With the increased availability and legitimization of marijuana, I have met people at A.A. and N.A. meetings, recovering from “hard” drugs such as opiates and cocaine, who have made the decision to continue using marijuana to “relax” or to “unwind”. Some in N.A. even continue to drink alcohol in order to “fit in” or “socialize” with the outside world. This trend seems to be on the rise, especially in the context of Covid-19, which has induced a sense of boredom, isolation and anxiety in the world. Alcohol and marijuana have increasingly become coping “strategies” in “Recovery”, whereas a few years ago, they would have been excluded out of hand, as befits any program of total abstinence.
The arguments for using alcohol and marijuana are:
- That these are “soft” drugs which have not (yet) led to any social problems;
- That alcohol and marijuana use have not (yet) resulted in the use of “harder” drugs; and
- That these “soft” drugs are helpful in dealing with “stress”.
The operative word for arguments #1 and #2 is “yet”. The “recovering” addicts making these arguments and using alcohol and marijuana “casually” are seldom more than a few years into their “Recovery”. The statistics for long-term Recovery do not favour this “casual” use. “Controlled drinking” and “casual” marijuana use are not associated with sustained long-term Recovery from “harder” drugs, as can be demonstrated in the existing health sciences literature.
But are there no exceptions? Certainly there are. Statistically speaking, there are almost always exceptions to be found to any general principle. But they are just that – exceptions. Is it worth risking one’s health and life for the remote possibility of being one of the “exceptions”? Alcohol and marijuana, acting as gateway drugs, can pave the way for a cocaine or opiate relapse (to name just a few “hard” drugs). This can have devastating, even lethal, consequences. Unfortunately, this is a far more common outcome than the “exceptions”.
As for argument #3, that the “recreational” use of marijuana and/or alcohol helps to “relax” and “unwind”, that it puts one in a better frame of mind, that it relieves stress, etc… The notion of self-administering drugs and/or alcohol in order to alter one’s mood goes against the very principles of the Twelve Step programs. We became addicted to substances in the first place because we didn’t like how we felt, because we wanted to be in a different state of mind. Why should we now fall into the same trap using “softer” drugs? We have got to stop self-medicating and learn to deal with our moods, outlooks, states of mind using non-chemical alternatives.
And we have got to stop deluding ourselves that just because alcohol and marijuana are legal, they are O.K. for addicts and alcoholics in Recovery.
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