High on Marijuana Anonymous

When the COVID-19 pandemic propelled the world into lockdown 2 years in the past, a latest school graduate in New England – let’s name her Julia* – all of a sudden realized that her day by day obsession with marijuana had already ready her for all times in isolation.

“Weed is a drug that doesn’t make you want to go with other people,” says Julia, who had simply returned house to assist her mom’s battle with stage IV most cancers. “It’s a drug that makes you want to sit alone in your room. So when the pandemic hit, my first thought was ‘Oh, wow, now everybody is going to live like I do.’

“That was a scary moment for me,” she admits, “realizing that a global pandemic isn’t going to change the way I live my life all that much.”

Julia determined it was time to ditch her finest pal since school: dab pens, the tiny digital units that launch a vapor of extremely concentrated hashish oil or wax, much more potent than the clumps of bud, stems, and seeds bought in baggies again within the day.

Now she’s joined a rising crowd of customers with a brand new BFF: Marijuana Anonymous, a corporation that employs the identical 12-step program conceived by Alcoholics Anonymous to assist customers deal with their drug of selection.

“It doesn’t just get you sober, it makes you a better person,” says Susan*, 66, a Hollywood govt who kicked a 40-year behavior after becoming a member of MA 12 years in the past. “It helps you admit you’re powerless over this substance that has made your life unmanageable. I’ve seen people in the program really grow up and mature as they gain a certain kind of wisdom about coping with the difficulties of living.”

MA has been round since 1989, nevertheless it has lengthy been overshadowed by the far larger and better-known AA and its associates, together with Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Alateen.

“MA is a small fellowship with limited resources trying to get the word out to the world,” says Lori, 45, a Los Angeles author who attended her first assembly 16 years in the past. “We’re here to help the marijuana addict who is suffering while we work on our own sobriety and recovery.”

 

A Surge in Interest

These days, MA is internet hosting extra customers than ever. The surge in curiosity has coincided with the continued pandemic as untold 1000’s of marijuana addicts discovered themselves sinking decrease as they obtained larger and better. Other components contributing to elevated use nearly definitely embrace the proliferation of measures legalizing weed nationwide and the broadly sanctioned use of medical marijuana.

There is not any onerous knowledge to confirm that principle, however there’s little doubt that marijuana is not taboo within the United States. The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics (NCDAS) reviews that 55 million Americans – 16.9 % of the inhabitants – use marijuana in some type, from smoking old-school joints, bongs, and pipes to ingesting edibles or vaping. Perhaps surprisingly, these shoppers far outnumber the 36.5 million Americans who smoke tobacco, in keeping with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

NCDAS additionally reviews that public approval of medical marijuana – authorized in 36 states – has considerably diminished the stigma as soon as hooked up to the drug. In reality, 56 % of Americans now contemplate weed “socially acceptable,” whereas a far larger swath of the inhabitants believes it’s much less of a well being menace than tobacco (76 %), alcohol (72 %) and pharmaceuticals (67 %).

But medical specialists warn that nobody ought to shrug off pot as merely a innocent herb. Studies present that 9 % of marijuana customers develop an habit, says Marvin D. Seppala, MD, chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

“The unfortunate truth is that the lack of serious, early consequences to marijuana addiction allow for a long, slow decline,” Seppala writes within the introduction to MA’s bible, Life with Hope: A Return to Living Through the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Marijuana Anonymous. “An individual may wake up years into this chronic illness, without a reasonable understanding of how their life got so far off track. … However, isolation from friends and family, loss of interest, and lack of participation in activities that used to bring joy, and the crushing weight of missed opportunities add up.”

 

Zoom Is an Unexpected Silver Lining

Judging by MA’s progress for the reason that pandemic, extra customers than ever are considering that gap within the soul. The excellent news is their bid for restoration has been aided by an surprising silver lining within the age of COVID: the flexibility to attend conferences on Zoom as an alternative of trekking to conventional in-person gatherings in church halls, neighborhood facilities, and different assorted amenities that may be as bare-bones as a trailer.

Five years in the past, MA operated 17 districts worldwide. Today there are 27, together with the latest chapters in Chicago and Iceland. In-person conferences that sometimes attracted 15 customers at the moment are internet hosting 30 to 50 on Zoom.

“The number of newcomers coming to meetings virtually is astounding,” Lori says. “I’ve also noticed a much more diverse set of addicts.”

A membership survey carried out by MA in 2021 revealed that just about precisely half of respondents are over 40 years outdated, whereas the opposite half is cut up evenly between ages 31-40 (25.5 %) and 21-30 (24.7 %). Women barely outnumber males, however 8 % determine as nonbinary.

