A guide to quitting Marijuana and Hashish

[0utrider]

Hi!
Here is a guide to quit smoking Cannabis, maybe it will help you to get a more diverse view about cannabis. it took SWIM a long time to realize that cannabis is not good for him.

thanks to alfa for the pdf version

Reputation Comments on this post:

	started good discussion.
	I appreciate the information. thanks for bein one of the good guys

[Bajeda]

Take a chill pill people. I don't see why so many cannabis users regard any little tidbit of information that hint at cannabis actually having potential for any effects other than the positively glorious as downright idiot or useless.

Cannabis isn't a completely one hundred percent benign and wonderful substance. It is just like any other psychoactive. It has effects of both a positive and negative nature, and its effects differ for everyone. It should be approached with respect and used in a responsible manner. What exactly constitutes responsible use of cannabis is different for everyone, as some people find it gets them more productive or makes for nice, effortless relaxation, while others get terrible anxiety and/or paranoia and maybe find use of cannabis having irritating effects on their life.

Can most people just up and stop using cannabis without a problem? Yes, alot of them can. Does that mean everyone can? No, it most certainly doesn't.


My pet rabbit smoked cannabis for quite a while, and after years of daily smoking found that he just didn't care for it as much anymore and that the negative effects were starting to overpower the beneficial ones. Guess what, the poor guy had trouble quitting or even cutting down. It was such an engrained habit smoking many times a day. It eventually started to make for additional stress in the rabbits life as he began to have anxiety from smoking, wondering if it was starting to overtake his life, while other times he would be fine. Finally after an extended coke binge the little bunny had to take a short sabbatical from drug use. A few weeks after the binge he found he didn't have the same desire to smoke cannabis all the time, and didn't relapse into impulsive multiple times daily smoking as he had so many times before. Instead the little guy smokes when he feels he has the time to do so, with no other responsibilities he would neglect because he really can't do many useful things while high, and also only really smokes when he knows he can enjoy it by doing something fun, not to smoke for the sake of smoking.

My rabbit now enjoys cannabis more again, almost like he used to back when he started out and it was the coolest thing ever. He is changed in one aspect though, in that he doesn't view cannabis as completely harmless and benign. It isn't a substance for everyone to use, and people who do use it shouldn't be so careless. It may not overtake and destroy your life in the majority of cases, but it can start being a pain in the ass as you spend too much money on it, start smoking it too much and neglecting other things in your life that are important, etc. Its something you should use with the common sense and responsible attitude you would keep in mind with the use of any other drug discussed on these forums.


So yes, cannabis is not heroin enquirewithin, and yes, the pdf has alot of stupid statements and maybe such treatment would be excessive. But statements like;

"No-one needs a guide to quit the use of a benign psychoactive plant like cannabis, they just need a tiny little shred of willpower, less than that of a chain cigarette smoker who decides to quit for a couple of hours."

and

"Cannabis is not a drug that needs 'quitting'"

put things out of context, and makes cannabi seem like its a substance found in one of the main food groups, rather than the potent psychoactive substance it actually is. I find talk like that to be no better than the negative propaganda found in parts of that pdf, and I tire of it.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	finally, an objective view on the topic.
	A wonderful post. Thank you.

[augentier]

SWIM totally agreees with Bajeda because this same thing has happened/is happening to her. SWIM can easily control her use of harder drugs but finds it very difficult to quit smoking..the reason being she has this idea in her head that weed is "safe", it can't really harm you, it's "just weed"..this just isn't true, and when a user realizes this it gets depressing. There is a reason for the stereotype of the loser pothead -- there is some truth to everything (though not all inclusive)

[CrystalDextro]

This guide is a probably a serious help to alotta people SWIM has been a chronic "literally" user for a few years and has used willpower to quit but the guide is definitly a legit piece of work. This is a medical guide it goes over many aspects of marijuana use such as speech and thinking processes. Swim was locked up in a psyche ward from drug addiction and if they would have used something like this Swim wouldn't have struggled for so long with a pathetic addiction to a substance that alot of people dont abuse, as in they can use without problems. Swim has met people who are fiends they acted just like meth fiends. Its an easier addiction to live with compared to meth or herion but living with addiction is a struggle and the ignorance of drug users on this site should piss off anyone who has struggled

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very true

[Lehendakari]

SWIM is addicted to cannabis. Of course nobody is going to suffer terrible pain when they quit cold turkey, but they can feel depressed, anxious and unable to enjoy things like he used to (anhedonia) and let me tell you that this sucks hard.

