Thinking about quitting
Am I addicted to cannabis?
People can become addicted to cannabis. Approximately 1/10 people who use cannabis become addicted.
Some signs that may suggest you re addicted include:
- having to use cannabis just to feel normal
- needing more of the drug to get the same effect
- suffering withdrawal symptoms, like irritability, if you stop using
- prioritising using weed over other things in your life
Take our really quick SDS quiz to find out if you are dependent on cannabis.
How can cannabis affect my life?
An important step in deciding to quit is working out why you want to quit. That can start with figuring out if cannabis is affecting your life in a way you don t want it to.
People start using cannabis for a variety to reasons and some don t experience any problems, but if you continue to use cannabis regularly over a period of time you may start to notice some negative effects of using.
These problems could include:
- worsening of anxiety or depression symptoms (or other mental health problems)
- trouble sleeping
- a chronic cough
- decreased memory, attention and motivation
- addiction
- financial problems due to the cost of weed
- Strain on relationships or a lack of social motivation
Should I quit or cut down my cannabis use?
Deciding if you should quit weed is up to you. You may have had family members or friends encourage you to quit, because they ve noticed how it is affecting your life, but at the end of the day you need to make the decision to quit for yourself.
In making that decision, it can be helpful to write down the pros and cons of using cannabis as you see them.
Pro: it s fun hanging out with my mates and smoking weed together
Con: I have trouble getting the motivation to do my uni assignments
Now try writing your pros and cons
Rate each item from 1 to 10 to indicate how important they are to you, 1 being not so important, 10 being extremely important.
Here’s some pros to get you started.
Once you ve completed the list, you might find the cons for using weed outweigh the pros. If this is the case, keep a copy of the list and read over it regularly for motivation during quitting/cutting down.
Think about when and why you use cannabis
Knowing when and why you use cannabis can help you really look at your use and work out if it s a positive or negative in your life. Try filling in this self-monitoring diary page and reflect on your entries after a week or so.
If you do decide to quit, signing up to Joint Effort can be a HUGE help, as it includes tools that allow you to work out your triggers for use and come up with strategies to overcome them.
Is life better after weed?
Everyone is different and for some people weed is something that helps them cope or they really enjoy doing. But for other people the experience may not be so enjoyable anymore, it may be getting in the way of life or they may decide to find other ways to cope or relax.
In deciding to quit, you may find it helpful to talk with people you know who have quit weed so you can get their perspective on how life is after quitting weed. We ve done some of the work for you, talking to some ex-users to see why they quit and if lifer is better after weed.
- Here s a blog from an Australian guy in his twenties about why he quit weed and how life s going for him post quitting.
- Want to start your own journal (public or private). If you sign up to Joint Effort, use the journal tool to record what s happening while you quit and identify the challenges and the positives as they come up.