OK, so you're ready to make some change. What happens now?

 

Withdrawal

Some people believe cannabis isn't addictive like some other drugs and that you can't be physically dependent on it. While it isn't common for people to feel as physically sick as someone stopping some other drugs, many people find the first week or two after cutting down smoking cannabis can be unpleasant. For some people it's bad enough to go back to smoking. One of the most common reasons people relapse at this stage is not being able to sleep.

Knowing what is happening can help you to ride out the changes, while your body adjusts to having less or no cannabis floating around your system. Withdrawing from cannabis often isn't so much a physical withdrawal as an emotional one. The difficulty with this is it can be hard to tell the difference between withdrawal and your normal emotions. It's normal to get snappy or moody, and you may do some damage to important relationships without realising it's just a side effect of changing cannabis use.

Common things people experience when reducing or ceasing cannabis use:

  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Vivid and often disturbing dreams
  • Mood swings
  • Irritability (and generally biting people's heads off)
  • Anxiety
  • Headaches
  • Tiredness
  • Physical discomfort, such as sweating, or hot and cold flushes.

Things that can help:

Time The good news is that these symptoms pass, usually in one to two weeks.
Look after yourself Drink plenty of water or juice, eat well, try to get some exercise and get plenty of rest, even if you don't sleep well.
Decrease stimulants Try not to have coffee, tea, cola, sugar or too many cigarettes before bed-time – it will make it harder to sleep.
Ye olde remedies Try the good old "warm milk and a bath" before bed time – if you still can't sleep, consider relaxing herbal teas or Valerian from a chemist. If you just aren't getting any sleep at all, you may want to consider asking your doctor about taking a mild sleeping tablet for a short while. However, be very careful about replacing one drug with another – if you think you're uncomfortable cutting down on cannabis, you don't want to experience withdrawal from sleeping tablets – it's really nasty.
Warn others Let people know you might be more moody than usual - whether you tell them why is up to you.

 

Cravings

Cravings are one of the biggest obstacles in cutting down or quitting cannabis. They cause that urge to smoke, even when you've told yourself you're not going to. You may experience cravings as physical discomfort, agitation or constant thoughts about the drug.

They're a pain in the neck to deal with, but the good news is they pass if you can hang in there long enough. Over time you get fewer cravings and they tend to get weaker and last for a shorter time. But in the first few days or weeks, it sometimes seems like they're never going to go away and you'll go mad if you don't smoke.

It can be useful to think of cravings being like a hungry cat that meows "Feed me, feeeeeed me!" at your door. If you feed the cat, it knows it's on to a good thing and it's guaranteed to come back. If you don't feed it, the cat might try harder to get your attention, but it will eventually lose interest and go try somewhere else. Cravings are much the same - the more you give in to them (and they can seem very convincing), the more they come back, again… and again… and again… If you can just ride them out, they do pass and they do go away.

Here's a few strategies that heaps of people trying to resist cravings have found to be useful. With a bit of trial and error, you should find some ideas that also work for you:

  • Notice when the craving starts – it's the first step in doing something about it.
  • Remind yourself that cravings are a normal part of cutting down and that they will pass with time – the more you give into cravings the stronger they become.
  • Remember that cravings are like a hungry cat – the more you feed it the more the cat comes back. If you don't feed it, the cat eventually stops coming back.
  • Try to find something to distract yourself with - even if you only delay using cannabis.
  • Try to work out when you are more likely to crave cannabis - in certain situations, with particular people, when you feel a certain way - and plan ahead how you will deal with each situation when it comes up.
  • Delay using for an hour, or even five minutes. When the time is up, delay using for another hour, and then another, and so on. It is easier to resist cravings for a manageable period of time than to try to stop "forever". It's all too easy to convince yourself "well, just one more smoke won't hurt" if you tell yourself you'll never ever ever smoke again afterwards.
  • Talk to someone supportive when you start to get cravings.
  • Do something relaxing and enjoyable instead.
  • Have a bath or shower. Or a massage.
  • Go for a walk or run, or do other physical exercise.
  • Visit friends who don't use the substance or won't while you are there.
  • Watch a video or go to the movies.
  • Reward your efforts to cut down, even if you ended up using more than you meant to - it takes time to make change and being hard on yourself will make it more difficult.
  • Talk to friends who have already cut down and find out what worked for them.
  • Talk to friends about how they enjoy themselves or relax.