“One of our committees right now is dedicated to representation and accessibility,” says Audry, 39, an educational designer for a youth nonprofit in northern California who has been sober for 20 years. “We are not the experts on who does or does not struggle with marijuana addiction in regards to ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. So there’s a lot of work to be done to make sure we can reach everyone.”

That outreach already reveals indicators of paying off at a grassroots degree. In Oakland, for instance, a long-established Friday night time assembly for girls who determine as queer or transgender routinely attracted 6-10 customers previous to the pandemic. But ever for the reason that conferences went on-line, post-COVID attendance has greater than tripled to 20-30.

That mentioned, MA’s board stresses there’s – and at all times can be – just one requirement for membership: a want to stop weed. The group steers away from politics, gives no opinions on hot-button points like legalization and medical marijuana, and has zero curiosity in lecturing customers.

“We do not demonize marijuana or addiction,” says Lindsay, 29, who works for a nonprofit company within the San Francisco Bay Area and started her restoration 5 years in the past. “I came from a home with alcoholism and family dysfunction, and marijuana was one of the many tools that helped me survive. I thought of it as a friend. But it was a coping mechanism that no longer worked when I became an adult.

“My life has only gotten better because I have a lot more clarity now,” she provides. “I’m not in a literal or metaphorical haze or fog.”

‘Marijuana Isn’t Addictive’ Misperception

As MA guides customers to restoration, one among its most urgent challenges is to dispel the lingering notion that marijuana isn’t addictive. Stories abound of customers figuring out themselves as marijuana addicts at NA conferences solely to be met with eye rolls.

“Many people I know have been laughed at,” says Anne-Katherine, 56, a psychological well being employee in Los Angeles who joined MA greater than 5 years in the past. “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be that mean, but it’s like, ‘Look, I’m on heroin and crystal meth. I wish I was addicted to marijuana. That sounds like child’s play.’”

Far from it. The CDC estimates that 3 in 10 hashish shoppers have a marijuana use dysfunction – and the chance of growing a psychological dependency will increase considerably for anybody who begins utilizing earlier than age 18.

“Long-term or frequent” use has additionally been linked to elevated threat of psychosis, hallucinations, and schizophrenia in some customers in addition to critical bodily sickness. “You might want to Google ‘Cannabinoid Hyperemesis syndrome,’” suggests Anne-Katherine. “That’s when the receptors in your gut lining get so saturated with cannabinoids” – the numerous chemical compounds in marijuana, together with THC, the first supply of weed’s notorious buzz – “that you cannot stop vomiting. It’s become such an issue that there is one MA meeting dedicated to it.”

No marijuana-related concern is out of bounds at MA. Veteran members swear the assist they’ve acquired at assembly after assembly has been the rock-solid basis of their sobriety.

“It’s a group of people that totally get you,” says Robin*, 56, a behavioral coach who began smoking weed when she was 12 and didn’t cease till she joined MA 9 years in the past. “I had lived for decades with this addiction that I had no idea there was a solution for. The minute I found MA, it was a spiritual experience. I just knew I belonged there.”

“When I go to an MA meeting, I’m home,” agrees Kate*, 47, an actual property agent who discovered MA after years of attending AA conferences. “It’s the most treasured part of my life. Without it, I would have nothing.”

Julia, the faculty grad whose marijuana use drove her into lockdown lengthy earlier than COVID, is 23 now. She moved south final fall after her mother handed away, began a brand new job in retail, and continues to attend 4 or 5 MA conferences on Zoom each week. She hasn’t touched a dab pen since October 2020.

“My year-and-a-bit of sobriety has not been the easiest year of my life, but I’m doing really well,” she says. “I have a much wider support system. I’m living my life in a more present and fulfilled way, and I’m a much, much better person to be friends with now than I was before.”

Indeed, Julia has little question that her lightbulb second equating the pandemic’s isolation to her self-imposed solitary confinement with a vape pen was the essential tipping level that tamped down her want to get excessive and pushed her towards MA, a transparent head, and a greater life.

“Recognizing the reality of my addiction was a really internal thing, you know?” she says. “I know how I felt at my bottom, and I know I never want to feel like that again.”

*Some names have been modified to make sure anonymity.

For extra data on Marijuana Anonymous, together with an up to date listing of conferences worldwide and hyperlinks to pamphlets and literature detailing this system, go to marijuana-anonymous.org or name (800) 766-6779.