How to Stop Smoking Weed Cold Turkey
Do you consume marijuana and would like to quit but it is proving more difficult than you expected?
Listen I’ve been there..
The addictive power of Cannabis may not be as high as that of other drugs such as cocaine or heroin, but this does not mean it will be easier to stop using it.
When you start using marijuana regularly is very likely that this substance begins to control your life, and you may even need help to stop using it.
Read this article and learn the steps you need to follow if you want to quit smoking weed.
First you Need to Know What Marijuana Does to your Body
Before we start reviewing the steps to follow in order to abandon Cannabis, I would like to briefly review the characteristics of marijuana.
The information I will give below on this drug will be very useful to know and to understand more accurately the steps to overcome your addiction.
What is WEED?
Marijuana or Cannabis is a psychoactive substance that comes from the Cannabis Sativa plant.
Its usual form of consumption is to smoke it, but it can also be consumed orally, cooked in different ways.
More than 400 different substances have been identified in Cannabis, of which about 60 chemically belong to the group of cannabinoids; the most important is tetrahydrocannabinol.
Tetrahydrocannabinol goes directly into our brain and activates CB1neuron receptors distributed throughout many parts of our brain.
What are the Effects of Marijuana?
A few minutes after the substance has entered our brain, we begin to feel its effects.
The effects of Cannabis are very different depending on the person who consumes it, but a biphasic effect usually occurs: an initial stimulation phase (euphoria, wellbeing, increased perception), followed by a phase where sedation predominates (relaxation, drowsiness).
A sharpening of visual, auditory and tactile perceptions, as well as a slight distortion of space and time, takes place.
Easy laughter, talkativeness and increased appetite with preference for sweets also appear. Acute consumption improves sleep and can enhance the experience of sex.
In the cognitive sphere, it decreases concentration, alters short term memory and the resolution of complicated tasks.
Some individuals, especially in inexperienced consumers or after high doses, might experience anxiety, dysphoria, paranoid symptoms and/or panic that usually disappear spontaneously within a few hours.
What Complications can its Consumption Cause?
The perception of Cannabis as a “soft drug” is widespread in our society.
There is a fairly widespread belief that the risk of marijuana is quite low and cannot cause complications.
However this is not true, because this substance can have a long list of harmful effects on physical and mental health of usual consumers.
It can cause psychological effects such as psychotic episodes, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, amotivational syndrome, cognitive impairment, flashbacks, school performance impoverishment, sleep problems and effects on eating behavior.
Likewise, it can cause physical complications such as cardiovascular problems, respiratory problems, eye effects, gastrointestinal effects, effects on striated muscle, on the immune system and the endocrine system.
Thus, regular consumption of this substance may imply a very big problem in our lives.
Additionally, if we consume this substance often we can easily become dependent, so stopping the consumption will cost us a lot.
However, like any other addiction, this can be overcome through willpower, motivation and some organized behavior.
Are You Ready to Quit?
One of the most important first steps toward quitting is to evaluate what’s going on with your marijuana use. What is it that makes you feel that you’re smoking it too much or that you’re having trouble quitting?
Take a few minutes to consider what your life is like when you have weed in it. For example, have you done things you might not have done if you hadn’t smoked?
Have you had memory loss when using marijuana?
What happens when you run out of weed?
Do you feel okay about it or does that produce anxiety?
Have you ever hurt yourself or someone else after smoking marijuana?
Have your goals and plans changed since marijuana became part of your life? What have the benefits of using marijuana been? A lot of people don’t want to talk about dr of using an addictive drug.
However, there are often things you see as beneficial — otherwise you wouldn’t continue to use it.
The idea here is to think about the good things and the bad things and figure out if the benefitsff are greater than the risks.
Chances are, you’ve already decided that you have a problem if you’re looking for ways to quit. But it’s important to really analyze what’s happening in your life. This will help you make a commitment to quit and stick with that determined path.
You have to make sure you’re ready to give up the short-term benefits for the long-term results of quitting. If you don’t see that marijuana is really causing specific problems in your life, then it will be hard to let it go.
But understanding that it’s causing a problem for you can make it a little bit easier when those short-term withdrawal symptoms come calling. Write down a list of reasons why you want to quit.
You should also write down a list of reasons you might want to continue with the habit of smoking weed. Use this list to help you stay motivated and understand your feelings when it gets hard.
Create a Quitting Environment
The first thing you need to change when you decide to quit smoking weed is your environment. You’ll need to get rid of any marijuana or paraphernalia you might have. That includes lighters, matches, bongs, and roach clips.
Check all of the places where you might have hidden a little stash — such as your purse, pockets, or drawers. Do your best to make sure you have none of the drug in your home environment.
When you have less immediate access to the drug, it will be easier to quit. You also need to avoid people and places that may tempt you to smoke weed. Make a list of all the places, situations, and people that might typically be involved when you choose to smoke weed.
For each situation, make a plan for what you’ll do if you encounter that situation to keep you from smoking weed. Planning ahead and visualizing what you’ll do can make it easier when the real situation occurs.
