Giving up the weed

xXxnaoisexXx

i didnt think hash was addictive

the Guru

breadmonkey wrote:

Take it wasy there, he already said he was careful not to do it around the kids. I think the children snatching is a bit OTT. Are you one of these people who equates weed with heroin?

I think we both know that weed and heroin are not in the same class but both are illegal. Doing things that jeopardise yourself is one thing but I don't think anyone would disagree that putting your kids at risk is worth it.

Blub2k4

the Guru wrote:

I think we both know that weed and heroin are not in the same class but both are illegal. Doing things that jeopardise yourself is one thing but I don't think anyone would disagree that putting your kids at risk is worth it.

Dont start with the "will someone think of the kids line" this person is very aware of their children and mentioned that it is one of the main reasons for giving up.
Being a smoker does not equate with being irresponsible around children anymore than having a bottle of vodka in the house.
I know lots of people whose children know not to touch "the box", it wont make them worse people when they grow up.

D0rk

the Guru wrote:

If they tell someone that daddy is smoking funny cigarettes do you know that Child social services can put your children in foster homes if they're subjected illegal or banned substances.

Where do you think this is, Texas? The idea of social services intervening in a possesion of cannabis case is laughable. Go back to your home planet mate.

rockflanders

Agree with a lot of the above.
As hard as the hardest description previous is though. Expect not to sleep.
My advice, go to a doctor, explain, get some sleep aids, nicotine patches even if you dont smoke cigs, be as nice as possible to the people around you in advance because you wont be during withdrawal. Be ok in a few weeks, fully right - not for years.

CiaranC

Not for years my arse. I quit 3 weeks ago after smoking everyday for the last 3 years or so. Apart from the nicotine withdrawal (I smoked with tobacco), I suffered absolutely no negative effects whatsoever.

Dreamer 7

I have spent the weekend deciding what i should do and how to go about it.

"The Guru" I have spent every moment of my childrens lives putting their needs first so we dont need your concern thank you very much.

Thanks to the rest of you, you understand we are not all perfect and everyone has thier vice!
By the way why does everyone think I'm a bloke????:eek:

Zulu

Exon wrote:

I gave up the ganjy after 3 years of daily/constant smoking, not because I wanted to but because I had to, I was paranoid to bits with loads of anxiety attacks etc. Anyone else experienced this?

I hear yea. I had to give up. The joy was totally gone. I get paranoid; unable to relate to people; just wanna be on my own where I examine my life and enivitably come up with a negative conclusion.

DublinWriter

the Guru wrote:

Alarm bells rang when I saw this person had 2 children, what if your children found the hash / weed and ate it, not to mention if they walk into the room if you are smoking its not very good for their lungs. If they tell someone that daddy is smoking funny cigarettes do you know that Child social services can put your children in foster homes if they're subjected illegal or banned substances.

Please don't give us the "won't somebody think of the children" line.

Have you *any* idea how much damage legal drugs like achohol do to families in this country?

OP sounds like a responsible dude (no pun intended!). We're not here to assasinate his character.

But I will say this to the OP - I would *never* touch hash in this country purely for the amount of substances such as shoe-polish and dried dog sh*t that get mixed in with it to increase volume.

That alone, should be a bit of an incentive to quit.

As THC in itself is not medically addictive, would you consider that you're possibly suffering from "Process-Addiction"?

tbh

Try this for some sound advice.

www.edas.org.au/docs/cannabis.pdf

ianmc38

To the OP, i've smoked on and off (mainly on) for the past 8 years or so. I don't smoke cigarettes. I've an undergrad degree and postgrad qualifications. I work in a well payed job for a large multinational company. I smoked everyday for years. Now I smoke occasionally during the week and on weekends.

I never smoke any soapbar hash anymore. Smoking soap is like smoking poison. it is made up of garbage and is one of the main reasons why marijuana should be legalised in this country, so that people who choose to smoke don't have to smoke that toxic sh$t. I now smoke pollem or weed, and will very rarely if ever smoke anything else.

I don't feel the need to smoke every night like I used to, but I still enjoy having a smoke. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I don't drink very much, have the odd bottle of wine with the g/f and drink occasionally when out with friends.

groundedplane

I was a heavy smoker for years. I mean the first thing I would do when I came in from work was smoke a fat one, and that was it for the rest of the evening. I came home, sat on the chair in front of the TV and smoke my brains out. I could not even imagine an evening without a joint. I wanted desperately to give up, because my motivation levels were at a low point. I had a good paying job in E-Commerce and that kept me going.

