This is my story on how I became addicted to and finally quit smoking herbal incense. This drug is causing severe addiction problems for people all over the world, especially, in the United States.
The side effects of smoking incense are very severe and the withdrawal from quitting is similar to quitting Heroin or Crack.
I will explain how it ruined my life for almost 2 years and my struggles to get it back on track.
Through reading, I hope you will observe some similarities between you and I, causing you to make the decision to stop smoking herbal incense forever. You will see how horrible life will end up if you even start smoking.
I am optimistic you will learn that you can quit smoking fake weed and you will use my success story as inspiration.
How Did I Start Smoking Spice?
When I started smoking herbal incense, I never thought it was addictive or going to cause me any problems. It was the best thing in the world. I could go to the local head shop or convenience store and buy it like cigarettes or beer.
When I smoked it, I felt great. It was way better than real marijuana. I had energy and never fell asleep watching TV.
Two years and over $20,000 later, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
How Did It Become An Addiction?
In the beginning, I only spent $20 a day and it really didn’t affect my life negatively. Or so I thought.
That $20/day turned into $80+ and I was basically a walking Zombie.
I lived to smoke incense. It was the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep and the first thing I thought about when I woke up.
I really didn’t notice my problem until I ran out of things to pawn or sell. That is when I would tell myself “You need to quit this crap” and “You are acting like a crack head” but I couldn’t get it off my mind.
I would try to keep myself busy, but I obsessed over incense.
It got to the point that I started stealing things and hiding it from my wife. I would smoke all day. If we took our kids out somewhere, I would bring it with me. I would make them go ahead and take a few hits in the car. After 10 or 15 minutes I would make an excuse as to why I had to go back to the car and I would smoke another bowl.
It progressed into not even wanting to go anywhere with my family, because then I could stay home and smoke as much as I wanted.
At My Worst
When I ran out of incense or money to buy more, life was hell.
I craved it so much I would scrape the resin in my pipes or start finding empty bags. I was hoping there were enough crumbs to get me a couple hits.
Then I would look for things to sell. But by this time, I had already sold everything.
So I sold my family’s things.
Anything of value was either at the pawn shop or at the cash for gold place.
I was so addicted, I didn’t even care. All I wanted to do was smoke.
If I didn’t have anything to smoke, I would lay in bed all day wishing my life was over.
I had to smoke spice to sleep at night, to wake up in the morning, to play with my kids, to mow my yard, to eat food, to take a shower, to brush my teeth or to look for a job. Really, I couldn’t function without incense.
Most of the time, my wife would feel so bad for me she would send me to the store to get something to smoke. I, basically, forced my wife to give me money so I would actually be a part of the family. She had no choice, really.
I would start horrible arguments for no reason. I thought she was trying to control me by keeping money from me. In reality, she was just trying to ensure the rent was paid.
I had horrible withdrawals if I didn’t smoke. I would feel so sick, but I couldn’t throw up because I didn’t eat anything.
I’d have horrendous sweating episodes.
I lost over 40 pounds, and I really didn’t have 40 pounds to lose.
I had a black burn mark on my thumb where I burned a hole from covering my bowl.
I was killing myself.
It took some time, but I finally took a long look at myself. I realized I had a problem but didn’t want to admit it to anyone.
I really didn’t know what to do. I was embarrassed.
I Had To Get Help With My Addiction!
If you have never smoked incense, you would think this story was about my meth, crack or heroin addiction.
Well, I wasn’t addicted to those so-called hard drugs. I was addicted to legal weed!
I thought it was just me. I was absolutely hooked on the crap!
I didn’t understand how I could be having such a problem with something that was legal. People were buying it at the store every day.
It had to be just me. Maybe it was because I was smoking the really strong stuff? Maybe it just affected me differently?
I had to figure out if this addiction to herbal incense was causing anyone else so many problems.
One night, I Googled “synthetic marijuana” – just like you probably did to find this site – and I found a bunch of ads for businesses selling incense like it was candy. They were saying that it’s 100% natural and better for you than cigarettes and marijuana.
I knew that was BS, and kept looking.
Finally, I found this site and I started reading. It totally blew my mind how many people were struggling with the stuff just like me.
Some were worse than me, some not as bad.
I was reading the last 2 years of my life on my computer screen – written by complete strangers. Word for word, people all over the world were writing about how they just couldn’t quit and it was ruining their lives.
That day, I decided to do something for real.
I came up with a plan.
My Plan For Quitting Synthetic Weed
- Throw away all of my pipes, tools, empty bags and anything that had to do with smoking
- Stay away from the stores that sell incense
- Find a hobby that didn’t include getting high
- Find a support program to help with my addiction
Then, I Relapsed…
Quitting Spice was, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life.
I felt like absolute crap for a day or two, and then I would make an excuse in my head for why I would be OK by just smoking a little.
Then, I would secretly buy some and hide it from my wife.
I would be able to keep it from her for a little while. But eventually, she would figure out what was going on and we would fight.
But I didn’t care. I was high.
Sounds a lot like a heroin addict, I know.
I was amazed at how hard it was to quit.
If this isn’t an addiction, then I don’t know what is. I just couldn’t stay away from the stuff.
What Was I Doing Wrong?
I figured out that I was following the first 3 steps in my plan, but I was leaving out the most important step: #4 the support step.
I used to think I was very strong minded, and I could do it on my own, but I found that I just could not.
I thought that reading about other people having the same problems would keep me away from, it but it wasn’t enough.
It took way too long for me to realize this, but luckily I finally did.
I called the number here and I figured it would have some info for me. I was absolutely correct.
They referred me to a great synthetic drug rehab program that helped with my addiction.
I owe my life to this website.
The Payoff
This has been a long hard journey to sobriety, but it has been worth it.
I have my life back. I am contributing to society instead of taking away from it. I have a great relationship with my kids, now.
While my marriage isn’t what it was before incense, we are working on that and making progress every day. Three years of addiction is a lot for someone to deal with from their husband. I really can’t blame her.
Now I am here, writing about my experience and trying to assist anyone with an addiction to K2 find the help that they need.
I would have never guessed, in a million years, that I would be writing this about being addicted to “Legal Weed”. I advocated the stuff for a long time!
They say, “everything happens for a reason” and I am proof.
If I can help just one person, it will be worth it.
My favorite quote pertaining to the process of quitting spice and getting through the withdrawals is from Winston Churchill:
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
– Winston Churchill
Please believe me! Quitting Spice for good is absolutely possible.
You can do it. I was able to.
I hope you see what it is doing to you and you get help. Get the support you need.
Do it for yourself – and your family.
Need Help Quitting Spice/K2?
If you or a loved one is addicted to spice, call our hotline at (855)447-0724 to find a treatment program near you. NOTE: these programs accept PPO and HMO insurance only (for now).
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