have aproblem. And perhaps they don’t. Surely if your idea of a life spent mostly ona couch puffing away or thinking about where you’ll get your next bag of weedor whatever other nasty aspects that come along with chronic usage is not alife with a problem, then all the respect to them!

However, most of us want a normal life. Life that has its ups and downs,cherished moments, so that at the end of it we can say to ourselves that wetruly lived it to the greatest extent we could and have no regrets.  This type of life is not obtainable underchronic pot usage. 

I personally have come to believe that marijuana addiction should be upthere along with all the other drugs, despite it’s often heard “no physicaldependence” argument. 

I digress. Secondly I want to thank you for sharing such a well-written andinspirational account. I can relate on so MANY levels to you. I spent about 10years on and off smoking pot (have been clean for 1 week now) and I have lostdozens if not hundreds of opportunities to it of various sorts.  Your Xmas experience is certainly quietinteresting; I have had a few of those as well, which include going to visit myterminally ill mother while high.  Ofcourse my memories of those visits are now vague and fuzzy, because ofweed.  Almost every other memory I haveover the last 10 years is also fuzzy due to weed usage.  I also have inflicted tremendous amount ofdamage surely to my lungs with chronic use. I will not work to undue that damageof course.

Even though I am only 1 week in, which is absolutely nothing when speakingin realms of an addiction, I do feel extremely confident that this take willtake.  I quit about a year ago for 4months. I felt great, but I slowly entered the habit back. I have now analyzedmy patterns and am slowly beginning to realize that I may likely never be ableto puff again, but what’s interesting is that each day I am becoming more andmore comfortable with that notion.

Of course, I still have desires, to one day, months or even years later tosit down and puff away, for good old times sake.  However, I am also afraid that while it may not necessarilytrigger my addiction back again, I think it will bring back all these horriblememories I have. So maybe based on your experience, I should just never do itagain, period.

Also, just as a side note. I am sitting on my couch now typing this, and Iam looking around the room and everything is just so damn clear! It’s almost ahigh in itself. I spent years sitting in a haze, fog, whatever you want to callit. So once you are finally on your way to recovery, being clean in itself islike being high. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel it.

Sorry for the rambling post, I am just excited to readsuch a great account of a success story and it gives me and I am sure manyothers inspiration we need to stay clean and one day find ourselves in the sameshoes as you and have this horrible habit as nothing but a bad memory.

ty for posting ur story Bruno . I am on my new day one, and I'm more determined than ever that this has to be the last time, I don't even have too much to lose this time, as I'm left with just about nothing, the people who care about me are literally hanging on by a thread, I have to fix this now, or everything will beruined and my life will no longer be worth living .

Well done bruno , both on getting clean and on creating this site , you really are an inspiration to my quit .

I will keep posting on my quit journal , I need to get through this first week !

CAT

Hey Bruno, thanks for the post, I can relate to many of the things you raise. If you read my quit journal you'll know that I've sadly gone back to smoking, after one month of abstinence. I have also discussed the terrible withdrawal symptoms that preceeded my relapse. However, I haven't mentioned some of the positives that you highlight above. One week into the quit I felt great; buzzing with energy, vitality and optimism. The natural high of going a week without cannabis was inspiring. Even people who didn't know I'd quit commented on my new zest for life. The nicotine cravings were mostly over, but cannabis stays in the system a lot longer. It wasn't until the end of the second week that I began to feel hyper-everything! My energy levels seemed to be feeding my irritability and aggression (mental aggression, I'm a pacifist!) I kept waking up in the middle of the night, or couldn't get to sleep until it was nearly time to get up. Well, the rest can be found on my quit journal.

I'd really appreciate it if you shared any thoughts you have on my experience. I've never met an ex-cannabis addict before... only those ex-smokers whose consumption levels were never really going to make them an addict in the first place.

I would like to thank you bruno as I found the link to this forum from another site that you posted on. 

I,ve been looking at these types of sites over the last few days. This is because I believe that deep down I have been wanting to give up for a very long time now and become the person that I always had/have  the potential to become. 

