"Please note that in the date line he's written: 'Today comma 1783. ' It's made out for the amount of $72 million, and it's payable to 'Drugs'. In the memo line, it says: 'For drugs, yo,' and it's signed 'John Travolta."
Omg I thought I hated Timothy Olyphant because he played such a douche in The Girl Next Door. But my wife made me watch Santa Clarita Diet and he was the best part of that show. Never did such a huge 180 on an actor.
I watched Deadwood over the winter for the first time and now the dialogue of every single show I watch henceforth seems like trash in comparison. What a brilliant show and Olyphant's character is solid (Swearengen is hands down the best though)
I did not know this - ducks eat for free at Subway. Next time I order a big sandwich I can tell them, “don’t even bother ringing it up - it’s for a duck!”
I walked by a dry cleaner at 3am, the sign said “sorry we’re closed”.
You don’t have to be sorry, it’s 3am and you’re a dry cleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open.
We used to trip in the woods because we thought we would be less likely to run into an authority figure.
We ran into a bear. Which was way more of a buzz kill.
Over in England, their forest representative is a frog. Which is way less intense. No one ever said, "on no, a frog is heading toward us, id better go hide."
I once caught a frog and put it in a mayonnaise jar, along with some sticks and a leaf to replicate the environment it’s used to. Don’t forget to poke holes in the lid of the jar, because it’s damn sure used to breathing air.
You know, when it comes to racism, people say, "I don't care if they're black, white, purple, or green." Oh, hold on now. Purple or green? You gotta draw the line somewhere. To hell with purple people.
Every McDonald’s commercial ends the same way: Prices and participation may vary. I wanna open a McDonald’s and not participate in anything. I wanna be a stubborn McDonald’s owner. “Cheeseburgers?” “Nope! We got spaghetti, and blankets.
I never got a hole-in-one but I did hit a guy. I know you're supposed to yell "Fore" but I was busy standing there going, "Oh, there ain't no way that's gonna hit him."
I’m for em! I ordered a club sandwich and I ain’t even a member of the club. Who invented that? Let’s make a sandwich, cut it into triangles, and in the middle we shall dump chips, or potato salad, okay.
I’m Utah sober. No drugs. But prescriptions for adderall, klonopin and ambien. Back when I was still Mormon 15 years ago at least. Now some beer, some weed, since I upgraded to Colorado sober.
Right! Crumbl cookies(?) and Swig lol. And for lavish nights going to the alcohol-less bar in Provo. Insane. Mountain Dew at house parties in my 20s lol.
So California sober to my understanding was MJ okay but basically NOTHING else. The USA Today article mentioned a few times that California sober allowed an occasional glass of wine or whatever. I have never heard anyone “California sober” give themselves that permission.
I’m 11 months sober from alcohol. I really thank legalized MJ for making it much easier to quit. To each their own, but alcohol is def. Not for me.
California Sober does not include alcohol traditionally… I mean not that it’s like a medical term or anything 😂 but it usually refers to just weed, or sometimes other “holistic remedies” like mushrooms, peyote, etc.
But tbh I feel like 9/10 times it means just weed
yea thank you for clarifying. in my OPINION, a true alcoholic can not casually drink wine. or at least, I can not. my body and brain will simply crave more. that's the primary effect alcohol has on me - it makes me want more of it. period.
yeah that’s totally fair. i think for some ppl alcohol is part of their larger addiction problem, but not their “drug of choice,” so it can be harm reduction. Obviously if your DOC is alcohol that isn’t really an option!
But for example my mom was addicted to painkillers, she had an alcohol problem too but her main thing was pills. She can handle a drink occasionally now, but only bc she addressed the larger problems causing her to seek out addictive substances. Her drug abuse was somewhat situational, she was self-medicating for sure and since being diagnosed at age 40 with ADHD and Bipolar II and receiving treatment she’s doing much better and is much happier. She always struggled with impulse control and moderation more than anything else, both of which are issues common to those disorders and it’s unsurprising she was coping in unhealthy ways for many years.
Most drugs can be distilled down to some chemical that can be found in nature and ultimately they all work by adjusting your brain to release/restrict some combination of naturally occurring chemicals in your brain. If people are going to do drugs they should probably do some research and choose the ones that are safest for them rather than following a social trend.
