Choose how to stop by how your last try went

Every answer you find sounds like the only one. Some say just stop, today, and that cutting down only drags it out. Others say stopping at once is why you failed, and that you should step down. You may have tried one of them already and be wondering whether you picked the wrong one.

People have got off cannabis both by stopping at once and by cutting down, so choose the way that fits how your last attempt went.

If you use cannabis because a clinician prescribed it or knows about it, or you also drink heavily every day, read the “Read this first” box before anything else here.

Look at your last try

The people who wrote about this do not agree on a method, and the reason they give is that it depends on you. Some people say that gradual reduction, by cutting the hours, lowering the strength or adding a low-THC product, is easier to keep up and less damaging to the mind than stopping cold. Some people say the opposite worked for them: cutting down led to relapse, and only a clean stop held. Some people say stopping at once is perfectly doable, and that making up your mind is the hardest part. Below, the two camps are set side by side.

The same trait gets read both ways. One person says stopping cold left them with an all-or-nothing mindset that did not help them in the long run. Another person says that someone prone to relapse, or to all-or-nothing thinking, does better with a clean stop. So the useful question is not what type you are but what actually happened. Did stopping at once hold for a while and then collapse? Did cutting down keep sliding back to the old amount? Did you never try? Your own record with each way is the evidence you have, and nothing in what people wrote is a study behind either camp. If you have never tried, one person says the worry about quitting is often worse than the quitting itself.

What each way looks like

For stopping at once, people describe removing the tools and the supply, keeping away from the people and places that go with smoking, and starting right away. One person says a last session before quitting undermines the decision; another person says one last session helped them see it was doing them no good.

For stepping down, people describe setting limits on the hours they smoke, lowering the strength, and trying a high-CBD, low-THC product that some say reduces paranoia and other unwanted effects of THC. One person suggests breaks of a week or two at a time. Some people say that if sleep is the hard part of cutting down, shifting the hours you smoke earlier in the day helps the sleep cycle settle.

Some cautions from people who tried. One person warns that edibles used to cut down let the dose climb fast, and advises cutting down the flower itself; another person says their partner stepped down with edibles, lowering the dose over weeks. One person says CBD worked at first and then they were smoking again, so it may not hold. And some people warn that nicotine does not belong in the plan, because two dependencies at once are significantly harder to manage than one. FRANK adds that mixing cannabis with tobacco carries the risks of tobacco.

What both ways share

Some people say it helps, whichever way you pick, to fill the hours the habit used to take, to move your body, and to count the money you stop spending. Some people suggest easy-to-digest food, exercise that tires the body, and journaling or therapy for the need to numb feelings. One person says an online community of people who are quitting gave them early support. Some people say insomnia is common at the start and that sleep often improves within weeks, sometimes with vivid dreams. Some people say sleep is the hardest part of cutting down, and one person warns that bad sleep makes it easy to relapse just to get some. One person suggests taking it one day, or one hour, at a time, and one person says a slip does not erase what came before it. The page called Give the fog three weeks is the long version of what the first weeks feel like, from people who went through them.

What changes, and if it does not get better

Many people who stopped say their thinking cleared, their anxiety and paranoia eased, and they did better at work and in their hobbies. Quitting does not fix everything. Some people say they noticed no improvement in their memory, mood or work, and some say life got harder because of another substance. Some people say stopping cannabis lifted suicidal thoughts. One person says that for a low-dose user, quitting can make life slightly worse, with less enjoyment and poorer sleep. Some people warn that stopping cold after heavy use can bring on anger and thoughts of self-harm, and one person says that if cannabis was covering anxiety or depression, stopping can bring it forward. Whichever happens to you, the Read this first box has the lines to call. Needing a therapist does not mean you did it wrong; one person recommends professional therapy for exactly this.

Who this page is not for

If you do not want to stop, nothing here will make you. One person says moderate use is fine and less dangerous than alcohol or opioids, and one person says it helps with ADHD symptoms; the page carries those as theirs, and they are not what it is about.

If you are reading because someone you live with uses, this page is about the person who wants to stop. One person says you cannot change another person’s choices, only your own actions and boundaries. People disagree about what is behind a partner’s anger, and this page does not diagnose anyone. The national helpline in the Read this first box also takes calls from families, and if you are afraid of the person, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233 in the US, or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 in the UK.

If stopping is a medical question for you, because it is prescribed or you rely on it for pain, sleep or a condition, ask the person who prescribes it. And if you also drink heavily, the page called You can stop before anything falls apart has the warning about stopping alcohol.