Weed is harmless.

But if you get high every day, nothing else in your life will be as exciting as your drug.. for a while. Hopes and dreams slowly die at the altar of your addiction.

The cost of weed isn't just what you pay at the dispensary. It's also the hopes, dreams, and opportunities you give up along the way. The real price is everything.

So you decide to quit, hoping to restore all the best things in life.

But now withdrawal steals both the high and the dreams, leaving joyless emptiness in their place. For weeks you feel flat, and it's torturous. You get no pleasure from effort and no high from weed. You're stuck in no man's land, desolate and hopeless.

Then your inner voice starts to bargain.

"At least weed made your unbearable life bearable."

"But all I need is more time. Three months. Six months. Maybe a whole year."

A whole year? I can't wait a year to fix my life.

Besides, if I smoke now, I'll get so high. My tolerance is gone. And I deserve it. I can moderate my use this time. I don't even know why I quit in the first place. I'm a good person. Gotta have fun sometimes, right?

So you give in.

Just once or twice.

Or every day for the next six months.

Then you finally decide it's time to quit... and begin the same miserable cycle all over again.

Forever.

Yeah... weed's harmless, all right.

Started at 16, about to be 33. Heavy use through the good, the bad, the scary...through undergrad and grad school, starting a business, thriving in my business, through the deaths of my dad and brother, world and personal traumas, volunteering and creating, working in the health care field, through learning Spanish and playing soccer and being with friends.

It's always been the most important thing, the thing I "have" to think about, plan around and plan for...and that is humiliating.

I have CHS, one ER visit and many miserable nights. Three nights ago I decided it had to be over after another night throwing up like a child with the flu in the shower... my partner looking at me with confusion and maybe even a hint of disgust (could be the shame talking, he is the best thing in my life)

Starting day 2 today. My routine is keeping busy, getting out of my house, riding the urge waves, reading sexy thrillers, using my supplements, drinking water and electrolytes, volunteering, heading to the sauna daily and lifting hard. I might even try running again?

The shame has always been there, and it's time to let it see the light.

I found this sub so many years ago but only recently have gotten honest with myself. I don't want weed to run my life anymore, and I so appreciate everyones vulnerability. It's inspiring, especially when I feel disgusting.

I can count on one hand the number of days I've spent sober since I was 13. They were all against my will, essentially while traveling or horribly sick. I've even brought it to states and countries where it is very illegal, risking it all. I've never had to try and quit... I always found my way around tests for jobs, and have been a "functional" user since I started.

I knew I had a problem after just a few years of using it, but the past few years I've really come face to face with my ugly addiction and have hated myself for it, despite continuing on daily. I honestly can't believe that I have made it this far, on what is my first try.

I'm so proud of myself for getting this far. I was using 1-2g/day via bong for many, many years. My parents both do it and would give it to me as a kid. What was a fun, social activity as a teen, quickly turned into an addiction that I fed all alone, all through my day. Flower had eventually become my best, and sadly, my only friend.

The first 3-4 days were difficult due to cravings and physical symptoms of course, but for some reason it felt easier than I expected. Days 5-12 were actually pretty nice, and easier to get through with every 24 hours. But days 13 and 14 (today) have been incredibly hard. I've got a never-ending headache for two days now and several things out of my control have been pissing me off.

I'm really feeling the anger, rage, and irritability now at this point. I consider myself lucky that I didn't have many triggers these past 2 weeks (I'm currently unemployed and have been able to really tend to this recovery journey in the safety of my home thus far). But man.... these emotions are such big triggers, and I'm having intense cravings for the first time since the first few days I quit.

I am determined not to relapse, I don't plan to smoke, but I'm having serious trouble processing these feelings. These feelings would have been a prime excuse for smoking my lungs out just 2 weeks ago. I know it's normal to feel this way during withdrawal, but it makes me wonder if I've always had a problem with processing emotions, anger in particular, and just masking it with weed (knowing myself and my history I'm leaning towards 'yes').