SWIM is addicted and SWIM cannot quit. He has an endless supply and he tries to keep it under control, but it's very fuckin hard not to smoke. He wakes up and says: I ain't going to smoke till night. Needless to say he starts rolling 20 mins later and then he feels bad 4 it. How would you call that?

Yes someone can be addicted to cannabis.

And just so you know, SWIM has been addicted to harder substances and knows what is PAIN during withdrawal.

[Alicia]

Originally Posted by augentier

SWIM totally agreees with Bajeda because this same thing has happened/is happening to her. SWIM can easily control her use of harder drugs but finds it very difficult to quit smoking

swia like that too she seems to manage her other substances reasonably well , although now swia only smokes weed when she chooses to. she may get shitty if she has been smoking for say a couple of weeks day in day out. but that eases when swia occupies herself or exercises with training. just depends on how bad u wish to continue and lets not forget weed will lose its fun a couple of days brake will always bring the fun back.

Bare in mind a user can be psychology addicted to any substances that tickles neurochemistry and the psychological comfort if in right places. people should look at why they are hiding.
Orchid heroin is addictive two ways the physical withdrawal which can last a week depending on pattern of use. and the psychological comfort it brings which in someways always cause "some" people to return to there H habit.

not to mention the psychological addictive dopamine tickle of tobacco which is very re-forcing in itself.

Perhaps people should question what they getting away from in someways..

[jux]

ok, i can see both sides of this issue, so i'll chime in with my 2 cents....

marijuana may not cause a "true" addiction (ie: physical), but it IS habit-forming (psychological dependance). if someone has been smoking for upwards of 10 years like my old hippy freind, it is going to be a rather difficult habit to break because its become so engrained with your life.

take obese people for example....mc donalds hamburgers, candy bars, and other junk food aren't addictive substances, but for someone that has been over-indulging in them for thier entire life, it becomes a little more difficult than "just stopping"

anything that you turn into a habit is going to be hard to break, especially if you've had the habit over an extended period of time.

[Lehendakari]

People often say cannabis is not addictive because it isn't as bad as other illegal drugs but what do you think about tobacco? Would you say it is addictive:
This are possible withdrawal symtoms from nicotine:

Common symptoms include:

• An intense craving for nicotine
• Tension
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Drowsiness and trouble sleeping
• Increased appetite and weight gain.

As you can see there is no need for a drug to produce unbearable pain to be addictive

Now according to swim cannabis w/.. symptoms:

An intense craving for (nicotine) cannabis
Tension
Irritability
Difficulty in concentrating
trouble sleeping
Decreased appetite
and I should add nightmares.

So I stand by my comments cannabis is addictive. Yes very easy to quit as tobacco is but very difficult to kick the habit moreso with unlimited almost free supply.

[Bajeda]

Now I've heard the willpower card played over and over again and its starting to sound like a broken record. Its complete BS if you want to ask me.

Could swiy just up and quit smoking cannabis forever Nature Boy [Nature boy was saying you "just stop" in a deleted post - Dickon]? You can talk all you want about how you enjoy it and only smoke it for that reason, but if you ever get to the point where you aren't getting enjoyment out of it please let me know if its so easy to just quit.

Smoking daily for several years can really ingrain the habit in your head, and make you crave the feeling of being high, or even the act of rolling a spliff and smoking it, to the point where you want to quit but can't quite get to that point. Its not that you will go crazy fiending for pot and can't control yourself, but that you rationalize and make it seem 'ok' in your mind to smoke. Just like cigarettes, where the physical withdrawal is the easy part, its so easy after the first week or so of quitting to just say, "hey, why not just have one more cig for the hell of it".

