Four ways to quit marijuana

Marijuana, also popularly known as weed, Mary Jane, and pot, is a by-product of cannabis Sativa flowers. It is commonly smoked with pipes and joints (hand-rolled cigarettes) and also used for medical purposes. After alcohol, it is by far one of the most highly used substances in the United States of America. According to a survey in 2018, around 12 million adolescents were found to have been consuming marijuana in the last 30 days. Even though it comes as a surprise, it shouldn’t, as it is no longer a criminalized drug and can now be legally used across the country. There are ways to stop taking Marijuana.

The reason youth find it hard to resist is that it induces feelings of relaxation and euphoria and alters a person’s time perception. So if you’re wondering why the time is suddenly passing so slow, you’re probably high. However, just like any other drug, excessive consumption of marijuana also carries certain risks, and if you’d like to know whether it’s possible to eliminate it from your life, the simple answer is yes.

Cutting down on or quitting anything you are extremely dependent on can cause withdrawal symptoms for sure, and marijuana is no exception. With each marijuana consumer’s unique experiences, it is hard to devise a single method for defeating the addiction. Let’s look at some commonly used methods that could help you overcome it.

Play Hard to Not Get

“Disappear” is the one word to understand this approach. Go cold turkey and never look back. Quit the drug abruptly in a single go. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? The approach may as well give you faster results but is not the easiest to implement. It is not as simple as waking up one day and throwing away all of your weed with a pledge to never do it again. Even if your mind is as hard as a rock, the sudden withdrawal is bound to have some impact on your body. So don’t completely rely on your mental strength to use this method. Create a step by step plan to figure out how you’re going to deal with the withdrawal symptoms and let a friend or family know about it. After all, there’s nothing better than a strong support system by your side while you deal with them.

Get Therapy

If you are willing to give it time and address your addiction gradually, then there is no better way to say it than “just go and get therapy.” Therapy might sound way too slow for your liking, but it is the most effective method indeed. Instead of giving your body the pain of going through sudden pangs of desire for the drug, it helps you achieve your goals gradually. Therapy of any kind is usually beneficial; however, the approaches that might address your needs better are:

Motivational enhancement therapy (MET)

Through this approach, your therapist will use open-ended questions to understand your reasons for wanting to quit cannabis. This is particularly useful when you are sure you want to give it up but don’t exactly know why.

Contingency management

Contingency management, on the other hand, is a method of rewarding certain behaviors, for example, giving you movie tickets or shopping vouchers for not smoking.

CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy)

CBT is an approach designed to help you understand and learn how to respond to distressful thoughts. A marijuana user typically starts using it as a response to unwanted thoughts, and with the help of CBT, they learn to replace the action of taking marijuana with something helpful like facing their troubles instead.

Get on the Pills

If you don’t think you want to take it too fast or too slow, you can always choose the middle ground and go for medication. At present, there isn’t any medicine to eliminate your marijuana addiction, but there are many to help you curb it at least. However, the kind of medicine and its dosage can only be decided once a physician or specialist prescribes certain tests and examines them. Medication with the right dosage can do wonders by equipping you with whatever is necessary to resist the desire to use the drug again.

Find a Better Hobby

A marijuana user or any other drug consumer, for that matter, makes sure that their life and routine revolves around that drug. They plan it in accordance with their smoking habits and repeat those patterns every day. The best way to rid yourself of a certain habit is to replace it with something else, which should, of course, be healthier. Try going back to an old habit and if it does not welcome you anymore, create a new list. Take that trip you have been avoiding for so long. Go rock climbing and try sky diving. Live on the edge but not too much. And if you don’t think you can afford all that, simply enroll yourself for a new language course. Find the true self that you have been concealing under the covers of your own unhealthy habits.

Fall Down and Get Back Up

The road to recovery does not come without its hurdles. It is possible that you might cut down on your marijuana addiction immensely and go back to smoking again. It is very much possible to go off track every once in a while but don’t let it get to you. It takes a number of attempts to defeat any unhealthy habit, so stay put and do not give up. You have come this far, and you can definitely go further. If not rehab, simple talk therapy can also help you set your mind straight to your goals. Breaking habits is not easy and has never been but what truly matters is your persistence and resilience in the face of one of your toughest battles. Try to focus more on the progress you’ve made than the setbacks you have faced. Keep up with the abstinence and remember that there are a million reasons why you should keep going and none for why you should not.