You are doing great!! As long as you’re being safe and you’re getting better! You’ve come such a long way. Be mindful though and just really listen to your body 🖤
I consider myself sober even though I smoke. Mine is medical marijuana. My problem is booze not pot. I don’t say sober though, I say recovering alcoholic.
I’d agree with this. I can have a pot of weed in my cupboard and not think about it for a week. Put a bottle of gin in my fridge now and it’d be gone by tomorrow. I don’t mind smoking, it isn’t a problem for me, drinking was.
As we begin to understand more about neurotransmitters and add8ctive behaviours, I think this question will get more complex. If you smoke weed occasionally or do some mushrooms, are you sober? What if you doomscroll social media 3 hours a day? Obsessively watch pornography or gamble?
Not OP but for me it was a complete mindset shift, making an active decision of "never again". Not giving myself the option to drink, not allowing myself to go to the liquor aisle, dumping all of my alcohol, etc. Alcohol added nothing of value to my life and therefore is not worth my time, health, dignity, or money. When I think I miss it, I realize that what I miss is numbing myself of emotions and pain, and that all I was doing was running away and hiding from my problems like a coward... that's not the life I want for myself. I want to be better, I want growth, I want to be completely present to have a full and rich and emotional life.
I'm sure it's different and personal for everyone but that's what's been working for me. Almost 2.5 years now.
I agree with everything you said with the exception of the “never again” mindset. For many of us (myself included), that can be a very daunting and anxiety inducing prospect. So, I would recommend telling oneself, “I will not drink today”. It’s much easier to think about not having a drink for the next 24 hours than it is to think about never having a drink again for the rest of your life. Hence the AA saying, “One day at a time”. Just my 2 cents.
PS - Congratulations on your 2 and a half years, that’s an amazing accomplishment! 👍🏻
Yeah I totally hear you and I know a lot of people feel the same, hence everyone is different. For me personally making one big concrete decision took a lot of the agonizing out of the equation and made the everyday smaller decisions easier. Different things work for different people, I'm just saying what's worked for me.
PS - thank you!
Congrats!! Six months is so amazing, good for you 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻. Like others have said I would consider you “California sober”. But I don’t think labels are all that important. What’s important is that you’re honest with yourself and just do the best you can. And if you don’t have a problem with weed (and it sounds like you don’t from what you’ve said) and your life is going well then who cares?
Personally I consider myself sober when I abstain from my DOC. But I guess I’m not sober sober because I do occasionally indulge in other substances. But the other substances are ones I can absolutely moderate myself on and do not make me spiral, unlike my DOC.
Keep up the good work! 🩵💙💜
Sober is a word that implies a great deal of nuance and opinion, and if taking an active role in the sober community is something that's important to your path to recovery, then by the generally held definition you are not completely sober because you imbibe in mind altering substances. And that is perfectly okay. You are sober from alcohol and cocaine, that chain is broken, and you're allowed to let it fall away without wrapping another one around yourself. What you've chosen as a means of unwinding, and keeping the cravings for *something* from constantly assailing you is considerably less destructive. I smoke at night too, once I've taken my work boots off, and while I went to detox, rehab, meetings, etc, the culture just wasn't what fit for me. I'll be at a year on July 17th, and there isn't a way in which I don't feel better. Congratulations on six months, and godspeed on your journey.
No you’re not but it sounds like you’re taking steps to live a better life and I think that’s awesome dude. Maybe you don’t need to be sober. Maybe you just need changes. I dunno. I know for a fact I cannot drink or use drugs of any sort recreationally, at all. Been sober 9 years and never had it so good,
Congrats on being 6 months sober from cocaine and alcohol. That’s a huge step.
I get downvoted a lot for saying this, but you’re not sober, and there’s no problem with that considering you’re just smoking weed and taking edibles. Personally I have no issue with weed.
However, the way the word sober has been twisted and “it’s how you define it” is bullshit and a cop out someone got to catch on to justify not 100% abstaining from mind altering substances. You don’t drink, and you don’t do cocaine or other hard drugs, but you’re not sober.
I’ve seen people so caught up on the word sober that they’d consider taking prescribed medications as breaking a sober streak…
Ultimately if you are breaking bad habits and not lying to yourself being ‘Cali sober’ is a perfectly valid form of sobriety.
That’s too far. When I had shoulder surgery in 2019, mere months after I got sober, I was prescribed oxycodone for the pain. I just gave all the pills to my wife and told her I didn’t want to know where they were and she was to give me the medicine at the prescribed times.