I called and made an appointment with a therapist this afternoon, for next Tuesday. I realize that I need help at this stage in my recovery to progress onward in a healthy way. I've never used formal therapy before. I hope it helps me learn how to deal and cope with these emotions and other traumas I've lived through so I can continue on in my recovery.

Reading everyone's posts here have been so helpful for me. So thank you for sharing your stories and experiences. I wish everyone the best of luck and remember -- you... we... are not actually alone. We can all do this... one day at a time.

Thanks for reading.

So started smoking daily at 18 after first real breakup and just never stopped. I always knew it was how I dealt with problems but could never admit that at the time.

Lost my job after 19 years due to failed drug test and this was a catalyst to smoking from wake up to sleep every day. And now it's cost me my wife after over 20 years.

So I stopped smoking the day after she left me and I wish I knew what the results would have been like. I was always seen as lazy and very laid back, turns out it isn't me at all. Never had so much energy and fire in my belly to get up and just do stuff. To actually communicate properly as this would have no doubt saved my marriage.

I'm sure not everyone has the same experiences but would imagine a lot of us do it to avoid the hard decisions and choices we should make.

Don't be like me and wait until you get a massive reality check. Some days are hard but my kids keep me level headed and i am 100% determined to never to go back to what I thought was me.

Good luck all, it can be done.

I’m 39 and have been a daily user since I was 16, and I’ve never gone more than a week without getting high. Over the last few years I’ve switched to primarily edibles which I take nightly. I’ve been wanting to quit for a long time but am petrified of the insomnia coming my way. It looks like the only way forward is to just accept the fact that I won’t be sleeping for a few weeks. After reading about everyone’s experiences, and life outlook after quitting I decided to say fuck it and just quit today. I’ve lived more of my life being high than sober and I really want to see what life is like with a clear mind, and am tired of the brain fog. Wish me luck folks!

Today marks the longest I have been sober! I fell “off the wagon” in may and I had been sober for 54 days… today marks 55 days of sobriety and I feel good! I don’t really miss it or crave it like I was before. I have a few moments but they pass quickly. I do struggle mentally with depression and anxiety but I think it’s because I used weed for a coping mechanism to numb myself for so long so I am finding new ways to adapt to stresses. I’ve also dealt with that my whole life so nothing new. I’ve been able to gain healthy weight. I was underweight my whole life and had no idea it was actually the weed effecting my appetite. I feel very proud of myself! I would’ve never thought I’d quit smoking. I smoked for 20 yrs of life. It’s refreshing to be more clear minded and not reliant on weed to complete every task.

Anybody else here notice the „need“ for coffe or caffeinated drinks decrease after a while or even a few days in of quitting?

Might be the natural amount of dopamine, cannabinoids in the brain and motivation coming back..

Anyways, i like it because i don‘t wanna feel dependent on ANY substance

I've been smoking daily since 14 years old, and I'm 25 now. I have chronic shortness of breath, and every time I smoke my anxiety is through the roof. Like heart rate 120+ minimum. I've made it to 30 days before, and then thought to treat myself which turned back into daily use.

I read a comment from someone here that they have a note they keep of high them basically begging sober them to stop. I think and feel the same thing every time. I know it makes me anxious, sometimes I refuse and then cave not even an hour later. I don't enjoy it anymore, but I keep coming back. I just don't understand why.

I knew that weed was no good for me, but like many people I smoked to self medicate.

Now I’m at a point where I feel like I no longer need it, and I’m about a month cannabis free, and a week completely sober (don’t want alcohol to replace it)

One thing that’s funny in retrospect, is that I really, truly believed I was better at skateboarding when I was baked. I knew that the science would disagree as obviously it physically and mentally impairs you, but I told myself the lie anyways.

Now that I’m sober I’m actually learning new tricks again. Obviously that’s not the reason I quit, but it’s a nice perk.

