{"id":244127,"date":"2025-10-20T14:27:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/?p=244127"},"modified":"2025-10-21T10:58:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:58:47","slug":"works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/","title":{"rendered":"How It Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely. We surrender ourselves to a Power greater than ourselves. Here are the steps we take which are suggested for recovery:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We admitted we were powerless over marijuana, that our lives had become unmanageable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood God.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God\u2019s will for us and the power to carry that out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to marijuana addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not be discouraged; none of us are saints. Our program is not easy, but it is simple. We strive for progress, not perfection. Our experiences, before and after we entered recovery, teach us three important ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That we are marijuana addicts and cannot manage our own lives;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That probably no human power can relieve our addiction; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That our Higher Power can and will if sought.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Reprinted from Life with Hope, Third Edition, page 193, with permission of MA World Services.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-It-Works-MA-Reading.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of How It Works - MA Reading.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-421ad229-8de2-437a-a268-ba015d564619\" href=\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-It-Works-MA-Reading.pdf\">How It Works &#8211; MA Reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely. We surrender ourselves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"wp-custom-template-readings","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2383],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How It Works - Marijuana Anonymous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How It Works\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marijuana Anonymous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marijuana Anonymous\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marijuana Anonymous\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marijuana Anonymous\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a28541bc47cef0893fe172ba42040371\"},\"headline\":\"How It Works\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\"},\"wordCount\":364,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Reading\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\",\"name\":\"How It Works - Marijuana Anonymous\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How It Works\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/\",\"name\":\"Marijuana Anonymous\",\"description\":\"Marijuana Anonymous is a free peer-support program focused entirely on our shared problem with marijuana or cannabis addiction.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Marijuana Anonymous\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Marijuana Anonymous\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@maworldservicespublicinfor5556\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a28541bc47cef0893fe172ba42040371\",\"name\":\"Marijuana Anonymous\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/author\/julesm\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How It Works - Marijuana Anonymous","description":"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How It Works","og_description":"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.","og_url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/","og_site_name":"Marijuana Anonymous","article_published_time":"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Marijuana Anonymous","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marijuana Anonymous","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/"},"author":{"name":"Marijuana Anonymous","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a28541bc47cef0893fe172ba42040371"},"headline":"How It Works","datePublished":"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/"},"wordCount":364,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Reading"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/","url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/","name":"How It Works - Marijuana Anonymous","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-20T21:27:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-21T17:58:47+00:00","description":"The practice of rigorous honesty, of opening our hearts and minds, and the willingness to go to any lengths to have a spiritual awakening are essential to our recovery. Our old ideas and ways of life no longer work for us. Our suffering shows us that we need to let go absolutely.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/reading\/works\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How It Works"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/","name":"Marijuana Anonymous","description":"Marijuana Anonymous is a free peer-support program focused entirely on our shared problem with marijuana or cannabis addiction.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#organization","name":"Marijuana Anonymous","url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/maws-site-logo-2.png","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Marijuana Anonymous"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@maworldservicespublicinfor5556"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a28541bc47cef0893fe172ba42040371","name":"Marijuana Anonymous","url":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/author\/julesm\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marijuana-anonymous.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}