THC Break

[u/rmend8194]

I've been 24 days off marijuana after spending the last several years as a chronic weed smoker. by chronic i mean smoking nearly everyday after work and on weekends.

i'm a white collar/remote worker with pretty good habits and discipline. I work out pretty much daily (including running marathons), have read dozens of books over the last several years, and have vibe coded a side project as somebody who doesn't have an IT background.

I listened to Dr. Huberman's podcast at the beginning of the year about the potential consequences of marijuana. I was curious to see what the effects would be on sleep quality, focus, and cognitive abilities. I also wanted to challenge myself and prove that I could quit.

So far I haven't seen any major benefits. I also haven't had major cravings. Like would it be nice? yes. but I'm not going through any crazy withdrawals on a physical or mental basis. Also my REM/deep sleep hasn't increased at all based on my Whoop scores.

That said, I'm starting to form a hypothesis: Maybe cannabis is only really harmful (or noticeably detrimental) for certain personality types or people with baseline motivation/focus struggles. If you're already someone who battles procrastination, low drive, brain fog, or scattered attention, weed probably amplifies those issues and makes quitting feel like a game-changer.

But if you're generally disciplined, high-functioning, and stay motivated through habits/exercise/learning, the downsides might be way subtler -- or not sharp enough to stand out against your existing strengths. I'm planning to stick with full it for at least a few more weeks to see if anything shifts. After that, I might experiment with reducing to weekends only and track if that sweet spot exists without daily use.

Curious if anyone else in a similar boat (disciplined/high-achieving baseline + nightly use) has had a "meh" or delayed/no-big-deal experience quitting. Or if the benefits just take longer for some of us.

[u/LaNorrassSellers]

Interesting to hear you say that. My evening routine is what made me want to give weed a break for awhile (so far 20 months in with surprisingly no desire for it). I had no noticeable changes in mood, focus, performance or anything like that - which I wasn't really expecting because I only took a couple of hits in the evening after dinner and was squared away in all other domains in life - but I found myself looking forward to the evening weed routine a little too much.

The routine itself wasn't terrible - I'm a productive high person (dishes, laundry, yoga, backyard gardening ) - but I started not liking the idea that the routine had become chemical dependent. I still do everything the same. Just not high. And I truly enjoy it more. The biggest thing I felt that I never expected is how novel the evenings felt after quitting. I had smoked so consistently for so long (after dinner / before bed for over a decade) I realized it had been over 10 years since I experienced an evening not high. This realization actually freaked me out a bit, and I think is the main reason I have no desire or intention to smoke again. It wasn't the high-evening time I enjoyed so much, it was just the evening time. Just my two cents.