60 joints not smoked
23 grams avoided
saved around 325 euros (wtf, insane)

Haven’t had intense cravings yet, bc the day I quit was an intense wake up call for me

Dreams are still weird but less intense, sleeping is okay now, still have a hard time falling asleep sometimes

Anxiety was spiking the last two weeks, couldn’t relax at all, felt like I was buzzing all day. Not sure if the weed was masking it, or if its withdrawal symptoms

Face is way less puffy than when I used to smoke daily, my body less bloated too

But most importantly, I feel my old self coming back. The one who saw beauty in the little things. I can do chores more easily again too and it’s getting easier to take care of myself and my surroundings

My relationship has gotten way better too, I’m not so emotionally reactive and more stable now

I keep getting twitches in my face tho, especially my eyes, brain zaps, that sort of thing, might just be anxiety but could be withdrawal symptoms

Also!! Thank god I’m not sweating so much anymore my goodness. That was the worst withdrawal symptom for me, the constant sweating, thank goodness it’s less now

It’s just crazy to think that weed used to be 8-10% THC, and now it’s more than double (21-27% THC), it’s absolutely insane. They keep pumping up the chemicals for higher THC levels, but it just can’t be good for you, you know? I wonder if it has made weed more addictive in recent years. Someone even compared it to hard drugs with these high THC levels.

Sooooo I quit smoking last year for around 6 months after 10 years of daily use. I was on vacation for Thanksgiving with my family and I convinced myself I had to be high on the holiday so I could properly enjoy the food. I took one hit of my sister’s pen and was SOOO HIGH! I immediately felt super anxious but it slowly evened out. When we got back from vacation I would hit her pen once a day and I would wake up with horrible headaches because my body was like wth are you doing? Flash forward and I realized I was smoking again every day. It started to affect my motivation heavily and I was in denial. I went right back to my old ways even though I tried to convince myself that I was able to moderate my use. The reality of it is just like any other addiction it is a slippery slope. It started off slow and then I was right back at it like I was before. Anyways I’m on day 3 1/2 of being sober and I’m looking forward to my mind being clear again. When I wasn’t smoking my anxiety was so much better, I was able to eat without worrying about smoking first. What really helps me is writing out a list of my WHYS and going over it everyday. So far I’m doing fine I just know I will have very intense dreams/nightmares for at least a month because of the REM rebound. My point is that even though I had myself convinced I was able to control my use, at some point I was right back in those imaginary handcuffs. If you are considering using weed just once or whatever it is I recommend that you go back to your why and remember why you stopped in the first place. It will take away from you and your relationships slowly over time and by the time you realize it 10 years will have gone by. You got this! I believe in all of you and myself💓

Today marks nine weeks weed free after smoking daily for probably close to 15 years. I definitely feel better overall. Im more productive around the house and I don't procrastinate as much. That being said I still haven't had that 'ah-ha' moment of clarity some people talk about. I tried to start exercising when I first stopped but it didn't stick. I still get cravings to smoke in the evenings and feel pretty bored.

Title says it all! To follow up, I made a post last week debating/hinting that I wanted to quit despite overcoming a traumatic brain injury.

I have no use to my left side, and I’ve been vaping/smoking MMJ for a few years to ease up on my muscle tone. I grew so dependent on the feeling of getting high or “relaxing”, to a point that it made me miserable.

I took someone’s advice and discussed it with my doctor first. All went well. I threw my pen out as I walked out the main door. (It’s somewhere in a landfill now)

I fought off some cravings the first day, definitely. It can be rough for some, but oddly enough, not for me. I celebrated by taking my dogs to the park and going swimming at my local YMCA pool.

My second and third day, I had work all day. Two hefty 10 hour days back to back so I was distracted for good reasons. Bonus that I ended up getting home late and straight to bed both days.

My fourth day… I got sick with a 24 hour stomach bug. I unfortunately slept all day with a little gaming.

By Day 5, I wasn’t craving anymore and I noticed my sleep drastically improved. I was dreaming again!

