“When we came to meetings and listened to others, we identified with the insanity of addiction as described by the members of the fellowship.”

– Life with Hope, first edition, page 5

The ideology of insanity baffled me. I also believe that Higher Power is not separate or outside of me. In my workbook, I can cognitively reframe the Second Step so it is less religious sounding. Sanity means “of sound mind.” For me, the power of connection with other cannabis addicts is a Higher Power.

As I listen to other addicts talk about what they did to use cannabis and the lengths they went through to continue to use cannabis, I am able to better understand how insane my behavior was in active cannabis addiction. Insanity is active addiction, which is the opposite of sound mind. When I used cannabis, my behavior was insane. In active addiction, my behavior was not in alignment with my intentions, values and morals of my authentic self.

In recovery, “we came to believe” that a power greater than our addiction could restore us to sanity. This greater power lives inside of me and within us all as a group of cannabis addicts. It starts within the mustard seed of faith “came to believe.” Sound mind comes from the “came to believe” faith. This faith leads to an active, powerful daily decision to not use cannabis. I am restored in these 24 hours to sanity which is grounded in sound clean recovery. This affords me the experience and the opportunity to live in alignment with my authentic intentions and values.

Final thought: I choose to make a decision each and every day to continuously reprieve myself from active addiction; to not use cannabis, no matter what. Using is no longer an issue or an option.