Few of us are fooled by the smiley, false teeth brigade. Who like to lead us into believing things have just fallen into place for them? That if we just do it their way, we to can obtain Nirvana. Recovery requires our dedication. No one else, no matter how much they want to, can do it for us. Sounds a bit cliché, doesn’t it?
Survival?
Recovery is a fight for survival. We sometimes miss the point and want to believe that if we do everything perfectly and follow the systems religiously, we will be exempt from the fight.
If you’ve ever wondered what your doing wrong, when you are doing everything right. Then perhaps this podcast is for you. I hope you enjoy it.
This podcast was recorded as a series of lectures given to people in 12 step addiction recovery treatment. The purpose of these talks was to teach and motivate individuals to search for their own spiritual solution to their addiction.
Please feel free to contact me directly or go to our site for more information:
The encouragement, love and support from the team at Crossroads allowed me to eventually see that I was worth something - that my life could be turned around and that I could accomplish the things that had long been a forgotten dream.
On the last day of my stint at Crossroads I could only express gratitude towards all who works there. A wise councillor once commented on my question when one is ready for rehab by explaining that when one is ready for rehab, rehab is ready for you.
I was lost and my soul was broken until I ended up at Crossroads and was introduced to the Twelve Steps. With the help of their excellent staff and amazing support I have recently been clean for 18 months, I could not have done it without them!
"Just for today I am more than three years in recovery. I have Cross Roads to thank for this wonderful gift. Cross Roads helped me to set a firm foundation in my recovery on which I can continue to build."
Given that this is currently such a hot button topic it seemed an appropriate time to address some of the Marijuana myths and misconceptions.
In the last week the Constitutional Court of South Africa made a monumental decision. It was decided that the prosecution of marijuana use was unconstitutional and thus over turned a long-standing law. Marijuana can now be legally cultivated and used by adults within private dwellings. The finer points of the law will be up for discussion and debate for the next 24 months. A bill will then be passed into law that will possibly dictate issues around where a person can legally buy marijuana, who can legally sell marijuana, how much one person can legally have in their possession at any given time, along with any number of minutia that may surround the issue.
Myth 1: Marijuana is not addictive: False
Though marijuana may not cause the same physical dependency as other drugs, it is psychologically addictive. This means that people rely on it for emotional and psychological stability. In an article by the Los Angeles Times it was stated that around 9% of people who use marijuana become addicted to it. Addiction is not a matter of withdrawal driving a person to use. This is obvious, otherwise people would not return to their drug of choice once these symptoms have subsided. People use drugs for a variety of reasons, mainly because they do not know how to cope with their everyday challenges without them. Marijuana is no different to any other drug in this regard. It can, and is, used so that people can separate themselves from their reality.
Myth 2: Marijuana is safer than other drugs: False
As with all drugs, legal or illicit, “safe” is a completely relative term. As an example, many people take opiate-based painkiller for a variety of reasons, they never abuse it, they do not become addicted and have no health consequences. Yet in the USA, drug overdose is the leading cause of death for people under the age of 50, with pharmaceutical grade opiates being the main offender. The likelihood of marijuana overdose is so small that it is practically insignificant. The risk factor does however increase dramatically when it is consumed in an edible form. This does not mean that there are no other ill effects. Looking at just overdose when assessing risk is irresponsible as it gives a person an incomplete picture of the risks involved. Safer does not mean safe. And safe for some does not mean safe for all.
Myth 3: Marijuana helps with mental illnesses like depression and anxiety: False
There is a reason why the paranoid stoner is a stereotype. Use of marijuana may induce paranoia in the short term while high and long-term use can lead to this spilling over into times when a person is not using the drug. The symptoms of anxiety and depression are often exacerbated by the use of any psychoactive substance as it changes the way a person’s brain functions. It can turn a completely healthy, normal brain into one that is malfunctioning due to physical changes that alter the structure and functioning of neurons along with many other structures and functions of the brain that are inhibited or altered by the presence of a drug. Studies have been done on these claims and there has been no significant evidence that it helps manage any sort of mental illness. The evidence for this is largely anecdotal. More likely these people are self-medicating. It may work for a time but not dealing with the underlying issues in a healthy appropriate manner will only cause them to become worse as time goes on.
Myth 4: Because marijuana is “natural” it is not bad for you: False
Marijuana is a plant. This is true. But it has no relevance when talking about its dangers. Heroin and cocaine are both derived from plant matter and their notoriety is without parallel. It should also be noted that marijuana as we know it today is completely different from what the plant originally was. There are two main ingredients in marijuana THC and CBD. THC is the chemical compound in marijuana that gets you high, CBD acts as a natural anti-psychotic and for a long time the two would balance each other out. Through breeding methods most marijuana has a much higher THC content than it had even a few years ago. This is a result of the demand for stronger and better drugs. It has also been speculated that the increase in THC and subsequent lowering of CBD levels affects the demand for rehabilitation for marijuana use.
