So I decided to make a video about cannabis, the ganja, the green, the old jazz cigarettes. Because as some of you may know, I stopped using cannabis about almost two years ago now. And people always asked me why I stopped. So I figured I would make a video on the reasons why I stopped. And talk a little about, talk about some other things about cannabis and maybe go into some other topics as well.

But to start, I'll go into why I stopped using cannabis almost two years ago now. So I stopped using, I believe it was. The beginning of 2021. And I did not go cold turkey. I slowly decreased my usage over a period of four to five months, probably.

So initially prior to the beginning of 2021 That summer, I had taken a tolerance break for about a week, and after that week ended and I started, you know, smoking again, I didn't really notice any difference. So, I told myself I'm going to stop for a month a week just wasn't enough. During that month I really just felt...

A lot better. I'm not smoking and eating edibles and whatnot. I feel like I have more energy. I feel more clear minded. Just my overall well being just seemed to be much better. More focused. Clean. Clear, precise. So when the month was over and I started consuming again, I kind of eased my way back into it.

I wasn't doing it every day. I think I was going like every other day and switching between like smoking and using edibles. And I just slowly kind of like. Let consumed less and less as each week went by. And then I started mixing in CBD to the point where I was almost only using CBD very little THC.

And some point in December, I just kind of decided like, I think it's just time for me to stop. So the new year came and I just made it a goal of mine to see how long I could go. And then at some point I just decided I'm gonna go a whole year without using cannabis. And a year went by and I just kind of decided That I don't think I ever need to use it again.

And I don't think I ever will. At least, ugh, that's my thought right now. And, some of the things that I noticed from quitting is I gained more energy. I gained more focus. I was sleeping better. Remembering my dreams, even though I still had dreams when I was smoking, I could still remember them, but they just became much more vivid.

My appetite was better. I feel like when I was towards the end of my smoking, I didn't, my appetite wasn't as much as the classic, you know, whenever I think you smoke weed, you get the munchies. I feel like I just didn't have that anymore. So my, my appetite came back.

I feel like just a more stable mood and emotions and just overall feeling much better as a person and realizing that I was using this plants as a crutch and a form as escapism. And like a band aid and a mask, and not really getting to any root causes, but just layering them with smoke so I wouldn't have to think about them.

And when I became, well, sober I was able to focus much more on Well, where maybe my problems were stemming from and how to work through them. And now I feel like I, I mean, I definitely struggle with depression and anxiety. And at first, you know, I was, you know, self medicating with cannabis to try to help with that.

But over the years, I feel like it just was making things worse to a degree. But Previous just said just kind of masking it or putting a band aid over it, but not actually fixing the problem.

And I think that's what cannabis does. It doesn't actually fix your problems, it just masks them so you don't think about them. So on a surface level you may think it's helping with your anxiety or depression, but really it's just kind of. putting them under the sheets so you don't think about them until they bubble up and resurface and then, you know, either makes things worse or you spiral out or you get into, you know, a deeper depression and then you just keep trying to smoke or consume your depression away, which never really works.

So this is not medical advice, I'm not a doctor, these are just my personal opinions. I think if you're dealing with any sort of depression or anxiety, I don't think cannabis is a good idea. Maybe short term it may help, but long term you're just not going to. get to the root causes and fix the issues you're dealing with.

I think in order to fix these problems, you need to be sober and you need to really ask questions and look inward at where where it's stemming from. And when you can start to ask these questions and figure out where things may be stemming from, then you can start to work through it. And this will allow you to have much deeper breakthroughs than just smoking or consuming cannabis to try to fix your problems.

Because it, like I said, in the long run, it's only going to make things worse. Now this may trigger some people or some people may disagree. And if that's coming up I think you need to kind of ask yourself why you're having those thoughts or why you're being triggered. Because you probably know deep down inside that what I'm saying is resonating with you.

