My son came home for summer break before his senior year of college, and it was a great time camping and boogie boarding. But one thing was different—I’d find him in our backyard getting high every night. I told him I was worried, and he said, “Mom, I promise. I will never get addicted.” He was getting good grades, so I chalked it up to cutting loose for summer break.
I had NO idea the marijuana industry had created products with concentrated THC, up to 20x more potent than natural weed and much more toxic for the developing brain.
When he came home 4 months later for winter break, he was a different person. Dark and angry – with a totally warped sense of his whole childhood. It was not my Jack, who was so kind and funny and wise. In one semester, he went from a happy, hardworking honor student to a dark, drug-addicted drop out. He did agree to meet with a counselor, who told me he may have “Cannabis Induced Psychosis.” I’d never heard of it…I refused to believe it.
He did go back to school for spring semester, determined to turn things around. But only a few weeks later, campus police arrested him – brutally – for his bizarre behavior. He got suspended, one semester before graduating with honors.
That first year back home, we just thought his bad behavior was addiction – and if he could get sober, he would get better. But when he finally agreed to go to rehab, I heard those words for the second time, cannabis induced psychosis. Rehab wouldn’t take him. They said he needed to go to a psychiatric facility to be “stabilized.” He went and walked out after 3 days, screaming profanities at the staff.
His bizarre beliefs and dangerous behavior got worse and worse. He started living in his car and doing meth with other homeless. He did jail time for petty crimes. When he threatened to set himself on fire in front of a police officer, with a gas can, they took him to the county psych hospital. The doctor diagnosed Jack with schizophrenia. She said, “I’m sorry for your loss,” referring to our tremendous loss of the brilliant son we once had.
After multiple arrests and hospitalizations and six years of suffering…my beautiful son overdosed on fentanyl a few blocks from our home. We lost our son twice, first to Cannabis-Induced Psychosis and then to death.
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.