I mean you could just not get high while in those countries. This is the route most taken.

We don't. It's not like heroin. I don't need it and can manage fine without it

I'm a heavy daily user for decades and even when I go on vacation, I forget to smoke cause I'm busy and having fun.

I realize I use it mostly to make my boring ass daily life more tolerable. But when I'm on vacation, it's not that important.

No reason to end up in prison for some fucking weed.

Fun story. In College I did a summer semester in the UK. I had a long ponytail, wore tye-dyes... looked like a stoner (because I was a stoner)

My friend worked at a food co-op and gave me some Chamomile tea to help with jetlag. It was Eco-friendly bulk packaging: green dried leaf in a plastic baggie. I thought nothing of it and tossed it in my carry-on along with a textbook I'd hoped to read. And of course I had 1/4 oz of weed in my underpants on the theory there is no realistic chance I end up getting strip searched.

I walk up to Customs Officer who asks my purpose in visiting. Well, I was going to summer school but also visiting relatives so I vacillated for a second. Officer gets suspicious, asks name of the school. Well it was University College of London but there are like 3 schools with very similar names (Imperial College London, Kings College London) and I brainfarted for a second on which it was.

So now she knows for sure she's got a druggie and I'm actually starting to get legit scared. She tells me to "open up that bag then, let's have a look". I open it, she sees the baggie in full view, swoops in to grab it and demands, "WHAT IS THIS?!"

... and at that moment, relief! I knew I was saved!

"That's chamomille tea, ma'am. To help with jet lag."

She opens it, smells it, clearly is embarrassed, crossly tells me to zip up my bag and go on my way.

And what did I learn from this?

LSD is colorless, odorless, and you can bring a shitload on a piece of paper that nobody will ever find. Travel with LSD, not weed

You are not describing "avid usage", but addiction.

As another said: they would just go without it. "Not being stupid" and "getting illegal substances in another country" are exclusive - but addiction makes everyone stupid once it got its hold :(

And yes, people get addicted to weed. Just like food, shopping or gambling.

The heavy weed smokers I know are all capable of taking breaks for things more trivial than the threat of serious jail time (ie taking a break to lower tolerance, taking a break while looking for a new job, etc).

FOAF was a rasta type from (iirc) Australia. Everything about him (clothes, dreadlocks, etc.) screamed "pot user". He flew to some other country and of course customs immediately pulled him aside and asked him if he had brought in any pot or intended to use it during his visit. He said "not here, mate. Only at home." which was exactly the right thing. If he had said he wasn't a user they surely would have searched him to the skin. Instead they recognized mutual understanding and things were fine.

Anyway, yeah, as everyone says, just do without it. If that's a problem, well, it's a problem that has a name and you should work on fixing it.

I don’t smoke during those trips. I don’t even like to bring weed across state lines within the US.

When you look like you're not from there, you'll be approached by dealers all the time. Just walk around in a touristy area and they'll buzz around you, "hey, psst, hash, weed, cocaine?" Just don't cross the border with it

if you smell/see it, ask where they got it. tactifully, make friends with them. don't sound like or be like a pig/snitch.

iirc the chinese use it as a sleeping aid, but they are not fond of druggies because of that whole opium thing. ymmv depending on where you are, don't be dumb.

respect your intuition. if you are not confident with it, just fucking don't.

You go to a bar and strike up conversation with people and then casually ask if they know how many grams in an ounce.

I was a nightly weed user and moved to Japan in February.

I quit 6 months before making the move, so there would be absolutely zero chance of testing positive on any potential drug tests here.

If I’m being honest, I miss it. But not enough to want to move back to the states.

I just wait until I get back home.

Don't travel to places where it's illegal. And if you do, don't try to acquire anything while in places where the legislation has real teeth. Chances are if weed is illegal, any fun substitute will be as well. Depending on where you are going a positive blood test, should you get in trouble with the law for whatever reason, may still get you in trouble even if all of the weed in your bloodstream was consumed where it was legal to do so. That's also something to consider two months ahead of your trip abroad.

If you are so worried that you cannot break your habitual use you may want to investigate your use pattern even while you are where it is legal. Marijuana addiction is not a huge societal problem overall but it can be for the individual.

Why invite trouble? There's plenty of places where this isn't a remote possibility.

I always heard the easiest way to get weed anywhere is to order a pizza and ask that guy. Even when i was smoking daily over a decade, i never bought weed anywhere on vacation. It's not that important

Never had a problem bringing THC pens and edibles with me. Airport security doesn't give a shit.