I tried unsuccessfully many times to quit, but it would not be long before I was skinning up again and becoming a vegetable. It was not physically addictive, but mentally addictive, the thoughts of not having a joint when I got home from work made me very uncomfortable.

It was only when I came to live in Florida was when I gave up without any problems at all what so ever. I did not even think about it at all. I went from a full time smoker for about 6 years to not smoking at all. What really happened was, I got off my arse and did different things. I am not saying you need to go to Florida, but you need to substitute your smoking for something else which interests you.

Smoking pot, there is nothing wrong with it at all, I still have a puff every now and again, but I would never go back to the vegetate state I was before. All in moderation is the key.

Exon

THC isn't physically addictive, it can be highly mentally addictive

turbot

You need to educate yourself about the effects on your body's chemistry especially with regard to relaxing.

A really good book about this is called "optimum Nutrition for the Mind", by Patrick Holford, with the section of relaxation. There are ways you can achieve an even better sense of well being if you are smart.

I suggest that:

- You wean yourself off it gradually

- You compliment your life with eating better (I'm currently using "The Low GL Diet" by Patrick Holford, and having been a coffee junkie for years, I'm feeling tremendously better. It's only taken a week for my natural energy levels to be much better than the buzz I'd get from coffee".

- You take the right supplements

- Also learn meditation or other relaxation techniques

- Do some vigorous exercise to help you get rid of stress

Remember, being calm and energised is a lifestyle. Do this right and you can achieve a greater sense of well being as your norm.

Dreamer 7

Hey guys

I havent had a joint since Sunday night! Couldnt believe it when i woke up this morning and realised I had a dream! Its been soooo long since Ive had a dream! Obviously i was just knocking myself out instead on getting proper sleep. Im tetchy as hell today but i still have my ciggies so ill survivr. Feeling hopeful but will take it slowly:D

rubadub

xXxnaoisexXx wrote:

i didnt think hash was addictive

It isn't. not in the medical sense. Unless you use the very loose terminology for addiciton, where people are "addicted" to many substances/activities that would not be listed in any medical texts as being inherently addictive. So people can be "addicted" to coronation street, apple juice, cream doughnuts, cannabis, tetris, but none are inherently addictive.

Most people bizarrely turn a blind eye to the fact they are mixing their cannabis with a substance recognised as THE most addictive substance known to manking, nicotine. "ah sure everybody smokes, can't be that bad".
If a trend began where people crushed up nicotine tablets, and put them on ham sandwiches, you would have lots on these boards saying they were hamsandwich addicts, "I'm down to 10 a day, I only put the tablets in coz they taste better with them". Most come up with bullshi t excuses like tasting better, and burning better as to why they put tobacco in joints.

Get a fuking pipe or vapouriser people, cigs cost a fortune. THe worst are those who "give up the smokes, but not the hash", and only smoke joints, so end up wasted 24/7 putting miserable bits of hash in their joints just to get the nictoine fix they. Fools, fooling themselves.

It would be like an alcoholic giving up the whiskey, but not the coke. "I'm off the straight whiskey 2 years now, all I drink is coke all day, of course I put a nip of whiskey in the coke to make it taste nice":rolleyes:

Zulu

rubadub wrote:

It isn't. not in the medical sense. Unless you use the very loose terminology for addiciton, where people are "addicted" to many substances/activities that would not be listed in any medical texts as being inherently addictive. So people can be "addicted" to coronation street, apple juice, cream doughnuts, cannabis, tetris, but none are inherently addictive....

Not this chestnut again! :rolleyes: Your point ended up compairing eating a steak to herione if I remember correctly...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054851075&page=10

MENTAL ADDICTION, Rubadub is a very real thing. Talk to recovering alcholics. Talk to ex-smokers. Talk to gamblers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,1668785,00.html

Blub2k4

Dreamer 7 wrote:

Hey guys

I havent had a joint since Sunday night! Couldnt believe it when i woke up this morning and realised I had a dream! Its been soooo long since Ive had a dream! Obviously i was just knocking myself out instead on getting proper sleep. Im tetchy as hell today but i still have my ciggies so ill survivr. Feeling hopeful but will take it slowly:D

Well done, if it's working for you then stick at it.

