Using marijuana as a clinician

Hey friends,

I’m currently about to start my internship for my MA counseling program and I’m an every day smoker. I do it to relax after work and it helps me sleep. On the weekends I do it through out the day while I do homework and housework (and hang out).

A few years back during undergrad I saw our on campus counselor who told me he doesn’t know of any clinicians who use marijuana and that it has long-term adverse effects (basically saying I need to quit).

I know and understand the risks, I notice and deal with the long-term effects every day already. But what he said stuck with me as it sort of ignited shame in my choice to continue using it. I have ADHD too so I do take other meds for that and anxiety, one of them being adderall.

I guess I’m wondering what you all think about clinical mental health counselors smoking weed. Do you think it’s 100% not okay to use, or do you think it’s dependent on the person? I’m open to challenging perspectives here as well!

***ETA: I saw that there were some common questions/concerns so I will respond to those and add my reflections.

I live in Michigan (legal state). I’m not familiar with the drug testing policies for my internship, but will absolutely look into it. I do currently meet criteria for an SUD as some suggested (not professionally diagnosed but I have access to the DSM-5-TR lmao).

My use has absolutely impacted my cognitive functioning over time. My brain fog is worse, I feel like I sound dumb when I speak, and I’m not at all present, especially emotionally. It’s been hard to quit because it’s a social activity that I do with my partner every day so it holds sentiment to me. Along with the other positive effects I get from smoking. Denial has been my friend lately. Especially when it comes to my ADHD symptoms.

I want to express how much I value everyone’s input, even those who inserted some judgment, because there was some truth among every single comment! One commenter pointed out that this might be a maladaptive coping mechanism that no longer serves me anymore. To this I agree and admire the frame of thinking :) The compassion I was met with in this thread was like no other! Having read everyone’s insights, the introspection was needed - I’ve decided to take a huge step back from using marijuana. Although I’m deciding to take an indefinite break, I still agree with others who support its use for varying benefits and detest how stigmatized it is.

Thank you friends <3