Do I have a problem

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Am I a pothead? Let me describe the situation - I like to have a smoke on nightly basis. Pot is like wine - it's not for special occasions - it makes the occasion special. Incidentally, I do not like to drink. Being drunk feels bad, and it makes me sleepy. Pot makes me not sleepy, but the only effect on actual sleeping is, I do not dream when I fall asleep after a smoke. Do I care? I would probably prefer not having dreams to having them. Is my life stressful? You might say that – I’m married, own my own business, responsible for providing for my family, have a 3 year old daughter. For relief I exercise and do music, but there’s nothing like a little smoke. It doesn’t take much – sometimes I can make an 1/8 last me a month. Being stoned also allows me to think of things that I am afraid to think of when I'm not stoned. It makes me consider all the possibilities. Are there negatives? Sure. For one, my wife doesn’t like it or me when I’m on it. Why? It’s illegal. She says it makes me stupid. And I gain weight ‘cause munchies are impossible to resist. The problem is that my wife likes to do stuff around the house and she likes me to be around – I don’t go to bars or have friends of my own. I don’t mind that, but a little weed makes the time pass very well. I think if I lived alone, I would be out doing things much more, and I wouldn’t smoke much. Or may be that’s just a pipe-dream – I don’t know because I love my wife and am not planning on testing my theory any time soon. When was the last time I had a smoke? Over a week ago, and that was some ditch weed. Literally. What I was able to obtain lasted me about 2 weeks, and before then I’ve had nothing for 6 weeks. Which was the longest I’ve gone without it in the last 6 years. Question: Do I have a problem? What is it?

Nope. Your not buying an ounce a week. You dont have to be high to mantain. Your not hurting your family (Like by spending all your money on weed) Just keep it how it is and you should be fine.

Well said, Helmsman.Regardless of whether or not you fit someone's personal definition of 'pothead' I would have to agree that you have new responsibilities now to consider. Are you protective of your family? Would you want your little girl to grow up with pot? Also, you say you come up with new ideas while high, but if your wife says it makes you stupid, the ideas you come up with must not be as good as you think. It's also illegal, as you said, and being arrested would be devastating to your wife and girl. How well can you control yourself while high? You wouldn't ever want to risk being out of it so much that you would do anything you regret to your family, actions or words. I'd say the best decision would be to come clean for the sake of your family, if not for your own health and safety. But, as Helmsman said, it is ultimately your choice.

I apprecaite both responses, although obviously I was hoping to hear something more along the lines of FaBMX vs Helmsman. I think you're both right. Yeah, I'm not doing that much smoking, and am not affecting my family's welfare right now, by blowing all my money on weed, or spending all day long in front of TV or something like that. But I am putting everything I have in danger, because I like an illegal substance. The question becomes then, does the mere fact that I think about it and want it, mean that I have a problem, and therefore shouldn't have it?

I was re-reading your replies and wanted to clarify something: I have been smoking for may be 6 years, which is incidentally as long as I have been in business for myself - it helps me to deal with the stress. And I started smoking after I got married - my wife suggested we buy a bit and try it. It has still been MY little brain that likes this stuff, but it's not like I've been smoking this since I was 15 and now everything's different. AND I make a point of never smoking anywhere where my girl can see me. I want her to make the decision of whether to smoke or not on her own, and when she's much older.

While it might seem to help calm you down and relieve stress, keep in mind that it's not only potentially harmful to your family but harmful to your body. There are much healthier ways to reduce stress. Some people work out. A membership at a gym is a lot cheaper than illegal drugs, it's legal, and its beneficial to your body. It not only receives stress, but while you are at the gym working on your body, you can also think things through about your business. It also helps clarify thoughts a lot of the time. There are numerous things you can do to relieve stress, not just working out or exercise. Question: Does your wife still smoke as well, and if not how does she feel about you doing it as well as having a daughter while on drugs?

