How To Stop Smoking Weed

Use this guide to learn how to stop smoking weed daily, for a tolerance break, for 30 days, or forever.

The first step on the journey to recovery is realizing that you have a problem with your marijuana use.  But, it can be difficult to judge for yourself whether you are addicted

Find out if you are abusing marijuana or addicted to it by taking our Weed Addiction Test below:

The best way to quit smoking weed is the one that works for you.   

You can click on each method to jump to that section.

It's the fastest way to quit and it's a clean break. 

If you have to detox by a certain date, like for a drug test or other important deadline, cold turkey is the only way to go.  

By quitting completely all at once, your body, natural endocannabinoid system, and mind will recover more quickly. 

Cold turkey is a great option if you are very motivated to quit or have attempted to taper, but were never able to get to the tapering part!

Tapering is a good idea if you are a heavy cannabis user and have experienced significant withdrawal symptoms before.

For example, if you are dabbing several times a day, or are stoned most of the time, tapering can help you avoid withdrawals that are preventing your from quitting.

The Idea Behind Tapering

The idea behind tapering is that you gradually remove THC and other cannabinoids slowly so that your bodies natural endocannabinoid system can gradually recover.

By slow decreasing your intake, you can avoid the distinct withdrawal symptoms that going cold turkey may cause.

This can be especially helpful if you've experienced panic attacks or more severe withdrawal symptoms.

The Problem with Tapering

The problem with tapering is that it takes significant control to stick to your plan to gradually reduce your usage.  

Many people who start to taper, don't follow through, and just go back to their old consumption patterns.

Eventually, you are going to have to smoke for the last time.  In some ways, tapering is delaying the inevitable final smoke.  

With this method, we take a more granular approach to breaking the habits and psychological addiction then tackling your marijuana dependence.    It's almost like a cold-turkey and taper at the same time

You'll need to know your baseline from the taper method above, but you are going to set a quit date related to the METHODS you use to get high.  

For example, let's say that you dab once ever two hours that you are awake.  

The first thing you'll do is cut back on the number of dabs per day over a week, until you aren't using shatter or wax at all.   Go ahead and smoke, but no dabbing after 1 week.

Next, we'll want to break the smoking/inhaling habit.   In order to avoid the heavy withdrawals, you are going to want to substitute smoke with edibles, tinctures, or capsules.       Break the habits and the psychology first, then taper your usage with doses you can control.

This method works because you splitting out the habit (smoking, dabbing, etc) from the effects (THC consumption).  If you can break away from the habit first, then you can gradually decrease your THC intake via non smoking methods.

The big benefit of this is that it's easy to measure.  You'll only use enough edibles, tinctures, or capsules to avoid withdrawal symptoms.   

This plan is unique to QuitMarijuana.Org.    The members area can help you determine if this is the best plan for you and to help you through the steps.

People say marijuana isn't addictive, but that just isn't true.  

Marijuana is certainly addictive., but milder than many other drugs.  While it doesn't show the same outward signs of addiction of heroin, crack or alcohol, weed addiction causes the same pain and regret as other drug addictions.

Unfortunately, the lack of 'signs of addiction' compared other drugs can lead to a long, slow decline in daily functioning.  

Days become weeks, weeks become months, and months become years...

And suddenly you realize your life has gone way off track.   Increasingly isolated, with lost opportunities and fading relationships.

Marijuana is slightly physically addictive when used heavily.  Marijuana withdrawal syndrome has a physical component when you quit cold turkey.   You may be familiar with the lack of appetite, sweating (hyper-hydrosis), headaches, chills and stomach problems.

So the question is, how does marijuana compare to these classically addictive drugs? Estimates vary, but compared with tobacco, which hooks about 20% to 30% of smokers, marijuana is much less addictive, coming in at 9% to 10%. In contrast, 23% to 25% of heroin users get addicted, along with 15% of alcohol users and 15% to 20% of those who use cocaine.

Your damn right you can!

It's up to you to take the action with the discipline and courage so you can make a change in your life. 

A tolerance break or t-break is break from cannabis that typically lasts from 1 week to 1 month.   

If you haven't had a t-break in a while, do you think you can go a week without weed? 

Does the thought of a week without weed make you anxious or uncomfortable?  

Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings when you consider taking a break.   What are they telling you?

Guess What?  Your previous failures are there to show you what doesn't work.  

You learn valuable lessons from your attempts to quit.    Truth:  You have to get a number of things right to stop smoking weed, and stay quit for 30 days, 90 days, a year, or forever.  

The journey is different for everyone.  But you can stop your weed addiction in its tracks...even if you have tried many times before.

Even if you are the daily heaviest smoker or dab constantly,  with a guided plan, and strong support structure, you can quit weed.

You can only fail when you give up trying.

Weed addiction can be tricky to deal with.  It can steal your motivation, and smoking lets you temporarily escape from the problems it causes. 

