It has come to a point where I must quit smoking ganja, I've been smoking for 12 years daily now. Quitting will not be as easy as I'd like to believe it will be. I was just wondering besides exercise and meditation is there any other relaxing substitutes that are some what similar to this mild hallucinogen? I dont need a substitute to quit, however at times of stress marijuana can provide deep introspection and reflection for me.

get some good high quality cacao beans and eat them..

Honestly when I quit smoking cannabis it was one of the best things I did..I was an all day every day smoker for years..I quit and did not touch it for like 5 or 6 months..now I smoke maybe monthly..been about 2 months now since I last smoked though. It is still useful when I approach it occasionally otherwise it becomes more of a block in my life.

The first week or so can be rough if you you were a heavy smoker..but it does get better. Withdrawls are common and restlessness, inability to sleep, loss of appetite and irritability are the things people experience most I think..and only if you smoked heavily. These symptoms are mild though and not like other drugs..you dont need a 12 step program to quit cannabis.

Harmala alkaloids also help speed up neurochemical resets, making the mild substance withdrawal associated with quitting cannabis a breeze.

Maybe if you don't want to give it up fully put a night aside on the full moon for some hash yoga.

You might want to try cutting back first?
Weekend smoker?

You would be good to find a hobby you can absolve into, writing, painting, building, art, i think keeping busy is a must, as cannabis leaves big shoes to fill, some days it does not matter how much i do i still feel i have more left in me, as a simple smoke can complete the day easily. huh

Sex is very goood probably the best quick release when one is craving, but you do not want to replace one addiction/habit with another.

Keep social, exercise is good exert, find something you love to do action.

Go travel if you are ready do something unusual?

Happy vibes to you my friend, you will build a new level of self control/discipline it will be hard at times it will.

Funny you say that House' hash yoga sounds interesting,

I have been trying to perform the splits last 3 weeks or so and i notice i can get real low when i have had a few puffs LOL.

I am gonna look into this hash yoga.

I quit smoking as i had to circumstance, so i was lucky i knew i could not smoke and did not want to faced with the repercussions, so i did not have cravings for a long time i was focused on not smoking.

I did no smoke for over two years now i enjoy a smoke mostly on weekends, but it is very different giving up drugs and then returning to experiment you notice all the very slight differences and similarities of chemicals.

Sometimes it is edgy.

Sorry you have to go! For me it's been 25 years. I hope to never quit... But I've really tapered off through the years, holding steady at 2 small bowls a day. So none of the short breath or fuzzy head... But I dont have to pee in a cup or anything. I won't ask your purpose for quitting and respect that you're doing it for a good reason.

Sidefx's hobby comment is solid. I paint, and of course love to paint stoned. But if I for some reason end up painting without smoking, there I am in the zone, music playing... And I might as well be stoned, in terms of the calm, focused mindset I get into. There are definitely more ways than one to get to that space.

You'll definitely enjoy remembering your dreams again.

Good luck!

IME cutting back was not productive as it just makes it easier to start smoking every days again. I find value is using cannabis still but I had to stay away from it for months until I was not thinking about it at all before I got to the place where I am now where I can smoke one week and not even care about it for the next 2 weeks or a month whatever..

For me I stopped because it felt unhealthy mentally and physically to smoke it daily. It did not always feel that way but it is good to realize when it gets like that for you. For me even heavy psychedelics like ayahuasca and mushrooms I feel I benifit more from on a regular basis while cannabis is useful for me at this point only on an infrequent basis.

edit..I also smoked DMT in meditation nearly every day for like a year around the time I quit smoking cannabis, and was drinking ayahuasca weekly..so that definatly made it easier. I got the message sort of indirectly while working with ayahuasca that cutting out the cannabis was a good idea so I trusted it. It had just become more of a habit that held me back than anything else.

Thanks for the vibes and info nexus, to be Completely honest the only reason is employment unfortunately, well not entirely true, it does seem as if its a block in my current situation.

This is going to be an extremely uphill battle for me since I've been abusing this substance for so long, my love for mary jane is like no other, sacrificing a deep love and religion here. Too weary about JWH-018, even than its just another addiction. Although I hope eventually my days wont revolve around pot and I can change my view on this plant, which is nearly impossible since I grew up with this plant. I"m gonna take all this in, I must end this addiction for now, until I can get to the point of using sparingly. Man

clear mind, breezy lungs, new outlook on life, natural sleep patterns, more energy, vivid dreams, and saving your lungs for changa/dmt.

