I'm currently battling addiction to opiates and marijuana. I have the opiates temporarily under control since I'm on methadone maintenance treatment, but I plan to get off it soon (and try DMT for the first time!) I do love getting stoned, and would like to continue using it only once in a while, but I seem to have tremendous difficulty moderating it. I've attempted this in the past but I always end up back in my 3-4 times/day routine in which I become lazy and stupid.

I would really appreciate any advice on moderating this drug so I can achieve some balance, clarity, and ambition in my life.

Thanks guys!

Practice.. It's really not that hard man. It's all in your head. At least that's my subjective viewpoint. To some that may not seem helpful, but I find it empowering.

edit: I'm speaking only about the weed by the way. I have no experience with opiates, though from what I've heard, I imagine it's a different story.

Have you considered ayahuasca, or even iboga therapy as a treatment for your addictions?

These may be options that you want to look into.

Best of luck to you, Spartan2.

I am currently taking a break from weed myself.

I think its easier if you make more than one change in your routine at once, so that one change reinforces the other. So if you for example keep everything in your daily life the same, it will be really hard not to, because everything will remind you of what you used to do.

So its better if you make other changes, like lets say you start exercising if you dont, change your eating habbits, things like this. Then one change will make you be stronger in the other (also exercise helps speeding up your metabolism and getting rid of the THC in your system faster).

The first days are the hardest I think...

Then the other thing is to not have any stuff at home, better at least at first not have the temptation.

Lastly, when you do smoke, try to do it towards the night, AFTER you have fulfilled your daily duties, done your exercise, worked, cleaned the house, whatever. This way if you feel like just laying around, your conscience will be light, for already having done what you have to.

Good luck!! Let us know how its going

I smoked some of the strongest weed for 17 years man. It defo had a negative impact on my life.

I feel that some people (like me) can't smoke in moderation so have to stop completely. TBH its not that difficult. IMO stopping smoking cigarettes was harder... I'm not sure you need to take more drugs to stop taking drugs.. Just think of all the reasons why you want to stop, make a date to stop and then do it! Then enjoy your life more (I'm talking about the quitting ganja and not the opiates where the addiction is a lot worse to break).

DMT is a fantastic substance tho and you should try it..as everyone should

Weigh out the pros and cons. Remember why you want to quit smoking so dam much and keep coming up with new reasons to quit. Coming from someone who didn't smoke weed today after being stoned for like what? 5 years? I already found myself almost being able to lucid dream. Which is so rare for me.

And most of the addiction is probably the tobacco. Maybe try getting a bong or vaporizer.

Did he say anything about tobacco? Either way, I recommend a volcano.

Yes the tobacco will do you lots of damage. But so will the weed if not smoked in moderation. Like i said SOME people just can't do that...So then however you smoke-its best to just quit.

yes cannabis is addictive..it is not "all in your head"

Frequent use of cannabis leads to tolerance..tolerance means a change in brain chemisty to some degree..anything that can lead to that sort of a neurochemical "shift" can lead to some physical addiction in my view. Cannabis has been shown in studies to indeed be physically addictive when used daily, and withdrawl is present when one stopps use suddenly. Of course it is not on the level of an opiate or alcohol withdrawl..but that does not mean that people do not experience some mild withdrawl like inability to sleep, loss of apetite and sometimes irritability for a week or so. I think this is worse in people who smoke heavily, as in all day. I know that for me I smoked all day long for about 5 or 6 years, from the time I was 19 until I was 25 and by that point it was just a negative thing more than s positive thing..so I quit. When I stopped I definatily had withdrawl symptoms and felt shaky and irritated, I had no appetite and could not sleep.

It will take about a week or more for your brains endogenous anandamide levels to return to normal once you stop.

I still smoke cannabis and I dont intent on ever stopping. I dont use it daily though. I might use it once a day for a few days in a row but then I usually dont go near it for a week or 2..sometimes longer..I cant use it daily anymore nor do I really find it useful for me in that way. Often I just smoke once or twice a week.

Concidering you are trying to get off opiates, it might be hard to cut out both at once..the opiates are probly a bigger issue for you.

I realized I had to cut out cannabis after drinking ayahuasca one day. I saw how negative an effect it was having on me and that I had basically been abusing it for a while. At first cannabis was a great thing and opened me up and it was an important time for me..but like most people who swear they will smoke weed all day forever, it just got to that point where I had to stop. I did not smoke at all for 6 months and just drank ayahuasca weekly. When I finally did smoke again I had no interest at all in using it the way I had before. I learned alot from smoking heavily, but I now have nothing more I can gain from using it that way.