Fast forward to today, I looked at my medical card, and at first I wanted to cut it up, but I safely put it away to keep as a rememberance. But I can safely say, I’m never going back. (Plus I told my doctor that he no longer needs to schedule anything in my profile)

I’m not going to say it’s easy. But it’s absolutely not impossible and if you truly want to quit, just challenge yourself to a week. You can do this and I will absolutely cheer you on!

I used to use everyday multiple times a day for almost 10 years when I decided to finally quit thanks to this sub. After 155 days I thought I could give it a try again since I had a vacation coming up so I got a pen. I finished the pen before even going on vacation after I said I’d just try it at night to see how it was. Night quickly turned into days which turned into mornings which turned into 24/7. One pen then turned into 3 pens. This continued into my vacation until I ran out on the last day. Im now back and am trying to go back to being on track. Ive realized I could never be a casual user so here we are back on day 4 again. There’s no physical withdrawal symptoms like when I stopped the first time except maybe for sleep but it’s a lot mentally again. Im so disappointed in myself and lack of self control.

I began smoking weed in 2022. 2023 was the best financial year of my life making more money than I ever made before and was able to have unique experiences all the time because I had the money to do it. 3 years later after chronic use and the bad decisions to go along with it I am in severe debt, unemployed, about to file bankruptcy, had to move back home with my family, and lost friendships/direction in life. It took me so long to finally quit but coming home after living alone and drowning in debt and using weed to cope, I realized the past 2 years were a complete failure due to me not being fully present due to compulsive weed usage. From sun up to sun down. I isolated heavily and that period of my life will come to be one I bury and never revisit.

I am a few weeks into sobriety and I feel all over the place mentally but it is kind of a good feeling knowing that I have already hit rock bottom and there is nowhere to go but up. I want everyone reading this to heed my story and realize that weed will never fill the hole you feel inside! I ruined my life smoking weed! But now I am fighting back! Don’t give up!

Hello!

I quit smoking 30 days ago, on a whim. I have been a very heavy user since I got out of the Army three and a half years ago, while working in the cannabis industry. I still work with pot, but I’ve applied to an apprenticeship already. After working with pot for a while, it has become just an object to me. I feel myself coming back from the cloud of smoke I was hiding in.

The first 2 weeks were kinda rough, very hard to eat food. I ate like 2 salads and maybe 1 lb of steak in that time. Everything else was just a nibble.

The only time i think i miss pot is when i do laundry at the laundromat. But I’ve been watching tv to help pass that time.

This subreddit has been a great resource and very supportive.

Thank you all.

3 days in. Been thinking about letting the flower go for a while now. Life's been an uphill battle, I decided recently I'd rather confront the emotions than mask them. 33M, 15 years of regular evening/weekend use. Last night I couldn't sleep at all, felt like shit. Whoop says I slept for 2hrs 7 mins, typical sleep for me is 8hrs 5mins. I walked downstairs to load up a bowl, but I opened this page first and read all of your journeys' & experiences and decided to stay in the fight!!!!

I got myself into this situation, and god damn it, I am going to get myself out of it!!!! my wife and kids deserve me at my best and I am driving hard to get there!!

My wife and i have been separated since November. Ive made horrible decisions while being high 24/7. She says i detached and became very withdrawn. Has weed ruined your relationships? Im sober now and reflecting back to our separation.

this is a repost of text i also posted on chsrecovery. i realized it might be better received here.

hi everyone. i’m (23y/o, a college student at home for summer) 6 months and 1 day into my sobriety and i am beyond ready to give in. i know i shouldn’t and i know i can’t because it’s just going to make my life hell again but i am missing it so badly. i’ve been browsing dispo websites the last couple days and today after work i drove to the dispo and sat there in the car for a while. i didn’t go in but GOD i wanted to!! i told my bf about it and he just lectured me about how i shouldn’t have done that and i shouldn’t be looking it up or anything and how he’d be so mad if i relapsed.

my mom is going thru cancer treatment and uses cannabis to help her symptoms so i don’t feel comfortable speaking to her about it. my friends still use. i feel like i don’t have any support in this especially after bf’s reaction of just lecturing me. obviously i know everything he said and i just wanted support i didn’t want to be told how upset he was at my struggle. i’m not going to give in but it’s really hard right now.

