In 2018 I celebrated the graduation of my first-born son, who was an Eagle Scout and honors student. Little did I know, he had begun using marijuana to deal with his social anxiety as he entered college.
When he came home for Thanksgiving break his sophomore year, I noticed changes in his behavior. He was irritable and aggressive, but I was unaware he was using THC products until he admitted to his physician he was smoking weed.
When he came from for Christmas break, he started using THC daily. He experienced his first psychotic break and was hospitalized. He only tested positive for THC. He was discharged on a small dose of antipsychotic medication. I allowed him to return to college, not then realizing the connection to THC and Cannabis-Induced Psychosis or CIP.
Then, COVID happened, and he came home and got a job. There was a vape and smoke shop near our home, and he started using the Delta 8 THC products sold there, which are chemically derived from hemp. He soon became addicted, which led to severe personality changes. He was again admitted to the hospital and then an intensive outpatient program.
He returned to college the following semester. However, he failed, because his continued use of THC products caused memory issues, confusion, and a decrease in his cognitive abilities. So, he had to leave school.
He tried to work, but he just spent most of his paychecks at the local vape store, buying Delta 8 THC and CBD products, thinking they would help take his mind away from the psychotic symptoms he was now experiencing.
This led to a revolving door of hospitalizations, but none of them focused on his THC addiction or tried to get him to stop; they only concentrated on stabilizing him with medications.
Cannabis-Induced Psychosis has devastated our lives. My son’s brain health has been severely damaged, and our family has been traumatized. I now live on edge, not knowing if my son will ever be mentally stable again.
I have not found any treatment programs that specialize or focus on CIP that are affordable or insurance will pay for. I have gone into debt, sending him to out of state programs in hopes that his brain will have a chance to heal. My son has still not grasped the fact that THC products are the cause of his brain creating his false reality.
Today, doctors diagnose him as schizophrenic, but typical antipsychotics don’t take away the damage caused by the THC products. My son is 24 years old and living in his own private hell. All because he started smoking weed. I wish legislators would understand the danger of all THC products, natural and synthetic, on developing brains.
Cannabis-Induced Psychosis is REAL. It happened to my child. Educate your child on the harms of THC at JohnnysAmbassadors.org.
If you’re concerned about your child’s THC use, visit JohnnysAmbassadors.org/parents and join our private Parents of Children with Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (POCCIP) group at www.facebook.com/groups/POCCIP.