Correct. 7 years ago my vehicle was hit by an IED. I’ve suffered severe pain and ptsd to the point of lucid flashbacks. My primary doctor prescribed me a medical marijuana card three years ago. All controlled on the amount you receive and have tot ale tests to make sure it’s in your system and not being sold or given away. I have seen my group tell others to just give opiates to a loved one to hand out to them and that is acceptable. But any use of marijuana is not acceptable. It’s not like I plan on going there and telling anyone at all about it. But I feel like I’m hiding it and I want to be completely honest with my sponsor. I too am there only for alcohol. I didn’t even take my klonopin while drinking because I knew it would lower my respiratory rate to much. But will definitely be looking now.
Thank you! I even discussed it with my shrink in treatment and she asked me which one was going to kill me. And followed up with if I’m just sitting on the couch eating all day then that is an issue. Which is not at all what I do, unfortunately out of work waiting for the surgery but taking multiple college course and training my Dane puppy keep me pretty well occupied.
Exactly mate you need to do what’s for you. Kinda like how with religion there are all different opinions, or politics, whenever you try to come up with a set of “rules” it’s impossible to agree on which work best and we all have different lives so there can’t be a one size fits all approach. I smoke far too much and it is effecting me daily now so I’m trying my best to quit but I see no reason with you smoking if it’s not effecting you mate! It’s only if it becomes a crutch for something or leads you into negative behaviour
Ps have fun with the pup!
If your taking your medication as prescribed from a doctor and not abusing it your sober in my eyes maybe find a different home group there is also CA or NA meetings you might find people there who are more understanding 
Well done on your sober time keep
Up the good work 
Never thought about NaA or CA. Honestly the CA meetings were always my favorite. A little more laid back. Thank you for that!
Yeah CA is my main meetings go to the odd AA 
Her in Boston, there is a term called southie sober. It means combining a handful of gabapentin and red bulls. It is a weird feeling. The clonopin, taken as prescribed, to treat a condition, such as seizures or anxiety could be considered legit. AA, which I personally think is nonsense, is an abstinence based program and so, by only smoking or consuming prescribed medication, you are technically sober. But nobody other than you should care or comment on what they think. Many AA types would not consider you sober. But they are comparing you to themselves or others like them. If you are happy and that is sober for you, more power to you. Don’t worry about California. Who cares? Worry, or actually congratulate yourself. You are beholden to no definition but your own.
Personally I think if a doctor in legitimate practice prescribes something with full knowledge of the patient’s medical history (including history of addictions), and if those medications are used as prescribed and as part of a sensible health & wellness plan (which includes relevant physical & mental health practices), then a prescription can have a significant positive impact.
For me, my ADHD and depression medications have been significant in my recovery, especially in the last month when I started the depression meds. I use both as prescribed, and I attend counselling (individual and marriage) to help me work out the rough patches in my history, relationships, and behaviour. The combination of medication and counselling is helping me develop self-management and relationship skills that I never had before.
I also make sure to get a good amount of exercise: nothing fancy but I swim most days and go for walks in the woods. I track my calories and food intake and while I do go over now and again, for the most part I’m eating my veggies and maintaining my weight (which to be honest is a little higher than ideal but I’m ok with that; I might work on that later).
As far as red bull - that’s a personal choice, sort of like having a triple espresso. I did have a time when I delivered newspapers and I was up daily at 2:30 am; I used to drink 2-3 energy drinks to get me through the day; there came a point where my heart was racing and I realized I had to stop. (Luckily that was also the point I found a different job!)
We all know what we’re supposed to eat (healthy food, fibre, veggies, etc) and what is problematic (or potentially problematic) (these would include tobacco products, recreational drugs, energy drinks; it can also include activities that can become fixations / dependencies / excessive habits for some people, like gaming). Ultimately it’s a judgment call. So many things in life are a judgment call. And I think really what we do is make decisions about what we’re doing in our lives, and on that specific day, and we try to make our choices on each day align with what we want to be in our lives. 
Really appreciate all the input and I am taking this all into account for my future decision making.
Tradition 3 is the only requirement is the desire to stop drinking. Also AA does not get involved in any outside issues. So only you know what causes you enough mental torment that you feel the need to stop and there are plenty of other groups for numerous addictions.
I quit alcohol bc it stopped being fun but I quit drugs bc I wanted the money. At no point in my 12 steps program did me and my sponsor try and ween me off drugs, it’s not what we were there for.
Your group and your sponsor are wrong, I am reluctant to make such a statement on here bc people love to pipe up and offer their opinion but these are the facts, AA is for alcoholics who have a desire to stop drinking. No more no less.
