Green Man with another confession

Spliffs, music and relaxation

So as soon as I went to college, I tried Cannabis... first in a spliff (with tobacco) which made me sick... but I realised it was the nicotine making me feel poorly, so I started using the pot in a pipe. The world of music suddenly became so alive! I felt the ability to relax, for the first time in my hyperactive life, and I became friends with a group of people because they and I shared the same secret.

However, I was never good at keeping secrets and was very open about my Cannabis use and as it seemed quite acceptable, there was little to stop me getting right into the Cannabis culture. I did, however, make a set of rules for myself about synthetic and man-made drugs.. which I deemed off limits for me as I could tell that I was a potential junkie, after my first experience with opium (home grown) which I loved. I became a daily dope smoker, and soon was using my water pipe habitually several times a day. This seemed to have no negative consequences... I still had loads of energy, got things done, built up my career as an entertainer, had good relationships, and was only spending about £10 or £15 a week on my weed habit, which did genuinely enhance my life. I came to think of it as a medication, helping control my hyperactivity.

Health problems

However, as I approached my 40s my health started to suffer, with a bit of a cough and a sore throat, and worries about whether I was addicted. I was able to stop, whenever I wanted to, but I soon started again as I missed the feeling of it. Around my 40th birthday I went to a local drugs counselling service but they were 'geared up' to help smackheads, speedfreaks and cocaine casualties, and they didn't have much info on giving up Cannabis. The literature they had seemed like it wasn't even written by dopeheads!

So, in January 2007, I gave up. It wasn't difficult, as it seemed that the Cannabis gave me up, rather than the other way around. Within a few weeks I knew I'd given it up for good. Although I'd like to be one of those people who can use it occasionally, I'm not like that... I'm 'all or nothing', so since then there's been nothing, no relapses, I'm 'clean'. And a friend of mine who's tried to give up lots of times said to me 'You should write a book about it'... so I am! The outline of the book is in place, some of it is written, but I need to do some research to find out about other peoples' experience of giving up Cannabis. So I have written a questionnaire to survey users and ex-users experiences of giving up, or trying to. Please fill it in if this applies to you: http://www.thesistools.com/so/web/index.php?formID=49233&ln=eng&page=1&uid= thank you.

Help to quit

There are many reasons why people take recreational drugs, and equally as many reasons why people give up, or want to give up but find it difficult. Most drugs, even Cannabis, can have negative consequences with some users some of the time. My aim for writing the book is to help Cannabis users who want to quit but are finding it tough, and to give users information about what it's like to stop, so that when/if they get to that stage in their lives, they know what to expect.

There are a myriad of anti-drugs groups out there, mostly made up of people who have had their lives turned upside-down or believe that drugs are 'wrong'. There are lots of pro-drugs groups, especially pro-Cannabis, as it is widely demonised and the majority of users do not suffer negative consequences and don't find it difficult to give up. There are fewer impartial organisations, which just give honest advice, facts and a mixture of opinions. The best relatively impartial organisation is Talk to Frank which has a range of views but exists to give information, including information on how to give up. When my book is finished, I shall offer Talk to Frank a copy and I hope they'll put it on their 'resources' list.

If you are enjoying using drugs, that's ok for now but giving up isn't that bad... it may be better than what you are doing now. If you are using drugs and have a problem, giving up is the right thing to do and I encourage you to 'Talk to Frank' or your GP (they wont be upset or surprised, they'll try to help you) or go online and put the name of your problem drug plus 'help' in a search engine and follow the links. Good Luck!