Quit Smoking Pot

Triggers

Triggers are people, things, events or emotional states that prompt individuals to smoke. Triggers will always be a part of our lives. Keeping marijuana out of your day to day life, is a matter of managing and avoiding triggers. This takes planning as well as practice. Don’t expect perfection, and don’t assume that a lapse means that you will never quit.

There are many triggers that are common to a lot of people, and other triggers are highly individualized. For some, simply waking up in the morning is a trigger. For others it may be when their spouse uses a certain tone of voice when speaking to them. The following are some common triggers. Which ones apply to you? Can you think of additional ones?

• Certain People
• Certain Places
• Music
• Television Shows
• Television Commercials
• Movies
• Stress
• Boredom
• Anger
• Frustration
• Depression
• Feeling Hopeless or Powerless
• Leisure Time
• Celebrations

 

 

 

 

Leisure Time & Celebrations 

Everyone deserves to relax, unwind and have fun.  Celebrations are, by definition, special occasions where we indulge ourselves with pleasurable activities.  For some people, getting high is part of the recreation.  If you fall into this category and are trying to quit, it is because you have found that the pleasure of smoking is not worth the negative consequences that it brings. Developing new routines around leisure time and celebrations may involve changing some of the people you spend time with. It may involve not going to a particular person’s house, or not going to a particular night spot because marijuana is readily available there. Mainly, it will involve expanding your definition of what is fun.  Some smokers cannot imagine being able to have fun without being high. Can you think of a time when you had a good time while sober? What did you do? Who were you with? What was your mindset at the time? The answers to these questions can begin to show you what alternatives will work for you. Being high may give you a false sense of how good a time you are having. Some smokers have reported being under the impression that they were having a good time, when, upon closer examination, they realized that they did not feel good about themselves when they were under the influence.

In developing new routines around celebrations and leisure, consider the purpose behind the event. If it is the weekend and you don’t have to go to work, for example, think about what you have the opportunity to do instead. Do something that is different from what you do at work all week. If you are sedentary at work, find something active to do on the weekend.  Even if you are not an athlete you may enjoy walking around your neighborhood, window shopping at the mall or playing basketball at the local park.

If the event is a celebration, consider what you are celebrating. Is it someone’s birthday? Think of a way you can honor that person and the occasion without getting stoned. Be a better conversationalist, help the host or hostess of the party, and mingle more than you normally would. If the celebration is a holiday, consider what the meaning of the holiday is and how you can best commemorate that.  What positive activity can you think of that would go with the theme of the day?