Jim has always smoked pot longer than he did meth, the question is can a person stay away from meth and just smoke pot, it don't really bother me that he smokes pot, I think it helps him to relax, but a friend said that he would go back to meth because he needs a stronger drug..any oppinions on this?

       message board replies...

Some can, some can't.

yes

I think some folks can.

Unfortunately, I am not one of them. I don't like pot enough to be happy with it, it will just drag me on to something else.

choose
freedom

I have to stay away from all drugs in order to recover.

A drug is a drug is a drug...if you are truly an addict. I am an addict, 15 years clean now, and I can't.

...she if if you could,

anything is possible!

from what ive heard as well, it depends on the person.

as for my husband, he cant. pot is linked to meth for him.

hope it all works out

I NEVER smoked pot, but I loved smoking speed. It all depends on the person. Some people don't consider pot a 'drug' at all. I could sit in front of pot and never even wanna touch it, but it's a whole different game with speed.

I think marijuana can be as much of an exit drug as gateway drug, but it is still an addiction and is altering the person's mental state.

From a harm reduction perspective, I would rather see someone smoke pot than meth, but I would also like to see them stop the pot smoking as soon as possible.

Is there anything wrong with wanting to alter your reality? Maybe not, but living your life to the fullest is best done clean and sober.

Yes, but imo would make it harder to quit/stay clean.

Tenderhearts, is that a dogo argentino in your avatar?

... one signifigant risk is buying pot from someone who also deals meth or who is in close proximity to those who do. Many insist that pot has medicinal qualities and has helped them get through early withdrawls, an "exit drug".
Another valid concern is the inclination to bump up the pot dulldrums with a little meth. One more problem is that the pot is extremely potent nowdays and addicts will often abuse it like any drug, far in excess of it's medicinal purposes.

I don't like weed or alcohol all that much, but I smoked a little pot and drank a lot of booze at a wedding reception recently. It made me *REALLY* want to do a line 'just to sober up'. Suffice to say I won't be doing that again.

I have to stay away from ALL drugs to recover - smoking pot would just send me crawling back to meth. Besides, I LIKE having a clear head!

I smoked pot for years before I ever even knew what meth was; I grew to love it, over alcohol even (I was a college kid...it was my party years). Since then, all the other drugs that I tried, were only taken experimentally...never more than a couple of times, and I never got hooked because I always compared the high to the one that I knew and loved: kicked back, laughing, a little silly, a little sleepy. So mostly, I didn't really even care for any of the other buzzes, not even crack...until I did meth, that is. But now that I'm thinking about a recovery plan, I'm probably going to use pot as an "exit drug", and I don't think that, if I do make it off this dope, pot will ever lead me back to it. One, none of my pothead friends (most of my closest friends) use meth or deal meth. And two, when I'm high from smoking weed, I never really have an urge to hit my "other" stash.

Back to the subject question, I think it probably depends on how you've used before, and what your triggers are. If you pretty much always did pot and meth together, it will probably be a trigger for you later. If you run into meth frequently while you're getting your weed, that could be a trigger. Each case is different, we all have different things that will set us off, and not all of these effect others the same way...

My husband is the same- always smoked pot.Until meth.
He could always walk away from other drugs.

He too smoked more pot getting clean off the meth.
But it is like Dan said , there is a risk,it is a battle because most of the people my husband gets his pot from also deal in meth.Too easy to stop to get one and come out with the other.

Now 10 months later after quitting meth,he is weaning himself off of pot.Down from a quarter bag a week before to a joint a week.
I look for the pot to be gone within the next week or so.

When you get right with yourself, you find you no longer want or need substances to change who you are. It is this way for me anyway. I like who I am now. I do not want, or need, to alter myself. Reality is good. There are a lot of other legal, and less harmful, ways to relax. Just my three cents worth.

I've had to do some serious thinking on this one.

My son is now on day 11 off meth, but he has twice smoked pot. My first reaction is to throw up my hands and give up, but....

I have read your replies and after careful consideration I'm not going to make a big deal about it. That doesn't mean I am condoning or approving, but I am extremely happy that he's off the meth, and if he feels he needs to get high once in a while (it's only been twice in 10 days) to ease the tension, then so be it.

I AM however, going to point out that I know he's stoned when he is. I don't think playing blind or stupid is in anyone's best interest. And I think if I seemed to be approving or accepting it could get just as out of control as his meth use.

I hope that as he has more clean time he will give up the pot. At this point in his life for him to get anywhere (i.e. into vocational school, get a good job) it's imperative he gets off ALL drugs.

Just my opinion.

Quote:

I think marijuana can be as much of an exit drug as gateway drug

I couldn't agree more!
My take on this is that if the person was an avid pot smoker BEFORE they started using meth, then they could easily continue smoking pot without it leading to another episode with meth.

BUT, I also agree wholly with danimal:
Quote:

one signifigant risk is buying pot from someone who also deals meth or who is in close proximity to those who do

If the same dealer is offering both, then I think the likelihood of combination use will remain very high. In many cases, pot is much harder to come by than meth. If the dealer runs out of pot to peddle, I would assume that they might offer meth if they know he has a weakness for it.

JMHO, for what it's worth.

I don't think so. My husband smokes Pot daily & when he does Meth, it makes him smoke more pot. Pot is a downer - Meth is an upper. I don't see how. I have heard that taking pain pills have helped some people stay off Meth though. But then again, who knows! It's all in the person doing it and what they want!