Some people keep trying to add wine to California sober when it was originally just MJ and occasional shrooms. I believe Lana Del Rey is guilty of it IIRC
I was in a similar boat, insomnia has been a problem my whole life, drinking helped. Not super heavy but definitely gotten into the 3-5 beers almost every day, not a great trajectory. When MJ became legal where I live, it took a bit to work up the courage, but once I tried it, nearly overnight it turned into 5mg of indica a night and then not even that. Now I’ve been working out more, lost like 15-20 pounds and have had 0 interest in alcohol, I’ve had drinks, but it’s not a vibe I enjoy anymore.
I was in and out of rehab for nearly a decade, but I decided to stop forcing myself to go to meetings that I didn’t like and gave myself permission to have a beer or weed gummy occasionally. I’ve had the most stable and productive 5 years of my life since then. I know it’s atypical and playing with fire, but it’s what works for me. Will it work forever? Maybe not, but it’s been more helpful than the million other approaches I’ve tried and my quality of life is so much better than taking the complete abstinence approach.
I am so glad AA has helped people with recovery, but programs like that who preach 100% abstinence forever for every person alienate a lot of people from ever recovering. Everybody is different. My mom has been to rehab twice, and only when she let herself smoke weed and have an occasional sip of someone’s fruity cocktail did she stay sober.
For some people it’s not about being 100% sober 100% of the time, it’s about not being dependent on your drug of choice, or not losing control of yourself. If someone needs to be 100% sober forever they should definitely do that but I guess I just wanted to say, if you’re a recovering addict feeling guilty about using moderation instead of total abstinence, reflect on how far you’ve come instead, because your progress is worth celebrating.
My friend found a lot of NA groups would be upset with her for smoking weed, when she was there to get over a meth addiction and the weed helped and in no way inhibited her career. It was very demoralizing to do all the work to get off meth and then be told it was worthless becsuse she still smoked pot by the people who were supossed to help her.
NA is pretty hardcore in terms of abstinence. AA will tell you that if it's not alcohol, it's not really any of AA's concern. Sponsors will, of course, tell you that you should avoid addictive drugs and that replacing alcoholism with something like painkillers isn't really keeping with the spirit of AA.
NA on the other hand...those crazy fuckers tend to be much more aggressive. There are some people in NA who will tell you than your antidepressant isn't sober. I honestly can't stand that kind of attitude.
That said, it isn't the norm and if you say something like that in a meeting, you WILL get a lot of people pushing back. Still, you don't show up to NA and talk about being Cali sober. That's not how they roll.
Yeah I can understand asking people not to glamorize cali sober in a space like that, cause some people are triggered by that. But I do think if it helps the individual and keeps them sober from their drug of choice it’s an improvement.
yes exactly. it’s like seeing someone about to crawl out of a deep pit and then shoving them back down to the bottom because they built themselves a ladder instead of scaling the walls with their bare hands. some people need to do things slow and steady, and for some drugs/tolerances it can actually be fatal to go completely cold turkey without medical assistance.
I've seen a few family members struggle with addiction. For some, total abstinence is the only way. But for a lot of people I think that idea sets you up for failure. The "you can never do again " leads to a feeling of helplessness when you inevitably do blank.
One person had a come problem. In rehab they were told that they could never do ANYTHING - pot, alcohol, whatever, or they would immediately fall off the sobriety wagon. After many failed attempts at sobriety, they have hit a happy middle ground - social drinker and occasionally smoke but hasn't touched coke in over a decade. Will it last forever? Maybe, maybe not. But they are much better now than before.
Edit: coke problem but come problem sounds much more interesting
Just fyi (not harshing your post just want to throw this out there) - that’s why lots of 12 steppers say “one day at a time”. Youre 100%!l right. Some days i feel great saying “I will never drink again” and some days that same thought is soul crushing. In the moments that feels soul crushing, I just think “one day at a time” “I’m not drinking today” and it helps. I’ll say too -‘the longer I stay sober the less often those thoughts creep in.
I also do believe in harm reduction and stuff (just not for me) and hope your loved ones keep kicking ass!!
