Marijuana Anonymous

Last updated
Marijuana Anonymous
NicknameMA
Formation1989;35 years ago (1989)
Founded at Morro Bay, CA, USA
Type Mutual aid addiction recovery Twelve-step program
HeadquartersHollywood, CA
Membership (2022)
Unknown
13 volunteer Board of Trustees
Subsidiaries A New Leaf Publications
Affiliations27 Worldwide "Districts"
Staff (2022)
6
Volunteers (2022)
13, Board of Trustees
Website marijuana-anonymous.org mawsconference.org mawsconvention.org anewleafpublications.org
Formerly called
Marijuana Smokers Anonymous, Marijuana Addicts Anonymous

Marijuana Anonymous (MA) founded in 1989 is an organization and twelve-step program for people with common desire to maintain abstinence from marijuana. [1]

Contents

History

Marijuana Anonymous (MA) formed in June 1989 [1] to address compulsive use of cannabis. Since its inception, the MA fellowship has followed the Twelve Traditions and suggests practicing the Twelve Steps, both of which originated from Alcoholics Anonymous. [2] Among the founders at the first MA conference in Morro Bay were delegates from Marijuana Smokers Anonymous (Orange County, California), Marijuana Addicts Anonymous (the San Francisco Bay area ), Marijuana Smokers Anonymous [Santa Cruz CA] and Marijuana Anonymous (Los Angeles County). Other existing fellowships from Seattle and New York City (1974)[ citation needed ], enfolded into MA later. [3]

Marijuana Anonymous set up in London UK in 2000. [4] [ citation needed ]

Marijuana Anonymous World Services is a non professional non-profit corporation formed to carry out the necessary business and legal affairs of Marijuana Anonymous. Trustees are the officers of MA World Services, as “trusted servants” of the members of MA. A peer facilitated support group: these are volunteer positions and no one governs, as Marijuana Anonymous follows an "inverted triangle" of service, where the members are considered most important. [5]

Organization

The only requirement for membership to Marijuana Anonymous is a desire to stop using marijuana; there are no dues or fees. [6] As an organization, Marijuana Anonymous attempts to stay neutral and has no official stance on the legality of cannabis, per Tradition Ten which states, "Marijuana Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the MA name ought never be drawn into public controversy." [7] It is difficult for the organization to avoid taking a stance on whether marijuana is physically addicting, as their program is intended to help recover from marijuana addiction. However, the organization maintains that its materials are not to be considered medical or scientific literature, but rather based on personal experiences of its members. [8] There is a piece of literature, "The Doctor's Opinion on Marijuana Addiction" [9] by Dr. Marvin Seppala, Chief Medical Officer of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation written for members of Marijuana Anonymous.

Meetings

Meetings are a vital part of the MA program. [10] This is where fellowship members go for peer-to-peer support, for literature, and to mark and celebrate their abstinence from marijuana. There are regularly scheduled daily meetings [11] across the globe, in many formats including: in-person, online and phone meetings. [12] Per the 7th Tradition, all meetings are autonomous, self-supporting, free to attend, and outside contributions are not accepted. [13]

Literature

Life With Hope

The full title is Life With Hope: A Return to Living Through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Marijuana Anonymous. [14] The book is available for purchase, and is free on the Marijuana Anonymous app. [15]

A New Leaf

A New Leaf is a monthly newsletter published by Marijuana Anonymous. It contains stories and sobriety anniversaries of MA members along with the occasional article from the board members. [16]

Pamphlets

Like most twelve step programs, MA also has informative pamphlet literature which it gives away for free. Pamphlets topics range from Why Marijuana Anonymous, Detoxing From Marijuana, Working the Program, etc. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholics Anonymous</span> Sobriety-focused mutual help fellowship

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global peer-led mutual aid fellowship begun in the United States dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's twelve traditions, besides stressing anonymity, establish it as free to all, non-professional, unaffiliated, and non-denominational as well as apolitical with a public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion. In 2020 AA estimated a worldwide membership of over two million, with 75% of those in the US and Canada.

Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded by Bill Wilson and Bob Smith, aided its membership to overcome alcoholism. Since that time dozens of other organizations have been derived from AA's approach to address problems as varied as drug addiction, compulsive gambling, sex, and overeating. All twelve-step programs utilize a version of AA's suggested twelve steps first published in the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcotics Anonymous</span> Mutual help 12-Step organization

Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied substance use disorders and is the second-largest 12-step organization, after 12-step pioneer Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the first twelve-step group, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexaholics Anonymous</span> Twelve-step program

Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) founded in 1979 is one of several twelve-step programs for compulsive sexual behavior based on the original twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. SA takes its place among various twelve-step groups that seek recovery from sexual addiction: Sex Addicts Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, Sexual Compulsives Anonymous and Sexual Recovery Anonymous. Collectively these groups are referred to as "S" groups since all their acronyms begin with that letter: SA, SAA, SLAA, SCA, SRA.

James Patrick Kinnon, commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.", was one of the primary founders of Narcotics Anonymous (NA), a worldwide fellowship of recovering addicts. During his lifetime, he was usually referred to as "Jimmy K." due to NA's principle of personal anonymity on the public level. He never referred to himself as a founder of NA, although the record clearly shows that he played a founding role.

Pagans in recovery is a phrase, which is frequently used within the recovery community, to describe the collective efforts of Neopagans as well as Indigenous, Hindu, Buddhist, and other like-minded groups, to achieve abstinence or the remission of compulsive/addictive behaviors through twelve-step programs and other programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Al-Anon/Alateen, etc. These efforts generally focus on modifying or adapting the twelve steps to accommodate the Pagan world-view as well as creating Pagan-friendly twelve step meetings either as part of a preexisting twelve-step program or as independent entities.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a twelve-step program founded by Rozanne S. Its first meeting was held in Hollywood, California, USA on January 19, 1960, after Rozanne attended a Gamblers Anonymous meeting and realized that the Twelve Steps could potentially help her with her own addictive behaviors relating to food. OA has since grown, with groups in over 75 countries meeting in person, over the phone, and through the internet. OA is for people with problems related to food including, but not limited to, compulsive overeaters, those with binge eating disorder, bulimics and anorexics. Anyone with a problematic relationship with food is welcomed; OA's Third Tradition states that the only requirement for memberships is a desire to stop eating compulsively.

Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) is a California-based non-profit, public-benefit corporation founded in 1994. The members of the fellowship of Crystal Meth Anonymous work a twelve-step program of recovery with recovering crystal meth addicts. Participants in local groups meet in order to help others recover from methamphetamine addiction. CMA advocates complete abstinence from methamphetamine, alcohol, inhalants, and all other psychoactive drugs not taken as prescribed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual Compulsives Anonymous</span> Twelve-step program

Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA) is a twelve-step program for people who want to stop having compulsive sex. SCA founding is attributed variously to 1982 in New York City and to 1973 in Los Angeles. Although the fellowship originally sought to address issues of sexual compulsion among gay and bisexual men, and this is still the fellowships predominant demographic, today the program is LGBT friendly, open to all sexual orientations, and there is an increasing number of women and heterosexual men participating. SCA meetings are most likely to be held in urban areas with larger gay and bisexual male populations. The majority of members are white, but vary in age and socioeconomic background. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop having compulsive sex.

Debtors Anonymous (DA) is a twelve-step program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt. Collectively they attend more than 500 weekly meetings in fifteen countries, according to data released in 2011. Those who compulsively incur unsecured debt are said to be engaged in compulsive borrowing and are known as compulsive debtors.

Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA) is a twelve-step program founded in 1977 for people who want to stop their addictive sexual behavior. There also exists a group known as COSA, for those who have been impacted by others' sexual addiction.

Nicotine Anonymous (NicA) is a twelve-step program founded in 1982 for people desiring to quit smoking and live free of nicotine. As of July 2017, there are over 700 face-to-face meetings in 32 countries worldwide with the majority of these meetings occurring in the United States, Iran, India, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia and in various online community and social media platforms.. NicA maintains that total abstinence from nicotine is necessary for recovery. NicA defines abstinence as “a state that begins when all use of nicotine ceases.