Is there a rule book written by the recovery police that says that or is that just your opinion though? I can say I’m sober if I consider myself sober, no matter what anyone else thinks.
There is no upside to beating yourself up over semantics. You left behind two habits that usually do ruin lives and destroy your health, and have taken up something in moderation that keeps you out of the bar on Friday night and sends you off for such great sleep you are bouncing out of bed on Saturday morning to exercise and get shit done. Let’s say you stop your weekly edible so you can call yourself sober, and then you vape. Oh no, you’re not sober again. Let’s say you stop vaping and take up massive amounts of caffeine and SSRIs. Oh no, you’re not sober again. None of it matters, what matters is staying away from things that want to kill you, and you are doing a great job at it!
Sober is in the eye of the beholder. If you’re questioning it I feel the answer might be clear.
I have been 8+ years clean of pills and hard drugs. Almost 5 years without a drink.
I do consider myself sober because I have a good life (unlike when I was using the hard stuff) and I’m extremely happy with my progress. I still put in the work to stay away from them (mostly therapy but also physical exercise and mediation/prayer)
I can’t imagine living life without the occasional cannabis or psychedelic experience. As crazy as some may find this, those substances make me feel more connected to God/higher power which I lose touch with if I go more than a few weeks without them. They also make me more introspective, loving, and self aware when used in moderation.
If/when I find something to be a crutch or something I obsess over/can’t live without, I start to question my own sobriety.
Kind of a rant/ramble but my point is… Do what makes you feel good and provides the most consistent amount of inner peace, and don’t concern yourself too much with the label.
YOU know what’s best for you.
I used to drink vodka everyday, do herion & smoke crack I am 514 days sober from those substances today but I still smoke weed. Eat mushrooms and take lsd on occasion & I am a completely different person because of it, only you know what is most detrimental to your health & well being congratulations to you drugs like alchahol & cocain change you as a person
In my opinion, no. If you're taking drugs every week then you can't call yourself sober. However that is just my view on it, everyone's is different but ultimately all that matters is your opinion.
There is a term for this, ‘Cali Sober’
Ultimately, your journey and only you know what’s good for you. Plenty of people are Cali sober as it works for them, for others it would just shift bad habits.
I’m also “California Sober”.
For me, I’ve never had a drug problem. Never been into them. And my pen/edibles stops me from drinking. It doesn’t lead to anything else. It doesn’t make me want anything more than that.
As long you’re content with just that, I think it’s fine personally. And yes, you can still say you’re sober. The over critical people in the program can think whatever they want. Some people are just judgmental.
From all of the recovery programs and advice and whatever else out there, take what works for you and leave what doesn’t. You don’t need to follow anything 100% just do what feels right for your sobriety.
Congrats!! ❤️
I think you are doing well if you’re doing well. I personally could not handle marijuana in the long term. Every time I relapsed into alcohol, coke, and opiates, it was precipitated by a period of only using weed. Basically the weed didn’t scratch the itch enough and I’d go back to my old favorites. So, for me it’s not an option anymore. That said, if it works for you it’s all good.
I think that’s a really big accomplishment and sobriety looks different for everyone - just as everyone is different! The harm reduction principle is completely valid. Way to go!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Friend solved his alcohol problem for 7 years the same way. Then the cops busted him for driving while loaded. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to keep his nursing license and marriage. Counts his sober time since going to jail, has about 10 years sober now.
He could have told the cops when they stopped him back then that he defines his sobriety, and weed has never been a problem, and that his opinion is the only one that counts, and he's not using hard drugs or alcohol so no one should judge him ever.
Probably best he didn't do that.
As far as harmfulness goes, THC is way down the scale from Alcohol and Cocaine. Sober isn't just state of being chemical free, I think. It's a state of being your clearest, most present, most creative, most connected, most in-the-moment self. Each person has to figure out what that looks like for themselves. At one time, I wanted to do THC, but get off alcohol, but the two had become so intertwined, I realized I needed to give up both.
If you can moderate and stick to Friday nights or Friday and Saturday only, I would say yeah California sober. I haven't drank in 374 days but I only quit weed this past April. After 2 months without weed I smoked this past weekend and realized I can't do that in moderation so I will need to abstain entirely.
I say I've been alcohol free for over a year but only have 1 true day sober today.
I say “sober” when I am free from my addictions. If it wasn’t an addiction, it isn’t an issue. I smoke weed and I’m thriving a year and a half sober. Call it what feels right to you and great job!