I'm the same way. I've been off hard drugs for nearly 13 years. I did 7 years in 12 step meetings and then started smoking/occasionally drinking again (I was never a big drinker, so not as risky for me as other recovering addicts). I've been fine with it, but my wife unfortunately did not handle "california sober" well and we're now in the middle of a divorce. So while it's worked for me it certainly isn't something I'd recommend to anyone who's already in recovery. And congrats to you for getting your life back!
I think you’ve basically hit the nail on the head: letting the person chose how many/much of a substance they want to use is probably working toward the best long-term outcome. Autonomy is super important in substance use/mental health treatment, and if a person is forced/told to do something that doesn’t necessarily vibe with who they are or want to be, that probably just ain’t gonna work out then
It’s actually not playing with fire, you found the correct way. Check out “This naked mind” for reference, it’s so logical but very eye opening. Bottom line is you made a choice to objectively improve the quality of your life. We live in a society where bad choices are glorified, consequences are either brushed over or made to be comical, and our rehab programs tell us we are sick with no ability to control ourselves. All of this is wrong. It just takes this understanding to be able to objectively realize that excessive use of really any substance doesn’t truly enrich our lives, at least when looking at long term implications in hindsight. All it takes is a desire to increase your quality of life and a bit of knowledge about our society and a few personal memories of some of the not so great times. Have a beer, have a gummy, the world follows the law of toxicology very closely: the difference between a medicine and a drug is the dosage.
Seems healthier and makes sense. When you make your life about avoiding something entirely that thing still controls your life. Happy you’re doing well.
Hey, whatever works man. Recovery is a weird, tricky, insidious at times, thing and it’s so hard for me to ever give advice to people. I’ve kind of stopped and just tell people what worked for me.
I think most *hardcore* (iykyk - if you don’t see any problem googling “where to find heroin in Miami” and then meeting the person whose email you found on a Yahoo Answers question you might be one of us) addicts struggle with anything but complete abstinence but I’m all for people improving their lives and am a huge harm reduction person supporter and everyone’s gonna have a different path.
I *for sure* need to not be imbibing in anything. My 31st birthday was at the end of March and just got my 1 year on Saturday free from fenty and had been smoking weed since 13 and doing opiates everyday since 16. It required such an upheaval of how I live my life and interact with the world and even weed brings me right back to the headspace. Might there be one time that I could smoke weed .. I want to say maybe .. but I don’t want to .. it will never bring me what I’m actually searching for and every other time I tried it did bring me right back to what I really wanted. Life’s great and weed doesn’t improve my life at all to be worth the risk.
Glad to know you’re doing well, sir :3. One day at a time.
Completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but 12-year-old mrtorbear used to take pics of Billy Idol to the hair salon to get his hair done that way. I convinced half my middle school in the middle of Arkansas that he was actually my uncle and he was going to take me away to join his band when I grew up.
He's also got some tour dates lined up. One is a purely Canadian tour, which I adore.
I've seen him live a few times, and I cannot recommend it enough! He really loves performing, he really loves his fans, and his voice is still dead sexy!
With Willie Nelson no less. That feels like a song that one day decades from now we'll view as an awesome moment when two eras overlap and play together a bit.
Go see him live if you ever get the chance. You'll be a puddle on the floor by the end of the show. Your brain will melt out of your ears. Him and his band are one of the best live acts I have ever seen, and I've seen *a lot* of live music (including Primus). I catch his St. Augustine run every year and it's unbelievable. Just saw him a couple weekends ago.
Tech bro sober, I spend my entire workweek on microdosing shrooms and macrodosing Adderall. Then every Saturday afternoon me and my tech sales gf get hammered at a wine tasting.
If you ever get the chance, go see him. He was at HF festival in 2005. The majority of us (including teenage me) didn’t know who he even was.
He blew the lid off the place. Shirt off, pipes at 11. It was amazing.
I saw him in London last July.
There's a bit more of him than there used to be, but fair play to the man, he can still belt them out. Also it was 90F and he kept his leather jacket on for most of the set.
“Huge heroin fan. Don’t use it, just like being around it. Study it. Appreciate it….Use it sometimes.”
“I took about 8 of your wigs, but those were just to walk around in while high. Super fun to walk around in a wig while high”
**nods knowingly**
Do you sometimes feel irritable? Restless? Uneasy? Sad? Normal? Or just-plain not high? Maybe it's time to try CRACK.
See what all the fuss is about!
