“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
281 - RRC Alumni Jaclyn shares her story of recovery!
280 - Ryan Burgess: His addiction led him to crossing the ocean
279 - Step 8 & 9 Let's make some Amends!
278 - Step Six and Step Seven combined
277 - Eddie got sober at 21 years old! Here is how he did it....
276 - Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature our wrongs
275 - Don't make these mistakes when getting sober!
274 - Step Four: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
273 - Step 3: Made a decision to turn our WILL and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him
272 - Sex and Money: Could these cause you to relapse?
271 - How to embrace Spirituality, 12 Steps and Church to amplify your sobriety: Brave's Story
270 - Step Two of Alcoholics Anonymous: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
269 - Alcoholics Anonymous: The History and Step One
268 - My story of alcoholism and addiction: How I recovered
267 - Ben's FIRST treatment experience: What to know about addiction treatment
266 - Don't bring up their past mistakes! Check your motives....
265 - FIRST TIME IN TREATMENT: Jack shares his story
264 - What is detox? Aaron and Nikki with Boca Recovery Center
263 - Working the 12 Steps is how Frank noticed REAL CHANGE in his life...
262 - Surround yourself with good people, you will stay SOBER! Ryan shares his story
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