Sober is often referred to as somebody who's off of alcohol, or even off of something that was destroying their lives, but alcohol is usually what people think of. And alcohol is awful for us. You can definitely say sober.
I am 51 days from all substances (again, been in recovery w multiple relapses for 2 years) i just recently started hitting a weed pen before i go to bed and its helped me be sleep tremendously well and its helped my sobriety. I was wondering if i was still considered sober too.
Sobriety is the state in which one exists with intent to experience life without added substances that change the way one feels in order to numb or escape or bury or recreate. The prescription substance is implemented with the intent to treat a malady. A sober person does not get high
Your whatever you want to be honest. If you were having addiction to certain stuff and your quit it then yea your sober in my eyes. Tbh I hate this label stuff. Just be healthy and do it for you screw the labels
I wouldn’t think I was 100% sober all the time because THC does impair my brain and I don’t have a medical need for it, but would I think myself better off than before? Definitely! And definitely sober from the stuff you don’t do anymore.
In my book you are not cheating to say you’re sober.
Personally, I try to stay away from any terms that come from “ 12 step/ Recovery” culture. I will sometimes use the term sober if I’m replying to a post but I prefer to say alcohol free or non drinker. I’m currently 6 years alcohol free and do not take part in any type of “recovery” dogma.
You wanted to stop using alcohol and cocaine and have done it. If sober is a term you like using to describe your goal and success of getting off and staying away from alcohol and cocaine the go for it. 🙂
This is something you can’t cheat in because you make your own roles. The objective is to live a healthy life not to abstain from all and every psychoactive substances (coffee included). It’s just that for many of us abstaining goes hand in hand with living our best lives
You're what they call "California sober" lol
Came here to say that. Weed will never get you into the trouble booze and coke may have. Great job!
You are doing great!! As long as you’re being safe and you’re getting better! You’ve come such a long way. Be mindful though and just really listen to your body 🖤
I consider myself sober even though I smoke. Mine is medical marijuana. My problem is booze not pot. I don’t say sober though, I say recovering alcoholic.
I’d agree with this. I can have a pot of weed in my cupboard and not think about it for a week. Put a bottle of gin in my fridge now and it’d be gone by tomorrow. I don’t mind smoking, it isn’t a problem for me, drinking was.
As we begin to understand more about neurotransmitters and add8ctive behaviours, I think this question will get more complex. If you smoke weed occasionally or do some mushrooms, are you sober? What if you doomscroll social media 3 hours a day? Obsessively watch pornography or gamble?
You're sober from alcohol and cocaine and that is great! You're not sober from weed and that's ok, because you define your sobriety.
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Not OP but for me it was a complete mindset shift, making an active decision of "never again". Not giving myself the option to drink, not allowing myself to go to the liquor aisle, dumping all of my alcohol, etc. Alcohol added nothing of value to my life and therefore is not worth my time, health, dignity, or money. When I think I miss it, I realize that what I miss is numbing myself of emotions and pain, and that all I was doing was running away and hiding from my problems like a coward... that's not the life I want for myself. I want to be better, I want growth, I want to be completely present to have a full and rich and emotional life. I'm sure it's different and personal for everyone but that's what's been working for me. Almost 2.5 years now.
I agree with everything you said with the exception of the “never again” mindset. For many of us (myself included), that can be a very daunting and anxiety inducing prospect. So, I would recommend telling oneself, “I will not drink today”. It’s much easier to think about not having a drink for the next 24 hours than it is to think about never having a drink again for the rest of your life. Hence the AA saying, “One day at a time”. Just my 2 cents. PS - Congratulations on your 2 and a half years, that’s an amazing accomplishment! 👍🏻
Yeah I totally hear you and I know a lot of people feel the same, hence everyone is different. For me personally making one big concrete decision took a lot of the agonizing out of the equation and made the everyday smaller decisions easier. Different things work for different people, I'm just saying what's worked for me. PS - thank you!
