A personal story...

I started smoking weed when I was 25 years old, now I am 45. I think that's quite late for today's standards. Many chronic smokers begin smoking much earlier in life, sometimes even as young as nine.

I used to smoke cigarettes before I smoked weed but then I had a revelation that cigarettes are not giving me anything in return, except for an ashtray breath, yellow fingers and black lungs.

With weed at least I had a nice high that made me feel relaxed and also quite creative with good level of energy.

This is when it started. The use was out of control.

So because I stopped smoking cigarettes I smoked twice as much weed. This is why I went into chronic use so quickly. On an average day I would smoke three marijuana cigarettes with only weed and no tobacco.

After a few years the more I smoked weed the more self-conscious I was beginning to feel. I must admit I felt slightly isolated from the society. What at first opened me up now was partially closing me in. I kept telling myself that this type of social exclusion makes me feel happier and more secure. However, it didn't always feel good to be left out because you're a stoner and have no will to simply participate in the lives of others.

After a while I could also tell that my short term memory was beginning to suffer. At certain times I would find myself slightly disoriented and what might have been fun in the beginning now was beginning to get slightly scary and discomforting.

The weed that is available on the market today can be quite strong. It's all good and well controlled where marijuana is legal but in countries where it is not dealers have the upper hand and they often take advantage of the situation. Especially when it comes to less experienced smokers.

I'm actually really relieved that the strong skunk wasn't around when I was growing up or beginning to smoke. But sometimes dodgy dealers  lace ordinary weed with chemicals to make it even stronger. Very often they use a much cheaper drug called PCP which makes one feel really disoriented at first and then quite often paranoid.

I wish this wasn't true and the cannabis plant would get the respect it deserves, but the reality is that some dealers will do anything to salvage their business. Even if it means lying, cheating, and risking your health.

Was it worth getting injured or killed because of it?

Although I always tried to stay away from unknown weed it is was often impossible not to cross paths with dealers whom I didn't know. Although on the most part I was quite fortunate to meet nice individuals, not all encounters and sales have been pleasant.

One time I was in Buffalo, New York with a strong urge to smoke and my girlfriend at the time insisted to look for some weed. We drove around trying to find any skate parks and we accidentally drove into a dodgy neighbourhood.

When we came to a red light near a shop with some bloods, they looked at our registration plate and noticed we weren't from there. To which they reacted promptly by attacking our car and trying to get inside. Shouting obscenities at my girlfriend.

I got really scared when I saw one of the crackhead's mouth with rotten teeth on my windscreen and despite the light still showing red I quickly accelerated through the crossing dropping them three to the side of the car. When I checked the rear view mirror I saw them get up and expressively shout and show the middle finger in our direction. 'That could have gone really bad.' I said. The girlfriend stayed quiet, still in shock.

This situation could have ended very badly for both of us and the reason we found ourselves in it was that we were looking for weed. There are other stories that were part of the adventure of my weed addiction. At first they were fun, but as I got older I realised that losing life over something so trivial would be a complete and total waste.

What the hell happened to all my money?

I knew it was time to definitely cut down on my weed intake as it wasn't good for my health anymore, and it wasn't good for my wallet either. I would spend over $350 per month on weed on average. It was time to put this money into something else. Something which would make me feel better than being stoned.

When a friend of my who is a mathematician to my house to smoke some weed with me, he made a quick calculation that over the many years of my 'recreational' habit I probably spent about $84000 on weed. That's a nice sized house in some states or other countries. This blew my mind.

I'll be honest. I tried quitting marijuana a few times but the withdrawal symptoms were too overpowering and I always caved in.

Then a dear friend of mine recommended a detox program that got rid of the headaches, excessive sweating and even the nightmares (as they are largely dependant on our mental and physical state).

How to stop smoking weed without the awful withdrawal symptoms?

There are many guides that will help you get through the withdrawal symptoms. The Quitting marijuana program is one of the most popular ones and has been used by many 'stoners' very successfully. Here is a short video which summaries the program

In addition to above mentioned self-help guides there are a few other suggestions that I'm going to share here and that have really worked very well for me. As far as I know hundreds of other people used these methods successfully to overcome their marijuana withdrawal symptoms.