And you've probably had thoughts of stopping, and you're just afraid because your, your whole identity which I understand because you create this identity with this plant and you've based your whole life around it, and in a way, it consumes you, and you become so attached to it, that. It's a fear and you, you feel like you can't live your life without it, but I can tell you a hundred percent that you can live your life without it and it'll be much better.

And the first few weeks or maybe in for a few months may be tough, but that's life. Life isn't always easy. And sometimes to make these changes in your life are going to be challenging. But the rewards are much sweeter in the end. So I'm just making this video for anyone that's been having these thoughts or struggling with these issues in their life and they use cannabis to maybe give you the idea that it's time to take a break and step back and see how your life unfolds after, after doing that.

Because I would imagine it's only going to get better. In the long run because it has for me and I know for other people it has as well. I feel like when you read about people saying that they had been using for a long time and then they stopped, I'd say 99 percent of the time has a drastically positive impact on their life.

And it's interesting because I still work in the cannabis industry. So I'm around it all the time, which sometimes feels conflicting because I'm selling people a product that I don't really believe in anymore, but I guess that's where free will comes in and people have their own choice to make whether or not they want to, you know, consume this or not.

And I'm not here to save anybody. I'm not here. To, you know, push anybody a certain agenda or tell people what they should be doing. But if people ask me, I'll tell them my experience and offer my perspective because I do see a lot of people using it as a form of escapism and a crutch and I know.

That it may be giving them some sort of short term relief, but it's really only doing more harm. But a lot of people just want a quick fix and don't want to do the hard work that's required because it's hard and takes time and patience to do. So, I understand, to a degree, what people don't want to...

Quit or why they get so wrapped up in it and the fear behind it Because I was once there I was like, I don't I mean that seems impossible But but I did it and I'm glad I did. I think it's one of the best I should one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life was becoming sober It just makes my life feel much more fulfilling and life is already so Like Trippy and mysterious that you don't need these substances

to escape from it because it's much more enriching when you're when you can become more fully present. And I think what cannabis does is it disembodies you. It takes you. out of the moment to a certain degree and we are here to be more fully embodied and you have so much more power when you are fully embodied instead of when you're super high and just kind of out of your mind and

When you're high, you're just not thinking clearly. , and I can tell you that's true because there's things that I used to do then and I'd be high, that just when you look back on this, makes absolutely no sense. But when you're in it, it seems like it makes a lot of sense. It seems rational, but it, it doesn't it, it truly doesn't.

Or people think they need it to be creative. Sure, maybe to certain degrees it can help with that, but I don't know, I feel like I'm even, I'm still creative or even more creative now now that I'm sober cause I don't know, I can access those realms without having to ingest cannabis, or whatever. I just, I know if I can still, still myself, I can access that creativity and, and life provides creativity for you.

You don't need a substance, to induce the creativity. And as I was saying, kind of before, I think people really build a whole identity. Around it, and that's why it's such a hard time stopping because they've created a whole identity around cannabis and you're, and you're shattering a part of you, an identity you created. Which is hard. It, it, it, it takes discipline and effort to dismantle it this identity that you created.

So yeah If you use cannabis and you've had the idea of maybe you should stop or take a break I encourage you to listen to that voice that's telling you because there's a reason it it keeps coming up. It's, it's a sign. And it's a sign that's trying to lead you to a better life.

Something else I'd like to kind of talk about is how people will say, well, it's my medicine and I, you know, I need it. It's my medicine. And again, I'm not a doctor. I'm not giving medical advice. This is just my pure opinion. But I kind of think it's bullshit. Sure, like, you can get medicinal value out of cannabis, but you don't need it for medicine, especially for anything like mental and I'd even say physical for most things. I mean, with most things you can, I mean, with simple things like for your mental health, just exercising, eating right, getting good sleep.

Doing those things will drastically improve your mental health. You don't need cannabis for that. And as I talked about earlier, Cannabis is only going to make it worse in the long run. And for other things, Like when people are like, I needed to sleep, or I'm in a lot of pain. I mean, people do not take care of their bodies.