Gurgle

Dreamer 7 wrote:

Feeling hopeful but will take it slowly:D

Good luck with that - Just keep reminding yourself why you decided to quit.
Its the habit thats kept you on it btw, not the addiction.
This is a good time of year to give up - the weather is picking up and theres plenty of outdoor stuff you can get stuck into. I found it damn near impossible to flake out in front of the TV / PC and not smoke.
Just try to get into a new evening routine and you won't notice the absence after a while.

ianmc38

rubadub wrote:

Get a fuking pipe or vapouriser people, cigs cost a fortune. THe worst are those who "give up the smokes, but not the hash", and only smoke joints, so end up wasted 24/7 putting miserable bits of hash in their joints just to get the nictoine fix they. Fools, fooling themselves.

Thats ridiculous. I dont smoke cigarettes. When i smoke hash/weed, I smoke it with tobacco, not because I want the nicotine, but because i enjoy being able to smoke a joint for ten minutes. With a pipe its one quick blast and Bobs ur uncle.

Gurgle

ianmc38 wrote:

Thats ridiculous. I dont smoke cigarettes. When i smoke hash/weed, I smoke it with tobacco, not because I want the nicotine, but because i enjoy being able to smoke a joint for ten minutes. With a pipe its one quick blast and Bobs ur uncle.

You'd be suprised how many people give up smoking hash and take up smoking 'the odd cigarette'.

rubadub

Zulu wrote:

Not this chestnut again! :rolleyes: Your point ended up compairing eating a steak to herione if I remember correctly...

both substances release feel good chemicals to the brain, so people like to go back for more. doesnt mean steak is inherently addictive, heroin is though. I made the point about many activities or substances (like eating steak) that also release a complex soup of feel-good chemicals in the brain yet are not considered inherently addictive substances, just like cannabis. I never said steak and heroin were equivalent addiciton wise, if you actually read what I said you would know this.


The "old chestnut" in this case is the trotted out line "cannabis is addictive". When there has never been a medical study done that proved this.

Zulu wrote:

MENTAL ADDICTION, Rubadub is a very real thing.

When did I say it wasn't a real thing? I listed several things you could be "mentally addicted" to. None would be listed in medical texts/journals as being addictive, just like THC isnt.

Every substance on the planet could be described as addictive in this case, so there is no point in even using the term, it loses the whole negative vibe people are trying portray. What is the point in even mentioning something is addictive if you are using that definition,
"ohhh that drug is terrible, it exists in the universe"
"eh, yeah everything does, whats your point?".

rubadub

ianmc38 wrote:

Thats ridiculous.

Ridiculous to think people may be addicted to nictoine and so mix cannabis with it? I think it would be ridiculous to think this does not happen.

ianmc38 wrote:

I smoke it with tobacco, not because I want the nicotine, but because i enjoy being able to smoke a joint for ten minutes.

Every try mixing it with other cheaper nonaddictive herbs?

ianmc38 wrote:

With a pipe its one quick blast and Bobs ur uncle.

Yes, thats the entire point. Much better for you healthwise, and far cheaper.

Zulu

rubadub wrote:

both substances release feel good chemicals to the brain...

Done to death on the link I provided, please don't make me repeat myself.

When did I say it wasn't a real thing? I listed several things you could be "mentally addicted" to. ...

You created a strawman by listing stake. In effect you disregarded the argument. ...and you're attempting to do this again:

Every substance on the planet could be described as addictive in this case, so there is no point in even using the term,

Do you want me to post the dictionary meaning of addiction again?

rubadub

Zulu wrote:

Do you want me to post the dictionary meaning of addiction again?

The definition you gave means every single substance and activity known is potentially addictive, so what is the point in calling anything addictive? It is not like you are "bad mouthing" something by calling it addictive using your definition. Nothing is nonaddictive.

It is as though you are trying to differentiate one drug from another by saying it is addictive, but that is pointless since they are all addicitive by the definition you choose. No drug has ever been proven to be non-addictive, nor will they ever be.

Even if every study showed cannabis to be addictive, so what? is that such a terrible thing. Most people enjoy INHERENTLY addictive substances every single day of their lives.

Zulu

rubadub wrote:

The definition you gave means every single substance and activity known is potentially addictive,...

Mods can we merge the two threads? I really dont wish to re-iterate everything again.

