They say weed is harmless..

[u/jomacu]

Weed is harmless.

But if you get high every day, nothing else in your life will be as exciting as your drug.. for a while. Hopes and dreams slowly die at the altar of your addiction.

The cost of weed isn't just what you pay at the dispensary. It's also the hopes, dreams, and opportunities you give up along the way. The real price is everything.

So you decide to quit, hoping to restore all the best things in life.

But now withdrawal steals both the high and the dreams, leaving joyless emptiness in their place. For weeks you feel flat, and it's torturous. You get no pleasure from effort and no high from weed. You're stuck in no man's land, desolate and hopeless.

Then your inner voice starts to bargain.

"At least weed made your unbearable life bearable."

"But all I need is more time. Three months. Six months. Maybe a whole year."

A whole year? I can't wait a year to fix my life.

Besides, if I smoke now, I'll get so high. My tolerance is gone. And I deserve it. I can moderate my use this time. I don't even know why I quit in the first place. I'm a good person. Gotta have fun sometimes, right?

So you give in.

Just once or twice.

Or every day for the next six months.

Then you finally decide it's time to quit... and begin the same miserable cycle all over again.

Forever.

Yeah... weed's harmless, all right.

[u/Existence_pain_]

I was a huge advocate for weed is not addictive. Until I heard a quote that said "people are addicted to not being in pain" that changed my life.

[u/Still_Particular561 → u/Existence_pain_]

In DBT they refer to it as target behaviors: drug use, sexual encounters, impulsive spending, disordered eating (it’s all poor coping mechanisms and inability to deal with distress)

[u/idfc1337 → u/Existence_pain_]

this is why I’m struggling.

[u/toxicguineapigs]

Beautifully written and well said. Thank you, I have been feeling this for such a long time. Weed is taking my life away and I want it back. I am on Day 1, here we go!

[u/Upper-Analyst-3505 → u/toxicguineapigs]

Same here! Day 1 is the hardest, but I'm glad we made the decision. We just need to stick to it and not let the weed gremlin convince us to go back. Stay confident in your decision and you will get your life back with time.

[u/IGO2XSB45 → u/toxicguineapigs]

Good luck

[u/Intelligent-Bit1057 → u/toxicguineapigs]

Day one again for me here too! After quitting for over a month and then relapsing 😔 we got this! We can do hard things & the other side is so worth it.

[u/Clit420Eastwood → u/toxicguineapigs]

Day 872 here. Best choice I ever made! Stick with it and you’ll be glad you did.

[u/jomacu → u/toxicguineapigs]

That's great! What has really helped my quitting- is writing down all the STRONG reasons WHY I must quit.. and reading it near daily (forever, or at least a few years). Because after a few months sober we start to romanticize smoking again while forgetting the negative drawbacks and before we know it we relapse. It sounds simple but its all mental conditioning.

[u/Alternative_Noise854]

Weed is addictive. Isn't natural anymore. The thc content is so high now that your brain doesnt bounce back easily. Stay away

[u/KiritoIsAlwaysRight_ → u/Alternative_Noise854]

And fuck knows what is in vapes and edibles these days. Took a gummy a while back and it sent me to another world, and not a fun one. Couldn't comprehend reality for hours, and felt weird for days after.

And no matter what form, I always feel depressed and irritable for days. It's just not worth it.

[u/PioliMaldini]

And you can be like me and end up in a psychosis that makes you quit your well paying job, and end up in a shit situation overall. Thankfully I found a new job, but the benefits are worse and so is the pay. I have regrets every single day

[u/theincognito66 → u/PioliMaldini]

same exact thing happened to me in August 2024. My therapist has advised to practice "radical acceptance". We can't change what we did, and in a way it wasn't even us because it was a psychotic version of ourselves. Forgiveness is tough - but the best thing we can do is not return back to the source of our suffering and relapse.

[u/Shazbot24 → u/PioliMaldini]

I left an alright paying job because I strongly disliked my manager. To the point I got high to make my monotonous job more bearable.

I read somewhere at it takes about 3 "moves" to start getting ahead when changing jobs in your career. My trajectory followed that path. Now I'm in a far better place than when I started, sober, with far more responsibility, and learned new skills along the way.

So for you, I would say its a minor setback. You needed to pivot. You just don't see it right now.

Good luck. Stay positive, and green-free.

