Healings of addiction to soft drugs (hashish, marijuana)
Healing from marihuana abuse
K. P. (28), Tiraspol (Moldavia)
Several physical afflictions made my life difficult. From the age of seven I suffered from pain when walking because of flat feet. Since 1990 I had a chronic cough and since 1992 I often had sinus headaches. Around that time a numb feeling in my left leg occurred when I was sitting down. In the beginning of 1996, difficulties when urinating because of an inflammation of the prostate were added to all that. Since 1992 I escaped into smoking marijuana about twice a week. Within two years I finally used this drug several times a day. I grew ever more depressed, was afraid of every day life and got aggressive. I thought about suicide.
Healing from a long-standing hashish addiction
S. M. (32), Kassel (Germany)
At the time of my confirmation when I was about 12 years old, addiction began in the form of alcohol misuse (beer, schnapps, wine). Just as with many other young people even today, I placed great importance on getting really drunk for the first time. At the same time I also tried smoking hashish for the first time. When I was about 14 I could already count myself as one of those in my group who could hold their liquor. At 15 I then began to smoke hashish now and then. It was simply a completely different feeling state. I had the feeling my consciousness was changing, time and space were receding and something like inner peace and a connection to everything was appearing. At 15 I was smoking every third day and from 18 on around 0.5 gram daily but usually only in the afternoons or the evening. At 17 I began carpenter’s training but broke it off after six months. After that I only took odd jobs which I didn’t take so seriously. At 20 I had already stopped my alcohol consumption because I was fixed exclusively on the drug hashish and had the motto, "Better high on pot than drunk". From that point on that drug was the master of my life. I needed it every day because otherwise I couldn’t sleep.
Healing from alcohol and marijuana dependence
E. G. (39), Mistelbach (Austria)
When I was approximately ten years old I began to drink alcohol because I wanted to belong. Every day I went with my neighbour, a vintner, into his wine cellar to regularly drink wine (3-4 eighths, 375 ml). My parents were against this and forbade me to go, but I didn’t obey them. My school performance was also very weak. In the following years the amount kept increasing. At 14 I was already drinking a bottle of wine a day. When I began to go to discos during my job training I also drank high-proof on the weekends as well.
In 1985, at the age of 19, I first came into contact with drugs in the army. At first I smoked marijuana only on weekends. Due to an accident with my wrist followed by an operation when I was 12, I had severe wrist pain¸ especially whilst in the army and because of that I had increased my alcohol consumption so much that I often drank myself unconscious. Especially in the army I suffered so much from loneliness and lack of understanding that I wanted to put an end to my life.
Healing from marijuana addiction
J. N.-F. (45), Berlin (Germany)
At 20 I became acquainted with marijuana through a friend in a band I played in. During the first years I usually consumed the drug as tea, later smoking it pure, that is, without mixing it with tobacco in a pipe or rolled into joints. I was studying philosophy at the time, felt like an outsider and was looking for a place in society and meaning in life. The drugs seemed to help me in this search. I felt inspired and experienced that there was more than only the material. However the dependence soon won out and I took the drug for hedonistic reasons. I tried to stop because I realized that every "high" was followed by a "low" and because I couldn’t control the addiction. The amount I took varied but was never as much as with other "pot smokers". Three or four grams would last for one or two weeks.
Healing from addiction to cannabis
P. D. (37), Traunstein (Germany)
I smoked joints from the time I was 18. In the beginning the consumption tended to be occasional, later regular. My body always showed me certain limits, and the extreme consumption would give me a sore throat. My daily dose tended to be small. I can’t say exactly how much it was in grams per day. I didn’t really try any other drugs because I was aware of the danger.
Healing of addiction to hashish
Mrs A. B. (30), Hamburg (Germany)
At the age of 15 I began to smoke hashish, initially about once a week. In 1985 I entered the drug scene and since then I smoked at least one joint a day. In 1986 I started to panic because of this and stopped smoking for five months without any withdrawal symptoms. After a bad experience I started again and smoked between one and six joints a day. Although I did not want to admit it, I had become dependent. For three months in 1987, albeit once a week at the most, I also took cocaine.
After my introduction to the teachings of Bruno Gröning my need for hashish disappeared completely. I have not taken it again and have parted from my acquaintances in the scene. I had no withdrawal symptoms.
