Thanks for the topic. My suggestion...don't add another drug into the mix, ever. It would only complicate things further, trust me. Remember, a drug is a drug no matter how you define it, pot or alcohol. So, be careful how you proceed.
If recovery through a traditional 12 step program doesn't work, than try an alternative method and see if that helps. Treatment options may vary but the results are the same; a potential for long term sobriety and a lot less headaches, Guaranteed...
Oh...one last thing, the marijuana maintenance program does not work, trust me. It will only feed your addiction. I hope this helps.
~God bless~
-- Edited by Mr_David on Friday 30th of September 2011 11:46:11 PM
I know several people who have tried this. Logn term, it didn't work for them. So i've never tried this path as evidence shows it wouldn't work for me.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
I tried that one shortly after release from the laughing academy. I had been dry for about 3 months when well meaning people suggested a wee puff would be o.k. They thought I would be better smoking weed than drinking. Great idea in theory, I lasted about 30 seconds before a drink was down my neck and it was two years before I managed to get to AA and find the real answer through taking the 12 steps. So for me, pot has the same devastating effect as drink because it leads me almost instantly to drinking. A very good friend of mine switched from booze to pot for a few years, then went back to the booze. He refers to it as his marijuana maintenance program stage. He's been sober quite a while now and free of all mind altering chemicals.
If the question is can you develop a meaningful/genuine sobriety while smoking pot, I would say not. Life for the newly sober alcoholic can be somewhat uncomfortable at times and it is often this discomfort that prompts him to take action on the steps. If I were to try and numb the discomfort with pot, I don't see how I could make any real spiritual progress or achieve much emotional growth. If I can use a chemical to make my self feel better, my alcoholic mind tells me I don't really need to bother with those tiresome steps, why go into all that stuff when I am feeling ok? Right?
So it seems to me for the majority of real alcoholics the best outcome a switch to pot could bring would be a temporary relief, followed always by a still worse relapse! Now where have I heard that before?
TO Me.. Sober is Sober. Its just another way our disease tries to trick us. I was thinking early in sobriety that smoking a little pot might be the answer during social situations. But then the program kicked in and i played it thru my head. I remember that I didnt like the way pot really made me feel that I why I drank instead. lol I hated the perinoia (sp) the munchies and the stupidity that went with it. I just decided that I have CHOSEN a sober life style. This is how I chose to live now. Not always easy but in the long run it really is. Hope this helps. If not always good to write and remember why I chose sobriety!! Have a peaceful day everyone!!!!
P.S. Just got to giggling about how after we first stop drinking, our disease kicks right in and gets real creative. What can I get away with and it still be ok? It will be ok because im not DRINKING....... lol lol we are some crazy people....
-- Edited by SUSIE on Thursday 29th of September 2011 07:10:56 AM
We must abstain from all drugs in order to recover.....The healing can begin when we put down "all" mind altering mood changing chemicals" and then go to work on the mind altering mood changing mental and spiritual parts of our illness.Our illness, insidious(sneaky,lurking,overtakes without our aawareness) ,will tell us all kinds of lies,substituting one for another is part of the lie..Keep coming back okay..........There are many alternative methods of recovery from substance abuse,some even proclaim "using a little" will work.....you'll have to find your path but we have a program,starting with complete abstinence from the drug(alcohol)we find recovery a day at a time ,applying spiritual principles learned through our steps ,worked with a sponsor and applied in our lives ,attitudes and behaviors.Please join us and find that "new way of life" that is freely offered,just gotta do little work and apply the HOW of our process,Honesty,Openmindedness and Willingness!......peace
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
I have a friend that went from having 2 years of sobriety in AA and then has stopped going to AA and been on the Marijuana maintenance plan for like 20 years or something. Strangely, it has not led to back to alcoholic drinking again as she does drink some now too....BUT-She absolutely cannot function without pot. She is ashamed that she needs pot to funtion. She is an older person now and still has to go out and find dealers and such to get her pot fix. She always has to worry about drug tests at work and has even had to quit one job when a random test situation came up. It's insanity.