With quitting cannabis boredom is the worst part, and probably the biggest factor that contributes to my rabbit's previous troubles to cut down to more manageable levels of smoking. The rabbit had to quit entirely for a spat and shift the entire paradigm of cannabis smoking as perceived in his mind for him to be able to get around the problems he had with it previously. And just to note, my rabbit has plenty of willpower thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Jux

marijuana may not cause a "true" addiction (ie: physical), but it IS habit-forming (psychological dependance). if someone has been smoking for upwards of 10 years like my old hippy freind, it is going to be a rather difficult habit to break because its become so engrained with your life.

I agree with what you are saying, though the part about "true" addiction is iffy to me.

In the process of quitting cigarettes at the moment, one of the couple of truly serious attempts, and I have found yet again, that the physical side of the addiction isn't hard at all to deal with. Its the psychological part thats the killer, and what generally gets me in the end. Rationalization is a bad thing in this context, and you have to take care to nix it to not relapse. But then again thats probably just my lack of willpower talking

[Bajeda]

Originally Posted by Lehendakari

trouble sleeping

To someone like my bunny who has trouble sleeping normally, that was probably the hardest thing to handle when he was reshaping his approach to cananbis. Funnily enough, cannabis doesn't even help him sleep well, so smoking it wouldn't really help him get to sleep any faster unless he smoked earlier on the next day, but being even more unable to get to sleep while stopping cannabis made it that much more of a pain. Probably the reason why the coke binge helped him to stop smoking so easily, he didn't notice the sleep problems for reasons that should be obvious.

[augentier]

Originally Posted by Lehendakari

Now according to swim cannabis w/.. symptoms:

An intense craving for (nicotine) cannabis
Tension
Irritability
Difficulty in concentrating
trouble sleeping
Decreased appetite
and I should add nightmares.

SWIM gets all of these symptoms when she hasn't smoked for even a day..she gets incredibly irritable, can't sleep, mood swings, can't eat, has crazy strange dreams, still has the stupid stoner moments where she completely forgets what someone told her 5 seconds ago, and finds life very boring and the day drags on and on and on. People who deny these facts that it DOES happen to some people can't seem to face a reality that might contradict the things they enjoy and have been told are sooo wonderful and benign. Sorry kiddies!

[Sky Walker]

"Addiction is an uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior regardless of its consequences." ~ Wikipedia.

Is that accurate? Does anyone disagree with that?

[Bajeda]

To an extent, yes, though its a very simplified definition and as such is lacking in some respects. Addiction can come in many forms and is different for many people I'd imagine. I think that one line description gets the gist of it, but is only brushing the surface of the great variety of variables that make up what one may term an "addiction".

Reputation Comments on this post:

Could'nt agree more.

[enquirewithin]

Cannabis is fairly difficult to stop, in my cat's experience, unless you change your situation. If you move to another place, where you don't have the expectation of smoking, there is no withdrawal at all. The worst thing may be boredom or frustation/ irritation that you can't smoke when you are accustomed to do so.

Not mixing cannabis with tobacoo helps a lot. Niccotine is truly physically addictive.

[Bajeda]

Its not a matter of blaming the substance. Its simply coming to terms with the reality of the situation that was previously ignored, and that reality is that unless you approach it with a responsible attitude cannabis use can become a problematic aspect of your life. I'm not saying you are going to have a nervous breakdown and start whoring yourself or stealing to support your cannabis habit. I'm not saying you will fuck up your entire life from smoking. I'm just saying, that like just about everything else you can do for recreation, cannabis has the potential to be psychologically addicting and therefore impact your life in a negative way and this can be troublesome to deal with for some people.

I hate propaganda demonizing cannabis as much as the next person, but I think you are the one ignoring the facts of the matter so you don't have to accept the fact that cannabis can be anything at all other than absolutely perfect and divine. Now you are demeaning other people because they don't have the same reaction to cannabis as you do and maybe have different life experiences with it. Please don't fall victim to the parochial fallacy here and assume that because something is true for you it is true for the whole.

