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Breaking myself of a bad habit
Fandyien
But Otto, what about us? Registered User regular
But Otto, what about us? Registered User regular
So for the past four years since I started smoking weed, I've smoked more or less every day. This itself isn't a problem for me, since I love reefering and never want to quit. My problem is that over the past two years being stoned all day has basically become a totally ingrained habit for me; if I have bud, I'll smoke right when I wake up, as soon as that starts to wear off, and ad infinitum. I usually smoke like 3-4 times some days if I can, often more.
I'd like to cut down to once a day (ideally, once I get all my school work done and am just relaxin' at my computer), but it's really fucking tough. Waking up and smoking is such a part of my morning ritual it feels like I'm trying to quit drinking coffee, or something. I've realized that it's basically impossible to lead a responsible adult lifestyle if I maintain this habit forever, and it also eats up more or less all of the spare cash I have.
I am aware that my primary asset in this situation is willpower, and I'm already applying myself to it and trying to force myself to cut down. I was just wondering if any of you duders have ever been in the same situation, and if you have any tips to help me cut down. I'd also like to start eating meals and stuff when sober, because I rarely if ever eat food without a hit or two beforehand to make it delicious.
I'd like to cut down to once a day (ideally, once I get all my school work done and am just relaxin' at my computer), but it's really fucking tough. Waking up and smoking is such a part of my morning ritual it feels like I'm trying to quit drinking coffee, or something. I've realized that it's basically impossible to lead a responsible adult lifestyle if I maintain this habit forever, and it also eats up more or less all of the spare cash I have.
I am aware that my primary asset in this situation is willpower, and I'm already applying myself to it and trying to force myself to cut down. I was just wondering if any of you duders have ever been in the same situation, and if you have any tips to help me cut down. I'd also like to start eating meals and stuff when sober, because I rarely if ever eat food without a hit or two beforehand to make it delicious.
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I mean, imagine all the money you are spending on this habit. I may not know exactly how much it costs, but its gotta be more expensive than cigarettes - which can add up alot. How much do you spend a week/month?
Also most professional jobs have drug testing and while it is practically legal, you can still get arrested for it.
Is it just the feeling you enjoy or the act itself? because I know smoking became a habit more than anything else, especially while driving.
And yeah, the legality thing is always a worry for me. I never want to end up in any legal trouble now that I'm 18, I rarely break any other laws, and I generally consider myself a decent citizen, so I'm trying to stop carrying it/being around people who have it on them. One problem is that most of my friends are giant stoners, so whenever I'm around them we're basically always smoking. I don't really care about that since it's not my money I'm burning there, but it doesn't help with the whole "enormous resistance having been built up" problem that I have.
Do you go to a university? Most have free services to students and one may be rehab conseling or something similar.
Also the first step in this is to realize that smoking weed is something you WANT TO QUIT. Make pot your enemy.
Dont let the stigma of it get to you - if it embarresses you, just dont tell anyone. And the rehab center usually have gobs and gobs of laws to keep your privacy. Rehab isnt just for coke and heroine.
You need to break the junkie mentality. You know food tastes good without any sort of drug? Most people can function in the morning without drugs, as well. You don't need it to live your life.
And Spherick, breaking a habit with another habit forming drug is probably a fucking terrible idea.
With a mentality like that, why bother in the first place.
When the drug becomes your life, you have a problem.
Yes, the munchies is a bitch. Here's the thing though, you are totally capable of smoking only on a full stomach. Those first few meals will be unpleasant and you'll find yourself craving food. So get some good trail mix (I'm not a health food person but a good california mix is fucking sweet) or raisins or whatever. But don't eat real meals high and you'll already have yourself a relatively effortless reduction. Work from there.
That's an awesome idea, thanks. It's not as if I am unable to exist without weed (i've stopped for single days for no reason other than I felt like it before, etc) but I'm just jonesin' for simple ideas like this.
I think his problem is with the perspective that you can only be "on" or "off" which I think is the default position taken by substance abuse counselors at a university. A lot of people use cannabis "frequently" without doing what he describes in the OP and lead healthy productive lives. But that's obviously going to be a lot easier for some people than others, but it's a more reasonable thing to strive to than trying to function while indulging alcoholism.
Another thing that comes to mind for me is your mention of taking hits. Individual hits spread out over the day are not only a bad idea from a self-care point of view, it's also a waste of weed.
If you want to quit, you just quit. You bin everything. Get rid of your bong and any other paraphernalia you have and ditch the pot along with it. Smoke it if you want, whatever, the point is, once all this shit is gone don't buy any more. If it's there, you'll smoke it. If it's not, you wont. Simple as that.
Or you could do what I did and somehow manage to develop some sort of psychological aversion to pot that makes smoking it now an extremely unpleasant experience.
Some say that its akin to gambling. Not physically addictive, but psychologically.
You need to develop some different rituals. Maybe get up and exercise or something?
If you find that you are unable to moderate - then you may need to stop altogether.
I think that this is great advice, it's how I quit smoking years ago. I just said that I had enough of it, finished my last pack, and I was done with it. It's all about will power.
Still, if you think you're smoking too much, then you probably are. If you smoke 4 times a day, try to cut back to 2 times (half is a hell of an accomplishment). Don't smoke before bed. If you want to take it further, only smoke with friends around and never alone. Budget yourself. You can also set up some kind of reward system where if you do all your chores or something that you really dislike (for me it was hand washing my dishes) you get to blaze.
