Quick Backstory:

The start of Drinking - I drank since I was 14 when We discovered the worst Plastic bottle, 1 time distilled Vodka that a friend of ours hid in the park and we ran there in the middle of the night to drink it. Of course we didn't have any ice or anything except Root beer. Can you imagine Tasting alcohol for the first time and it's a warm Root-Beer Vodka (RootVodBeerKa?) ? After a fun occasional drinking during highschool, I pretty much gave up the stuff for Religious reasons. I later discover that my Aunts, Uncles, and All grandparents on both sides are/were heavy alcoholics

Alcoholism - It didn't really take off for me until I hit college and had a roommate who drank lots of beer daily. That environment really encouraged me to try all beers. (I'll never forget the day one of my close friends rode his bicycle to my house with a 12 back of Corona on his lap - lol)

Slowly we progressed into shots of jack, then I discovered Captain morgan and sprite tastes like Vanilla Cream soda. Time goes on - and now I'm drinking Rum & soda's almost daily. I finally graduate collage, get married and over the course of 6 more years, I go from about 20-30 drinks a week to 80+ drinks a week.

The Sinclair Method - I stumbled upon This Blog https://jonsleeper.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/leaving-aa-staying-sober/ that had The Sinclair Method (TSM) Via Naltrexone as a possible solution to alcoholism. In April 2015 I confess to my doctor the situation, he agrees to put me on Naltrexone. From then to This October, I have been able to dwindle that number down to around 30 drinks a week from 80+. But I still could not cut it entirely. I think maybe due to habit.

Medical Marijuana card - So for the longest time, I have always thought MJ to be illegal substance abuse and should be avoided just like Heroin. Boy was I an idiot to Drugs in the same way I was an idiot to /r/Fatlogic. My father got Cancer, and MJ was part of his treatment, and he told me it greatly helped him recover. I could not believe my ears, and began researching it.

After about a month or so, I learn of a few people who actually were able to stop drinking by using cannabis. At first thought, I felt like it's giving up one addiction for another. But a few friends (who also happen to be parrents like I am) helped me realize this is not totally the case. The more I learned, the more I found that an "Addiction" to MJ would be far far healthier than an addiction to Alcohol. So, I decided to get evaluated (california).

Being nervous as hell, i just blurted out the truth about wanting to cure Alcoholism. I also told him that i do have anxiety and insomnia, but those are most likely related to Alcholism anyways. The Dr.'s response was shocking.. He told me that Alcoholism should be the #1 reason why people begin smoking weed. That "even if there was an addiction to weed, if you had to be addicted to something, marijuana would be better." He then told me I was the 3rd parent to walk into his office that week who wanted to give up alcohol. I was stunned.

Dispensary - So I got my card and set off to the dispensery. I was quite shocked that they had a security officer at the door, limited allowed people inside, and we were called "patients." I then looked around and realized that my conception of someone who smokes weed was way off and I have had a bad stereotype all along. The people were extremely nice to me and I walked out with waaaaay too much weed. lol

Results - for me... this has worked. It has been 2 weeks for me, but the thought of alcohol has seriously left me. I dont crave it at all. I went from 30-40 drinks a week down to 5 or less Maybe it's because while on TSM i needed to take my Naltrexone 1 hour before drinking, so I always felt that "If i dont take my medicine soon, I gotta wait another hour anyways!" (Golden rule of TSM). With that thought out of the way, I now wait as long as I can since I know I'm not going to be able to do a whole lot other than relax after having some MJ.
This has been a great success for me, and it will be quite a shock to let my Significant other know about this. But over all I feel soo much healthier! No more hangovers, no more terrible digestion (alcohol and salad never mix), no more calling in sick to work.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here. To the C3 Foundation, and to Dr. Sinclair himself. TSM got me from 80 drinks a week to 30 drinks a week. MJ was able to quench the rest. I am very happy to be on recovery now. I'm always tired due to Testosterone depletion, so I am going to the gym Daily now.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.
Thanks again!
-Jeb

I have a question. How do you dose the MJ? I mean it's not a pill right? So how do you know how much to take or is that really important?