[Alfa]

Cannabis addiction is very real. I do not mean direct physical addiction, but SWIM has had quite some difficulty quitting heavy high grade cannabis use. Not quitting for a day or a week, but really quitting. After several attempts SWIM succeeded with a few relapses. After some time of abstinence SWIM kept craving regularly and it was hard not to give into that. It took SWIM 3 months to get rid of those. Got SWIM's sleep pattern fucked up as well. It is a way of life, a feeling and also a filter. A dampening effect.
SWIM knows many heavy smokers that have a severe problem with not smoking. Especially after smoking 10 grams 20%+ white widow a day for decades. Being very stoned all day over an extended period of time changes your life. Your reality. Stopping with smoking cannabis means changing that reality.
I do think this is different per person, but the fact that SWIY does not experience it as addictive does not mean it isn't.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Alfa

SWIM has been a heavy White Widow and potent hashish smoker(both probably 22% THC and up) for some years. He found it pretty tough to quit as he enjoyed cannabis a lot and got used to the mental state. Took him a few months to quit cannabis, with a few relapses. Until that time SWIM did not believe in cannabis addiction. The upside of quitting cannabis was a definate upsurge of energy. The use of cannabis has certainly had a negative effect on his study results and SWIM had to take a longer road, because of that.

Meanwhile I have seen a lot of friends who use cannabis on a daily basis, who are unable to stop using cannabis. Many of them use cannabis as self medication against ADHD/ADD, agression or other character aspect they do not want to deal with. The problem that often occurs when they stop is the issues that are surpressed by cannabis use, arise after the user quits.

Not long ago a friend of SWIM had the unfortunate situation where he went to jail for a month for traffic tickets. As a heavy smoker of top notch Dutch weed for a few decades, this was a major change of reality. He said it was like he was hit with a brick on the head. During the following weeks SWIM was amazed to see his friend turn back into the person he once knew. Much clearer in thought, purposefull and energetic. SWIM's friend decided to quit cannabis and pursue his goals. 1st day in the free world, included the delight of smoking a joint and he has not quit again.

There are many examples like this.

In several coffeeshops, they have a points system. Spacemiles and alike. This way smokers can safe up for presents or extra weed. They can also see how much they have bought in a year. Most do not want to know this as it's quite a fortune.

[Lunar Loops]

Argument appears to be going round and round in circles here [The unedited version of this thread had countless "cannabis is addictive", "no it's not" arguments - Dickon]. I think some people find it hard to accept that people differ in how they handle a substance or quitting (stopping using) a substance. Sure willpower is an important factor in achieving anything in life, but just because one person is more successfull (or finds it easier) than another to give up something does not somehow make that person better. It does not mean that they have superior willpower or that the the other person is somehow lazy in their approach.

People DO suffer withdrawal (whether they be psychological or physical)symptoms and these symptoms will differ from person to person. Just as it is difficult for some to stop smoking tobacco and others find it easy. Just as some can stop drinking and others find it very difficult. If you enjoy a drink, try giving up alcohol and going to the pub with a group of friends who are all drinking. Think you'll find it easy? Try giving up smoking cannabis (and not enforced, because you can't get any) for a FEW MONTHS and regularly meet up with friends who are toking away on good stuff. Think you'd find it easy?

People differ and how their bodies react differs. Some people are more pre-disposed to addiction (of any sort) than others, it does not mean that they are lazy and have no willpower. Just because you don't feel a certain way and can not understand how others do, does not mean that their experience is any less 'real'.

SWIS is a social smoker of tobacco and only smokes when having a drink at the pub. His better half is trying to quit and genuinely thinks about them all day and craves them at all times. SWIS does not get this craving at all, but does not believe that her experience is not real.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent way of putting it into proper and relatable perspective, rep is long overdue.

[Purest]

After reading half of that file I found so many problems with the way it was set out.

If that was administered to people then it should have actually been stopped before it was given out, the bulk of questions were leading questions, which nearly all governing bodies ban from inclusion in questionnaires and are completely illegal in a court of law, this is due to the research of loftus and palmer et al in the 1970s.

Honestly that guide is so flawed it belongs with the rest of the propoganda.

[Alfa]

[I'm leaving this post in as warning to any who wish to post subsequently. Read learn and inwardly digest. The quoted post has been deleted - Dickon]

Originally Posted by cosmicruler

man this thread is out of control....thought it was guide to quitting?

Yes, this thread has been hijacked. This thread is not about whether or not it is the opinion of members that cannabis is addictive. Some people experience it as addictive and this thread is meant to give instructions to quit marijuana and hashish.

Please get back on topic:
Instructions to quit cannabis and hashish.