Myth 5: Because marijuana is now legal it is safe to use: True/False
Legality have no impact on whether something is safe. Alcohol is freely available and yet everyone is aware of its dangers. It comes with warning labels, we see television and print ads about the dangers of drinking and driving. South African Breweries have launched awareness campaigns about the link between alcohol abuse and domestic violence. With the legalization of marijuana nothing changes about the risk factor involved in use of this drug. It is still the same drug. Legalization does however have a massive upside. Legal sellers and growers are invested in their business. This means that “laced “marijuana will effectively disappear and sales to underage people will be lessened as the people operating and making money within the confines of the law will be incentivised to do so.
But possibly the biggest win that was achieved was the fact the marijuana users will no longer be prosecuted. Many people avoid treatment for their drug addiction out of fear of the legal repercussions. The possibility that people will be more willing to seek help for their problems is a good thing no matter which way you look at it. So where does this leave us?
The decriminalization of marijuana has always been a polarizing issue, it is not different among the recovering population. One thing always remains true. People will use drugs, legal or not. Some of those people will become addicted, legal or not. In all the excitement of this breaking news we must always be aware that the dangers posed in the past will still be relevant in the future.
The bottom line is this: marijuana is still one of the most abused substances worldwide. It is addictive and can be harmful. And as with all addictions, early intervention and professional help is the best course of action in dealing with these issues.
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The encouragement, love and support from the team at Crossroads allowed me to eventually see that I was worth something - that my life could be turned around and that I could accomplish the things that had long been a forgotten dream.
On the last day of my stint at Crossroads I could only express gratitude towards all who works there. A wise councillor once commented on my question when one is ready for rehab by explaining that when one is ready for rehab, rehab is ready for you.
I was lost and my soul was broken until I ended up at Crossroads and was introduced to the Twelve Steps. With the help of their excellent staff and amazing support I have recently been clean for 18 months, I could not have done it without them!
"Just for today I am more than three years in recovery. I have Cross Roads to thank for this wonderful gift. Cross Roads helped me to set a firm foundation in my recovery on which I can continue to build."
In 1972 two scientists set out to establish if time, measured at a stationary point, would have the same value as time measured in motion. They set up a Cesium Beam atomic clock on an airplane and measured it against a stationary clock. We as humans are constantly measuring everything. We should use the same measurements we make of time as a measurement of sanity. Unfortunately we usually don’t think in these terms.
Abdicating Responsibility
There is so much we are generally unaware of and make all kinds of import decisions with far reaching consequences, that impact our futures. We take little responsibility, preferring to dump the blame on someone else. It is so hard to gain perspective and requires ongoing discipline. Something addicts are notoriously lacking in.
In this podcast I to hope to motivate the reasoning behind why we end up making the bad choices we do. What can be done about it is such a counter intuitive solution and so difficult to quantify. I can attest that it is usually the simplest explanation that is true.
I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as I enjoyed the discussion.
This podcast was recorded as a series of lectures given to people in 12 step addiction recovery treatment. The purpose of these talks was to teach and motivate individuals to search for their own spiritual solution to their addiction.
Please feel free to contact me directly or go to our site for more information:
The encouragement, love and support from the team at Crossroads allowed me to eventually see that I was worth something - that my life could be turned around and that I could accomplish the things that had long been a forgotten dream.
On the last day of my stint at Crossroads I could only express gratitude towards all who works there. A wise councillor once commented on my question when one is ready for rehab by explaining that when one is ready for rehab, rehab is ready for you.
I was lost and my soul was broken until I ended up at Crossroads and was introduced to the Twelve Steps. With the help of their excellent staff and amazing support I have recently been clean for 18 months, I could not have done it without them!
"Just for today I am more than three years in recovery. I have Cross Roads to thank for this wonderful gift. Cross Roads helped me to set a firm foundation in my recovery on which I can continue to build."
Hi and thanks for listening to this podcast. In this episode I talk about Artificial Intelligence and how much of an influence it has on our live already. There are stark comparisons with how we think and the way AI is designed. How useful is this to us as an illustration for addictive thinking? When drugs and alcohol start to impact on our minds we need a way back. That is what the Crossroads message is about. A restoration to sanity.
I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast and find it helpful.
This podcast was recorded as a series of lectures given to people in 12 step addiction recovery treatment. The purpose of these talks was to teach and motivate individuals to search for their own spiritual solution to their addiction.
Please feel free to contact me directly or go to our site for more information:
The encouragement, love and support from the team at Crossroads allowed me to eventually see that I was worth something - that my life could be turned around and that I could accomplish the things that had long been a forgotten dream.
On the last day of my stint at Crossroads I could only express gratitude towards all who works there. A wise councillor once commented on my question when one is ready for rehab by explaining that when one is ready for rehab, rehab is ready for you.
I was lost and my soul was broken until I ended up at Crossroads and was introduced to the Twelve Steps. With the help of their excellent staff and amazing support I have recently been clean for 18 months, I could not have done it without them!
"Just for today I am more than three years in recovery. I have Cross Roads to thank for this wonderful gift. Cross Roads helped me to set a firm foundation in my recovery on which I can continue to build."