i had therapy today and we talked about what i can do to try to get endorphins or fill the hole but everything sounds so drab and gray. i don’t want to seek out comedy or exercise or crochet or play video games, i want to get high. i gave up nicotine 18 months ago and never looked back, it was never ever this hard because i actually wanted to stop. i miss weed SO MUCH that it’s making me want to vape nic again.

again, i refuse to relapse i’m just having a week of weakness so to speak. and it feels like nobody understands or is willing to meet me with compassion. i hope it gets better. i hope i am making the right choice. anyone who has gotten past the 6 month mark, did it get easier? did you ever stop grieving the loss of cannabis?

I am on day 50. I smoked every day for 12 years until I developed CHS. I loved blunts the most, the whole ritual of rolling was part of the enjoyment. I loved the smell and the heavy smoke. I started smoking joints to be “healthier,” and of course did bongs and stuff too. But I loved the rolled flower most.

Then in the last 3-4 years I really pivoted from flower to high dose edibles and carts. Then straight up dabs. Shit got bad when I was waking and baking with dabs and wasn’t even feeling high. It came to a head when I had to quit because a CHS diagnosis. It was the worst experience of my life, and all I have to do is remember how sick I was and the thought of smoking is wayyyyy less appealing.

Anyway, withdrawal has been awful. This community has been so helpful though. I cried and cried and cried at nothing for weeks. Literally just driving by roadkill on the highway would make me cry because of the loss of life. A news headline would have me crying. Also, I’d be sitting on the couch, in silence, and then cry at nothing.

I also developed the most intense dreams! I would wake up and feel like I’d been on a head trip to another dimension. It was insane. I’ve never had such intense, emotional dreams. They’d stick with me all day.

Well, they seem to have finally started balancing out. Maybe 10 days ago the dreams themselves got more normal, then I quit dreaming at all. Last night I had a crazy dream with a lot of violence, but I woke up and felt fine. It didn’t stick with me at all.

The boredom is also getting more tolerable. I posted here many times for support on Sunday evenings in particular.

This group has been kind of a lifeline for me. It feels like group therapy and makes me feel less alone. Everyone in my life smokes so while they support my sobriety, it’s been isolating in a way.

Thanks for being here, you guys. If you’re going through it right now, it really does get better. The worst days were the first week or so, and breaking the habit is hard even if you’re committed. Breaking any habit is hard but the rituals, social aspects, and the emotional escape makes weed really difficult. You can do it!

Hiiii!
I thought I'd come back and leave something positive for anyone maybe going through what I did.
I was a pretty heavy THC smoker but eventually it did nothing for me. I thought it would help me gain weight but I maintained more than anything.
I decided to go clean also in efforts for my partner to get a new job. I went through it for real, I made so many posts because I was desperate. 1-2 months later my appetite came back SO strong. Honestly when people told me this wild happened I laughed and felt as if it wasn't true. I was 90 ish lbs and now I'm 130🥹 ever since I was young gaining weight was so hard for me. It was also a healing moment for my mom when I told her how much I weighed. Any ways, it's tough & still think about going back but all this hard work didn't happen for NO reason. Keep pushing you got this 💞

Well, here I am again. Repeating the cycle….. 2 months of sobriety followed by 6 months of active addiction yet again.

I am sick thinking of the amount of money I’ve blown, potential I’ve wasted.

This is pretty specific, but has anyone had experience quitting cold turkey in the middle of their bodybuilding prep? I know my appetite gets quite low during withdrawal so my lower calories should theoretically not be a problem. But sleep is so so important during prep and I’m dreading the intense dreams and insomnia. Any advice or encouragement is so appreciated.

I've always struggled with this addiction. I have a really hard time accepting it's a problem. I have been in and out of this community for years.

Four months ago stress and abuse of this drug made me quite literally have a mental breakdown. I became highly paranoid, I wasn't able to trust anyone.