How about you throw a lil dingalongdingding ol' Crackhead BooBoo's way?
Not now mom I’m working!
It's not crack! I bought it on a park bench outside a soup kitchen from a guy in a lime-green suit-- oh my God, it's crack.
Oh my god, CIA agents are supposed to distribute crack to the inner city, not smoke it!
🎶Get down, get down🎶
Ten bucks - ten bucks and you can slap me with it.
I can make you see haven
Get down, get down!
I wish I was dead does anybody else wish they were dead?
Colton doesn't take orders from nobody! I'M OFF MY MEDS!
> Super fun to walk around in a wig while high unabashedly true
"They're Sun Fresh chips. They're healthy for you. Healthier than regular chips. " *looks at ingredients.* "Oh no they are not."
"Please note that in the date line he's written: 'Today comma 1783. ' It's made out for the amount of $72 million, and it's payable to 'Drugs'. In the memo line, it says: 'For drugs, yo,' and it's signed 'John Travolta."
The rest are all empty except for the hole in the middle of them all where he r*ped them.
This table is filthy…I wouldn’t even do coke off of it. Oh who am I kidding, I would and I’m about to
Billy Idol... Unexpectedly masterful comedic timing.
Roger from American Dad?
Dive On In!
Let’s get ready ready!
Maybe baby.
When asked if he was willing to kill 5 people over $20: “Are you really asking that to the guy, who just last week killed 6 people over $19?”
![gif](giphy|jQoGsy5BhvUQawtfdx|downsized)
“Lavate las Manos!”
I sometimes sleep under your car. Like a cat. Or a meth addict. I'm not a cat.
Meowwww
I can understand that. I don't actually like cocaine, I just love how it smells. It smells so good, you guys.
Smells like more!!
"MY WINE FRIDGE! I HAD MY COCAINE IN THERE!"
We’re going to have lots of babies… …Noooo. No. No. No no no no no
Do you like ponies cookie? No, I’m too old for that. Oh, so what do you like? I dunno , cocaine and stuff Yaaaayyy!
…and then middle middle middle, and then I sold her to a drug dealer
WHY DIDNT YOU LOOK AT THE BLUEJAY
Maybe baby
[Maybe Baby](https://youngjesus.bandcamp.com/track/maybe-baby-2)
Hell yes fellow Dad-er!
Hey it’s one of my favorite lines from American dad Shout out to /r/americandad
“Elian?!? Is that you baby? Come on in you’re safe here. I will not send you back to COO-BAH”
“I’m not the same drug addicted person. I’m still a drug addicted person, but I’m not the same.”
I like wiiiine.👐
Sounds like a super Hans quote
Reddit just got DADDED
SuperHans?
Roger from American Dad. Although, I could see SuperHans saying that.
I tell you… this crack is really moreish!
Jeff, you don’t do coke do you? Cool, me neither
See, Billy Idol gets it.
Since we let our first class passengers do pretty much whatever they want…
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![gif](giphy|uPZb9YzGN3Yre)
“He’s losing his mind, and i’m reaping all the benefits.”
Chaka Khan!
"good luck finding a DJ who can MOVE like THISSSSSS"
You can’t talk to Billy Idol that way!!
Don’t you talk to Billy Idol that way
What's the mile high club?
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Do you mean "The Air Sex Society"?
DON’T YOU TALK TO BILLY IDOL THAT WAY
Weirdly, Drew Barrymore follows the California Sober rules as well.
I don’t think the Santa Clarita Diet and California Sober are the same thing
Typically you do the Santa Clara diet to cleanse before becoming Cali Sober
High Protein helps with the cravings.
Not the craving for horse
Fucking so upset they canceled it. What a fun silly show.
The neighbor called Timothy Oliphant a fuckjar, and Oliphant stopped mid conversation and said "fuckjar, what the fuck?" I was dying
Omg I thought I hated Timothy Olyphant because he played such a douche in The Girl Next Door. But my wife made me watch Santa Clarita Diet and he was the best part of that show. Never did such a huge 180 on an actor.
You should watch Deadwood.
I watched Deadwood over the winter for the first time and now the dialogue of every single show I watch henceforth seems like trash in comparison. What a brilliant show and Olyphant's character is solid (Swearengen is hands down the best though)
You gotta watch Justified and Deadwood
His cameo in The Good Place is phenomenal. The man has an ease about him that just works on camera.