Wolf

Well I think first off quitting is almost certainly a good idea. I myself quite recently have giving up smoking the weed and soon I hope to give up the cigs as well. In case its any help I'll relate my story to you now.

I have smoked cigs pretty much since the age of 16 (im 26 now) never really a heavy smoker, but, that has been differnent with differnet stages of my life. I had tried various drugs with differnet results, but, I always considered weed as one of the less serious ones. I should also point out at this stage while I was between that ages of 17 to 22 I became a cronic binge drinker as well. This might not seem related, but, that will become more clear, I hope, further on and also the fact that I seem to become dependant quite easliy on things. When I gave up the drink it was because I had got to a stage where I realised that I wasn't drinking for enjoyment it was more of a mental support. I now still drink, but, I enjoy a drink now I don't need one.

I was 23 when I first started smoking heavily and it was when I went to Oz. I stayed in perth and from the first night I landed I smoked weed everyday. The person I stayed with the first few nights gave me a money bag of green. When I say every day I mean I would get up, make coffee, and have a bong and usually have at least 7/10 before noon. Maybe even 20 or 30 a day. This went on for the whole time I was in Oz. I would go to work stoned I would come home and smoke more and in general my life was fine. Indeed, even up to the last day before I got on the plane I was stoned out of my mind bording the plane. There were many things I would talk about doing, but, would end up just smoking and hanging out instead. All this suited me fine and although now I realise that while it didn't effect me adversly as such there were many missed oppertunities and situations that could have been better if I hadn't smoked all the time. When I got home it was for a month, I stayed at my mums house and I didn't smoke the weed at all and felt fine about it. Then I went to college in Middlesbrough and this is where it kinda goes a bit wrong.

To me Middlesbrough is probably the worst place I have ever seen/been in my entire life and I have been lucky enough, in my young life, to see alot of the world. I started smoking again heavily. Again, I would smoke weed almost every waking moment ie first thing I did when I woke and the last thing before sleep. Indeed, when I stayed there during the summer I had a job in Blockbuster Video and I manged to get through 3/4 heavily loaded joints in a 4 hour shift, more if a longer shift and I would smoke before and after work. This all went on for about a year and a half. The crunch came when I lost the most important thing in the world to me.

I had started seeing a wonderfully beautiful girl while I was living there quite early on. This was what I would call my first real girlfriend. I have know many women in my time, but, look at it this way if I was to say I had slept with 30 differnt women, then I could also say I've have sex about 40/50 times. This girl was tremendously loving and caring girl and she meant/means the world to me. The point is that she ended up breaking it off with me. The reason been that I became very detatched and I should point out that had it not been for her love for me she wouldn't have tried so hard, for so long.

Now I not blaming the weed for this. The reasons for this, were more that I didn't like Middlesbrough, the poeple, the pubs, the Uni, the wether, the architecture every simgle last element of it, but, I stayed because I loved her. However, while I would say I don't blame the weed the weed has a big part to play. I hated the place so much I didn't want to go out, I didn't want to see people I didn't want to do anything ie I became very detached. The weed however made me staying in very easy to do and not only that it also meant that although my world around me was falling to pieces I couldn't see it. I didn't feel depressed because, I was stoned all the time. I found when I quit that all those emontions I should have been feeling and dealing with hadn't gone away they had all just been pushed back waiting to pour out when they weren't been squashed by the hugh amount of THC in my brain.

What I'm really getting at is that the weed made it impossible for me to actually realise or deal with any of the porblems, emotions or situations that where engulfing my life at the time. This is why I mentioned the drink earlier. I had got to a stage where I needed the weed. Yeah, sure I still enjoyed it, but, the thought of been without at least a few joints would made me very uneasy. Just like the drink I was using it to cover for something else, a way of dealing or more to the point not dealing with my problems.

I look back now and realise that if I hadn't been smoking I would of tried to make the best out of the bad place that was Middlesbrough, but, by the time I stopped smoking I had already lost this wonderfully kind, decent, honestly, loving caring person. I know that she still loves me and tried to deal with my apparent apethy for a long time.

Im now back home and working hard to put myself back in to college so that I can reapat my second year in a different Uni and get my life back on track really. I know that I will again smoke weed, but, for me, from now on it will be a weekend or at a party thing, with company. If you are using any subtance to do something that others can do to relax with out using a substance then you have to ask yourself is that really right?