Do you actually get high on MJ or do you just use what ever dose is necessary to stop alcohol cravings?

I used to smoke weed a lot years ago. When I would stop drinking I would smoke thinking it would be an alternative but it often times made me paranoid and drinking would cure that paranoia. In fact I played guitar in a rock band and found that the hyper creative paranoia of pot on stage was incredible awesome but I always had to tame it with alcohol. Once that mix got to perfection was when I was at my most creative high. Of course by the end of the show I'd be stumbling on the stage LOL.

Anyway glad to here you have found yourself to be in a place you want to be. Remember always keep that Naltrexone around

I am very happy for you, Jeb. Stay healthy!

Congratulations Jeb!

I've actually considered doing the same but it's not legal here

Inspiring story for a newcomer. I utilize mj for my abstinence and know others that do.

I'll point out that different strains of mj result in varying highs and therein potential paranoia. Further, ingesting mj tends to be more of a body high. Dosing can be measured in either method, but it really depends on the person. I would argue any use results in some high of varying levels.

Bardo,

I am glad to hear from you and I hope things are going well.

Jaba

Thank you all for your kind words.

As for the MJ, honestly now after a few weeks, I feel like the MJ really just broke away my habit of needing Nal every day. This week and last week I still had one day where I had 2 beers. (I really gotta remember Beer and salad does...not....mix...ever..lol). But it was kinda just spur of the moment.

I do plan to keep Nal around no matter what.. but.. at the same time, If I didn't have it, I would not want to drink for fear of getting re-addicted.

As for dosage, I only have a very little bit around 8 or 9 pm before bed. I Made a HUGE mistake and had a whole "Bowl" the first night. I've never had a psycho -panic attack like that in my life. I'll never do that again. I currently like the Sative strain for Before bed, but I just bought some CBD which apparently is supposed to give you no High. I've tried it out and really like that I can still function (like texting) after having it.

So far I have had MJ 6 out of 7 nights, and it feels more and more like an option than it does manditory. So so far so good.

The most difficult part about this process is telling family. My Father, who smokes MJ for cancer treatment, is on board and even told me about his college days of of dealing MJ in Colorado state university back in the 80's where he got arrested for it - lol. He got lucky that the grandparrents got him a great lawyer. My mother also is so happy to hear I've been cured.

My Aunt, however, is very ...suspicious. She has been an AA Advocate, member for over 30 years, and to her there is no such concept as once Alcoholic and now cured. There just couldn't possibly be in AA doctrine.. So she has been very nice/helpful/encouraging, but still continues to treat me like a "pickle" that cant be UN-fermented (lol). We will see how that progresses, I think it will be very difficult to persuade her otherwise.

I'll try to update this thread should relapse or problems arise and I believe it would be beneficial for others to know.

Thanks again everyone.

Great job Jeb. I am like Ocean in the paranoia strikes me pretty hard after partaking. But enjoy the smell of it immensely. Glad you found it helps you. Keep us informed and let us know if you gain weight from the munchies

Guyjeb,

Would you be willing to start a thread in the progress section? I think this is amazing and could help many others that are doing OK with TSM, but need a faster outcome.

I think it is great that you are still following that golden rule, for I think you are correct in thinking you may get re-addicted, for the brain wants what the brain wants (and our brains wants alcohol).

I look forward to the day when Ohio legalizes MJ, but they are going to have so many restrictions that you probably will have to be dying to get it.

Since there are different types of MJ, do they have a type that doesn't give you the munchies? For I would trade in my glass of wine for a hit, if I wouldn't get that stoned and I didn't get the munchies.

It sounds like you are doing great, and I hope that you keep posting (for curious minds what to know),

Jaba