Just a few of the things to look forward to

One thing i dreaded when i had to stop (employment) was that i would be on a different frequency to the friends i grew up with, not having that brotherly bond, you know? But i soon realised that friends will be friends no matter what, even though it sucks for them that i dont smoke anymore too.

So now i have introduced them to changa/dmt and we are on the best frequency possible

Yeah Jamie the Ol' herb cannabis does not need to be smoked that often to be in the system any way as most know, the body stores cannabinoids for months sometimes longer.

I think there is a lot to be learnt about cannabis and the body/mind through science.

I have thought since stopping and then starting to smoke again, that cannabis is more an old persons plant, you know when your old and relaxed more daily, watch the day pass into night and smoke some herb.

I think it was not right when my only ambition was to get blazed each day.

But we must reach our own realisations.

DUDE..

I have been smoking everyday for 18 years and I have found it to be impossible to quit..

It is almost an opiate type addiction....

Don't restrict yourself from mailing your excess to me!

I've found that enhanced physical excercise tends to keep me from being addicted to anything, except for excercise, the harder I go, the better I feel, and since this I've never been reliant on anything. I guess all that means is, if you implement excercise, it might pay to REALLY implement it, hardcore, ya'know?

Why exactly are you quitting? If I had one connect for a life time, I'd be smoking for a life time.

Speaking for myself I am just kind of am disgruntled about how emotionally dependent it makes me...while I would not want to quit forever...I would like to get to a mental place similar to what Jamie is describing where I can use it "at will" instead of using it like a crutch and a pacifier the way I currently do.

The way it is now, if I get anything besides the most potent stuff ever..I get all sad and grumpy and if I completely run out I also gradually begin to lose all my fine motor skills and my artistic ability too.

I also can't eat, can't sleep...have ZERO personality or patients.
no way to control my aggravation.

I sit here smoking as I type. It's been a long ass day, not a bad one at all but just long, and like every day for me, pretty much all uphill till wife and baby are asleep, house cleaned, cats fed and medicated... So I do look forward to my eleven o'clock bowl. Don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that carrot on a stick.

Well, actually, I'm sure I'd think of something.

Eliyahu: sounds like a burdensome relationship. You do need to do something. You have options... You could take Jamie's approach, cold-turkey it for a chunk of time, maybe a few months. By that point the immediate dependency is cleared and you can decide what kind of relationship you want with it. The exercise suggestion is great.

Or you could take a more moderate approach, but take it seriously. For starters, try setting a rationing goal (make an ounce last a month?) don't wake and bake... Enjoy the clear head till mid afternoon. Get the errands out of the way, all the outside world stuff and mundane stuff... Till your mid afternoon reward. Try a game of delayed gratification. For me this has translated to a slow and gradual tapering down through the years. I'm finding that the less I smoke, the more I enjoy it.

herbs for marijuana withdrawl/replacement... damiana, skullcap, mullien, blue lotus, motherwort, devils club, passionflower,...you can take as tea or smoke although dont try to smoke devils club and tea is healthier overall of coarse...but for me i like to smoke so it helps to have something to replace the cannabis...thesae herbs will make you feel so good you might even be glad you quit

I second this. If you have an oral fixation, these herbs would help you ween off without the craving of smoking in itself.

I'm not for sure if it's true but I have heard some scary stories about some of those herbs you mentioned having nasty things like arsenic that can make you poo in cramp-ridden technicolor....
plus - I'm sure they are not really any comparison with the feel and flavor of NY sour diesel and what not. So I'm not sure that it would do the trick to pacify me.

I actually do feel like back when I used to smoke Mexican swagg my addiction wasn't so strong but now with the new super ridiculously potent medical marijuana it does seem to be a stronger addiction...........Wait!

My lord I must be getting old because I'm complaining that the weed is too strong...

I've never heard of these stories before. Maybe if they were for some reason laced with it or grown in fields nearby arsenic manufacturers? I can recall whether it's mullein or damiana, but one of them is actually supposed to be good to smoke for your lungs and have a sort of "healing" effect for avid smokers.



Feel lucky, I've always felt like weed has been too strong for me and I had to smoke from a one-hitter to not get stuck in a seat. I think it IS getting too strong.