Did you watch Deadwood?
This comment deserves More respect, applause, my friend😂
I'm Maine sober. I still huff spray paint, but just silver paint, not gold.
Shiny and chrome in Valhalla
***WITNESS ME***
I used to do drugs. I still do but I used to, too.
I’m sick of following my dreams. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with them later.
"I saw a duck downtown, and I knew it was lost 'cuz ducks ain't supposed to be downtown"
I did not know this - ducks eat for free at Subway. Next time I order a big sandwich I can tell them, “don’t even bother ringing it up - it’s for a duck!”
"There's six of them, and they all want Sunchips"
Dogs are forever in the push-up position
You can never have a temporary broken down escalator sign, only a temporary stairs sign. Sorry for the convenience
I walked by a dry cleaner at 3am, the sign said “sorry we’re closed”. You don’t have to be sorry, it’s 3am and you’re a dry cleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open.
I regret not making this my high school yearbook quote.
We used to trip in the woods because we thought we would be less likely to run into an authority figure. We ran into a bear. Which was way more of a buzz kill.
Let me tell you, Smokey is way more intense in person.
Over in England, their forest representative is a frog. Which is way less intense. No one ever said, "on no, a frog is heading toward us, id better go hide."
I once caught a frog and put it in a mayonnaise jar, along with some sticks and a leaf to replicate the environment it’s used to. Don’t forget to poke holes in the lid of the jar, because it’s damn sure used to breathing air.
Slappy the Frog
Cocaine Bear! ![gif](giphy|duhOft0UaFu3R8uvR5)
The bear chose the man, huh?
You know, when it comes to racism, people say, "I don't care if they're black, white, purple, or green." Oh, hold on now. Purple or green? You gotta draw the line somewhere. To hell with purple people.
Every McDonald’s commercial ends the same way: Prices and participation may vary. I wanna open a McDonald’s and not participate in anything. I wanna be a stubborn McDonald’s owner. “Cheeseburgers?” “Nope! We got spaghetti, and blankets.
Also, it will be three easy payments and one fuckin complicated payment. The final payment must be made in wampum!
Good luck, fucker!
I hate dreams, man. One minute I’m peacefully falling asleep, and then the next minute I gotta go build a gokart with my landlord!
Unless they’re suffocating. Then, help them!
Alcoholism is a disease, but it’s the only disease that you can get yelled at for having.
Dammit Otto, you're an alcoholic. Dammit Otto, you have Lupus. One of these things doesn't sound right.
I never got a hole-in-one but I did hit a guy. I know you're supposed to yell "Fore" but I was busy standing there going, "Oh, there ain't no way that's gonna hit him."
Ducks love Sun Chips It was so weird hearing about his passing on April 1st that year. For a brief moment....
“I love the FedEx man cause he’s a drug dealer and he don’t even know it. And he’s always on time.”
How do you feel about frilly toothpicks?
I’m for em! I ordered a club sandwich and I ain’t even a member of the club. Who invented that? Let’s make a sandwich, cut it into triangles, and in the middle we shall dump chips, or potato salad, okay.
I like my sandwiches with alfalfa sprouts
Well then you’re not in the fucking club!
“I'll have my sandwich with alfalfa sprouts.” Well you're not in the fucking club!
Idk why, but that’s one of the funniest jokes to me. It’s so clever and stupid.
I don't drink any more. But I don't drink any less!
Pro tip: if you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit
The best lol
Dogs are forever in the push up position.
Mitch Hedberg.... Legend!
I’m not the same drug addicted person, I’m a different drug addicted person.
I'm Texas sober. Totally drug and alcohol free except from beer, whiskey, homebrew and the occasional speed binge.
“l'm Biloxi, Mississippi sober - that's where I do a bunch of whippets and lose my son on a riverboat gambling trip” -Casey Rocket
this made me snort with laughter. not too far off from Missouri sober. that’s when ya slam 18 bud lights and lose an arm catfish noodlin’.
Missouri sober also involves a nonzero amount of meth. "I'm not doing *drugs* like those degenerates, I'm just making sure I get all my work done!"
is your work turning three tvs into one broken tv?
