How Do You Guys Stop?

I've been a daily smoker for some time now. My parents have caught me using over and over again. I know I've dissapointed my family beyond measure. They already told me I was an embarassment. It seems like no one cares....I smoke a joint in my car sometimes hoping someone would notice even a cop. "hey over here, I need help, cant you see me?, dont you care?. But what's it matter, I seem to never listen to anyones advise anyway. No matter how much money I spend, and how much pain I cause myself and the people around me. I still like getting high...no good can come from it, Yet I can't stop....

Instead of dealing with the problem head on. I use.

Me and girlfriend get in a fight, Roll a joint. Had a bad day at work, load a bowl.

I plan my day around pot. Goin' on a road trip', Gotta get high first. Going to the gym, Gotta be stoned out of my hind.

Always gotta be high, always finding a way in which I can get high without getting caught. I have to have that Euphoria.

Am I alone here? I feel like I'm the only one that suffers from pot addiction to this degree. It's my life.
you ain't alone.. do yourself a favor and read through all the posts on this sub forum.. you will see everyone suffers the same fate from chronic pot use..
well first off you have to want to quit. after so many years i just wasnt getting that high feeling anymore. was always feeling depressed, paranoid, guilty. and was always just waiting for the next chance to get high. it just seemed to become more of a hassle than a pleasure. but still always looking forward to the next smoke.

i think making the decision to quit was harder than actually quiting. once i decided to quit i said ok this is the last bag and after that then no more. today i am 32 days free and clean from pot.

i wont lie to you, the first few days were hell and the first 2 weeks very very hard.
but now it gets easier everyday.

if you really want to quit, YOU CAN. you will have a lot of extra time on your hands. and you will need to find something to fill that time. this board is a great source of support. just start by reading others post and you will find you are not alone in your 24/7 use of this drug.
I just got tired of the b.s. surrounding it. i.e.-looking for it, waiting for it, feeling like I had to smoke before I did anything,arguing with friends over quality and quantity. The first two weeks were really hard. All my friends are stoners and they can't ever imagine quitting. I don't think the effects are as bad for you as say coke or booze-but it has such a hold on us mentally. We become ingrossed in the culture of it. It starts defining who we are. It is hard to quit-but once youv'e gotten away from it for a while things seem a lot better. And- you can apply for the jobs you always wanted but knew you couldn't pass the piss test!! That is a great benefit to quitting.
good luck!
I am like that. I smoke all the time. When I think about quitting, for some reason I smoke more. I got to two days clean and blew it. I just ran out again so I will be without for awhile because I am broke. My goal is to relax and not go nuts because I don't have it. I want to be one of those people who can smoke every now and then, not once every hour. I thought I was ready to quit for good but I know I'm not yet. I'm going to quit for awhile and see how it goes. I am quitting by running out and being broke...not a strategy, but anway...
guest you are not alone in this "joint". many of us suffered from the same problem as you and there are quite a few of us who have beat it, at least for now. You have taken the first step to realize you are powerless over the weed, you can't stop when you want, and that is problem. We should all have free will to choose our destiny in this world and addiction is when we just can't stop, even though a big part of us wants to. So, at least you are wanting to stop. Hopefully that wanting will lead to events unfolding in your life that will make it happen.

Sometimes it takes something bad, a scare, a run in with the law, a bad circumstance, to really twist the mind into action and say I"M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE, I'm just not going to do this to myself, day after day. Then you will suffer the pain of withdrawal. You have a habit, physical, mental and spiritual. Mentally your mind will grave the old ways, fight fight fight. Physical - your body will wish for it, many of us have had bad anxiety for weeks, months or longer. Pot does mess you up the longer you use it.

But, take heart in this. Look around you at some 30 and 40 year old that are regular people. Many, many of them were addicted to marijuana at one time and grew out of it one way or another. Of couse, this forum seems to have plenty of folks like me, age 47, that have had a hard time "growing up and out of it".

This is an illness, you are not alone in your problem. Like any problem, there are others who have gone before you and have solved the problem. Try to find what they did to break the bubble. Keep posting here. Get a book about addiction, try to learn about yourself. Go for counseling. Try to find a support group, if you are in a big city there might be MA, marijuana anonymous. Go to an open AA meeting. Search the web for answers. Befriend people who were able to get off pot. Start hanging around with straight people, there not too bad. Get involved in other hobbies. Starting hanging around and get attracted to the right type of people. Get a job where you are forced to be straight. Pot often takes away our interest in life, slowly and subtely, get interested in things. And don't forget this. Just Say No!!! i'm not going to do it! Good Luck, talk to you.
Yeah I felt that way for a long time. Your passed the point of just being a recreational pot smoker. You've got a problem.

Remember when you first started smoking pot? You did it because you liked how it made you feel and it was fun. These days not smoking makes you feel like s***, smoking makes you feel like s***. Your in a rut. no?

Myself I was a daily smoker for probably 7 years or so. Smoked 2.5 grams a day pretty consistently at the end. I always felt like a scum bag. I felt like I was trapped in a routine I couldn't break. If I had to go away for the weekend I'd buy 1/4oz to bring along, just incase I had to stay an extra day. And if I couldn't get it I wouldn't go. I knew I couldn't keep it up, and I didn't want to.

You gotta pick a moment to quit and run with it. It'll be tough for the first little while, but eventually you'll start feeling much better then you ever did before. Trust me. I quit on January 1'st and I am really starting to feel like a normal person again.

The hardest part about quitting is finding your Day 1. Commiting yourself to trying to stop. Its all down hill after that. Don't get me wrong, the first 2 weeks or so won't be a cakewalk, but once you get 3 or 4 days in you will find the strength to keep going.

You can do it only if you truly want to. And you can't do it for your family. You gotta do it for you.

Good luck

Cheers!

Mr.B
Well, the short answer is, you just do it!

Sounds simple. huh? Well, we all know the truth, it's HARD to find the strength to make that decision. I quit August 2nd, 2004, and remained pot-free until around Thanksgiving 2004... I guess I made it near 4 months. But I let myself smoke once, and it was like a landslide, and within about 2 or 3 hours of my first toke, I had bought a bag once again.

I didn't want to continue smoking, but I did and couldn't stop. It took me from Thanksgivingish 2004 to February 19th 2006 to get up the strength to quit again. Yup, just a week ago. So don't beat up on yourself for having a hard time, because it took me 2+ years to find the balls to give quitting another go.

The truth is, you have to WANT to quit. Not you "would like" to quit, not you "should" quit... you have to want it from the souls of your feet to the hair on your head and every where in between. It's a lot like a fight (sorry, I'm a bouncer, so my realm of analogies might not be the same as yours! lol), anyway, it IS a lot like a fight... it's not the strongest guy, the fastest guy, the smartest guy who wins... it's the guy who WANTS it that wins. The guy that's willing to take a shot square in the face to do what he has to. The guy who won't quit when blood is running down his face and he's gasping for air....

... Essentially, quitting marijuana is a fist fight of a different kind. You have to WANT it. When cravings bust you in the head, you have to still WANT to stay sober. When your friends are smoking, and that figurative cut forms over your eye, you have to be willing to stand there and fight those demons. And when you are alone, at your most vulnerable point, in times of stress, when you're feeling hopeless.... and Pot draws serious blood... you have to be able to laugh at it and start throwing punches like you've never thrown before. And if you WANT to remain sober... you will be able to reach down inside, and find the strength to knock pot on it's a** for another day.

So when you are ready, put up your dukes, and get ready for the fight of your life.... and remember, we're all brawling here together... so stay close, and fight with all you have... and YOU too, will kick marijuana's a**!