Its taken me to lose something I care/cared for more than anything else to realise what an impact the drug was having on my life and I will never forgive myself for that. At least you have realised early on that you need to stop. So to finish I appluad you and best of luck

Also, I know its a long one and maybe I should make this a thread onto itself or put it into the blog I never started, but, it seems relavent enough here so...

PS South Park for me made an excellent commnet about weed. "It makes it ok to feel bored." For me this is most acuracte description of effect of the drug I have ever heard ie pills make you happy, coke makes you confident, weed makes it ok to feel bored.

rubadub

Zulu wrote:

Mods can we merge the two threads? I really dont wish to re-iterate everything again.

Dont think there is any need to. The OP has kicked a habit they had, congrats to them if they really felt they had to. Somebody else questioned as to whether it was addictive or not, I just pointed out it has never been recognised as addicitve in any medical studies. By many peoples definition of addiciton every substance could be, so it is a moot point to describe things as addictive.

The OP could have been talking about muffins. I know people that eat them every day and would probably loosely say they are addicted to them.

heres a bit about chocolate some may find interesting.

Why we have a high old time on chocolate
April 5, 2006 - timesonline.co.uk

People have always enjoyed the effect of cocoa. As the Easter egg season approaches, we explain why

Bacchus, the god of wine, is often linked with regeneration. Nothing looks as dead as a vine in winter, but come the spring few other plants look so bright and vernal. It is an annual example that out of death comes life. Whereas the followers of Bacchus had vines and wine as examples of everlasting life and annual renewal, we now have to make do with chocolate Easter eggs.

Every year spring is heralded by the appearance of Easter eggs at sweet shops, supermarkets, newsagents and garages.

If wine was Bacchus’s tipple of choice, the Aztecs and Mayans opted for cocoa. Scientists have been examining why these races thought that chocolate improved intellect without causing overstimulation, other than sexual desire. It was the Viagra of the day, but unlike Viagra it improved libido as well as performance. Scientists have found several chemicals in cocoa that might account for the effects that appealed to the Aztecs.

Chocolate contains traces of various drugs that have an effect on the brain. It has stimulants such as theobromine, caffeine, tyramine and phenylethylamine; this last constituent is thought to be the aphrodisiac. There are traces of anandamide which acts like a cannabinoid and, like cannabis, produces a feeling of wellbeing — but it would require 25lb boxes of chocolates to give the same lift as a joint, by which time nausea and aversion will have displaced the feel-good factor.

Cocoa beans also contain flavonoids and polyphenols, the organic compounds found in a host of fruits including bananas, dates, cranberries, strawberries, as well as red wine, tea and coffee. These reduce the harmful effects of the non-cocoa fat in chocolate.

Perhaps the most interesting experiment has been not in the chemistry laboratory but in the scanning department using functional MRIs and positive emission tomography scans to study the brain after taking chocolate.

Neuroscientists have shown that eating chocolate increases blood flow to the same areas of the brain that are activated by addictive drugs, including cocaine. The research published in the journal Brain two or three years ago found that this effect occurred only with moderate amounts of chocolate; too much and another part of the brain lights up, and the desire for chocolate is replaced by aversion and nausea. This research by neuroscientists at the Northwestern University and at McGill University, Montreal, helps to explain why people become chocoholics but not addicted to it.

Two rules of chocolate nibbling. Stick to the dark, black chocolate with at least 70 per cent cocoa bean — chocolates with a low cocoa bean content aren’t such a good antidote to the fat in a bar — and balance the calories by excluding another calorie-rich food

LegacyUser

Just want to say that timing is important for giving up. Choose a time when theres less stress and youre feeling strong minded. Ive given up a few times and it can be hell. But if you keep a heaelthy positive state of mind youll feel brilliant fairly quickly. Watch out for subbing a spliff for a cig as thats how i got hooked and is the biggest negative from my yesars of smoking...Good luck!!!

Dreamer 7

Hey All
Thanks for all your advice, support and true life stories. It has made me realise alot of things, my joint smoking was not chronic, but could have become like that v easily. Unfortunatley with 2 kids and full time work there is never really a good time to give up coz im never stress free:p
I wont say ive abstained altogether but 3 joints a week compared to 3 a day is progress in my mind:D

Thanks again for helping me think things through, hope I can return the favour one day soon:)