Marijuana Anonymous is a fellowship which aims to deal with the emotional, physical and mental consequences of addiction to marijuana. It utilizes the 12-Step program, as developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Marijuana opperates as a spiritual program, not one of psychology.

Website

---

www.marijuana-anonymous.org

THE 12 QUESTIONS OF MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS

---

1. Has smoking pot stopped being fun? 2. Do you ever get high alone? 3. Is it hard for you to imagine a life without marijuana? 4. Do you find that your friends are determined by your marijuana use? 5. Do you smoke marijuana to avoid dealing with your problems? 6. Do you smoke pot to cope with your feelings? 7. Does your marijuana use let you live in a privately defined world? 8. Have you ever failed to keep promises you made about cutting down or controlling your dope smoking? 9. Has your use of marijuana caused problems with memory, concentration, or motivation? 10.When your stash is nearly empty, do you feel anxious or worried about how to get more? 11.Do you plan your life around your marijuana use? 12.Have friends or relatives ever complained that your pot smoking is damaging your relationship with them? The following questions may help you determine whether marijuana is a problem in your life. If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may have a problem with marijuana.

How MA Became Unified

---

In June of 1989, delegates from Marijuana Smokers Anonymous (Orange County, California), Marijuana Addicts Anonymous (the San Francisco Bay area), and Marijuana Anonymous (Los Angeles County) met to establish a unified twelve-step recovery program for marijuana addicts. A smaller Marijuana Anonymous group in Seattle had been unable to send delegates because of the cost, and another small Marijuana Addicts Anonymous group, in New York, was heard from later. That first conference was held in a crowded motel room halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, in Morro Bay.

Meetings

---

Meetings are a vital part of the MA program. This is were fellowship members go for support, for literature, chips and other munchies.

Various meeting formats exsist. These include, but are not limited to: speaker/ participation/ book study/ candle light/ cross-talk.

History of the Twelve Traditions

The 12-traditions of Marijuana Anonymous originated from those of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Traditions of AA began as a series of articles that Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote for the AA periodical, The Grapevine. Over a period of about 5 years Wilson "sold" these principles to the membership of AA, culminating in their formal adoption at AA's First International Convention in 1950. In 1952 Wilson's book on the subject, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, first saw print. The latter half of this book consists of a series of folksy tales detailing how the traditions were "hammered out on the anvil of experience."; According to Wilson, they were born solely as lessons learned from mistakes made.

The Traditions are widely credited within AA as having provided the fellowship a practical, yet idealistic organizational framework that has served it well.

Criticism

MA Traditions, whilst sound in principle, are often ignored by members. Members anonymity is frequently broken, and gossip can be rife. Tradition three states that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using Marijuana. This has often been interpreted as a bar to sanctioning anyone who breaks other Traditions . The "court card system", whereby a court orders offenders to attend 12-step meetings on a compulsory basis, has also been seen as a breach of the Traditions. Many members are against this coercion, but AA's most recent internal surveys indicate that a significant percentage of their membership is made up of "coerced converts".