For me it just would mean I wasn’t ready for true sobriety and I wasn’t ready to face the reasons I needed sobriety. I don’t begrudge anyone their journey and only wish all the best however I suspect most people in these other programs or people still trying to Control the extent of their sobriety just haven’t checked as many boxes yet.
Absolutely, anytime Amanda. None of us don't realize it, that consuming marijuana, especially in the form of smoke leads to depression. Smoking anything will lead to depression. Since the circulation system is so vital, smoke inhalation retards and hinders our circulation. This naturally leads to all sorts of health issues depression being just one. Let's not talk about how it affects the brain, often getting us deep inside our head which can be bad or good. When isolating certainly the possibility of it being bad is obvious. I will note that isolation this day and age has as much chance of being a good thing as it does bad but if we isolate where are we getting our help? Our sense of belonging, community?
I'm glad that you recognized those things. As I recover physically from old injuries, ailments, etc, finding people with similar values has been tough as I don't get around and socialize near as much as I used to. Journaling has been great to help and reflection as has been this app. Meetings can be tough as sitting for me is painful especially in the evening when I been on my feet most of the day and am beginning to wear down. Planning ahead, moving smartly Etc have become essential in making it through the day as efficiently and painless as is possible. Interacting with the right folks has been a major focus at 43 I have little time to waste and the world full of folks who are ready and willing to waste one's time.
I do now! Thanks for saying so, I am glad that it was helpful. Really just a bit of science, and some common sense. I do not want to knock those who consider themselves "California sober." As I do believe that mj is as with all plants, useful in some cases, and I would personally rather my child grow up and smoke pot rather than smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. This is my personal believe though and ideally they would both avoid all three, as a lesser of two evils is no-less an evil and destroying one's body is definitely unhealthy, to say the least.
I think marijuana unfortunately is still not recognized for it's many health benefits. Here is my short story.
I went to rehab 1+ year ago. I followed all after care instructions, vivatrol, counseling, mental health Dr, etc. I have an adjustment disorder, depression, and seven anxiety. For the first 8-9 months I battled worse side effects from the meds than what they were supposed to be curing. My cognitive testing was awful, I couldn't remember the day before, my sleep was never enough, headaches, no motivation.
3 months ago I made the choice to explore plant medicine and it's been the greatest choice ive ever made. I have energy, I have joy, I love, i laugh and I live now. My anxiety is a thing of the past and my depression has been balanced especially given the ability to feel the highs that modern medicine mitigates.
The fact is that our drug scheduling is extremely flawed and medical giants have to keep marijuana shunned in order to continue to steal your $$ at the pharmacy.
And I know this is difficult for AArs to hear, but the Big book made the choice not to allow Bills entire story, the one that would share his firm belief in using mind altering drugs to cure alcoholism and many of his beliefs attack the core foundation of what is followed by AA.
I have been sober in California for over 10 years, and “just a little weed” is just another way of saying you are not ready to actually be sober no matter what state you hale from
That said, if someone can live a healthy and productive life in that way, then that is great and good on them. When I came into the rooms, an eighth would last me half a year. I treated weed like chocolate cake, yummy treat, but not something I’m going to want on the regular. Still, people who had the sobriety I wanted told me it was goodbye to all mind altering substances, and my way had already failed me, so I did as they said. Years later I realized that if I had kept the weed around, I would have ended up abusing that as well (kind of like I did with coffee ice creme in my first 16 months). Stay in the middle of the rooms, you are doing the best you can for yourself, and the people around us are there to make sure we don’t make the dumb choices we were so VERY good at making on our way into the program.
I live in Colorado, and the weed is so strong here that I actually quit that before I quit drinking.
My motto is "whatever works". If someone stops destroying their life (and those around them) with alcohol, then who am I to say they need to quit smoking pot? I think they might be missing out on all that recovery has to offer, but first things first.