If youve seen the movie half baked you might remember the part where dude goes into a group meeting where people share their addiction experiences. He said he is addicted to marijuana and the crowd boos him and makes fun of him. Of course it is a movie glorifying weed, but little things like this have made me feel insecure about being vocal about what my addiction is because i know that harder substances are clearly much more “hardcore”. But the thing is, i was raised in a generation of people who REALLY glorified weed. And like anything it is simply a substance that has benefits for people who need it. However i started wanting to smoke weed around maybe 12-13, started smoking at like 14 and was a full blown stoner by 16, even having much of my identity rooted in being a stoner. My entire motive was to find a way to smoke every day. I even went to an alternative high school that was so laid back people met up at the benches at the park right next to it and matched (smoked weed together) daily. It was a fun natural way we got to know new friends and for those of us with a shitty childhood it was also an escape from the stress and anxiety we faced at home. Long story short i ended up in a messed up situation, i was isolated and depressed and i dabbed many many times every single day for about 5 years. This led to me being hospitalized for a shortness of breath that the inhaler, even injected steroids wasnt helping. They said i had asthma which was news to me bc i never struggled before taking this one specific dab that.changed it all lmao. They also said i had “air bubbles around my heart” and pneumonia in one of my lungs. I was hospitalized for about a week and still struggling with breathing when i was released . i wanted to stop smoking, and i was even scared to smoke. But its all i know and i realized i have no coping skills, i dont know how to just not be high. I dont want to not be high, but i was aware the smoking was probably going to kill me. But nevertheless i started smoking again anyways. Fast forward to now, i was hospitalized last 4/20 ironically just for reference. I had run out of prescriptions for inhalers from the ER i was at and needed to stop procrastinating on seeing my actual doctor for a long term prescription, but also i started feeling like something was really wrong once again. I constantly tasted blood and my lungs just did not feel good. SO i went to the ER which they diagnosed as acute bronchitis and the steroids honestly did help that time bc they gave me a pretty high dosage. During this time, i literally did not smoke weed for at least a whole two weeks. This was the first time in my life i had stopped willingly with my DOC right in front of me. I felt good, excited even to start a new life where i could be free, i just wanted to be able to breathe. Well, recently i finally saw my doctor, and he said i should take allegra. Which weirdly, helped me a lot more than i thought. This and the fact that i now have 11 refills for my inhaler i feel made me more confident to be able to dab “just a little bit” bc everything was fine now (not really). Not only that and i am absolutely not blaming, but everyone around me in my life is very casual about weed and my significant other is also. I noticed that so much of the time id ask to do something and he would say “let me take a dab first” which would require multiple dab “songs” and would end up being two or three every time. So this took awhile. I quickly started feeling idk, just left out ? I was annoyed bc i could see how much time this wasted when we could be doing something fun or different. I quickly caved and i am now dabbing again multiple times a day. And i try not to, i really wanted to get more into edibles, but the good ones are $10+ each, my tolerance goes up very fast and also i dont want to have to ingest it because im already struggling with weight gain. This whole thing just sucks and its confusing bc i still love weed , i just cant believe how it has a hold on me like this. I changed my sober time counter to be focused around self harm instead because i cant just keep resetting the clock every day when it isnt going anywhere . im sorry if this was long winded or random ig i just wanted to vent
Mind you i have struggled with cigarettes and molly as well and i could kick them way easier. Maybe its the accessibility factor, and cigs just dont even feel good to me. Idek why i ever smoked rm
Thank you sm
Short answer no.