They don't take care of their physical health, so it's years of abusing their body that has led them to be in this physical pain majority of the time. So, you know, taking care of your body and your physical health will allow you not to need this this substance. Making life changes will also fix a lot of your problems or issues or dis eases that people have you don't, cannabis is not the miracle medicine here to solve all your problems, fix all your issues.

I'm not denying that it has helped people. I, I truly believe there's other ways to live a more fuller, healthier life.

And this kind of leads me, this is going to be a long video into like how people feel about psychedelics as well. Because people, as they, as they do with cannabis, they think psychedelics are these Holy, grail medicines that are going to fix their entire life and yes, they can offer you insights and open up new perspectives that you may not have known before, but they're not the answer. And. They're becoming more and more popular, like, by the day, and I, I don't think people should be encouraging them like the way they are. So many people like I said, are trying to put the, these on, these psychedelics on a pedestal or whatever.

You know, I'm calling them plant medicines. Like I said, yeah, sure, tooth hickory, they can, they can be. But, I think they're, I think they're very disembodied and don't really offer any really long term solutions. And they're just, in a, in a way, bypassing the work that can be done without them.

Through. 3 day practice and building a skill set that allows you the development to witness how you live your life and the things that you do that trigger you. And how you're, how you what was it, how can I say this, how you're aware of your energy and how you handle your energy and take ownership of your energy and your life and understanding the stories you tell yourself and the beliefs that you believe in. And when you start to be able to dissect and understand who you truly are and how you truly live your life, you can refine and reshape your reality into a more fulfilling and enriching way of living.

And I don't think psychedelics are going to do that. I can tell you from personal experience. That, yeah, maybe they helped me, but they will keep you looping and going back to keep searching for answers that you've already found, or that you don't need from them

because they, they bring you so far out, and then when you come back. You feel like you're missing something and you gotta go do it again. And that's why you see so many people just keep taking them, and taking them, and taking them, and taking them, and taking them. And it's like,

Did you not get it the last hundred times you did it? Or you gotta keep doing it a hundred more times, and then you feel like you're not solving your problems because you keep looping in this almost like delusional state of mind.

From the psychedelics and we came here to live fully in this human experience and a lot of that stuff or insights or epiphanies you have on psychedelics are always very useful for your everyday life and in a way will make you not want to live.

A normal life and will make you very, feel very isolated from the world, which will create depression and anxiety, the very thing that you're trying to fix.

So I'm now kind of very weary of people that preach psychedelics because I feel like they're not understanding. The message of what it means to be in this reality. It seems more of like they're trying to escape it. Otherwise they wouldn't keep doing it over and over again. And this might trigger some people, but I don't really care.

Because if it's triggering you, then there's probably something inside of you that knows what I'm speaking is true. So, I would ask you to look deeply within yourself and while you keep going back to these substances, and ask yourself, do you really need to keep using them? Because I would say you don't.

It goes, it goes with a lot of things or even like with certain Spiritual practices, whatever that means now. Because everything, I guess, is spiritual in a sense. Because everyone's spiritual. Being, being human is spiritual. But,

People are looking for some, Some sort of practice that's gonna like, I don't know, make them enlighten or fix all their problems. And that's just, that just isn't the case. Like, If you're going to live your lifetime developing and growing as a person, you're not going to do one thing and have it all, have all your problems go away.

And yeah, I think we've just created a world where people are looking for the quick, quick fix. And that just isn't how life is, unfortunately. But, if you're willing to take the harder path, it is, it can be very rewarding.

It just takes a lot of patience. Something that I'm trying to get better at, because I thought I had patience, but I guess I do to some degrees, but other degrees I'm super impatient. So that's something I'm trying to work on. Myself. And I think being sober helps with that.

So, this was super long. If you've heard this far, thanks for listening. And, I think I'm gonna try to make more of these videos. Because, I

have a lot of thoughts in my head. And, not always. a lot of people to communicate them to, so this is a way to get them out. And I think other people will enjoy or learn something from them, hopefully. But if not, that's okay. Because it just helps me, and that's really what I'm doing it for.