Recovering Alcoholics Smoking Pot? WHAT?

From the movie Private Benjamin:

Judy Benjamin: I think they sent me to the wrong place.

Capt. Doreen Lewis: Uh-huh.

Judy Benjamin: See, I did join the army, but I joined a “different” army. I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms

I Think I Might Have Joined the Wrong Recovery Program…

I mistakenly joined the one where you get sober. Totally sober. And you do not alter your consciousness at all, and you look in the mirror and face the monster who lives in there, and you tough it out, boot camp style.

We all deserve some relief…

This blog post is not about all the new drugs that are being tendered to those who suffer from abnormal cravings and desires and withdrawals from alcohol. I say as long as you try to get to the bottom of WHY you became a problem drinker in the first place, and as long as you don’t become addicted to the panacea, have at them. Everyone deserves some relief.

This blog post is about those people who are “sober”, but who smoke pot. I am gob-smacked by this notion. Is it a thing? Yesterday I was speaking to a friend who is a recovering alcoholic and he said (rather blithely), “I don’t smoke much weed anymore.”

I was like, “WHAT? Can we do that?” It felt like I was back in school, and I didn’t know it was an open book test, and I had studied all night.

Not My Cup of Tea…

First of all, if we can smoke pot, it is unfair. It has never been the drug for me. The few times I have tried to smoke pot in the past 20 years, I have either gotten thick as a brick (with large chunks of time missing until I “wake up” in the same spot with Mallowmars’ wrappers in my lap), or I see melting buildings and announce to the quickly dispersing crowd of partiers that I am hallucinating and our pot must have been laced with acid!!!

But, of course I started Googling like crazy – Can a recovering alcoholic smoke pot?  Can medical marijuana be used by alcoholics? Is medical marijuana used for alcohol recovery?

CATS?

There is a fair amount written on the subject. Hazelden Betty Ford says, “Our best chance for recovery lies in total abstinence from all mind altering drugs.” The United Patients Group opines, “The use of medical marijuana in recovery is controversial. Especially with the conflicting research as to whether marijuana is addictive or not.” And CATS (Cannabis for Alcohol Treatment Support) boldly states, it is “a place where people who use medical marijuana to treat alcohol problems can feel free to talk without shame or censure about their Marijuana Maintenance.”

For once, I do not think I have any answers to this question. I only know the thought of becoming a stoner scares me. I wonder what you think? Can/should recovering alcoholics smoke pot?