Smoking less cannabis
Just like cigarettes, in the short-term, cannabis may make you feel good. It may de-stress or relax you after a hard day, or temporarily calm symptoms of mental illness. But in the long term, research has shown that cannabis has a negative effect on people with severe mental illness.
In one study in 1994, cannabis use was the best indicator of relapse for people with severe mental illness.
If you want to decrease your cannabis use, there are several things you can do to help yourself in this goal.
- Make a plan – work out what situations you are likely to smoke in and avoid them
- think of different activities to do instead
- Remind yourself of the benefits of smoking less
- Make sure you have things around to distract you if you do feel like smoking – like magazines
- Go for a walk
- Or have a bath
- Or try to delay giving in to the craving – tell yourself to wait for 15 minutes and see if you still feel like smoking then.
More info...
You can get a guide to cutting down and stopping cannabis use from
HIT by calling
0870 241 4680. Or from
www.knowcannabis.org.uk remember, most libraries give free internet access.