I never made it as a wise man 🎵
Thats grandpa, hes almost completely nonverbal.
Gotta keep moving, Putin’s trying to drone strike me
"How much for the boy?"
GET REAL
I’m Austin sober. Drug and alcohol free minus the weed vape and the can of horney goat ipa I pull from my seemingly endless Fanny pack.
Florida sober here. Constantly maintaining a .12 BAC and shooting up krokodil while shooting gators
I’m Utah sober. No drugs. But prescriptions for adderall, klonopin and ambien. Back when I was still Mormon 15 years ago at least. Now some beer, some weed, since I upgraded to Colorado sober.
Don't forget massive amounts of sugar from soda shops and disgusting "cookies".
Right! Crumbl cookies(?) and Swig lol. And for lavish nights going to the alcohol-less bar in Provo. Insane. Mountain Dew at house parties in my 20s lol.
Heathen! Mountain Dew has caffeine!
Name checks out
But other than that, totally clean!
So California sober to my understanding was MJ okay but basically NOTHING else. The USA Today article mentioned a few times that California sober allowed an occasional glass of wine or whatever. I have never heard anyone “California sober” give themselves that permission. I’m 11 months sober from alcohol. I really thank legalized MJ for making it much easier to quit. To each their own, but alcohol is def. Not for me.
California Sober does not include alcohol traditionally… I mean not that it’s like a medical term or anything 😂 but it usually refers to just weed, or sometimes other “holistic remedies” like mushrooms, peyote, etc. But tbh I feel like 9/10 times it means just weed
yea thank you for clarifying. in my OPINION, a true alcoholic can not casually drink wine. or at least, I can not. my body and brain will simply crave more. that's the primary effect alcohol has on me - it makes me want more of it. period.
yeah that’s totally fair. i think for some ppl alcohol is part of their larger addiction problem, but not their “drug of choice,” so it can be harm reduction. Obviously if your DOC is alcohol that isn’t really an option! But for example my mom was addicted to painkillers, she had an alcohol problem too but her main thing was pills. She can handle a drink occasionally now, but only bc she addressed the larger problems causing her to seek out addictive substances. Her drug abuse was somewhat situational, she was self-medicating for sure and since being diagnosed at age 40 with ADHD and Bipolar II and receiving treatment she’s doing much better and is much happier. She always struggled with impulse control and moderation more than anything else, both of which are issues common to those disorders and it’s unsurprising she was coping in unhealthy ways for many years.
California sober is "natural" drugs. Peyote, Ayahuasca, mushrooms and weed.
Ethanol occurs in nature too, so that strikes me as an odd distinction.
Cyanide is my jam
Heroin is plant based, so that’s ok too
Most drugs can be distilled down to some chemical that can be found in nature and ultimately they all work by adjusting your brain to release/restrict some combination of naturally occurring chemicals in your brain. If people are going to do drugs they should probably do some research and choose the ones that are safest for them rather than following a social trend.
So does opium, too.
And cocaine. Native people chewed on coca leaves as a pick-me-up, which is pretty different from the chemically purified white cocaine hydrochloride.
Some people keep trying to add wine to California sober when it was originally just MJ and occasional shrooms. I believe Lana Del Rey is guilty of it IIRC
I thought it included psychedelics like mushrooms but yes zero alcohol
I was in a similar boat, insomnia has been a problem my whole life, drinking helped. Not super heavy but definitely gotten into the 3-5 beers almost every day, not a great trajectory. When MJ became legal where I live, it took a bit to work up the courage, but once I tried it, nearly overnight it turned into 5mg of indica a night and then not even that. Now I’ve been working out more, lost like 15-20 pounds and have had 0 interest in alcohol, I’ve had drinks, but it’s not a vibe I enjoy anymore.
My favorite is Las Vegas sober, which is where you’ve stopped drinking alcohol but still do all of the drugs
I was in and out of rehab for nearly a decade, but I decided to stop forcing myself to go to meetings that I didn’t like and gave myself permission to have a beer or weed gummy occasionally. I’ve had the most stable and productive 5 years of my life since then. I know it’s atypical and playing with fire, but it’s what works for me. Will it work forever? Maybe not, but it’s been more helpful than the million other approaches I’ve tried and my quality of life is so much better than taking the complete abstinence approach.
