How To Stop Smoking Weed And Quit Your Marijuana Habit

This question originally appeared on Quora. Answer by Toby Worth.

I used to smoke weed every night and all weekend for well over a decade. This was mostly due to living with friends who smoked it with me. We’d support each other’s behaviour and probably smoke more than we would have if we were alone.

I stopped a few times in that period, but at most for about a year. I found it easy to give up once I stopped smoking it with tobacco, since that’s pretty much how most people (and all of my friends) used to smoke it. There’re no withdrawal symptoms with weed, so it’s not like cigarettes where you feel like something is missing. You might, however feel ‘bored’ and use weed to change your state of mind, but that’s a typical problem with people who have shit to deal with (just as anyone who has gone to AA meetings for a while).

After a long period of using it, I get bored with it. I feel fuzzy, lethargic and unmotivated. I don’t feel ‘sharp’ and sleep quality is usually not the best. After a week or so of using it, I’m looking forward to quitting again and so don’t buy more than enough to last for more than a week or so.

I quit using weed on a daily basis over 5 years ago, but I expect I use some at Christmas, because I like chilling out with it sometimes. If I have any, I smoke it, so I don’t buy it unless I have some down-time. That’s not because it’s addictive, but because I have poor impulse control and I really like being stoned. It’s easy to quit or stop and start as long as you don’t have the sort of mind that constantly reminds you of all the rubbish things in your life, or past, or future (i.e. someone who needs constant distraction). But the chances are, you’ll use something else if it isn’t weed anyway. I think AA define ‘picking up’ as anything that changes your state of mind, so it’s really just another example of one of those substances or activities.