My will power; confidence and positivity is at the lowest it has ever been, but hopefully I can gain some of these back eventually.

I,ve been smoke free for 3 days and my withdrawal symptoms seem to be really accute this time.  This is making me realise how damaging the constant use has been to me and those around me.

Hopefully I may be able to post a success story in the future.

Thanks once again

Lee T

Bruno - I can't believe I only saw this post today.   I have been so busy trying to keep up with everyones journals that I didn't even notice.   There a few other sites up like this - none that drew me in like this one and I've been here almost every day for the past 24 of my quit.  It has made the difference. 

Knowing that long range success is possible is inspiring and hopeful - and to know that your life has benefitted so profoundly is 'motivational' to say the least.   I have had the

sense that this quit would have to be a total lifetime committment - it helps that you reaffirm that for me.  Like any other addiction, going back to it, even momentarily CAN start the whole cycle over again.

Thank you for bringing this aid to all of us.  I will be forever changed because the people that I have communicated with here have taught me so much and given me the insight and spiritual energy that I needed to want this for myself  - as much as I now want it for everyone else. 

You are an angel.

Grandma

Hi Bruno

After all these years clean , weed is obviously still on your mind for you to set this site up i am just curious about your motivation to do this after so long, dont take it this the wrong way i am not being cynical i am just wondering what quitters can expect after being clean all that time, does it really stay with you like an alcoholic is always an alcoholic even if never touched a drop for years!

On my last quit of six months i was thinking of setting up something similar to this

but relapsed, as i said in my first post there are millions&millions of MJ users worldwide and thousands of pro-MJ sites but sites like this are far and few between

Inspirational stuff Bruno - thanks, and thanks for the site. 

In response to your question <THC, I think we're all here because we're addicts and anything that has grabbed hold of us all for so long is going to have a lasting impact.  I have friends who are recovering alcoholics and they know they have to be "recovering" for ever.  I guess it's the same for us - if we were just recreational users who didn't have a problem stopping, we wouldn't be here?  I don't know what the future holds and whether or not this will always feel like a struggle - it's a bit depressing to think that it always will be.  I'm hoping that I don't forget how horrible it feels to be controlled by something as, hopefully, that will serve as a reminder in the future not to blaze up again.

addled at 01:16PM on Nov 25, 2009

Inspirational stuff Bruno - thanks, and thanks for the site. 

 

In response to your question <THC, I think we're all here because we're addicts and anything that has grabbed hold of us all for so long is going to have a lasting impact.  I have friends who are recovering alcoholics and they know they have to be "recovering" for ever.  I guess it's the same for us - if we were just recreational users who didn't have a problem stopping, we wouldn't be here?  I don't know what the future holds and whether or not this will always feel like a struggle - it's a bit depressing to think that it always will be.  I'm hoping that I don't forget how horrible it feels to be controlled by something as, hopefully, that will serve as a reminder in the future not to blaze up again.

I posted the above just a couple of days in to my quit.  Since then I've got back in to the things I used many years ago to give up hard drugs - reading as much positive thinking material and mind-management techniques as possible.  It's unbelievable what a difference it makes to your frame of mind! (funny that :))

I still agree with what I said, in so much as I think we will all always have to be aware of what we've been (addicts) and we need to remind ourselves frequently that it would be easy to slip back into it - probably everyone on this site is an "all or nothing" type of person.  There can't ever be the "just one joint" - we're not like recreational users who can have a henry in the house for months, just taking the occaisional spliff...if it's there we'll cane it and then get some more and that will be it.

However, we shouldn't feel depressed about it - we're all on this site because we've woken up to who/ what we are.  That's fantastic.  That should be celebrated - it's only a struggle if you look at it like that.

I know I've not stayed stopped for that long, but I feel so different this time round than I have during previous quit attempts.  I know deep down that the only other option is to be a stoner for life and that sucks...so there's no point feeling down about the decision we've made to choose life...we should be jumping up and down and shouting from the rooftops about how happy we are that we've discovered that about ourselves and done something about it (i.e. quit).  We've all broken out of the prison that would have held us there for ever - how marvellous is that.  If you can internalise these messages then quitting is the easist thing in the world - there is no struggle...I've just been given a new life and that's effing brilliant!