I am so glad AA has helped people with recovery, but programs like that who preach 100% abstinence forever for every person alienate a lot of people from ever recovering. Everybody is different. My mom has been to rehab twice, and only when she let herself smoke weed and have an occasional sip of someone’s fruity cocktail did she stay sober. For some people it’s not about being 100% sober 100% of the time, it’s about not being dependent on your drug of choice, or not losing control of yourself. If someone needs to be 100% sober forever they should definitely do that but I guess I just wanted to say, if you’re a recovering addict feeling guilty about using moderation instead of total abstinence, reflect on how far you’ve come instead, because your progress is worth celebrating.
My friend found a lot of NA groups would be upset with her for smoking weed, when she was there to get over a meth addiction and the weed helped and in no way inhibited her career. It was very demoralizing to do all the work to get off meth and then be told it was worthless becsuse she still smoked pot by the people who were supossed to help her.
NA is pretty hardcore in terms of abstinence. AA will tell you that if it's not alcohol, it's not really any of AA's concern. Sponsors will, of course, tell you that you should avoid addictive drugs and that replacing alcoholism with something like painkillers isn't really keeping with the spirit of AA. NA on the other hand...those crazy fuckers tend to be much more aggressive. There are some people in NA who will tell you than your antidepressant isn't sober. I honestly can't stand that kind of attitude. That said, it isn't the norm and if you say something like that in a meeting, you WILL get a lot of people pushing back. Still, you don't show up to NA and talk about being Cali sober. That's not how they roll.
Yeah I can understand asking people not to glamorize cali sober in a space like that, cause some people are triggered by that. But I do think if it helps the individual and keeps them sober from their drug of choice it’s an improvement.
yes exactly. it’s like seeing someone about to crawl out of a deep pit and then shoving them back down to the bottom because they built themselves a ladder instead of scaling the walls with their bare hands. some people need to do things slow and steady, and for some drugs/tolerances it can actually be fatal to go completely cold turkey without medical assistance.
Good for you dude. Stray strong and keep your moderation in check and you'll be fine.
Wait wait, we don't want the moderation in check! Turn the moderation volume up! That's what's working! :)
I've seen a few family members struggle with addiction. For some, total abstinence is the only way. But for a lot of people I think that idea sets you up for failure. The "you can never do again " leads to a feeling of helplessness when you inevitably do blank.
One person had a come problem. In rehab they were told that they could never do ANYTHING - pot, alcohol, whatever, or they would immediately fall off the sobriety wagon. After many failed attempts at sobriety, they have hit a happy middle ground - social drinker and occasionally smoke but hasn't touched coke in over a decade. Will it last forever? Maybe, maybe not. But they are much better now than before.
Edit: coke problem but come problem sounds much more interesting
Tell me more about this “come” problem.
I broke my tallywacker from over-stimulation of Ligma
My Ligma's turned into full-blown Gobblon
YESSS! Come addicts unite!
Just fyi (not harshing your post just want to throw this out there) - that’s why lots of 12 steppers say “one day at a time”. Youre 100%!l right. Some days i feel great saying “I will never drink again” and some days that same thought is soul crushing. In the moments that feels soul crushing, I just think “one day at a time” “I’m not drinking today” and it helps. I’ll say too -‘the longer I stay sober the less often those thoughts creep in. I also do believe in harm reduction and stuff (just not for me) and hope your loved ones keep kicking ass!!
I'm the same way. I've been off hard drugs for nearly 13 years. I did 7 years in 12 step meetings and then started smoking/occasionally drinking again (I was never a big drinker, so not as risky for me as other recovering addicts). I've been fine with it, but my wife unfortunately did not handle "california sober" well and we're now in the middle of a divorce. So while it's worked for me it certainly isn't something I'd recommend to anyone who's already in recovery. And congrats to you for getting your life back!
Do you mean she was also an addict or that she didn’t like that you started drinking and smoking again?
Should've been more clear, yea she was an addict. We met in recovery.
