Psychology of Quitting, Why I Cannot Foresee Giving Up Cannabis

A friend of mine is trying to quit smoking cigarettes and I asked him how it was going. He was having a bad day and was really itching for some nicotine. He has gone several weeks now without a drag and mostly, he’s doing great. Noticeably agitated, he replied “I dare you to try to quit smoking cannabis then you might have some idea where I am at.”

This got me thinking. Physiologically, there really aren’t any true withdrawal symptoms from quitting weed. Some minor disruptions of sleep habits, light irritability and perhaps more relatively tiny issues may occur, but it’s not even close to what nicotine/cigarette withdrawal is like. I don’t want to go into a large diatribe about the perils of cigarettes since anyone who grew up in the last 40 years has a pretty solid idea that smoking tobacco is none too awesome for your health. I do, however, want to explore the psychology of quitting something and why I have a hard time believing that I’ll ever want to quit smoking cannabis.

Why quit something?

I think it is of paramount importance to have a clear and positive intention when trying to give up a bad habit (I suppose technically this applies to good habits as well, but why would you want to give up something positive in your life?). Using cigarettes as an example, it’s quite easy to imagine why someone would want to stop this habit/addiction. They are just flat-out killers. They cost a lot of money. They take an unseen toll on friends and family who have to watch the people they care about actively poisoning themselves.

Now let’s look at cannabis. Again, physiologically, there is just no medical or scientific evidence to support a claim that weed hurts adults from any sources I trust. The exact opposite is true. Far from just a recreational application, cannabis has tons of medical uses and is highly effective against some very hard to treat conditions.

Yes, cannabis can be expensive and, for certain, there are people who abuse it just like anything else, but the potential toll it may take can be reduced to insignificance with some planning and discipline.

One facet of cannabis use that gets overlooked is the preventative health benefits it provides. I don’t look at marijuana as simply a drug. I mean, it is, in the technical sense; but to me, it is more like a vitamin or supplement.

I wholly believe that my cannabis use is a large factor in my overall wellness. At the risk of sounding like the crazy Windex dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding (the guy sprayed Windex on everything as a cure-all, even scrapes and cuts), my cure-alls are cannabis, tea, and neti-potting.

So to address the my friend’s comment, I will likely never want to quit using marijuana.

The reason(s) I use it is for health and well-being (which is about as antithetical to cigarettes as you can get). I also have an exercise habit and strong preference for eating healthy foods, but I don’t plan on giving those up either.

To restate it: I don’t want to quit; I see no good reason for doing so. Wanting to change your life is crucial to actually changing, but I love what cannabis does for me. I spent a long time without cannabis. I really don’t relish the idea of ever needing to go back to that place of dis-ease and stress.