How to Stop Smoking Weed

When you're curious about how to stop smoking weed, thinking about every positive benefit of making this change in your life can help you stay motivated to do it. 

Greater cognitive functioning and better mental capacity are two of the biggest reasons why many people choose to stop smoking weed. Smoking weed directly affects parts of the brain responsible for concentration, making decisions, learning, and memory. Many people who use marijuana on a regular basis experience something known as brain fog, as well as other cognitive issues like problems learning new things and inability to focus or memory loss. Some of these cognitive deficits can even remain after a user quits marijuana, depending on the volume they consumed and the length of time they used weed. Some cognitive functions, however, can even improve after you quit marijuana, such as the ability to learn new information and memory loss. One research study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that young adults and teens who stopped using marijuana had better new detail memory skills and processed information more effectively and efficiently than when compared with their peers who continued to smoke. 

Communication with others and forming coherent thoughts may come to you much more easily after you quit marijuana. Improving heart health is another major benefit to stop smoking weed. Marijuana increases the beating of your heart and can even increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack. This can occur as cannabinoids and THC travel from your lungs to the cardiovascular system, causing your heart to increase or get inflamed. When you quit marijuana, you can allow your heart to function more typically, lowering your risk of cardiovascular issues like a heart attack or stroke. 

Another benefit of quitting is to enhance your respiratory health. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same irritants, toxins, and carcinogens as tobacco smoke, according to the American Lung Association. It can also increase your exposure to tar, and this leads to pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a serious medical condition that only has a 3- to 5-year survival rate. Furthermore, marijuana can create lung sacs which can increase your exposure to fungus or bacteria often found in street cannabis. By healing the air sacs in your lungs after your decision to stop smoking weed, you can improve your cardiovascular and respiratory health and decrease your chances of facing a serious lung infection. 

Stopping the use of weed can also better influence your financial situation, too, since you won't need to purchase any. You can experience better financial, mental, and physical effects shortly after stopping use. 

If you wish to quit smoking weed, setting clear deadlines and timelines is very helpful for allowing you to step back from some of these negative impacts of marijuana. 

When someone has used marijuana regularly, they may experience withdrawal symptoms when they try to cut down or quit using the drug overall. One study found that nearly 40% of teenagers who were considered dependent on marijuana went through withdrawal symptoms when they stopped using. 

These symptoms can include headaches, restlessness, bad dreams, anxiety, irritability, nervousness, aggression, anger, depressed mood, cravings, stomach pain, chills, fever, or sweating. Withdrawal from the medicine itself is one of the most difficult parts of quitting marijuana. You may want to eliminate the emotional and physical symptoms of withdrawal, but this can block your full recovery. It is usually common for people to try to decrease their use of marijuana rather than quitting entirely, although this can be a significant challenge as well.

When you know what to expect with withdrawal symptoms, you're in a better position to prepare for it and to navigate through the difficulties of making a big adjustment in your life. If you can push through the withdrawal issues, you may be able to stop smoking weed. 

One of the best ways to address this problem is to take up other habits that are more healthy during this period. For example, you could start walking every day, or you could join an exercise class to help you stay on track. Building in other positive habits that fill the time and direct some of your energy away from the withdrawal symptoms. 

If you want to stop smoking marijuana immediately, make sure that you notify those in your support network about it, as the withdrawal symptoms and your behavior may be different. Get rid of any marijuana-related paraphernalia, identify the triggers that lead you to think about smoking or consuming marijuana, make a plan, find a replacement such as exercise or going to a treatment group, or taper your usage instead of going cold turkey. All of these strategies can help you to decide how to stop smoking weed and to do so effectively.

When you are committed to quitting this once and for all, it's good to have a clear plan to increase your chances of sticking with it. The more frequently you've been using marijuana, the harder it might be to quit cold turkey. It might take you some time to taper off, but establishing a plan in advance makes it more likely that you'll avoid the temptation to turn back to marijuana when you begin to feel withdrawal symptoms. 

Sometimes quitting with a friend or another group can be helpful because you're all working towards the same goal. It can be challenging to do this on your own, especially if you've become reliant on this as a daily or weekly habit.  The sooner you get started, the better it will be for your overall health.

Even if you're not seeking outside help to stop smoking weed, it's wise to tell trusted friends and family members about your decision. They can help keep you on track and support you when you question whether this was the right decision.

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Contact us today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation to learn more.