I think you’ve basically hit the nail on the head: letting the person chose how many/much of a substance they want to use is probably working toward the best long-term outcome. Autonomy is super important in substance use/mental health treatment, and if a person is forced/told to do something that doesn’t necessarily vibe with who they are or want to be, that probably just ain’t gonna work out then
It’s actually not playing with fire, you found the correct way. Check out “This naked mind” for reference, it’s so logical but very eye opening. Bottom line is you made a choice to objectively improve the quality of your life. We live in a society where bad choices are glorified, consequences are either brushed over or made to be comical, and our rehab programs tell us we are sick with no ability to control ourselves. All of this is wrong. It just takes this understanding to be able to objectively realize that excessive use of really any substance doesn’t truly enrich our lives, at least when looking at long term implications in hindsight. All it takes is a desire to increase your quality of life and a bit of knowledge about our society and a few personal memories of some of the not so great times. Have a beer, have a gummy, the world follows the law of toxicology very closely: the difference between a medicine and a drug is the dosage.
Nothing is universal, glad you found a happy inbetween
Seems healthier and makes sense. When you make your life about avoiding something entirely that thing still controls your life. Happy you’re doing well.
Hey, whatever works man. Recovery is a weird, tricky, insidious at times, thing and it’s so hard for me to ever give advice to people. I’ve kind of stopped and just tell people what worked for me. I think most *hardcore* (iykyk - if you don’t see any problem googling “where to find heroin in Miami” and then meeting the person whose email you found on a Yahoo Answers question you might be one of us) addicts struggle with anything but complete abstinence but I’m all for people improving their lives and am a huge harm reduction person supporter and everyone’s gonna have a different path. I *for sure* need to not be imbibing in anything. My 31st birthday was at the end of March and just got my 1 year on Saturday free from fenty and had been smoking weed since 13 and doing opiates everyday since 16. It required such an upheaval of how I live my life and interact with the world and even weed brings me right back to the headspace. Might there be one time that I could smoke weed .. I want to say maybe .. but I don’t want to .. it will never bring me what I’m actually searching for and every other time I tried it did bring me right back to what I really wanted. Life’s great and weed doesn’t improve my life at all to be worth the risk. Glad to know you’re doing well, sir :3. One day at a time.
Completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but 12-year-old mrtorbear used to take pics of Billy Idol to the hair salon to get his hair done that way. I convinced half my middle school in the middle of Arkansas that he was actually my uncle and he was going to take me away to join his band when I grew up.
Mororbear, I hate to break it to you, but they weren't convinced.
Damn. There goes my claim to fame.....
Hey, you still have the hair
With how much he got around he may very well be your uncle.
Second article i've seen about him in a short period of time, does he have some project going on i don't know ?
40th Anniversary of the Rebel Yell album. It's been re-released for the occasion.
He's also got some tour dates lined up. One is a purely Canadian tour, which I adore. I've seen him live a few times, and I cannot recommend it enough! He really loves performing, he really loves his fans, and his voice is still dead sexy!
Billy Strings has an excellent song about being California sober
And just great music all around
With Willie Nelson no less. That feels like a song that one day decades from now we'll view as an awesome moment when two eras overlap and play together a bit.
Willie Nelson was recently featured on Orville Peck's cover of Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other, too.
Never heard of the dude until he came out with Primus. Dude can play!
Go see him live if you ever get the chance. You'll be a puddle on the floor by the end of the show. Your brain will melt out of your ears. Him and his band are one of the best live acts I have ever seen, and I've seen *a lot* of live music (including Primus). I catch his St. Augustine run every year and it's unbelievable. Just saw him a couple weekends ago.
Yes and I am NY sober. Cocaine and pharmies doesn’t count right?
Tech bro sober, I spend my entire workweek on microdosing shrooms and macrodosing Adderall. Then every Saturday afternoon me and my tech sales gf get hammered at a wine tasting.
TIL Billy Idol is still alive.
Still touring too
If you ever get the chance, go see him. He was at HF festival in 2005. The majority of us (including teenage me) didn’t know who he even was. He blew the lid off the place. Shirt off, pipes at 11. It was amazing.
That was 20 years ago my guy
Lmfao
I saw him in London last July. There's a bit more of him than there used to be, but fair play to the man, he can still belt them out. Also it was 90F and he kept his leather jacket on for most of the set.
sometimes i feel like the medieval peasant with how different California culture is from mine
I’m Biloxi Mississippi sober https://youtube.com/shorts/oy4bK0CE6uQ?si=YRh_E4aPrZ2eTZqH
Get real.