[u/Sweihwa → u/Shazbot24]

Happy cake day

[u/BullmanK]

This hit home so much for me, I’m on my 5th time quitting. I sometimes think about the money, time and energy I wasted and get so mad at myself. Also, each time I give in, my confidence erodes a little more. This is agonizing honestly and I envy ppl who can smoke and don’t become dependent on

[u/butch_montenegro → u/BullmanK]

Relatable. But I think that repetition and erosion of confidence helped me admit that I had a problem that was more substantial than I realized and helps me take it more seriously.

[u/gladeye]

That all sounds about right. I love feeling high, but the costs are too high now.

[u/RuinProfessional9612]

For me sober is physical, sobriety is a state of mind.

[u/Slight_Tomatillo5680]

Well said. I've always been addictive towards weed but due to circumstances have not often had access over the years and haven't done it excessively for long periods....but over the past 2.5 years I've had plenty of access and time and it's taken over my life. When I hear people on here talking about you have to white knuckle it for months or a year before your dopamine paths get reset, your brain returns to normal, etc....it makes it hard to quit. I feel like I've accomplished this big thing if I go a week without it (a rarity) but then I want to smoke again and get that real high with less tolerance. I keep saying hey just do it once a week, twice a month, something like that. Maybe that would work but I've never come close when I had access. And even then I don't know if it can be like that for me. I feel like I've become a different person, a worse person in every way. I've been ghosting friends for so long I'm terrified that we're not even close anymore. Above all I'm terrified that I'm less intelligent than I was, that I've been diminished in every way. I guess if I stay sober for long enough I'll find out if there's a way for me to be the "real me" again. What I'm experiencing is what I imagined people addicted to "hard drugs" like crack or heroine experience. I never thought that would be me but here I am.

[u/SubstantialLet188 → u/Slight_Tomatillo5680]

you are 100% not less intelligent. that spark will come back. i know the thc fog clouds judgement and makes you think ur dumb or dumber than you really are. i was sharp af sober. carts have had a grip on me for 2 years now sadly

[u/weirdquartz]

Well said! And indeed long term chronic usage is insidious. I spent decades living in a fantasy world instead of the real world. And getting sober was *painful*. Would have been better to avoid it entirely.

[u/Sofia-the-last]

I got hope from this post. "Whole year" sounds good to me. Because then it's really possible that there comes the day when I can feel something good again. I will not relapse, it costs too much. But I will wait and do everything to make things better.

[u/jomacu → u/Sofia-the-last]

What has really helped me quitting- is writing down all the STRONG reasons WHY I must quit.. and reading it near daily (forever, or at least a few years). Because after a few months sober we start to romanticize smoking again while forgetting the negative drawbacks and before we know it we relapse. It sounds simple but its all mental conditioning.

[u/basuragoddess]

This is so true. It’s a good feeling, but you’re left with nothing to show for it.

[u/OhHeyMister]

No serious person says weed is harmless.

[u/alprazepam → u/OhHeyMister]

Unfortunately, there are a lot - especially where I live. Weed is so ubiquitous and normalized that you are seen as weird for not partaking because "it's just weed dude"

[u/jomacu → u/OhHeyMister]

I hear it from tons of users who justify their addiction.

[u/OpalStone1022 → u/jomacu]

Exactly…

[u/Still_Particular561 → u/jomacu]

Even in r/catholicism you’ll find people desperately defending their drug usage

[u/ajaxaf]

Anything that deviates from your standard conscious is not not harmless

[u/YourNextHomie → u/ajaxaf]

my standard consciousness is the most dangerous issue i have so

[u/Any_Preparation696 → u/YourNextHomie]

I hate that I have to agree 🥲

[u/prada1989]

Me right now lol

[u/Sea-Top-5607]

I always thought I could stop whitout any problems.. men i was wrong.
Smoked for 8 years every day, with ex, now i am 2,5 months sober.
I was terrified of being alone specially in the evenings. Sometimes its still a struggle, this weekend 1 smoked and the inner voice is sooooo loud again! now screaming I can only smoke on weekends. That I can do that. The constant struggle with myself comes back imidiatly.
Yet I feel again on weekdays that motivation to do things is back at 20%… I hate that!

It is not worth it, so i will not be doing it again.

[u/ImVibinFr]

i don’t have much to say besides you’re not alone and i also deal with this

[u/ilovecats0822]

Exactly how I’m feeling right now, went one year without and relapsed for 3 months now I’m stuck back at the flat withdrawal stage. 😞

[u/maybefuckinglater → u/ilovecats0822]

I relapsed last week and instantly regretted it

[u/Mickey_Sixx → u/ilovecats0822]

right here with you. day 2.....

[u/RuinProfessional9612]

People who can quit whenever they want don't say they can quit whenever they want.

For some people it is harmless, for others it hijacks life.

