From Daily Strength as helpful to groups here:

Treatment Success Rate
Top 5 Communities
Condition Members Success
Chronic Pain 926 87%
Depression 71 97%
Bipolar Disorder 54 96%
Anxiety 49 95%
Fibromyalgia 37 100%

I do not use marijuana. I would consider using it for medical reasons if I had a condition or disease and it helped me deal with it. I spent years in a haze of drunkenness and I would prefer to live clearheaded now, so I would only use it if needed.

Medical marijuana is a farce for someone who has a drinking problem or any other substance abuse issues. It has incredible benefits for people of debilitating diseases.

But don't tell me that someone is sober if they're using marijuana, legal or not.

It's a mind altering substance and excuse for many people to abuse something other than their current chemical dependency.

Having said that, I only care what I do. What anyone else does is immaterial to me.

"But don't tell me that someone is sober if they're using marijuana, legal or not."
So what are alcoholics (dry or not) supposed to use for pain relief??? Oxys? Percocets? Morphine?

I think it's ridiculous to judge someone's sobriety based on a substance that is being prescribed to them. The drugs I mentioned are way more addictive and harmful than pot. So is someone's sobriety compromised because they have cancer and have to take morphine or medical marijuana? Doesn't make sense to me and really, whether I choose to smoke pot (which I don't) is not for anyone else to judge whether that makes me sober or not. That's personal to each and every one of us.

I would be interested to hear, Jeff, what drugs you do find it acceptable for alcoholics to take without it taking away from the title of being "sober".

Also, I wouldn't give a s*it what any one said - if I'm ever in incredible pain due to cancer or some other insidious disease, I would cash my 2 year chip in ANY DAY for some pain relief from marijuana or anything else that would alleviate my suffering. Cha-ching.

@Jeff,

My husband is prescribed Morphine and Tramadol for chronic pain . Are you telling me that even though his last drink was 23 years ago, he isn't sober?

We have discussed medical marijuana several times, and if and when it becomes legal in our state (Texas), I will fully support my husband's wishes if he wants to try some medical weed for pain management.

Amen, Texi.
And I am sorry that your husband is in so much pain....

Also, before any one has a coronary - I DO NOT have 2 years sober or a chip to go with it. When I was talking about cashing in my sobriety it was theoretical, not literal.

My opinion is that a pot smoker is not sober. Someone that takes a caffeinated drink is. There is a line as to what drugs are being used.
Caffeine and pot are both drugs. , the difference is that marijuana is very close to alcohol and offers me escape. and actually has caused me to relapse. I sure wouldn't want any narcotics because the minute the prescription ran out I would need a drink. The only definition of sober is what is not a mind altering substance. What someone else calls sober is none of my business. I believe pot smokers are not sober because when I smoked pot I was not sober.

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"There is a line as to what drugs are being used."
So who's the one drawing and defining that line?

Again, I would love to hear what pain killers can be used that are "acceptable" to not harming someone's sobriety. I'm not sure you can even answer that respectably if you've never been in the situation that warrants you to be on pain meds. Maybe once you've been crippled up by chronic pain or suffered the indignities of cancer, then you can come back and speak?

Is Aspirin acceptable? Just checking because I wouldn't want to lose my chip over a headache and a good dose of ASA.

What about psychiatric drugs - the very definition of mild-altering drugs - because that is exactly what they do. They alter the brain chemistry to help manage or alleviate all many of mental illness and disease.

And I would like to see the organic chemical analysis that indicates that the makeup of "marijuana is very close to alcohol".

Apparently the line is "if I used X and got fucked up, it is bad. If you use X as prescribed for a medical condition and do not abuse X, you aren't sober."

For the original poster, don't forget that marijuana is also a depressant.

If someone is in pain and it helps them, then I have no problem with it. People who are in pain do not have a tendency to get high off of their pain relievers. The drug simply takes the "edge" off of the pain, making life more bearable.

I look at the chronic conditions that are successfully treated with marijuana listed in the second post here copied from DS and find that encouraging. I'm not sure what "sober" means in context of this discussion. Many people successfully use drugs produced by the body to elevate their mood and combat pain. Examples: prayer, mountain climbing, running, sex, or books. Some people ingest drugs for the same reason. For the non-alcoholic a drink or two most days may be beneficial to the spirit and body. We know why this is not possible for an alcoholic. 1is2many came close to answering my original question. For him marijuana was a trigger for an alcohol relapse. My shrink says no Valium because it affects the same part of the brain as alcohol.

Several of you seem to believe it is an individual decision.
I guess only I can decide if I can use marijuana in a responsible way to control depression, anxiety and pain. I do worry marijuana use would enable me to have an alcohol relapse, but depression and anxiety have the same risks.

I thank all of you and wish you the best in finding the life you seek.

Interesting not too scientific study:
http://www.hamsnetwork.org/mm/

Sober
Not intoxicated or affected by the use of alcohol or drugs. 2. Abstaining from or habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic drink or other intoxicants: a former addict who has been sober for 10 years. 3. Straightforward and serious; not exaggerated, emotional, or silly: gave a sober assessment of the situation.
Sober up - Sobering - Sober as a judge - Assober


Cmon common sense tell me Aspirin is a drug, caffeine is a drug. Nicotine is a drug. Cocaine is a drug. Alcohol is a drug and marijuana is a drug.

Where I draw the line is different from where others may. Heck 11out of 12 ppl consume alcohol with no problems. They also don't really have issues with abuse.

It's your journey to smoke, pop, or drink what you want. i will drink a coke and have an Aspirin and enjoy life. But my opinion has changed and smoking pot is not sober behavior for this alcoholic.

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