“I know people that have gotten clean and sober off of their drug of choice... and have tried this 'medical marijuana' aspect of it... and... I don't know of anybody that was able to stay that way and maintain sobriety after going down that road.” -Tom Conrad
Today, Ben and I are chatting about California Sober, brought to light recently by Demi Lovato on Joe Rogan's podcast, offering our opinions on it. While we aren't here to criticize how other people recover from addiction, as we are not witch burners, we just want to offer our opinions based on our own experiences being former addicts ourselves.
How We Ultimately Feel About California Sober
In her interview with Joe Rogan, Demi Lovato defines what she means by being California Sober, saying, “It's a term that a lot of people use to identify this path of moderation with the help of some green plants.” Our perspective on this is that that isn't going to work for everyone. We both agree that while marijuana isn't usually a gateway drug and wouldn't likely cause us to revert back to harder substances, it wouldn't likely have any benefit in our lives and would, in fact, likely hinder productivity. Give it a go if it works for you, but our experiences suggest that, again, it does not work for everyone.
How People Like Joe Rogan Have Misunderstood the Twelve Steps
The first step of the twelve steps is admitting that you are powerless in your addiction, and some people seem to confuse powerlessness with helplessness. If you were helpless, then there wouldn't be recovery programs. Being helpless refers to an inability to take action, but these programs offer things that you can do, ways to fix the problem. It isn't helplessness. In fact, if anything, it can actually be empowering.
Our Experiences and How They Shape Our Opinion on Marijuana Maintenance
We, for starters, have known people who have relapsed and even died of overdose after years of sobriety because they started smoking marijuana. Living in the Palm Beach County Area in Florida, we have also seen four local treatment centers adopt the marijuana maintenance treatment method. Two of them were actually shut down by the FBI and owners got arrested because of how addicts were being taken advantage of, one voluntarily shut down because of its clientele not being serious about actually wanting to recover, and, finally, someone that we know personally throwing in the towel on the program because of his perspective that it had absolutely no benefit to him.
What the Best Approach Is in Our Opinion
While, again, we are not witch burners and are not even against marijuana, there is absolutely nothing to support the idea that marijuana maintenance is a more effective treatment than abstinence based treatment. While marijuana maintenance (or California Sober) works for some, that doesn't seem to be the norm, so it is our belief that it is always better to completely abstain from illicit substances, that that's always the best approach.
Listen in and hear us discuss our experiences and how they shape our opinions on this topic. Be sure to check out our new website where you can download any episode along with other useful information for those in recovery.
Show Notes:
Episode Links and Resources
188 - Ken B - 35 retired from the Army, discusses his alcoholism and addiction throughout his life and ultimately where it led him
187 - 5 advantages to sobriety that we didn't see coming
186 - Cody W - His successes, finance and all things money and how it can impact our sobriety
185 - Kevin W- Shares about anxiety, cutting treatment short and having a psychic change
184 - Darell shares why he turned to alcohol to deal with night terrors and PTSD - His treatment experiences and the path moving forward
183 - JP Burton - Gaining control of his life through sobriety
182 - Tommy L - How one Corona took him down a deep dark path
181 - Noah didn't get straight A's in treatment, but he is thriving!
180 - The Importance of Staying Connected and How Giving Back has Kept Him Sober with Eric Sheets
179 - Fatih Penda - His journey intro recovery and how his upbringing could have held him back
178 - Brad Jensen - Founder and CEO of Key Nutrition talks drug addiction and how he became the entrepreneur he is today
177 - Maya B - Masters Level Dope Addict to Masters Level Clinician
176 - What Is Proper Structure in Sober Living With Crazy Keith
175 - Geographical Change: Assisting People Through Recovery
173 - Nicole Bifano, LCSW - The Therapeutic Process and AL-ANON
172 - Steve the Intern at Rock Recovery Center - Shares his experience getting clean and sober and why he chose to work in the field of addiction
171 - The Importance of Exercise When Getting Clean and Sober
170 - Allie Severino - Host and Producer of "Dope Sick Nation"
169 - Jacob tells his story about relapse - What happened after 3.5 years!
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