How I Use Marijuana In Support of Sobriety
My Experience Using Medical Marijuana to Deal With Life on Life’s Terms
I went to AA meetings starting in 2009. I tried to abstain from all mood and mind-altering substances (except my prescribed psych meds) many, many times. Every time I relapsed on alcohol. I was able to go without a drink for a week (a lot), a month (also a lot), but rarely more than six months. Finally, I entered a 10-month intensive inpatient facility, which got me started for a record two-year and four month period without a drink before I relapsed into moderation, than severity with my alcohol. But I found I was very happy to just smoke weed.
I have been taught the ropes by numerous sponsors along the way, every time diligently working and re-working the 12-Step Program of AA and NA, and many of them taught me that I needed to learn things from each relapse, in particular trying to figure out where I was “falling short” in working my program. I always told friends that if I could ever smoke weed legally, I would not need a drink. It turns out I have proven myself right. Here’s “How it Works” for me. Of course it will not work for everybody. You are an adult, so you need to make up your mind. I will not preach. This is a “How To.”
I have not had a drink since January 4, 2018. Within 90 days, I got my new Florida Medical Marijuana card. My psychiatrist at the time said it was — compared to all the prescription psych meds I was on for my bipolar I and anxiety — just an over-the-counter psych meds. I love this analogy. Over the counter meds are not sold in pharmacies because they are quackery. They actually work. I was fortunate that my AA sponsor at the time accepted me for what I was, that marijuana is an outside issue, and he knew the history of Bill W. and LSD. He therefore took me through the steps, and this time I made it all the way through. I still have not had a drink over 1300 days later. During those months, I have learned a lot about weed myself and from my fellow sober pot smokers.
First and most importantly, weed is an extremely important tool in my toolbox of things I need to avoid a drink. For this I recommend a vaporizor. I used the Puffco Peak Pro, but there are other cheaper options. I do two to three dabs of highly potent marijuana concentrate (live sugar, live resin, rosin, badder, butter, wax, and shatter). I do this in addition to what my sponsor recommends, namely pray, call my sponsor, call another friend, and jump on the earliest meeting to tell on yourself. I add that I don’t keep booze of any kind in my house. Therefore I need to drive to the nearest gas station or package store. The dabs of indica usually give me couch lock, to prevent me from going, and in any event takes away the craving for a drink.
Second, Anxiety and Post-Traumatic stress are easily treated by indica strains. I find many people online say things like “smoking pot makes me paranoid.” I have only found that to be the case with cannabis sativa. I avoid sativas. Indica strains have the ability to calm you down. If my symptoms are mild, smoking a little usually helps. If I am triggered, I usually eat an edible with 100 mg of THC in it. I have tootsie-type nuggets and chocolate bars handy. For these ailments, I am prescribed generic Klonopin as needed. Klonopin is a potentially addictive benzodiazepine, so I take one as only a last resort. The edible usually cures me, 9 times out of 10, and I avoid the med.
I am prescribed medical marijuana for my glaucoma and that has gone away. It’s time for the stigma of medical marijuana to end. Nationwide legalization is required to help people who are suffering. This is my personal experience, I have friends who use marijuana for chronic pain, for appetite, to sleep, to gain weight, even to lose weight. Attending to these conditions makes it easier to stay sober even for people who do not use marijuana as harm reduction.
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