I've been addicted to thc for much of my adult life. I know people who smoke much more than I ever did. I'd use every day, only after work, but I never didn't use it after work. I was using it as a crutch, I used it as a cure-all, I used it as a social lubricant. As mentioned in the article, I used it for anxiety, and the anxiety got worse.
I tried to quit a bunch of times, some more successfully than others. But quitting is really hard. I'd successfully exhaust my supply, but there's always bowl- and grinder-scrapings. After a night or two of smoking tar and dust, "fuck it", I'd find some more.
My #1 excuse was always sleep. Weed is the best sleep aid I've ever found. Quitting usually went fine until I wanted to go to bed. Several hours into a sleepless night, desperation sets in.
Eventually, I found a hack in LSD when I first had the determination to use it without mixing THC. I slept like a baby. No cravings the next day, or the next. I started dreaming again, after years of sleeping like a corpse and waking up exhausted.
I've since started and stopped a few times. Picked it back up to be social (and, hey, it's fun!), the habit-driving insomnia comes back with a vengeance. Stopping with LSD seems to work reliably for me. I only allow myself a hit of LSD per year, so that's how often I excuse a social session. But the last couple of times, I haven't needed the LSD. It seems that I finally kicked the compulsion. Although, I don't trust that enough to make it a more regular habit.
Edit reply to jrflowers:
No, I do not take acid to sleep. Taking it once allows me to quit thc cold turkey. I take it first thing in the morning, so I'm hungry for dinner and sleepy for bedtime. Last thing I need is a new habit.
Edit reply to gvedem (an hour and a half later I'm still "posting too fast" to make a second comment):
I bought the acid from a friend. I am aware that "one tab" is not a standardized dose and that adjacent tabs on a sheet can have significant discrepancy. But "one tab" is what I took.
>But quitting is really hard. I'd successfully exhaust my supply, but there's always bowl- and grinder-scrapings. After a night or two of smoking tar and dust, "fuck it", I'd find some more.
I've found my attempts to quit go better when I actually have a large supply of it that I'm consciously choosing not to indulge in. When your supply is exhausted your brain goes into a bit of a panic mode about it and you can't think rationally about how/why you're quitting.
> My #1 excuse was always sleep. Weed is the best sleep aid I've ever found. Quitting usually went fine until I wanted to go to bed. Several hours into a sleepless night, desperation sets in.
Weed and alcohol destroy your sleep. Taking marijuana to sleep is like hitting your toenail with a hammer so that when you stop you feel better, it does not make sense.
I recently stopped after years of using indica strains primarily for sleep. On one hand, I don't feel noticeably more (or less) rested now that I've stopped, but the dreams I have now.. it's kind of incredible how vivid and memorable they are. I'd forgotten what it's like to wake up and just reflect on whatever series of events my subconscious mind constructs.
>My #1 excuse was always sleep. Weed is the best sleep aid I've ever found.
I started smoking weed to get to sleep when I was in a crappy college dorm with those awful cheap Venetian blinds and a streetlight outside the window that birds liked to congregate around and chirp all night. When I got older I found I could achieve the desired effect by lowering the indoor temperature, using a decent mattress, installing curtains and (this part is still hard to manage due to funds and neighbors) having a quiet room.
I had a crappy college dorm with morning birds, not all night birds.
If you can't do a truly quiet room, I've found either an AC or fan can mask most noises effectively (I can still feel cars idling outside, or hear people yelling).
Also see https://mynoise.net/ which has a panoply of sound-generation options. I have spent hours trying various noises.
Yes, be very careful not to accidentally dose yourself continuously during days-long sleep deprivation torture in a CIA mind control experiment. You might break something!
During the times in which they are illegal, there's a certain beauty to the rebellion of a person fed up enough with their unconscious misalignment that they break the rules and heal themselves. (as long as they don't get punished for it. if they're punished for it, the society becomes a degree crueler)
Of course, it would be a lot better if they were legal, but I don't particularly want to see a time in which the only way you can get access to these things is through system-mandated control.
I have had other successes with LSD as well. I assume it is related to mindfulness helping break thought-spirals. Show the brain a way out of the spiral, and it can rewire the escape for future use. LSD increases neuroplasticity: the propensity of the brain to rewire itself. Which is probably why LSD is also incredibly risky.
I tried to quit a bunch of times, some more successfully than others. But quitting is really hard. I'd successfully exhaust my supply, but there's always bowl- and grinder-scrapings. After a night or two of smoking tar and dust, "fuck it", I'd find some more.
My #1 excuse was always sleep. Weed is the best sleep aid I've ever found. Quitting usually went fine until I wanted to go to bed. Several hours into a sleepless night, desperation sets in.
Eventually, I found a hack in LSD when I first had the determination to use it without mixing THC. I slept like a baby. No cravings the next day, or the next. I started dreaming again, after years of sleeping like a corpse and waking up exhausted.
I've since started and stopped a few times. Picked it back up to be social (and, hey, it's fun!), the habit-driving insomnia comes back with a vengeance. Stopping with LSD seems to work reliably for me. I only allow myself a hit of LSD per year, so that's how often I excuse a social session. But the last couple of times, I haven't needed the LSD. It seems that I finally kicked the compulsion. Although, I don't trust that enough to make it a more regular habit.
Edit reply to jrflowers:
No, I do not take acid to sleep. Taking it once allows me to quit thc cold turkey. I take it first thing in the morning, so I'm hungry for dinner and sleepy for bedtime. Last thing I need is a new habit.
Edit reply to gvedem (an hour and a half later I'm still "posting too fast" to make a second comment):
I bought the acid from a friend. I am aware that "one tab" is not a standardized dose and that adjacent tabs on a sheet can have significant discrepancy. But "one tab" is what I took.