Featured Image Credit: YouTube/dougbopst1
Topics: Drugs, Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, News
Olivia Burke
Topics: Drugs, Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, News
A former weed smoker has revealed the 'five amazing gifts' he gained after quitting marijuana.
Doug Bopst has been in recovery for more than 15 years and managed to 'kick addiction, slay his personal demons and reinvent himself' after a stint in prison. He started smoking cannabis in high school, before going on to begin selling the stuff - and at the age of 21, he got caught red-handed.
Bopst, who lives in the US state of Maryland, was charged with possession with intent to sell in 2008 and originally sentenced to five years, which was then reduced to just 90 days. It was the wake-up call he needed to get on the straight and narrow, as well as an opportunity to get sober from both weed and opioids.
Bopst has 'been in recovery since the day he was incarcerated' and after his release, he has gone on to become a personal trainer, an author, motivational speaker and podcast host. His YouTube channel is a treasure trove of advice for people who want to quit their vices and turn their lives around, including those who want to stop smoking weed.
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In a video shared in September 2023, he explained that his 'life changed a lot in the first 365 days' of him giving up the green, while revealing that he enjoyed five major benefits from kicking his habit.
Bopst told his 216,000 subscribers that he felt like his 'brain [had] healed' a year into being clean of cannabis.
"I started to remember things better," he explained. "When I was getting high all the time on marijuana, I had a hard time remembering things, I had a hard time thinking clearly, I didn't have any goals or aspirations.
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"When I gave that up, I felt like my brain over time started to heal. I felt that I could start to again remember things better, I started to have goals, I started to have aspirations again.
"I started to be more patient when making decisions and I was less inclined to do something based on impulse."
Bopst said he was 'convinced that he wasn't going to be able to have a normal brain anymore' when he first gave up, but ended up being pleasantly surprised.
Bopst admitted that he would spend 'all day, every day doing nothing but getting high' at the height of his dependency, which ended up leaving him 'miserable' in the long run.
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"The first day I went to jail was the last day that I did any drugs," he said. "My quality of life started to improve - I started to work out, focus more on nutrition, focus more on what I wanted for myself in life.
"I started to be disciplined, I started being able to get comfortable being uncomfortable...I was motivated to change my life."
The content creator said he became more sociable, his self-confidence vastly improved and his 'entire outlook changed'.
He added: "I didn't have a problem showing up to family events, I didn't have a problem staying disciplined and going to work, because now marijuana wasn't overwhelming me."
Another benefit that Bopst saw after removing weed from his life is that his mental health got a much-needed boost.
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He explained that he began smoking the stuff as he felt like it was 'helping his anxiety', but after a few years of caning it, he realised it was in fact 'doing the opposite'.
"The more I smoked, the more anxious I became, the more paranoid I became, the worse I was at dealing with my emotions," Bopst explained.
"When I stopped, my anxiety rapidly decreased, my paranoia went away [and] I stopped having panic attacks."
Instead of using cannabis as a crutch, he opted for healthier options - such as running, walking, 'talking to a trusted friend' or even just 'sitting in peace somewhere' - to deal with his emotions.
Quitting weed allowed Bopst to redefine the relationships in his life, as he admitted he had 'no connection to himself' or his nearest and dearest when he was getting high all the time.
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"I don't know who I was at all," the fitness buff said. "I had lost myself completely in this addiction and religion of marijuana and I was completely disconnected.
"When I quit marijuana when I was in jail, I started to re-establish a connection to myself - I started to think about who I was as a person, who I wanted to be.
"I started to take responsibility for my actions and my behaviours because I wasn't as ashamed of myself anymore and I wasn't blaming other people for my problems."
Bopst added: "I slowly but surely started to work on the relationships with my family and started to improve them. I was less reactive in tense situations, I wasn't always on edge, I wasn't as defensive."
The fifth and final 'beautiful gift' that Bopst received after kicking his drug habits was his recovery in general.
"Recovery has given me so much peace, so much strength, so much hope, meaning in life...it's given me purpose," he told his subscribers.
"It's allowed me to see that I can overcome hard things, it's allowed me to see that I can succeed when my back is against the wall.
"It allows me to see that just because life gets hard doesn't mean that you have to give up on yourself. It's allowed me to see that I need to take full responsibility and accountability for how I behave on a daily basis."
He now wants to 'pay it forward' by sharing his wisdom with others who might be in the same boat. Good for you, Bopst!