Half baked yes I love the movie, but like most things in Hollywood it’s over glorified and we’ll it’s acting, a fictional character handling a fictional situation
But we are in a culture where sex, weed, alcohol and gambling is overglorified, though I met people who struggle with those things myself included,
What makes you weak is when you know you have a problem but refuse to do anything about it, being honest and admitting to your struggles is always the first step,
It upsets me too when people say things like - weed isn’t addictive, or when they glorify it. I struggled with weed for quite a few years but I was forced to let it go. I live in a country where weed is still illegal. Till a couple of years ago it was quite freely available despite being illegal. Then the government started cracking down very hard on the dealers and suppliers. Now it’s very difficult and dangerous to source. So I was forced to give it up. The first week or so was very bad. I have chills and tremors. I coundn’t eat anything. Felt nauseated all the time. It got better after a week. My other addiction, alcohol, helped a bit with the weed withdrawals. Now I am trying to get off alcohol too. I went to a psychiatrist and he prescribed me some meds, so I am hoping it will be easier this time.
Just like the rest of us you’re an addict. The substance isn’t even that important. I smoked weed for 35 years, when I finally grew tired of it alcohol took over till I finally decided enough.
People who say addiction to weed isn’t real or serious don’t know what they’re talking about. We know better.
If you read what you wrote carefully there’s more than enough pointers to why you’re better of without weed in your life. It doesn’t help you. You’re just an addict like the rest of us. Weed is your doc. I’m glad you’re here. Together we’re strong. Success and hugs.
No it does not make you weak. It has been typecast as something more positive than a drug for many years.
It has nothing to do with weakness. Like any other substance or process ppl get addicted to, you are using weed to escape your life and change the way you feel inside. That won’t work and it’ll make you miserable and sick. This misery and sickness is called addiction.
Additionally, weed will cause psychosis if consumed long and hard enough.
In your post i hear your struggle. I don’t really hear determination or the wish to be free of it. You still miss it and want to partake. As long as the wish to change is not greater than the wish to remain the same, change won’t happen.
Wish you the best on your way!
I was addicted to weed for 10 years. For the majority of it I ignored the symptoms and played it off. By the end I acknowledge for me it caused
Heart palpitations
Extreme anxiety
Paranoid delusions
Depression
Criminal problems
Prolonged illnesses such as bronchitis
Short term and possibly long term memory loss
Cross addiction
Financial problems
Lethargy
Low motivation
Dependancy
Irritability when not using…
There’s more I’m sure.
I had to hide it from most people, it led to me being expelled from school.
Also when I finally cleaned up I suffered night sweats and night terrors for two weeks aswell as extreme anxiety and depression and prolonged delusional thoughts that lasted a year.
When I was thick in my using I thought weed was a miracle plant, I was lost in the sauce like a lot of people.
I also have encountered the sentiments you expressed, I saw a comment somewhere of someone saying they experienced night sweats when coming down and a commenter said “the addiction was produced in the mind and the symptoms were a result of the thinking as opposed to the drug, that the drug is harmless and it was purely a case of hyperactive imagination”. I think sentiments like this are harmful and frankly gross and disgusting, and I completely ignore them. My anecdotal experience provides enough evidence, not to mention there are peer reviewed studies that back up rhetoric I’ve espoused pertaining to heart palpitations and significantly higher associated cardiovascular risks attributed to cannabis use.
Further anecdotal evidence in my life demonstrates that cannabis usage can be attributed to certain life trajectories that demonstrate prolonged drug abuse and cross addiction, mental health, social and or other issues. In simple terms a lot of people that I grew up with that have doubled down on their drug use basically haven’t grown up and continue to display behaviour that is representative of addiction… I’m three years clean. Fuck what people think, if it’s a problem for you then that’s your problem to deal with, you can’t compare yourself to others. People will say all sorts of stuff like harden up or have some will power or just try it once blah blah blah blah zone out the noise if you want recovery, align your purpose for getting sober with your pathway to attain that goal and watch the days add up. NA has been the foundation of my continued sobriety.
Cheers
Nearly 35,000 participants reported smoking cannabis; of those, about 11,000 smoked more than once a month. The more-than-monthly smokers were significantly more likely than others in the study to have a heart attack after controlling for other factors including age, body mass index and sex. The researchers found that frequent marijuana smokers were also more likely than nonusers to have their first heart attack before the age of 50 — an unusual medical event called a premature heart attack that increases a person’s lifelong risk of subsequent heart attack, heart failure and life-threatening arrhythmias that can cause sudden death.
