Quitting MJ can do wonders for dream recall... no?
As much as I dearly love that plant, I will never return to daily bong sessions... for this reason alone. (And that it no longer gets me high... but rather drags me down from my naturally high state.) I actually have no plans of ever smoking grass again. Ahhhh... glorious ganja.
As for your OOBE...
It is a common occurrence actually. If your sleep paralysis or your relaxation is incomplete, it will be difficult to complete a full exit technique. It sounds like you were nearly there. Congrats. Next time you just might achieve the full blown experience.
My advice to you is to make sure you are relaxed all over before attempting an exit.
This can be done by consciously going through your entire body and breathing peace, light and vibration to each spot. You can also tense up the muscles (very slowly) and then release on an exhale to deepen the relaxation and catch any stray muscles that might retain some tiny bit of tension. When you can no longer tense the muscles, you can be sure that they probably won't hold you back.
Many people have a hard time relaxing their head muscles. There are a number of major muscle groups in the head that a lot of people never even consider stretching or relaxing. The ones around your sinuses for example...
Actually, the jaw muscle is often called the strongest muscle in the body pound for pound. It also holds a ridiculous amount of tension. If I had to guess, I would say that these two muscles account for a large percentage of people's failed OOBE attempts... I could be wrong of course, but it is certainly a difficult set of muscles to fully relax.
Another thing you might want to try is to develop your exit technique a bit. Wait till the vibrations and wave sensations get more pronounced. Most people float up and out, but I find that twisting out can be more effective. Rolling over can be good, but rotating your astral body 90 degrees on the horizontal plane is my favorite. This is because if you don't succeed, you don't necessarily blow your sleep paralysis.
Trying to lift up and out when you're not quite there often results in actually moving your body. Then you're back to square one... worse actually as it may be nigh impossible to regain the SP. (You can do it, but it is tricky.)
Finding yourself in that coveted state of mind awake, body asleep is not always a simple matter... so anything you can do to not blow your wad is useful. With the rotate out method, I have been able to make 3 or 4 exit attempts in a row.
Righteo...
All the best S2. Keep at it. You're knocking on the door.
HF
"Curiouser and curiouser..." ~ Alice
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." ~ Buddha