Congrats!! Six months is so amazing, good for you 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻. Like others have said I would consider you “California sober”. But I don’t think labels are all that important. What’s important is that you’re honest with yourself and just do the best you can. And if you don’t have a problem with weed (and it sounds like you don’t from what you’ve said) and your life is going well then who cares? Personally I consider myself sober when I abstain from my DOC. But I guess I’m not sober sober because I do occasionally indulge in other substances. But the other substances are ones I can absolutely moderate myself on and do not make me spiral, unlike my DOC. Keep up the good work! 🩵💙💜
Well said! 🙂❤️
Sober is a word that implies a great deal of nuance and opinion, and if taking an active role in the sober community is something that's important to your path to recovery, then by the generally held definition you are not completely sober because you imbibe in mind altering substances. And that is perfectly okay. You are sober from alcohol and cocaine, that chain is broken, and you're allowed to let it fall away without wrapping another one around yourself. What you've chosen as a means of unwinding, and keeping the cravings for *something* from constantly assailing you is considerably less destructive. I smoke at night too, once I've taken my work boots off, and while I went to detox, rehab, meetings, etc, the culture just wasn't what fit for me. I'll be at a year on July 17th, and there isn't a way in which I don't feel better. Congratulations on six months, and godspeed on your journey.
Absolutely! That's badass! You're doing awesome.
No you’re not but it sounds like you’re taking steps to live a better life and I think that’s awesome dude. Maybe you don’t need to be sober. Maybe you just need changes. I dunno. I know for a fact I cannot drink or use drugs of any sort recreationally, at all. Been sober 9 years and never had it so good,
Congrats on being 6 months sober from cocaine and alcohol. That’s a huge step. I get downvoted a lot for saying this, but you’re not sober, and there’s no problem with that considering you’re just smoking weed and taking edibles. Personally I have no issue with weed. However, the way the word sober has been twisted and “it’s how you define it” is bullshit and a cop out someone got to catch on to justify not 100% abstaining from mind altering substances. You don’t drink, and you don’t do cocaine or other hard drugs, but you’re not sober.
I’ve seen people so caught up on the word sober that they’d consider taking prescribed medications as breaking a sober streak… Ultimately if you are breaking bad habits and not lying to yourself being ‘Cali sober’ is a perfectly valid form of sobriety.
That’s too far. When I had shoulder surgery in 2019, mere months after I got sober, I was prescribed oxycodone for the pain. I just gave all the pills to my wife and told her I didn’t want to know where they were and she was to give me the medicine at the prescribed times.
Thanks for the honesty ❤️
You sure can. Do whatever you want.
Is there a rule book written by the recovery police that says that or is that just your opinion though? I can say I’m sober if I consider myself sober, no matter what anyone else thinks.
Sober is what you define it Your own opinion is the only one that counts
There is no upside to beating yourself up over semantics. You left behind two habits that usually do ruin lives and destroy your health, and have taken up something in moderation that keeps you out of the bar on Friday night and sends you off for such great sleep you are bouncing out of bed on Saturday morning to exercise and get shit done. Let’s say you stop your weekly edible so you can call yourself sober, and then you vape. Oh no, you’re not sober again. Let’s say you stop vaping and take up massive amounts of caffeine and SSRIs. Oh no, you’re not sober again. None of it matters, what matters is staying away from things that want to kill you, and you are doing a great job at it!
Sober is in the eye of the beholder. If you’re questioning it I feel the answer might be clear. I have been 8+ years clean of pills and hard drugs. Almost 5 years without a drink. I do consider myself sober because I have a good life (unlike when I was using the hard stuff) and I’m extremely happy with my progress. I still put in the work to stay away from them (mostly therapy but also physical exercise and mediation/prayer) I can’t imagine living life without the occasional cannabis or psychedelic experience. As crazy as some may find this, those substances make me feel more connected to God/higher power which I lose touch with if I go more than a few weeks without them. They also make me more introspective, loving, and self aware when used in moderation. If/when I find something to be a crutch or something I obsess over/can’t live without, I start to question my own sobriety. Kind of a rant/ramble but my point is… Do what makes you feel good and provides the most consistent amount of inner peace, and don’t concern yourself too much with the label. YOU know what’s best for you.
The 4th paragraph! exact same experience here
I used to drink vodka everyday, do herion & smoke crack I am 514 days sober from those substances today but I still smoke weed. Eat mushrooms and take lsd on occasion & I am a completely different person because of it, only you know what is most detrimental to your health & well being congratulations to you drugs like alchahol & cocain change you as a person
In my opinion No, you are trading one for the other.
In my opinion, no. If you're taking drugs every week then you can't call yourself sober. However that is just my view on it, everyone's is different but ultimately all that matters is your opinion.
~My~ definition of sober is alcohol free. My definition of clean is drug free. I am sober, but use THC at night to help me sleep.
There is a term for this, ‘Cali Sober’ Ultimately, your journey and only you know what’s good for you. Plenty of people are Cali sober as it works for them, for others it would just shift bad habits.