Also, just because you think about and want something doesn't mean you shouldn't have it. Try going without it for a while, try an alternate stress relief method, and see how well your body does without it. If you can't bear being without it, then you probably have an addiction. Counseling would be a good encouragement if you decide to stop, www.settingcaptivesfree.com is a free counseling site for addictions. If you handle yourself just fine without it for a while, then you're still susceptible to an addiction, but your body must have been doing well keeping it off. If the alternate method you chose is working, you may as well stick with it, if not, you might want to try something else. The decision is ultimately yours to make.

Thank you everyone. You input has been very helpful to me in a sense that it helps to talk things out and narrow problems down to managable - hey, it's almost like getting stoned - with a bunch of people that you don't know. Anyway. Here are a few things that I thought of as I was reading the posts:1. Are there circumstances under which it is okay to smoke pot? Once a year, at a party, on a deathbed, etc.?2. My daugher is NOT growing up with pot. If daddy is acting goofy at night, I think we can all live with it. How else am I to enjoy Adult Swim? And if she decides that she wants to smoke it, I hope that it’s legal by that time. Other then that I’m not really too concerned about it – it’s better than cigarettes or alcohol. 3. I am a member of a gym. In fact I go there 3-4 times a week to run and lift, and I run 5k s from time to time. Have you ever exercised while high? It makes me pay more attention to my form as it slows down my thinking. 4. My wife usually smokes with me because she’s smart enough to know that this stuff is best done together. She can have it from time to time and not need it. She’s the same way with cigarettes. 5. Would I hire someone if I knew they got high? If they did their job - you bet. If it interfered with their ability to perform - that's a different story. But what people do on their own time - I do do this on my own time - is their business. 6. And lastly, but mainly - how do you know if you have a problem? If you go for a year and you still want it, does it mean that you have a problem? If somebody likes to have a drink when they come home at night but they don't need it everynight, does it mean they have a problem? Where is the line between reasonable consumption and addiction? P.S. What I keep coming back to is that I need to have something else in my life that puts my mind at that much ease. Something else that I can look forward to as much as I do to having a smoke. Something else that makes everything else okay. Doughnuts anyone?

What about some of the legal herbal smoke? Have you tried this? It still has the ill effects that any inhaled smoke product would have but provides different types of high and since it's legal, which would seem to eliminate on risk. It is also much cheaper!

I've tried legal stuff about 3 years ago. Spent over a hundred bucks on a "sampler" that I tried to smoke, but it's just crap in my opinion. Lots of smoke but no high out of it. I've done that that several times because it said that effect builds up, but nothing happened and I got tired of it. Although it has fancy names like 'skyscraper', etc. I'm afraid there's no legal substitute, besides using mail to get this stuff sent seems like inviting problems. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Just thought I'd put it out there. I had done research for a friend and saw that there were several options but found one company that seem to have some decent stuff and the price wasn't too bad. $60 or less for 1oz. I am not really trying to promote the use of any smoke but for someone who will use anyway it makes sense to suggest an alternate. Too bad your experience was not a good one and caused frustration & expense.

Oh, by the way, would you mind telling where you found it? I would like to know who NOT to recommend and make sure it is not same place my friend ordered from.

it was some place that has a lot of advertisements in High Times. Makes sense I guess... Wouldn't you think, though, that if there was a place that could get you high legally, they would be making billions? Good luck. I've gone now for over 2 weeks without smoking and couldn't be happier :frowning: Hope everyone's having a great time too...

This past Friday I crossed the 3 week mark since my last relapse. It is getting easier to go without smoking. And it's not like there's nothing else to do... Of course now it's past eleven o'clock. Wife went to sleep before the end of the SuperBowl, I've walked the dogs, did the customary jerk off and now am thinking about going to bed sometime soon myself. This would have been a great night for a smoke. Nobody up but me, relax, blog a little, watch TV... Oh, well. Of course I know that sooner or later we will have smokes again. But for now I can at least show myself that I am not as addicted to pot as I may have thought. Geez, I was about to have a vice and now even that's not happening... Hey, there's always online poker. May be I could get addicted to that? I hear they let you play for free...