To your main question, I think the opposite. It takes tremendous strength through self honesty and vulnerability to admit anyone struggles with anything.
Especially in cultures where that thing can be glorified or normalized.
Stand up for yourself and your happiness, I say. Stand out.
Takes courage.
Weed is my addiction as well, I empathize with your story so much! I’m so sorry you’re going through that and that your surroundings make it more difficult. You are so strong and brave for even recognizing that you want something more for yourself, and for your health. You can do this!
Once I started taking dabs i personally felt like I eventually shut myself into a prison that “felt good” but also didn’t, and I lost a lottt of weight too, years of use. I switched to thc carts to lower my tolerance which sucked financially and extended my dependence. But once I switched to CBD carts to wean myself off and get me through withdrawals until I was clean, it helped immensely. When others use around me, I hold my pen with my cbd in my hand until the triggers pass and everyone else is done, kinda like others use nonalcoholic beer at parties to cope. May not work for everyone, but it’s working for me and eventually I’ll stop vaping all together. Every tiny “no thanks” will get you there. I believe in you. 
I use to be the same way started smoking at 16 and I didn’t think about quitting till 26 ( i had some breaks in between but i was still a stoner at heart). Then i hit 26 and realized I didnt have shit going for me, and I was living in my grandmas basement 
and the people I knew didnt have any plans to better themselves either. So I vanished (moved to Georgia) and never looked back, im not gonna sit here and lie and say I havent smoked at all in the 8 years ive been here in Georgia but iam no longer a stoner and I dont seek to be high on a daily basis. I now seek nutrient-dense foods for my buzz (beet juice, carrot juice, fatty fish (sardines, herring, mackerel, salmon) etc. And I get 5 days in at the gym, and listen to audio books. Good luck, and keep up the good work 
I hate the idea that people think anything can’t be addictive.
Most of the people who say Weed isn’t addictive, are the same people who smoke weed habitually. And “can stop anytime they want” just like any addict says I can stop whenever I want, I just don’t want to.
If you take a person who smokes marijuana on the regular, and then all of a sudden they can’t smoke it anymore, for whatever reason. What happens, they get anxious, can’t sleep, have physical withdrawl symptoms just like you would if you were addicted to alcohol, or any other drug.
The weed isn’t addicting was a pitch for years cause of alcohol being legal and readily available, while marijuana is still a illicit drug in most places, wnd that marijuana is “safer” while it’s true you most likely won’t die from a marijuana overdose, you can’t die from a cigarette overdose either but we proved that the long effects of smoking anything is just not good for you
No…I have to make the decision every “Day 1” not to use Marijuana.
Weed is a narcotic worth its addictive weight; however, society for the most part removed the stigma associated with THC.
Please stay encouraged…I sending prayers your way.
Wow!! That was a lot but it helped me to shape the way I look at weed. Now, I’m on here for alcohol but i still partake in smoking weed some or most days of the week and I was thinking I need to cut down cus I’m coughing a lot more and I just know my body needs a break. Hearing ur story and how it could really go south for me has inspired me even more to cut down on it and not have my friends come thru with it as much. Health is so very important and a temporary high isn’t worth it. Please keep ur head up and I hope you can beat that addiction This story hit me and I hope you get better.
I used to get the same reaction from my coworkers in relatin to food. The boss would bring in donuts and i would not have one. My coworkers thought it was ok to be a pushers, telling just one won’t hurt, it’s just a donut, come on, party pooper.
Addiction is Addiction. Just because it won’t kill you fast, doesn’t mean it’s a healthy life choice.
Ignore them. Tell them or not, it doesn’t matter. You can tell them, and be vague. "Im struggling with my mental health and my therapist said to avoid all mood alerting drugs. If they still push after that, they are not your friends. Drop them.
Thank you so much to everyone for your kind words and advice 
I wish I could individually respond to every one of u but I don’t wanna leave anyone out 
Much love to u all 