Drug addiction recovery groups are voluntary associations of people who share a common desire to overcome their drug addiction. Different groups use different methods, ranging from completely secular to explicitly spiritual. Some programs may advocate a reduction in the use of drugs rather than outright abstention. One survey of members found active involvement in any addiction recovery group correlates with higher chances of maintaining sobriety. Although there is not a difference in whether group or individual therapy is better for the patient, studies show that any therapy increases positive outcomes for patients with substance use disorder. The survey found group participation increased when the individual members' beliefs matched those of their primary support group. Analysis of the survey results found a significant positive correlation between the religiosity of members and their participation in twelve-step programs and to a lesser level in non-religious SMART Recovery groups, the correlation factor being three times smaller for SMART Recovery than for twelve-step addiction recovery groups. Religiosity was inversely related to participation in Secular Organizations for Sobriety.

Workaholics Anonymous (WA) is a twelve-step program founded circa 1983 for people identifying themselves as "powerless over compulsive work, worry, or activity" including, but not limited to, workaholics–including overworkers and those who suffer from unmanageable procrastination or work aversion. Anybody with a desire to stop working compulsively is welcome at a WA meeting. Unmanageability can include compulsive work in housework, hobbies, fitness, or volunteering as well as in paid work. Anyone with a problematic relationship with work is welcomed. Workaholics Anonymous is considered an effective program for those who need its help.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) founded in 1998 is a program of recovery based on the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. FA members are men and women of all ages. Some have been obese; others have been severely underweight, bulimic, or so obsessed with food or weight that normal life was difficult or impossible. The common denominator uniting members of FA is addiction and a relationship with food that parallels an alcoholic's relationship with alcohol. The program offers the hope of long-term recovery, evidenced by members who have continuously maintained a normal weight and healthy eating for periods of twenty-five or even thirty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pills Anonymous</span> Twelve-step program

Pills Anonymous (PA) is a twelve-step program founded in 1972 for people who seek recovery from prescription drug addiction. PA is patterned very closely after Alcoholics Anonymous, although the two groups are not affiliated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis use disorder</span> Continued use of cannabis despite clinically significant impairment

Cannabis use disorder (CUD), also known as cannabis addiction or marijuana addiction, is a psychiatric disorder defined in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and ICD-10 as the continued use of cannabis despite clinically significant impairment.

Heroin Anonymous (HA) is a non-profit group founded in Phoenix, AZ in 2004 to help people addicted to heroin remain substance-free. Modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, HA is a fellowship of people addicted to heroin who meet regularly to help each other practice complete abstinence from all drugs and alcohol. Heroin Anonymous does not provide drug counseling, medical or psychiatric treatment, or chemical dependency treatment.

References

  1. 1 2 Wetzstein, Cheryl (1997-11-12). "Addicted to weed, boomers abandon life-ruining 'herb': Marijuana Anonymous tries to help". Washington Times .
  2. Vaughan Rees; Jan Copeland; Wendy Swift (1998). A brief cognitive-behavioural intervention for cannabis dependence: Therapists' treatment manual (PDF). University of New South Wales, Australia.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. "Why Marijuana Anonymous?". Marijuana Anonymous. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  4. "What is Marijuana Anonymous?". Marijuana Anonymous UK. Retrieved 28 August 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. "MA's Service Structure". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  6. "Marijuana Anonymous". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  7. "The Twelve Traditions". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. Mckee, John. "What is Marijuana Anonymous?". QuitMarijuana.Org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  9. "A Doctor's Opinion about Marijuana Addiction". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  10. "Introduction to MA: A Meeting Format in a Pamphlet". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  11. "In-Person Meetings". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  12. "Meeting Finder". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  13. "Tradition Seven". Marijuana Anonymous World Services. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  14. Marijuana Anonymous World Services, Inc. (2001). Life with Hope: A return to living through the twelve steps and twelve traditions of Marijuana Anonymous (Paperback ed.). Van Nuys: A New Leaf Publications. ISBN   0-9765779-0-9.
  15. "Marijuana Anonymous Mobile". App Store. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  16. "A New Leaf". A New Leaf Publications. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  17. "MA Pamphlets". Marijuana Anonymous. Retrieved 23 August 2012.