In short, she's an awesome person, but pot keeps her imprisoned the same way alcohol used to for me. I wouldn't recommend it because this is the best case scenario (meaning it hasn't caused her to relapse into drinking alcoholically) and it still sucks.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
If you looking for other things to alter your mood beside booze you might also want to try coke, gambling, psych drugs, sex, perscriptions, abusive relationships, meth, etc. Even nicotine can be mood altering in the right dose.
Some may be more or less harmful than others. Take your choice.
Alcohol wasn't my problem. It was my solution. Over time, it stopped working and I needed to start working on the real problem, which is me.
I just got a flash with this one which was, "So why not switch to water?" I had never considered that question before because I have learned here and in the rooms of AA and Al-Anon that Alcohol and Pot and other drugs of choice are mind and mood altering chemicals. The reason I drank and smoked pot was to "alter"; get out of the place I was at and get somewhere else...mind, body, spirit and emotions. Water of course will only do that if I add some booze. Drinking and smoking made me different than what I was which I couldn't stand at the time and it didn't work well cause I had to drink and smoke more in order to get that affect and then drinking almost took my life which if it had I wouldn't have a need to alter anymore. AA is for me about living more in the spiritual (not religious) than in the physical although physically I am now much more healthy than I ever was. I substituted AA for booze and weed and have altered myself in a much more Higher Powered way and its getting better on a daily basis as I stay in the rooms with the fellowship and away from myself and a bottle or joint. Great post. ((((hugs))))
IMO - Pot has a completely different dynamic. When you go back and look at Bill's story, the history and the whole recovery dynamic was based on alcohol use. It wasn't until later that the same program works for other addictions.
I guess the question would have to go back to the OP - what are you trying to acomplish by this? If this is a method similar to drinking NA beer to *wing* yourself off of real beer.. it isn't going to work.
I wanted off of the booze to be happy again. That was my goal...to be happy. Since my divorce from alcohol, I am one happy go lucky mofo again.... and I still smoke the occasional pot. I never really quit smoking it to be clear. I no longer have those "bad" episodes / evenings... I wake up ready to tackle shit vs. sleeping off a hangover.
When I reflect on my drinking days - I think of all the stupid things I did. Almost every time I was drinking, I would make a bad choice of some sort (spend too much money, drive, eat too much crap, yell at wife or kids). I cannot think of one irresponsible thing that I have done while being stoned.
It alters my mood as does caffeine, sugar, mountain biking, sex....
Wouldn't it be kinda like trading bi-polar for schizophrenia? You would be just trading addictions. I remember when I both drank and smoked pot as a teenager and the two don't mix. I had some logical conversations with myself about my behavior under the influence with one or the other. When I drank, I did and said things that I regretted. When I smoked pot I was more contained but I was unmotivated to go and do things, like dating and parties. I just wanted to stay home or isolate with a few friends. I chose alcohol and was probably better off all the way around, especially when it came to comparing in to this program. I'm a text book garden variety drunk, now sober for awhile.
Not for me. At about five months I had a couple of joints over about a week. It didn't weaken myself with regard to drinking but I felt it took me away from where my soul needed to be.
Dunno if that makes sense but all I can say is that it left me feeling very pre AA and very alone for the first time since I found this place. That's not a feeling I want again. Ever.
THAT IS JUST SUBSTITUTING ONE DRUG FOR ANOTHER...A drug is simply Any substance which when absorbed into a living organism may modify one or more of its functions..........YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO FULFIL THE NEED FOR HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE,PLEASE PERSEVERE, YOU WILL IF YOU REALLY WANT A NEW LIFE......MILLIONS OF SOBER ALCOHOLIC AND DRUG ADDICTS ARE THE LIVING PROOF! MAKE THE "RIGHT DECISION" LOVE AND RESPECT ANGELINA X
