Twenty-four Hours

"The first few days without weed are all about breaking the habit. At this stage you’ve still got plenty of THC in your system; in fact, if you were to be drug tested for cannabis at any time over the next four to six weeks, you would test positive. So on this, your first day of not smoking dope, it’s not so much physical withdrawal you have to worry about, it’s your mental attitude that will see you through.

There is really only one thing that you have to focus on today, and that’s not smoking dope. Whether you have a busy day planned or you are already starting to worry about how you are going to fill your time, keep things simple. All you need to do to make today work for you is keep hold of the commitment you have made to positive change. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And by keeping a positive attitude, it really is.

A few years ago my niece emigrated to live in Melbourne, Australia – about as far as you can get from Europe, and a 24-hour flight from London. My sister and her husband make the trip to see them as often as they can. They try to visit at the early part of the year, during our European winter, so as to get the benefit of some pleasant Australian summer sunshine during their stay. My sister is a very positive person; she was preparing to leave to visit my niece recently and was talking about the trip with a friend who told her that she was put off visiting Australia because of the “terrible” flight. “Of course,” she said, “I know how much it means for you to see Karen, but I would struggle with such a long flight, even if it was my own kids out there. I hate flying anyway, and the idea of travelling such a long way over 24 hours would be incredibly stressful for me. I’d have to knock myself out with pills to even consider such a trip.”

My sister has a completely different attitude. As far as she is concerned, being able to fly to Australia by taking just 24 hours out of her life is amazing. She considers the fact that she can board a plane on a cold, miserable January day in London and 24 hours later find herself on the other side of the world in sunny Melbourne totally magical.

A similar sort of positive mental attitude from you will help make this adjustment period much easier than if you make the mistake of slipping into a false belief that every day without smoking dope is going to be painful and difficult."