Smoking marijuana in Tel Aviv has become the norm. In social gatherings, bars, and in every corner of the streets, you can easily smell the sweet-sour cloud of cannabis. The city seems to have regained its support for legalization. With weed becoming legal in a number of countries in the United States, here too, there has been an awakening, and the government and the police are slowly realizing that no one can prevent people from smoking their evening joint before getting some shuteye. But with the fun of getting stoned, many people who smoke experience the high in a less pleasant way. Paranoia, panic attacks, fatigue, and there are those who dare to say openly - I lost control, I am addicted.
Twenty-five year-old Lenny Cohen, an Tel Aviv-based actress, experienced the aforementioned addiction to weed for four years, and when she got to her boiling point, she decided to help herself while trying to help others. After she could not stop the habit on her own, she opened a support group for people dealing with a similar problem. "In the first two years I smoked from morning to night and I had a lot of fun because it suddenly brought me peace of mind, but then it got to the point where I smoked before exams and during the filming of a TV show and whenever I had a chance. Finally, I went into debt and depression."
Lenny Cohen
How did you realize you were addicted?
"It became a habit in every situation that was unpleasant or uncomfortable. When I was smoking, long before Telegrass made it so accessible, it was the center of my life, and suddenly I said to myself, 'I have to stop' because I just kept smoking, also cigarettes, like a chimney, which I did not do before the weed. As much as I wanted to stop, I could not. Even though it's considered "harmless," I was still tired all the time, I had no money and I felt it was wasting my time, but I just could not help it. It got to a point where I was under great stress before I would fly abroad because I had to make sure I could get it somewhere when I landed. That became the number one goal. I found myself in London buying harder drugs just because I didn't have weed to smoke."
It's hard to stop when all the people around you still do it.
"All my friends smoke weed, some of them also want to quit, but no one initiates it. And then, a few months ago, I took a two-week break with a friend. The first time I quit smoking since I started. It was very difficult, but at least I did it with him, and there was something about that commitment to him and the fact that there was someone else who experienced it with me, that made it easier."
How did you decide to open the group?
"I've been feeling addicted for a long time. Weed, lately, is enjoying a positive reputation, It's not heroin. I've never seen myself fit into AA or any other similar framework. After I took the break with my friend, I realized that it has to happen with other people. My aunt is a consultant in the field of medical cannabis and has a broad view of research and understanding about it. I called her and told her, 'I'm addicted.' That's how the idea of opening a group came about. People can say they're addicted to cigarettes, but it's hard to admit the same thing about weed. When you can't see your life without it, it's an addiction. We have to talk about it."
"I wrote a post on Facebook, explaining that I am addicted and that I opened a group. There was a crazy response - more than 30 people contacted me in private and said that they identify and 25 people signed up for the group. That's a lot of people. There are many others who feel this way, but to say it out loud or talk about it embarrasses them ...We've already had two meetings and it works well."
What do you do in the meetings?
"The goal is to share what you're going through and what it does to you, to talk about things that are difficult to talk to people who are not addicted, and to find solutions to convert the addiction into something else. When there are people around you that you confide in that you are stopping, they understand it, and it makes it easier: Many friends who are not addicted say, 'when I don't feel like smoking, I do not smoke.'"
How long has it been since you've smoked?
"A week. The truth is that a week ago I had an unpleasant event. I smoked, I was weak and had low blood sugar, then I fainted, I fell on my face and my two front teeth broke. My lip busted open, I got it stitched up, and my teeth re-attached. Now I have braces, a broken tooth and I still smoked later that day. It didn't make me stop.