I don't even know how to explain what happened, I became fully out of touch with reality. I won't blame anyone else, I accept responsibility for my mistakes, but my struggles became worse as certain individuals in my life realized they could gain something from my weakened mental state.

This caused me to spiral to a point where I acted out like I never have before. You can say I went fully mask off, which allowed everyone to see how delusional I had become. At that time, I lost my apartment, my family and my job due to my behavior.

Even after getting diagnosed with STPD I was still making excuses. Because other things were also involved I just blamed those other things and discounted the influence of marijuana.

Before this happened I was very close with my son. I have not seen him in four months, his mom's family took full advantage of the situation and has ceased all contact with me. I am told he's doing much better, which makes me wonder sincerely how much I was the problem.

I got word that tomorrow him and his mom will be moving 12 hours away. I previously held some hope I could recover, stabilize and at least have a relationship with my son again soon - but this news hits me like a cannonball of reality.

I am sitting here under a tarp in the wilderness, writing this. I am unable to sleep and it's currently raining; I can't help but experience all the memories and thoughts flashing through my mind.

People tell me I did my best, but I know that I could have always done better. What happened four months ago proves I was on the edge.

I tried to test reality and discovered I was not within the guidelines. Previously my chief complaint was feeling overwhelmed, now I have all the freedom I could want - but at what cost? What is freedom if you are still basically a slave?

I’m really struggling with smoking weed and binge eating together. I’m at my wits end mentally and physically as I can’t stop either of them.
For the last couple of months my routine has basically been finish work, smoke up, binge eat 10k calories, doom scroll, smoke until I pass out. Wake up hating myself, swear never again, and do it all again the same evening.

The problem is that every time I get high I end up binge eating. Not just snacking, i mean eating like 10k calories of pizza, cookies, chocolate, peanut butter, cookie dough. It’s so gross and I’m so ashamed of this as a fully grown adult.

Every morning I wake up feeling soo physically sick, mentally foggy, ashamed and completely determined that I’m never going to smoke or binge again. Then I go to work, and by the afternoon I’m like oh well I’ll just smoke tonight, won’t binge, it’ll be not as bad.
Then I do exactly the same thing all over again and smoke and eat loads.

I’ve gained so much weight really quickly, I’m embarrassed to go into work, I’ve started cancelling social plans because I don’t want people to see me, and I’m spending an unbelievable amount of money on both weed and food. I’ll even throw away my vape because I hate myself after using it, then a few hours later I’ll walk to the dispensary and buy another one. Spending 100s a week on weed and food just to feel absolutely miserable

I live alone, I’m single, and weed is legal where I live, so there aren’t really any barriers once I decide I’m going to buy it.

I’ve been going to therapy for years as I used to struggle with bingeing on alcohol, avoidant attachment, childhood issues etc, but binge eating is the one topic I just even then never feel comfortable bringing up as I am so deeply ashamed of it. I’ve struggled with binge eating (without smoking weed) on and off for years, but now smoking weed just turns my brain off when I’m bingeing and makes it 100 times worse.

Has anyone actually managed to break this cycle? If you struggled with both, what finally helped? I’m open to hearing anything because I’m honestly scared of where this is heading.

I've been fully weed free for nearly a week now. I know I can do this, because I recently went to a country where it was illegal for a whole month and was fine... but goddamn is it hard being back home. Maybe I wasn't chemically dependent, but I absolutely was emotionally dependent on it.

I work a high-stress job, and the hardest part has been losing the post-work wind down. When I had a hard day, I could look forward to smoking in the evening. Now, I feel myself getting upset on my way home from work because I get this feeling of "ugh, I have nothing to look forward to." I have plenty to do after work, so I'm not lacking hobbies. But I crave the easy and immediate stress relief smoking weed brought me.

I know this is irrational, and this feeling is going to fade with time. I'm not going to give into that urge... but goddamn does holding myself to it suck!!!!!

does anyone have advice on how to combat the feelings of frustration at losing your "easy stress reliever"?