Posted on by Paul Gerald

Why MA?

I’m Paul, and I’m an addict.

I was lucky enough to live in a place where Marijuana Anonymous was pretty strong, and I plugged right in. I occasionally hit an NA meeting just for the scheduling, and I have no problem “translating.”

What I am struggling with lately is being an old-timer. Most MA meetings I go to in my hometown have only one or two people with more time than me, and it seems I hear very little about people working the Steps with a sponsor. Maybe the key is that I don’t hear it, as in I don’t listen, but it seems like if you put a bunch of new people in a room, you get a lot of “checking in” and war stories. So that’s been a frustration for me.

But I’m trying something different now: I am going to start a new meeting. Not just so I can have my kind of meeting, but also because we need a new meeting around here, and of course being stoners, we all talk about it and nobody does anything about it! So I took a survey of the local membership and settled on a part of town and a time, and yesterday I made some calls.

Basically, I figure if I let my frustrations (resentments) keep me away from MA, I am in trouble, and I can’t be of service to anybody. So I am going to take more of a role, not less — for my own benefit and that of the group.

Thanks,
Paul