Ultimately it comes down to willpower and what you want to do, but don't think you can't live a responsible adult life just because you have this one vice. The most successful woman I know smokes regularly and lives a normal (six figures) and comfortable life.
It's not. It's just habit forming like many other activities.
Yes, you want to go down to once-a-day, but you might have to go cold-turkey for a while until you can get comfortable with your straight self. After that, then you can try the Occasional Smoker route.
Totally agree with this guy. My roommate was on the same pot-smoking schedule as you sound like you were on. He also had a dealer that worked 1/2 mile from our condo and would deliver. Obviously this made it really easy for him. In the end he had to just take the guys number out of his phone, stay away from his work, and will himself not to smoke. For a guy who has the most addictive personality I've ever seen, it actually didn't take him long.
I can almost guarantee that once a day will not work, never worked for me, or any of my friends or pretty much anyone I've ever seen try it. You may have a bad day, or be especially bored, and before you know it, you're stoned for hours. Then a week later it happens again, then a couple times a week, and before you know it you're back in the old habits again. Find the reasons you decided to cut back, and like people suggested, find a way to remind yourself. Having friends for stoners DOES NOT help, dont end the friendships, but find other people to hang around with while you work on this. Hanging out with them while they're high and you're sober will not be so much fun after a couple of times, you'll either find new friends, or start smoking pot again to enjoy the time. I dont feel like a counsellor will help you at all really. You just have to find the knowledge that you actually want to quit. If you dont have reasons in your head why you do not enjoy it anymore, then you wont really want to go through with quitting.
Now, you might not be able to have it around for on-occasion use, but that doesn't mean that others can't, or that Fandyien couldn't. And there's nothing wrong with that, either--everyone reacts differently.
Just quit. Don't be a pussy. As someone who smoked daily for a long time, I can say that if you just try to cut back, you'll start rationalizing before you know it and be back to where you were. Maybe once you've been without for at least a couple months, then you can regulate yourself for some occasional intake. The key here will be to find new friends and engage in new activities during the time you aren't smoking. When your routine is to have everybody over and smoke bongs until your eyes bleed and play Smash Brothers, it will be impossible to cut back to a few tokes here and there while everyone else is blazed senseless and you're all in the same setting, playing video games.
Pot for me was a social crutch. It was always a lot easier to say "hey man, wanna go smoke a bowl?" rather than trying to find something I actually had in common with people.
The whole "just quit" thing would be applicable, but I can speak from experience that if you're surrounded by people that like smoking as much as you do, it's next to impossible to break free of it altogether, no matter how much you may want to. Peer pressure is a little bitch sometimes.
What might help is to simply ask yourself a simple question before you smoke up; "Do I really want to be smoking now?" If you have a reason for it, even if it's as trivial as wanting to watch a crazy movie or enjoy some video games with friends when you have nothing else to do, well, that's fair enough. But if you're smoking just to smoke, why even bother?
And finally, I have a number of friends that smoke so often that we can't really even tell when they're high anymore, and it's because they're burned out and probably aren't even feeling high anymore. The longer your break is from smoking, the more you'll enjoy it when you do it again. Keep that in mind next time.
MJ isn't physically addicting but it can be psychologically addicting. For your brain your morning routine goes: wake up, smoke. So if it's around it will get smoked at this point. If you want to throttle back on your THC intake you're gonna have to retrain your brain to not need that smoke in the morning or after lunch or ever.
I've always found smokers to be pretty understanding when someone quits. If anyone gives you any grief, then you had better make it clear that they need to fuck off. Worst I ever got was someone mistakenly trying to pass me something, forgetting that I wasn't in rotation.
Edit: Yes, Thanatos, thank you.
Maybe that's an idea? Maybe just tell yourself that you will only use it for a CERTAIN reason, as opposed to just doing it to do it. I dunno if that makes sense. But basically I only do it at nite, either alone or with another psychonaut.
just buy a set amount each week or month, and smoke what you have
once it's gone, it's done until next week/ month.
this method works for me pretty well, i learn to ration and choose carefully which days i smoke more.
if you can't handle it you can give your stuff to a friend for a while and take q break, then get back into when it's an easier thing to deal with
Maybe even buy a monthly medication organizer, like old people use.
This is totally what I was looking for. Yeah, I have no interest in quitting cold turkey ever, just moderation. I think I might give something like this a try next time.
After a long day, it's a miracle.
If you can keep yourself busy, you shouldn't have too much trouble keeping a low usage.
Rationing also worked REALLY well for me.
I keep my stash in the fridge or something and each day I'll take out a bit. When that's gone, that's it.
I make THAT my morning ritual. Getting a bit out for the day.
I rarely smoke in the morning. Don't enjoy it. It makes me completely unable to work in an efficient way, even if I'm not "high".
i was a gram a day man myself, and ive recently cut down to about half that. try to refrain from smoking until the sun is down. thats my rule of thumb. I find that if i only have one sesh a day, rather than three or four, i get waaaay higher.
i suggest buying a scale. Before you EVER put any product in the grinder, weigh it. Set a limit daily, and stick to it. My daily limit used to be a gram, now its 0.5. You will save money this way, no wasted bud, and you have a better handle when to re-up.
good luck sir
As for legality, if your state has a medical marijuana program you should definitely try to get on it.