I think alot of people like to claim all this stuff abotu cannabis and how it will cure every single little thing and how it can never be physically addictive etc..oten these people have only used it heavily for like 2 years. I used to laugh at the idea of cannabis addiction..I still dont think it is heavily addicitve or anything like opiates..but after 5 years I did realize it can be somewhat of a problem.

If you dont agree with what he said, why dont you give educated arguments for why you think otherwise? Wouldn't it be a better way to contribute to the thread?

I will when I feel more up to the challenge, but for now that about sums up how I feel. I'll elaborate later.

I really agree with fractal here, it eventually becomes a necessity instead of a treat if given time and the "it's completely nonaddictive" attitude and "miracle drug" attitude kind of make it easier to get caught up in a cannabis addiction. I have gotten to where I can't eat or sleep without it on top of a growing social anxiety I didn't always have so I don't really see what the argument is. Although I'm not stealing and lying to support my mild addiction the fact that I'm addicted to it all is always present.

I used to feel the same as you matukuul... But after one lost wife and several girlfriends i don't anymore.

I used to think cannabis wasn't addictive, wasn't destructive etc but it is (in the wrong hands). I wish it wasn't but after 17 years use i now know differently

i battled a heroin addiction for 5 years , went on methedone , didnt work really.

then went on nivia , or naltraxone.. that was a nice big leap.. however it seamed like only a temporary short term solution.

then i figured it out.

how i did it ?
man you need to make big changes in your life.

pack your shit and move out of the environment your in.
ditch the hard junkie friends , it hard i know but you just got to let it go.
i know how hard it is , but its time for some big changes in your life buddy.

what saved me and got me back on track was my passion and love for bonsai trees.

you can think of it like this.. take heroin away from a junkie.. and whats he got ? nothing.

you need to substitute it for things you love and enjoy.
like a replacement , you take something away and exchange it for something better.

i sincerely think a dmt trip will do you great , like a massive wake up call.
its been approx 15 years since i touched heroin , never again.

i made a conscious decision to stick to natural safe drugs.
if you ever want to talk in private , hit me up anytime you want , im here for you buddy.

weed is a different topic not quite in my ally , i like to have a joint from time to time but i have never been addicted to weed.

A holiday is the best method for quitting MJ IMO. My quitting happened unintentionally when I holidayed through Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand for 3 months. Never noticed any withdrawals compared to being at home going through the same old routines.

Came back home and decided to make the most of the opportunity to avoid the withdrawal and never looked back.

I know a holiday is not an easy option, but if one has the time and funds, it is a great method....any type of change of scenery will help IMO.

i ate 1.2g of shrooms yesterday..wasn't expecting much effects at all...but i ended up tripping much harder than i thought. I seriously considered a hypothetical situation of how my life would change if i stopped smoking pot, cigs, and drinking... i realized my potential was limitless and that i was wasting my potential, energy time, and money, by smoking pot. The hypothetical situation in my mind all of a sudden wanted to become a reality, and my body just started feeling repulsive to all these substances. I felt my energy literally shift as my thought frequency was raised. After that, I meditated, ran 2 miles, and trashed my 50$ pipe that i loved so much.
i recently bought David Wolfe's book "Sunfood Diet Success System" and it has been very enlightening for me.
I plan to take a month break, and substitute my activities with more excercise, yoga, meditation, and reading.

Also, since i started running 2 miles every day (i just started a few days ago), my mind feels naturally high.. do not underestimate the power of workout and cardio excercise. I now realize i wasted so much time not doing shit when i could've been..running..

Wow, good stuff here, thanks! It would seem logical to attack it in a more holistic manner like some of you are recommending. That really helps. I've always loved jogging/running, I've just become SO LAZY. Especially being on methadone and getting stoned all day. If I included jogging as part of a healthy lifestyle change I would be getting that endorphin boost to help the opiate craving.



Thats amazing! And inspiring. Thank you for sharing that Phantastica.

lol no I dont think I did. As for the vaporizer, I'm going to be ordering a GVG so I can clean it out and use it for weed and Spice.

I have, but it sounds like it I would be more likely to get into legal trouble ordering some, and the price of over-sea treatment is an obstacle too. I might try DMT though.



Thank you.

I was literally dying from booze, speed, cigarettes, and a much lesser degree weed. The solution is simple for me to articulate. I had to change most everything in my life. That was the hard part. I stopped all but the cigarettes at once at first, and then 6 weeks later the tobacco went. I had to change my playgrounds and my playmates. I could not be around people who were more comfortable with me if I was not sober. That meant that I had to jettison almost all of my 'friends'... It was the most difficult thing I ever did, but here I am alive and well 18 years later. I'm relatively sane, happy, and healthy.

Best of luck to you!