Personal Story

IT'S ENOUGH WRITTEN ON A CHALK BOARD

Written By Jess A.

I started smoking pot my freshman year of high school. I was an off and on smoker for 40 years. When I was on, I was on. As time progressed and weed got stronger, quitting became more challenging and my ability to live a normal life got harder and harder.

I found MA phone meetings in 2018. I had 18 months under my belt and then COVID hit, my daughter and her fiancee moved in and I started stealing pot from them. I relapsed 5 times over the next 2 years. I finally said enough is enough. I rented an Airbnb for 4 days/3 nights for my own “rehab”. My husband dropped me off on a Thursday and picked me up on a Sunday. I didn’t have a car, I live in California, so I could have walked to a dispensary, however I was determined to quit for good this time. I listened to zoom meeting after meeting, took baths, went for walks, read, journaled and detoxed.

This time I wanted it to stick. I told myself the missing ingredient recommended was to follow the suggestion of 90 meetings in 90 days, so that was the change I incorporated and I honestly believe that was the difference necessary to become committed to abstinence.

Today, I have 1190 days, that’s 3 years and almost 3 months without cannabis. I am a sponsor, I serve in meetings, I talk to fellows daily, I attend meetings weekly and I DON’T miss Mary Jane, at all. I love myself, others and my MA community. I am a different person than before. I am becoming the person I wanted to be, for years. I attribute it all to working the steps and being committed to improving myself daily. I believe the only requirement is a desire to be a better version of myself and a daily commitment to my higher power, everything else falls in line.💜

Published By A New Leaf – December 2025

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