I quit a couple of months ago... it was really really hard for me, I had up until that point been in the haze all day, every day for almost seven years.. when I first started it just got hold of me very quickly, it was surprising that I never stopped when I started... and I started at a pretty late age.. started smoking bongs, then moved on to joints when I moved to the UK, then I got onto vaporizing with a volcano about 3 years ago, that was a smart move in the right direction as all my lung problems went away, felt like it was very healthy for the body, but not really for the mind... it's not like I was in a fog all the time, I still got on with my work... but I'd wanted to quit for a few years, because I'd noticed that it would make me settle for things and made me reluctant to try new things, meet new people, that kind of thing, I felt like it would dampen the lows in life but I found habitual use also dampened the highs.... the problem with weed for me is that it's effects are long lasting, at least for me, if I got high I would be in the haze for about 4 days and the habit would take over again quickly. I've always looked at weed as a lifestyle choice but one that most people don't even realise they've made.
I just couldn't do it once a fortnight, it was all or nothing really, for me I had to quit completely.. because otherwise I'd just be thinking about the next time. how I quit was an interesting story, I had started experiencing health problems related to it, the doctors found a 3mm nodule in my left lung...this had a strong influence, but I was basically tripping on methoxetamine one night and I suddenly got deeply introspective, saw how weed was ruining my life and I literally imagined a key being turned in my head, from that point on I never wanted to smoke again... and I haven't... I did get some very hard withdrawal symptoms, shaking, inability to sleep for 5 whole days, huge irritability, epic boredom... but it did go away... and it was a big eye opener... I'm not recommending this as a technique to quit, but that's how I did it. It's a kinda fucked up way to quit... I think first you've got to want to quit, then you've got to get deeply introspective then go through some hard shit for a long time, but you can do it. Since quitting it took about 10 days for the haze to lift, then I started to notice things about being in it that I didn't notice before...
First thing that surprised me was paranoia, I had always assumed I didn't get that, but surprise, I did have a strange low level paranoia that was inhibiting my behaviour... also the obvious things like having way more time on my hands, the ability to do more work easier.. and it's cliche, but yeah, dreams have started returning in vivid form, and I'm still getting used to those because they are so vivid... can't believe I had stopped dreaming, I had read that before but I thought it was bullshit. Then finally the most embarassing thing I've realised is that my friends who are still smoking look like classic stoners, and it's probably because I'm straight now but they look high and they don't realise how out of it they are.. and I was one of them... yeah, it's been a real eye opener... I'll never do it again... I loved the stuff but that's my punishment for abusing it for so long, it's had it's day.