First off, there's the habit of smoking.    And with your habit, there are certain triggers or cues that cause you to smoke.  

Do you smoke to relieve stress or self-soothe?

It could be when you first come home from work or after you get into an argument with your partner. 

The longer you smoke, the more ingrained your habits and the more you rely on weed rather other coping skills.

Next up, THC, the most psychoactive ingredient in the weed you smoke is rising all the time.

Some weed grown in 2020 has twice as much THC as marijuana grown just 10 years ago.

Check out this graph of weed potency.

From: https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs25/25921/marijuan.htm

Stronger weed equals stronger addiction.  More people are addicted today than ever before.

Cannabis is a trickster.  

What other drug can trap you in your head with fanciful thoughts and ideas, while taking away your motivational drive to do anything with them?  

It's a real problem when you increase your marijuana consumption to numb away the problems caused by your marijuana consumption.  

You can get seriously stuck.  I know I was.

Cannabis is a trickster.  

What other drug can trap you in your head with fanciful thoughts and ideas, while taking away your motivational drive to do anything with them?  

It's a real problem when you increase your marijuana consumption to numb away the problems caused by your marijuana consumption.  

You can get seriously stuck.  I know I was.

The withdrawal information on this page is a summary.   Get my free book here, or view the marijuana withdrawal page.

When you smoke heavily, you are training you body to get the cannibinoids it produces naturally from the weed you smoke.   

So, when you quit smoking, your body reacts and has to adjust.    This process of adjustment is called "Marijuana Withdrawal Syndrome" and the side effects you are experiencing are the withdrawal symptoms.

When you stop smoking weed, you might experience withdrawal symptoms.  

Some people experience significant withdrawals, others, very little.     

Our Marijuana Withdrawal page has a complete list of symptoms, timeline, and how to minimize the withdrawal you experience.

Here's a quick recap of the most common symptoms.  

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5414724/

Marijuana withdrawal symptoms are the main reason people relapse on weed and go back to smoking.

Here's a free book to help you understand and overcome your withdrawal symptoms

Get Your Free Guide to understanding and overcoming marijuana withdrawal.

These tips are applicable whether you want to quit cold turkey, by taper, or with behavior substitution.

Here are the Stages of Change and how they relate to quitting.(footnote)

What stage of quitting weed are you in?

Where would you say you are?  Which of these stages have you been in? 

It's very common to have been in all of these stages and to cycle through the stages multiple times, each time bringing you closer to quitting. 

Remember, if you've been trying to quit weed without success, you've learned a whole lot about what doesn't work.

1 - Why do you smoke so much weed?

What's keeping you smoking now?   Why did you start in the first place?   Do your best to understand your addiction and when you feel the most cravings and the biggest triggers.

2 - Why do you want to quit?

Maybe you have to quit because of a new job, or you got into some trouble for smoking…Sometimes its just time to move on, and you realize that you are trading some short-term satisfaction for long term pain, stress and aren't progressing as a the person you want to become.

3 -Why are you going to be successful?

It's gut-check time.   Do you have a plan?   Have you thought everything through?  What have you done to set your self up for success.  

We cover the three why's in much more detail in the Quit Marijuana Action Plan

Take some time to think deeply about why you smoke, and go more than the first layer deep.  Some of use smoke to relieve stress, or to escape our current reality.   You might smoke because it's now a habit; get home from work and first thing you do is light up.

Understanding why you smoke is going to help you quit.   For example, if you smoke to relieve your stress, you are going to need to find new, healthier activities to burn off your stress.  Likewise, If you smoke because of past trauma in your life, you have to consider other ways to work on that trauma without resorting to weed.

Here's an example from my life:  One reason I smoked was because I had a low self-esteem and smoking made me part of a group of people that was easy to fit in with.   Joining the circle and passing a joint eased my social anxiety and helped me to feel like I was part of the group.

Ultimately, it wasn't until I quit that I was able to confront my social anxiety and manage it.  I'm still a little awkward in large groups, but hey, who isn't?

Maybe you have to quit because of a new job, or you got into some trouble for smoking…

Sometimes its just time to move on, and you realize that you are trading some short-term satisfaction for long term pain, stress and other side effects of marijuana.

When I knew I had to stop smoking weed, I took a step back and realized negative effects were pretty major.   I felt like I had lost some of the best years of my life to being stoned all of the time.  I created a huge list of all of the reasons why I wanted to quit:

1. Physical Reasons – I wanted to feel healthy
2. Psychological Reasons – I wanted to get my mind back and be happy again
3. Relationship Problems – I was stuck in a rut
4. Financial Reasons -My money was funneled to the weed lifestyle
5. 
   

6. I felt like I had lost some of the best years of my life to being stoned all of the time.  I created a huge list of all of the reasons why I wanted to quit:

   Here's My post:  Why I Quit Smoking Marijuana. 