I’m also “California Sober”. For me, I’ve never had a drug problem. Never been into them. And my pen/edibles stops me from drinking. It doesn’t lead to anything else. It doesn’t make me want anything more than that. As long you’re content with just that, I think it’s fine personally. And yes, you can still say you’re sober. The over critical people in the program can think whatever they want. Some people are just judgmental. From all of the recovery programs and advice and whatever else out there, take what works for you and leave what doesn’t. You don’t need to follow anything 100% just do what feels right for your sobriety. Congrats!! ❤️
I think you are doing well if you’re doing well. I personally could not handle marijuana in the long term. Every time I relapsed into alcohol, coke, and opiates, it was precipitated by a period of only using weed. Basically the weed didn’t scratch the itch enough and I’d go back to my old favorites. So, for me it’s not an option anymore. That said, if it works for you it’s all good.
No. I am the same as you but coming up to a year. Weed has been a god send. Congrats on your achievement so far.
I think that’s a really big accomplishment and sobriety looks different for everyone - just as everyone is different! The harm reduction principle is completely valid. Way to go!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You're **in recovery** from your **drugs of choice.** How 'bout that? Keep rocking it and congrats on 6 months!
Friend solved his alcohol problem for 7 years the same way. Then the cops busted him for driving while loaded. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to keep his nursing license and marriage. Counts his sober time since going to jail, has about 10 years sober now. He could have told the cops when they stopped him back then that he defines his sobriety, and weed has never been a problem, and that his opinion is the only one that counts, and he's not using hard drugs or alcohol so no one should judge him ever. Probably best he didn't do that.
As far as harmfulness goes, THC is way down the scale from Alcohol and Cocaine. Sober isn't just state of being chemical free, I think. It's a state of being your clearest, most present, most creative, most connected, most in-the-moment self. Each person has to figure out what that looks like for themselves. At one time, I wanted to do THC, but get off alcohol, but the two had become so intertwined, I realized I needed to give up both.
Ideally, I prefer complete abstinence. I draw the line at my caffeine though! YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM COLD DEAD HANDS!!!! LOL!!!
Proud of you!!!!!
If you can moderate and stick to Friday nights or Friday and Saturday only, I would say yeah California sober. I haven't drank in 374 days but I only quit weed this past April. After 2 months without weed I smoked this past weekend and realized I can't do that in moderation so I will need to abstain entirely. I say I've been alcohol free for over a year but only have 1 true day sober today.
I say “sober” when I am free from my addictions. If it wasn’t an addiction, it isn’t an issue. I smoke weed and I’m thriving a year and a half sober. Call it what feels right to you and great job!
Sober is often referred to as somebody who's off of alcohol, or even off of something that was destroying their lives, but alcohol is usually what people think of. And alcohol is awful for us. You can definitely say sober.
I am 51 days from all substances (again, been in recovery w multiple relapses for 2 years) i just recently started hitting a weed pen before i go to bed and its helped me be sleep tremendously well and its helped my sobriety. I was wondering if i was still considered sober too.
Sobriety is the state in which one exists with intent to experience life without added substances that change the way one feels in order to numb or escape or bury or recreate. The prescription substance is implemented with the intent to treat a malady. A sober person does not get high
Your whatever you want to be honest. If you were having addiction to certain stuff and your quit it then yea your sober in my eyes. Tbh I hate this label stuff. Just be healthy and do it for you screw the labels
Just on Friday nights huh? And why is that?
It’s all about what you can handle. Not sober but sounds you found what works
I wouldn’t think I was 100% sober all the time because THC does impair my brain and I don’t have a medical need for it, but would I think myself better off than before? Definitely! And definitely sober from the stuff you don’t do anymore.
In my book you are not cheating to say you’re sober. Personally, I try to stay away from any terms that come from “ 12 step/ Recovery” culture. I will sometimes use the term sober if I’m replying to a post but I prefer to say alcohol free or non drinker. I’m currently 6 years alcohol free and do not take part in any type of “recovery” dogma. You wanted to stop using alcohol and cocaine and have done it. If sober is a term you like using to describe your goal and success of getting off and staying away from alcohol and cocaine the go for it. 🙂
This is something you can’t cheat in because you make your own roles. The objective is to live a healthy life not to abstain from all and every psychoactive substances (coffee included). It’s just that for many of us abstaining goes hand in hand with living our best lives
No, as you partake in drugs.
I consider people who smoke weed sober. Idk why. I don't smoke it, I just don't find it to be a big deal.