Hey, I’m on day 592 from heroin/opiates after using since I was 14 and now 33. You’re considered sober if it’s a prescription and you don’t get addicted to it, you don’t abuse it, take it only as directed to
and it run your life like the alcohol did. The reason prescribed medications are frowned upon is because they can be abused. I started using heroin because I got addicted to narcotic pain pills after a surgery.
Hey brother thank you for posting. ive enjoyed reading most of the comments but while i haven’t gotten to all of them i wanted to put in my little take on it as i was actually daydreaming about this the other day.
So what is TRUE sobriety to me.
To be “truly sober” is being in a mental state that is free of any external pharmacological influences. In its purest sense this would not only include caffeine and nicotine but also Behavioral Health meds not limited to klonopin but also including possibly Lexapro, Depakote and a myriad of other extremely important medications for people to live. Clearly this standard borders the rediculous and even dangerous for some, but as creatures with unlimited potential for growth i think its helpful to raise the thoeretical bar to its limit.
But who cares? this is just the most extreme form of a verbal description, what does it have to do with our lives?
Just like any linguistically snafu we find ourselves in the words itself may not have much meaning but the the goal of the one speaking is where we should focus.
As someone most strongly associated with Refuge recovery / recovery dharma I would say we can evaluate the use of drugs from 3 perspectives. the first being what the individual gains from the substance, 2nd being the way that affects their ability to function in life and 3rd being where they are in thier life path.
If this substance in question is primarily alleviating suffering by helping one say get through PTSD or managing bipolar disorder or relieving pain so they can get through the day then thats generally acceptable, but if one is deviring pleasure from the substance or creates situations outside its intended uses to be heightened by the substance then its abuse. As stated there are many substances that fall into both theraputic and recreational so we should be careful.
Honest, non defensive assessments are needed here. Remember all were looking at is how we can improve our lives, not judge who we are as a person. Its an important distinction!
2nd… and To be clear im not advocating the all too familiar functional aspect of use, but instead pointing out that every use has a side affect so even when used correctly, substances may cause limitations to ones life path through their use. For example: I cant be an mma fighter on blood thinners or a truck driver on klonopin. Perhaps its more subtle like i have increased frustration as a thc user since i can never remember where my keys are lol. My point is no matter how subtle, we can scrutinize what we do objectively and evaluate its function/side effects. I personally find the side affects of most sleeping pills to make me foggy in the morning so i try to obstain, but also suffer from mania and insomnia so i dont always have a great choice. So we look at how these substances affect our lives and, in my opinion, work towards that gold medal of complete sobriety. Unlike the initail break from our DOC where we just had to stop at all costs these habits seem more subtle and there often needs to be significant work focused on the underlying problems in our life to undo our ties to them. Therapy, meditation, physical therapy, yoga, perspective changes ect.
I think the important thing to note here is work!
What are we working towards? Are we just standing there calling it work? Are we creating new addictions that will overtake our old ones? I struggle to be honest with myself about even my addictions so clearly i dont know your path, but i think we should all progress with these hard questions on our minds to keep our trajectory on point.
I do know that whatever your position, the trajectory you hold is all that matters.
For the 3rd point in this assessment of substance use I like to Imagine a very dirty room, like really dirty. There’s clothing on the ceiling fan, cigerette butts in an old sandwhich, the tv is on a broken tv, the blinds are uneven and legos on the floor! Now before you can even notice that the floor could use a steam/shampooing we need to address so many gross aspects then work to the finer points.
When we start our addiction path we can justify all sorts of maladjustments like overeating, smoking, excessive caffiene, shopping ect. But as we move from immenent life threats towards unhealthy life habits we do so working within our programs with high goals/standards at every turn. These standards arent to turn you off to the programs, but so that those further down the path can continue to improve!! Thats why i LOVE people in recovery because they’re usually trying to be better, stable, kinder.
So maybe youre not at the point where you can give up the caffiene, benzos, thc, and nicotine, but i hope that whoever your support network is they have the wisdom to see that where you are in your path is where you are and that as long as youre not idle accepting these substances as an unwavering aspect of life then you have plenty of progress left to make.
Ultimately i hope to be a completely sober person one day, but for now Im striding to be just a tiny bit better or more accountable than i was yesterday and to try and make sure im always moving towards improvement.
Idk if all this makes sense to anyone but me, but i hope it helps at least a bit. Thanks for listening and i wish you all a stable, sober day.
After hearing everything from everyone I’m considering myself sober. Today is 180 days of zero alcohol in which I suffered from. Will definitely keep an eye open as any medication can be detrimental. Thank you all!
Congrats on 180 bro
Hell yeah! 180 days is legit!! Great work brother