3+ year quitter picked up a cannabis addiction

[notch9]

Hi Everyone,

I am new here and can hardly navigate this site, so I hope I will be able to find this thread again later on to see if there are replies and engage with other people.

I feel like I have gone from one very bad addiction, nicotine, to another much less bad one, but still an addiction. I smoked cigarettes for decades and finally became nicotine free in 2015 and haven't touched a cig since then. Hooray. 

But I did pick up a cannabis addiction. Although it is not very much, less than one joint a day, I am continuously taking in small amounts to run an almost constant buzz.

Quitting nicotine was one of the hardest things I ever did and I'm proud of that accomplishment. I feel ashamed that now I have this other addiction to deal with.

[elvan]

I have no issue with people using marijuana but not SMOKED, I have so much lung damage that I would be terrified.  If edibles were available and legal in my state, I would certainly consider using them for pain control.  I have CBD Oil but I don't find that it helps much with pain, it DOES lift my mood some but not remarkably.  

[notch9]

CBD just makes me incredibly tired so I wouldn't voluntary use it for anything except sleep. I really shouldn't be smoking anything either but I don't have access to edibles and even when I have, I don't really like the buzz I get from that method of consumption. It is harder to regulate. I have a chronic pain condition and it helps me care less about the pain but I can also live without it. I am psychologically addicted to cannabis. In some ways it has replaced smoking cigs although I do it sparingly. Maybe I will try just to go one day without it and see how it goes.

I also have an addictive personality. Maybe all smokers and ex-smokers do.

[Giulia]

"Maybe I will try just to go one day without it and see how it goes."  You won't know until try, will you?!  Go for it!

[notch9]

I wanted to add that I am not mixing in any tobacco into my cannabis. I smoke it in a little water pipe so I can just take a few hits of marijuana at a time.

I am and have been completely abstinent from tobacco since I quit almost 4 years ago. I think if I were mixing in tobacco with my pot, which some people do for various reasons, I would have been right back to smoking a pack a day of cigs because for me there is no such thing as just one puff of nicotine. My brain would just seize on that and it would trigger endless cravings and misery. 

Someone on this site posted elsewhere that I was here to quit marijuana but I want to make it clear that I joined this site because I am an ex-smoker and my understanding is that all ex-smokers are welcome, even if they have another addiction they are dealing with too.

[Barbscloud]

Of course you're welcome!

Barb

[BassHead138]

I suppose it is different for everyone, but I've known a lot of people who have quit pot for various reasons with no issues, but were unable to quits cigs. I guess my point is that if you were able to quit nicotine, pot should be a breeze. The main issue I had in the past when quitting weed was I had a harder time falling asleep for a couple days.

[notch9]

Thanks BassHead138. I'm not comparing quitting weed to quitting nicotine. Nicotine is much harder. There's no comparison and I will be proud till the day I die that I quit smoking cigarettes. It was one of the hardest things I ever did.

I was in a much better place then than I'm in now though. 

I think I would also have trouble falling asleep but have a med for that if it turns out to be the case this time. I still get the occasional cigarette crave and I think that smoking a little weed is a substitute for inhaling cigarette smoke, so for me I still have got the cigarette addiction mixed up with my cannabis one. Also I have quit cannabis many times in the past but have returned to it each time. So if I'm going to quit this time I want it to be for good and just be free of any mind altering substance besides coffee.

[elvan]

You can do this, you sound particularly strong and committed.  I would not dare to smoke anything.  My quit is way too important for me to risk it.  My oldest daughter quit smoking almost four years ago and she says she sometimes smokes weed, she does not associate the two.  

Ellen

[notch9]

I also don't associate the two. I have a deep aversion to even looking at a cigarette now. I think of the health toll all those years of smoking has had on me. I still tell myself sometimes in the morning that I'm not going to have a cigarette today, when I do my "Just for Today's" as part of my 12 step program.

And even if I knew this was my last day on earth, I still wouldn't have a cigarette.

[elvan]

notch9‌ GOOD FOR YOU!  I think I always associated smoking with drinking and smoking pot.  If it does not make you want to smoke, that's good.  Just keep it at a minimum because it also causes lung damage.

Ellen