It’s a challenging conversation to have with nuance. I meant to emphasize that I was talking about people who had crossed the line from casual use to destructive use with my “addictive cycle” phrasing, and I agree that not all drug use is equal or bad.
My boyfriend is a regular pot user. He’ll take a gummy once per week and go on hikes with his friends and come back on time for dinner all chipper. It’s adorable and not remotely a problem.
That isn’t to say that pot can’t be a problem. The specific person I was channeling from my current harm reduction abstinence group IS someone who is there because pot is a problem for him. He’s the most recent to have talked about how much easier it was to be creative when he’s sober but it’s a thing I’ve heard quite a few times in the past.
My boyfriend’s brother is also someone who struggles to keep down a job and as far as I know pot is his drug of choice.
Conversely, my drug of choice is crystal meth and I’ve maintained my career, never having lost a job. I’ve even excelled at my job through my hardest using (thanks covid wfh!).
And nobody in their right mind would say that meth use of any kind is better than the hardest of pot use.
At the end of the day, I don’t think that pot use harms creativity, but I don’t think it helps it either. And the people who think they NEED pot to be creative I do think are potentially hurting themselves.
I’m someone working towards sobriety from hard drugs who has spent the last 8 years in and out of sober spaces such as 12-step programs, Recovery Dharma and their secular alternatives (SMART and LifeRing).
I presently attend a harm reduction program full of people trying to reach abstinence goals from a variety of substances.
I’m literally just telling you what actual people have said in my presence (obviously paraphrased since I didn’t write that shit down).
You might want to talk to them rather than guessing their experiences.
Fear of losing creativity is one reason people stay in a drug addiction cycle for way longer than is necessary. Folks who come out the other side often are surprised by how much easier it is to be creative. They find they can suddenly match their non-drug addicted counterparts and as a bonus can keep a job!
I can relate. There are days where I’ve made too many decisions that affect the careers of so many folks at work that the idea of choosing what’s for dinner becomes a way bigger burden than it should be.
I’m grateful that I have someone who can help take small burdens off my shoulders when I need it.