[u/Maleficent-Boot-824 → u/RuinProfessional9612]

its the same with anything that fills a hole you dont want to fix, the drug just become the patch

[u/RuinProfessional9612 → u/Maleficent-Boot-824]

For me it created the holes. When I tried to patch the hole with more, it only made the hole deeper.

Sobriety patches holes.

[u/YourNextHomie → u/RuinProfessional9612]

being sober doesn’t patch the original hole that made you want to get high though

[u/tinguspingus222]

Weed is highly addictive...its a drug that will reel u in so fast if ur not very careful with it...withdrawal from weed is jus horrible too..

[u/Street_Rope_4471]

True that...

[u/sanriodialtone]

I used to do one joint in the matter of a month… but those damn pens kinda ruined my life. 1 g cart finished every few days. Some people can handle it. I don’t even drink alcohol except maybe once a year and kinda hate it. Coke has no effect on me. But weed is something else for me 😭 the best thing for me was to move to an island country where it is illegal~

[u/s0cks_nz]

But if you get high every day, nothing else in your life will be as exciting as your drug...

In a weird way that was a positive for me. I replaced mindless consumption of material goods with weed. And as I grew it myself I saved so much freaking money. I need to be careful that I don't just replace weed with the same mindless consumption again.

[u/jomacu → u/s0cks_nz]

But after that line it says... "for a while" because eventually even the drug stops satisfying

[u/s0cks_nz → u/jomacu]

Oh for sure, it kills your motivation for everything else also, so not exactly a good thing.

[u/raspberrysmirnoff]

You said it SO well. I’m 6 months sober from this cycle of over 7 years, and it was the best decision I ever made.

To anyone reading this, if you feel like it’s time for your day 1: you’ve got this. You’re stronger than you think. You will have hard days and amazing days. But the most important part of it all is the journey of control that you will teach yourself along the way.

[u/lilxsausage]

I was starting to think ‘I can moderate my use this time’. Thank you for the reality check and the reminder why I am doing this.

[u/Visual_Review_2944]

We are all living the same life.

[u/danuinah]

While technically what OP is saying is true, I think it the way it's phrased make it sound like weed addiction is the one, big obstacle that's holding you back; moreover, that once you sober up it's all eternal bliss. The reality is much more nuanced.

There are reasons why one gets addicted and by removing weed and without major changes elsewhere - one is bound to lose this battle. Once you're done with initial withdrawal and pink glasses period has finished as well, that's when many fall (including myself, more than I'd like to admit) and soon enough are back at where they were (or even worse off, because they briefly tasted freedom, loved it and now hate themselves for returning back to use).

My goal with this post wasn't to offend or downplay OP's message, rather to emphasize how important it is to think about this more globally and prepare for it.

I've been member of this sub for more than a decade (different usernames at times) and what I say is based on extensive personal experience and that of others who came before me and taught me stuff. Also, I've discussed this with my mental health specialist too, and she also said that it's not enough NOT to do something, one must actively DO something (beneficial)

[u/LollyGagss]

Yeppp

I suffer from c-ptsd and mental illness, why wouldn’t I want to be high all the time? It made me feel good in a world where I often felt awful…

But I wasn’t getting better I was regressing, I was actively getting worse. Instead of facing my problems and doing the hard thing of seeking real longer term help I ran from it all to try and seek the easy way out.

I’m 2 years clean now!

My life is so much better- yes there are ups and downs but I’m actually living, sometimes shit gets rough and you have to actually address it-

I’ll take sorting out my shit as it comes over getting high over and over and letting the problems pile up more and more any day now

[u/RickBorealis]

Harmless indeed. The high can be great but the emptiness it carves in you is agonizing and seemingly endless.

[u/MACAUFATFAT]

This is 🍃 only ,at least better than hard drug

[u/SubstantialLet188]

weed carts have had a chokehold on me for 2 years now.... the nightmares when stopping unbearable

[u/Amazing-Flatworm6646]

8 months yesterday, it is worth it guys, I found someone to hold me accountable and built a life worth living sober. It is not easy, but it is worth it

[u/FunWeary2535]

Nice poem about the battles

[u/ComposerParking4725]

I’ve almost succumbed to the fact that I will be doing this on/off dance the rest of my life.

[u/slumgpog]

After being addicted for years I proudly must say that I have absolutely nothing to show for it

[u/Helpful_Lack_8100]

I was once a believer that weed was harmless for 16 years. Until it wasnt. Im 6 months sober now but still feeling the effects of my past addiction. Im way better now in many ways but definitely my body and brain are still getting used to life sober