Lots of folks smoke pot. More than 40 percent of those over the age of 12 have smoked weed at some point in their lives, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2009.
Treatment programs for quitting marijuana smoking have had underwhelming success, with abstinence rates one year after treatment ranging from 10 to 30 percent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. If you want to quit smoking pot, it is possible, but it requires commitment and resolve.
Step 1
Commit it to paper. The first step to quitting is admitting you have a problem. There's a tendency to look at marijuana as harmless, but if you've identified it as a problem in your life, you must focus solely on the negative effects it has caused. You can do this by writing down your reasons for quitting. Does pot make you lazy, unmotivated? Does buying bag after bag drain your bank account? Does the smoke affect your breathing, making you wheezy and hoarse? Write it all down, with as much passion as you can muster, so that you can read these thoughts to bolster your commitment in times of weakness.
Step 2
Toss your drug paraphernalia. Get a garbage bag and systematically remove all weed-related materials from your home. Yes, that includes the skull-shaped bong you've owned since you were 15 and the Purple Kush seeds you were saving for your dream farm. Toss the roaches, the pipes, the papers and, of course, the weed itself. Get it out of the house, out of your reach and into the garbage truck, pronto.
Cultural items that celebrate weed should be avoided, too, at least for the first few months. If that means packing up the Bob Marley CDs for a while, so be it. Jah bless.
Step 3
Avoid your stoner buddies. To resist temptation, you must stay away from people, places and things that remind you of getting high. That means not hanging out with others who are getting high and not being shy about reminding people that you no longer want to be invited to spark up a doobie.
Step 4
Put down the booze. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and tends to do a number on common sense, as well. It's unwise to drink while trying to quit smoking pot.
Step 5
Try urge surfing. When a craving hits, rather than trying to suppress it, pay attention to the feelings in your body as they arise. Though an urge to smoke weed may seem like it will never go away, in truth, every craving rises and crests, like an ocean wave, then subsides and vanishes.
By objectively stepping back and analyzing the feelings associated with an urge, you can ride this wave until it subsides. The good news is that the craving waves become smaller and farther apart as you continue to refrain.
