My Sobriety Includes Cannabis. If Yours Doesn’t: That’s OK, Too.

I’ve had so many people insult my sobriety because it includes cannabis that it’s exhausting. Their behavior belittles what the experience has been for me. Without cannabis, I wouldn’t have been able to stop drinking alcohol — and it was vital that I quit drinking.

One of the defining features of my alcoholism was my ability to perform despite it. In my more clear-headed moments I would muse on how dangerous the ‘functional’ part of my ‘functional’ alcoholism was to me — because it was my excuse to myself that I could keep drinking.

Nothing broke — so, I kept drinking.

Right before I quit drinking, I loved running enough that maybe I would have quit, but I finished my second Pittsburgh Marathon. I did my training runs, even when I was still drunk from the night before. There were times I’d have to throw up 5 miles into a 20 miler, but the runs kept getting done (albeit barely). So, I kept drinking.

Right before I quit drinking, I cared about my career enough that maybe if the promotions had stopped . . . if I had started tanking in my career at the same time I was guzzling whisky . . . I would have quit. But I was still good at it. I was still being promoted. So, I kept drinking.

That was the problem with me and drinking — it would have gone on that way until it couldn’t, and I proved it, because the thing that finally broke was me. I ended up in a hospital emergency room with a Blood Alcohol content of .4, and some things to think about when I was discharged.

As I left, the ER doctor scoffed at my promise to quit drinking. I’ve never forgotten, and I haven’t had a drop to drink since.

One of the reasons I’ve managed to steer clear of alcohol for over seven years is the fact that I’ve had cannabis in my life. I can appreciate and understand those who can’t have cannabis in their lives. I hope others can understand that cannabis is an important part of my health (my physician agrees) and my ability to maintain emotional balance and health — and for me to exclude it is ultimately unhealthy.

As health care costs skyrocket and people begin to self-treat for a variety of diseases and ailments, we must understand that everyone’s path to well-being is their own path. Everyone’s path to sobriety and their means of maintaining it is as different as their path to addiction. We are all having a different experience — while we might be excited to share knowledge we’ve learned on our personal path with others, it’s also vital to consider that their experience may be vastly different than our own.