Sorry if my positiveness is annoying or if it's so far out of line with how you feel that you think I'm raving mad...but if you do feel that way, I'd urge you to think about what I've said in the paragraph above and to try to take something from it.  I'm basically trying to say that we've made the decision to quit and our choice is either to mope about and it and feel bad, or celebrate it and feel good...I know which option makes sense to me.

I'm really glad to have found this site, as I've visited a few which are so damn anti Cannabis, and I still feel quite positive about it, despite not having used it for 3 years now.

I'm glad to see people saying the balanced things they are saying, such as they miss it, but also pointing out the negative effects on their lives.

I will be contacting people about my forthcoming book which is about giving up Cannabis, but not from a desperately anti-drugs pov, but from the pov of someone who does enjoy using ,but also wants to quit or reduce their intake.

So, good to be here, and love to you all...

John

hi everyone..i have quit smoking about ten days ago after 20 yrs of smoking every night i.only smoked pure as i quit the fags 2 years back. I knew I had to and I just did it the other day. It actually hasnt been that hard apart from i feel really knacked alot of the time and instead of boundless energy i just feel quite lethargic and have now started waking up in the night..help guys..is this normal??

Well Bruno I stopped almost 4 weeks ago and if it wasnt for your site and reading other peoples accounts I wouldnt have thought it possible. Was scared to to be honest. Dont need the site for support anymore but will continue to visit so as I can help others who were at the same stage that I was....the only thing that pisses me off is the years I ve wasted...mind you least I ve got the rest of my life back!!! Thanks for that  Niall

What a great collection of stories. Bruno - great website. It's really helping me - 2 weeks today and feeling pretty good.

Wont tell my story on this post - it's on mine if anyone wants to read it.

I think the most stirring stories are the Xmas story and the sad tale of infinity99 - these really illustrate the lengths that a serious smoker will embrace to avoid life - whether it happy (like Xmas) or sad (like grief).

Good luck to everyone - I'm reading a bit each day - it seems to act like another coat of varnish on my resolve...

Hello giving up cannabis,  I have tried to post two post and boths times after posting there was an error and it said if this happens frequently to contact web support, how do I do this ? I haven't been able to find that on here!

Thanks ArnoChiba!

ArnoChiba at February 1, 2012 at 3:26 PM

Hello giving up cannabis,  I have tried to post two post and boths times after posting there was an error and it said if this happens frequently to contact web support, how do I do this ? I haven't been able to find that on here!

Thanks ArnoChiba!

 Hi ArnoChiba,

I only joined this site 2 days ago and have had no response, very little activity on this site, unfortunately, I don't know why because I actually think it is very helpful to see that we are not alone in this fight. Reading through this site another person commented on this and gave a suggestion to go to www.uncommonforum.com then click on addictions. I found uncommonforum to be an absolute inspiration with so many more links and a lot of links to helpful action. Give it a try, hopefully you will get some response from this site too, I am going to keep posting here as well.

Hey missbibbledoo,

Thank you for the info, I would post here but it really gets discouraging to have my essay length posts gone in one second, Ahhhhh I cringe at that!!! Ad the stress off the first day and then the let down feeling of losing two huge posts!  Frustration sets in. I will definately check the uncommon forum and I would consider still posting here if it would just work!

Thank you!

-ArnoChiba

Losing the posts that you have put your heart and soul into is not helpful to the anxiety you are probably already feeling. May I suggest as I have had probs to that you copy before actually posting so if it happens you still have it, could copy to word I suppose and then you have a record of your journey too. I am only coming to this site now to help others get some acitivity as the other site is where I am truly drawing my strength and insight from. If you would like to be buddies on the other site I am under the same user name. Keep up the good work and good luck. No one else can do this for us we must do it for ourselves.