You may need to change your routine to help break up your usual times and places for smoking weed. For example, wake up at a different time, sit in a different place at school or work, take a different route to run errands, and listen to different music.
Changing your routine can keep you from falling into your old patterns for marijuana use. It won’t completely take away cravings or withdrawal symptoms, but it can help you break unconscious habits.
It’s also important to make sure you don’t have a lot of free time when you’re tired, hungry, or bored. This tends to make it more likely that you’ll want to smoke weed.
Make sure you plan that you’ll have several meals and snacks throughout the day. Also plan ahead to stay busy. For example, take an extra shift at work, enjoy a hobby, make plans with friends who don’t use, or exercise.
The less down time you have, the less likely you’ll be to have the urge to smoke. The final step is to set a quit date. This is the date that you’ll begin your new life free from weed.
It’s important to do the prep work before you make the actual step to quit so that you have an easier transition. Some people may balk, but even if you don’t agree that it’s addictive, you can agree that it can become a habit that’s hard to break.
Becoming the New Weed Free You
Once your quit date arrives, the real work begins. You’re going to have situations that arise when you have the urge to smoke. Even if you do all of the prep work, you can’t control everything in your environment or every situation.
It’s important to know what to do when you’re experiencing a trigger so that you don’t make the mistake of going back to your habit. Having a list of go-to activities can help you when the cravings come knocking on your door — and they will.
Here are a few suggestions for things you can do when you start to feel the urge to smoke weed:
* Drink a glass of water. This will help you have something to do with your hands and mouth and it also helps flush residual toxins out of your body.
* Chew on something like sugarless gum, toothpicks, a straw, pencil, or coffee stirrer.
* Take a walk. It will speed up your heart and help increase your breathing, but will do it in a healthy way
* Take a nap. Sometimes when you’re tired, you really just need to give your body some rest.
* Meditate. When you feel anxious and need to relax, meditation is a healthy way to relax. You may even want to listen to a relaxation CD to help you get started.
* Take a few deep breaths. Deep breathing can relax the body and mind and can help you avoid the urge to smoke.
* Find something to do. Being bored is one of the most common triggers for smoking weed. Have a list of things you can do when you’re bored and do one them.
When you start to see that you’re in a situation that’s causing you to feel the urge to smoke, take yourself out of that situation. If you’re at a social gathering, for example, and the urge to smoke occurs, you can politely excuse yourself.
Make a mental note that the situation caused you to have some anxiety and avoid it in the future. Then find other activities to replace those so that you have things to do that are healthy and good for you.
Seek Support
It’s really difficult to change a habit when you feel that you don’t have support. This can be the case if you have a group of friends that associate you with smoking weed and want you to continue doing it.
But there are people in your life that will support this change. It could be a teacher at school, a coworker, a family member, or a good friend. You need to surround yourself with people who will be your cheerleaders.
Talk to a few people and let them know what you’re doing. Ask if you can call them when you’re feeling the urge to smoke. This will happen most often during the first days and weeks of your decision to quit.
Once you’ve enlisted support, make sure you use it. Don’t be afraid to call on a friend when you need something positive to do or just feel anxious and want to talk about it. You can also seek support through groups of people who are in a similar situation and want to stop using.
Support can come through telephone calls, Internet chats, emails, text messages and face-to-face visits. This can be invaluable in those moments when you feel like you really want to go back to using marijuana.
Pay Attention to Your Progress
People can be very hard on themselves and pay attention to every little mistake. But when you’re quitting a difficult habit, it’s important to celebrate your successes and see your progress rather than focusing only the difficulties.
Keep a chart of your weed-free days or write in a journal each day to document your journey. This can help you look back on how you’ve overcome the difficulties and stayed strong in spite of them.
Looking back on a previous success can help you stay strong when an urge comes along threatening to keep you from your commitment to quit. When thinking about your progress, here are a few things to consider:
* What challenges have you had to overcome?
* Were there any challenges that proved too difficult? What can you do the next time you encounter that situation? Or how can you avoid it?
* Are you taking time to eat regularly, get rest, and exercise?
* How has your life changed since you decided to quit?
* What are you doing well?
* What could you do better?
Being honest with yourself and evaluating where you are in the process of quitting is an important part of staying free from pot. Once you’ve had a month of sobriety you’ll be able to see positive changes happening in your life.
Continue to Take It One Day at a Time
Stopping the habit of smoking weed can be very difficult. It can become overwhelming thinking about having to make big changes when you’re trying to stop.
Instead of worrying about the daunting task of quitting forever, just worry about the day that you’re currently in. It’s important that you realize that each day is a success and makes the next day even easier.
But you should also be vigilant and keep yourself out of situations that might make it easy to go back to your old habits. You’ll want to keep your support system in place and always have a list of things you can do if you begin to feel the urge to smoke.
If you do have a relapse, since this is very common for people trying to stop smoking weed, don’t beat yourself up. This will only cause more shame and send you into a negative spiral.
Instead, use the situation to learn what went wrong and make plans for how you can avoid it in the future. Everyone makes mistakes — but learning from them will help you grow and get even stronger and healthier.