What else helps you to deal with cravings?

 

Cutting down

Strategies to cut down are pretty personal – what works for one person may not work for another. Some will work at first but won't be so helpful down the track. It's a good idea to be flexible – over time, you will get better at choosing the right strategy for different situations.

Some people choose to cut down before they quit, to get used to the idea. Other people find, no matter how hard they try, they can't cut down. This is particularly true for people who find it hard to resist the temptation to smoke as much as they can whenever they can. While we would never recommend anyone try and change their cannabis use by willpower alone, you do need some willpower to be able to just cut down rather than quit.

One way to cut down is to change the way you use cannabis. For example, think about changing from bongs to other ways of using cannabis. Here are some common strategies:

Smoke joints Smoking joints is generally healthier for your lungs than smoking bongs. It also helps to break the association between smoking and the "hit" you get from pulling cones. It's recommended that you roll small joints – eg one paper numbers – and use plain, untreated cardboard for the tip – this cuts down on the extra rubbish you are taking into your lungs apart from the cannabis. Another advantage of smoking joints over bongs is that it just makes it a bit harder to "have another one". If you're too stoned to be bothered rolling another joint, you probably don't need it – but it's just way too easy to smoke another cone.
Use a vaporiser Vaporisers heat up cannabis enough to release the main active ingredient in cannabis, THC, without burning it. This means you inhale the vapours, rather than breathe in smoke, which has a lot of other stuff in it that does nothing to help your high and isn't good for your lungs. Some bong shops sell them or you can order them over the Internet.
Make leaf butter Eating cannabis in the form of cookies or cake is better for your body – your lungs in particular. The main disadvantage of eating cannabis is that you are stoned for much longer (and may not want to be) and that it's hard to judge your dose as it usually takes at least an hour before you start to know how strong your dose was. Plenty of folk have gotten way more stoned than they meant to by being impatient and eating more cookies or cake before the first lot started to have an effect.
Don't add tobacco It's pretty common in Australia to mull up cannabis with tobacco but you might find it harder to cut down the cannabis if it's also a source of nicotine for you. Remember that tobacco and cannabis are both plants and contain heaps of other chemicals that your body has to deal with – putting the two together makes it harder for your body and may cause unexpected interactions.
Buy less at a time Although buying in bulk might seem like the cheaper option, people often find that the more they have the more they smoke. Try buying less each time to cut down the temptation to just keep on smoking.

Here are some other ideas that have helped people to cut down:

  • Plan your cannabis use.
  • Set limits on the day, time and amount used (eg only after 8 pm).
  • Try to have at least two cannabis free days per week.
  • Delay the first use, and then each use after that.
  • Find something else to do as a distraction from wanting to use more.
  • Arrive later.
  • Leave earlier.
  • Spend time with someone who will support your efforts to cut down.
  • Try to avoid situations where you are likely to use or use a lot.
  • Try to plan what days will be "normal" use and what days will be heavier use.
  • Only prepare a little bit of cannabis at a time, even if you intend to use more.
  • Place the drug in a place that is hard to get to, or give it to someone who is supportive of your efforts to change.
  • Put the cannabis and your smoking gear away between smokes.
  • Reduce your tolerance - you will need less.
  • Keep a record of how much you are using and check whether you are meeting your goals.
  • Don't try to keep up with other people - go at your own pace.
  • Check that you really do want a smoke - don't just smoke because it's there.
  • Only take as much cash as you need when you go out.
  • Leave your ATM card at home.

What else could you think of trying?