Day 19:

WC, I relate to what you wrote about your friend. I was also using cannabis all day from first thing in the morning to just before falling asleep at night. It was my constant companion and I used it to make up for a big hole in my life. My anxiety has definitely gone down since I quit. The pangs to take a hit are lessening in duration if not intensity. The biggest problem is in the morning since I would use it to set my day.

MJ can be a trap for some people like myself and your friend. My last episode I was doing dangerous things and ended up in a forensic psychiatric ward with criminal charges (which fortunately are being dropped in favour of a diversion program). Needless to say that was a low point of my life. Not as bad as finding out I had lung cancer or finding out they wanted me to do chemo after surgery but it was bad. I don't blame MJ for it but do want to do everything in my power not to have another episode. It seems my brain is destabilized by MJ and then my life become unmanageable, like your friend.

That is the beginning and end of the story. Destabilized in a good way that it can temporarily lift my depression and anxiety too. There's upside and downside to everything.