Cravings, temptations, moments of weakness;  whatever you want to call them, these are the reasons you slip-up or relapse despite knowing that you want to be sober and quit for good.

Over time, you've become conditioned to smoke at certain times, with certain people, or when when you experience a trigger that makes you smoke.  You'll learn to identify your triggers, respond to them without smoking weed, and become more aware of yourself in the process.

In the Quit Weed 30 Day Action plan, there are multiple lessons that help you identify your cravings and triggers then help you develop the techniques you need to stay strong.   Everyone has different triggers, so tracking these and developing strategies for each one is the best path forward.

Here's a quick example:

When you feel an urge to smoke weed, set a timer on your watch for 5 minutes.   Take the next 5 minutes to observe how you are feeling without judgement. 

Pay complete attention to all of those feelings.  

Chances are, even by focusing for 5 minutes, your mind will wander away from craving weed.   Let the craving pass!

Marijuana withdrawal is real.   The most common symptoms are Insomnia, night sweats, irritability, lost of appetite, and depression.

You need to know what to expect with your withdrawal symptoms.   This is so important that I wrote a free e-book "The Truth About Marijuana Withdrawal". Get it Here.

A recent study out of University of Illinois proves you may already know:  Withdrawal can be so severe that you will smoke to relieve the symptoms.  No surprise there, but it's nice to see that science is catching up to what I've been writing about since 2007.    There's no magic pill to relieve withdrawal, but there are natural remedies you can include in your quitting plan that will significantly reduce withdrawal symptoms.  A detailed list of recommendations is included in the Members Area.

One of the most difficult things someone who quits marijuana goes through is how friends and friendships change with people who still smoke weed. As someone who has quit marijuana, I know the difficulty of this situation and have some advice. Knowing how to manage your relationships when you first quit marijuana will make the quitting process easier.

We all know that people who smoke tend to hang out with people who smoke. Non-smokers hang out with non smokers. If you want to quit smoking pot, and all of your friend still smoke, it almost feels like you’re not just quitting marijuana, you are also leaving your friendships behind…

Stress can cause you to relapse and start smoking weed again. Stress causes physical, mental, and emotional problems.

Luckily, with relaxation techniques, you can diminish the stress in your life, and that makes the beginning of recovery far easier.

These techniques can be used when craving, or as part of a daily ritual to assists you during withdrawal from marijuana.

Check-out a sampling of relaxation techniques here:

There are significant differences between a slip and a relapse.  They are two very different situations.

Lapse vs Relapse

A slip, AKA a 'lapse', is usually when someone you smoke weed but then stop quickly afterwards.  Usually, what happens is you smoke, then immediately regret smoking and it actually strengthens your resolve to quit.   You take the mistake as a learning experience, then move on and work towards your sobriety.  

For some people a simple slip can become a downward spiral into a full-blown relapse with no escape in sight.   Relapse comes from latin "to slip back". We consider a 'relapse' to be falling back to your old substance abuse problem and bad habits.

You can be sober for weeks, months or years, and relapse for weeks, months, or years! 

Slips are usually short-lived and don't take away from your motivation to recover from weed addiction.  In fact, You should use slips as learning tools to motivate you to stay sober.  A slip is something you can quickly recover from and make you stronger.

Some of the most common concerns for a potential slip-up are: 

What weed addiction treatment options are there?

If you can’t stop or quit weed on your own naturally, your may want to seek professional help:

• QuitMarijuana.Org and the 30 Day Action Plan was created to give you everything you need to quit at an affordable price.
  
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• It combines the social support of 12 step programs, but uses best practices like cognitive behavioral therapy to help you figure out how to stop smoking weed because you will write you own quitting plan based on your unique life. 
  
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• It costs far less than a single session with a therapist or counselor.  Click Here to join today.

Professional Marijuana Addiction Treatment

• A psychiatrist or doctor may be able to work with you to treat underlying conditions that cause you to smoke in the first place. 
  
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• For example:  let's say you smoke to treat your anxiety, you may be prescribed medications that help with anxiety so you can stop taking marijuana.   Sometimes the meds have side-effects worse than medical marijuana, so do your own research after you consult with a professional.

In Patient Rehab

• In-patient rehab is an intensive and often expensive option.   I recommend this most when there are multiple addictions, like alcohol and weed, or you've been addicted to harder drugs in the past. 
  
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• Online resources can help you locate a local rehabilitation clinic, therapy or counseling for drug and/or addiction treatment.

Counseling

• Group counseling sessions can help you find support by talking through your issues and meeting like-minded people.  Marijuana Anonymous is one example of this type of group. 
  
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• The issues with these groups is that when you quit forever, you want to move on, and dragging yourself to meetings all the time can be difficult to do.   12 Steps groups have poor success rates relative to other treatment options.
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• An addiction counselor can be useful to talk to.  I know a few that work specifically with people who are addicted to weed and want to quit.  Contact me if you would like a referral.