How to quit smoking marijuana can be quite a journey for those willing to undertake it. Some will find it easy and others will find it excruciatingly hard.

The differences are probably 10% physical and genetic difference and 90% to do with your mental head space and psychology.

After all ... Marijuana Addiction is a psychological addiction not a physical one.

What this means if you are confused is that the drug itself is not an addictive substance in that it causes no physical dependency like some other drugs including heroin and cigarettes which when ceased cause the body to have serious and terrible reactions to missing their dose the aforementioned drugs.

Marijuana has more in common with other more behavioral addictions such as gambling for instance and even sex addictions.

The common thread is that they all give a high of sorts which have a serious impact on stimulating the reward center of the brain making you believe often subconsciously that doing these things is pleasurable and good. When you are low especially this part of your brain seeks stimulation and long term pot smokers of course are now wired into instantly reaching for another joint.

The information above is often drowned out by a lot of propaganda from the two almost militant and loudest forces related to cannabis. The legalization campaigners and the war on drugs supporters.

A few bits of misinformation or outright lies that need to be cleared up are below.

"Marijuana is not addictive at all! If you think you are addicted to Marijuana you are just weak willed!"

This one annoys me the most and is often spouted along with many expletives from those who are not just supporters of marijuana but are plain in love with it! The indoctrination begins because they are quite right that there is no evidence of physical dependency with pot but completely ignores the idea of a psychological addiction. If you believe this then you must also believe that there is no such a things as many other addictions such as gambling, alcoholism, sex addiction, internet addiction and so forth. It also ignores the fact that many who are physically dependent on a drug are also psychologically addicted too!

These are all well documented addictions and while it does take will power to end an addiction this can be difficult for some people who have used marijuana for a long time and a sudden change to quit can be traumatic.

"Marijuana makes you lazy and stupid!"

This links in with a few things that are blown out of proportion when it comes to weed and addiction. Firstly is the insistence in blaming the actual drug for doing things to your body and mind that it does not have that much influence over. People choose to be lazy and when they do not put effort into learning can appear to be stupid perhaps. The culture of pot smoking is more to blame for this than the drug itself though which is no a slight against addiction at all because social and cultural influence have a lot to do with how people form bad and good habits. The caveat to this is that pot smoking does cause temporary memory deficiencies and can affect problem solving skills too ... but this is temporary and is not enoguh to take control of a person.

"Marijuana is completely harmless"

While marijuana is certainly a soft drug and comparable with alcohol which is not illegal this is often used as some sort of argument that it should be legal and therefore is safe. Yet we still have alcoholism, we still have people who get drunk and do dangerous things and overuse of alcohol can have serious consequences. Marijuana is similar in that moderate usage is probably not too bad but habitual smokers can suffer harmful effects from smoking too much and the social consequences and relationship consequences of being addicted to pot can limit peoples abilities. No one likes a drunk at work and many people distrust people who get wasted on booze every weekend too ... marijuana can cause physical and social harm if you let it.

So, you have hard a tough time quitting. You accept you have an addiction. Where to next? What can you do?

This can be a very personal question and involve a very personal solution. There are however a few tools that you will need to accomplish this in your addiction kicking tool belt!

• Willpower - While some people think this is all you need and would be wrong willpower of course is vital. Having the belief you can do this and the fortitude to continue through the tough times will be a tool used at all stages.
• Introspection - Know yourself. Some people do not truly understand their addiction because they do not understand who they really are, why they started smoking and why they continue it. Honesty with yourself and a critical eye on your actions and motivations will serve you well.
• Planning - All the willpower and introspection will not do any good without a plan however. Being able to organize your thoughts, put them down on paper even then work out ways to deal with the problems that will arise is essential when learning how to quit smoking marijuana.
• Support - This can sometimes be a tough thing to find but having just a little bit of support and encouragement can mean the difference between having a good day and having a very very bad day. Seek out a support network who will help you achieve your quitting goals.
• Persistence - Some people think this is willpower and i suppose it is a part of it but it is also so much more. Persistence is what makes great men and women. Genius is nothing compared to persistence, the person who continues fighting despite the odds frequently ends up the victor in business, relationships and life in general. Success is not about being brilliant ... it is about not giving up!
  

I hope this hub gives some good advice and insight into the problem of marijuana addiction for those looking to end their habitual smoking that is destroying their life.

Some additional reading on addiction and marijuana addiction can be found to the right on amazon but there is another guide which I highly recommend for those looking for a complete guide to giving up cannabis for good.

This guide is instantly downloadable and is named the Cannabis Coach. Gary Evans is the author and was once a weed addict who managed to overcome his demons and quit for good. He has compiled his insights, wisdom and importantly the step-by-step processes he sued to wean himself off pot and how you can apply these techniques too.

For more information on this head over to the Cannabis Coach website now.