Beth D. — August 16, 2021

My son took his life on Aug. 7, 2021. He was 33 years old – had a Medical Marijuana Card and was using a lot from November 2020- June 2021. He was living at home and struggling with failed financial investment business (three engineering degrees – master’s in mechanical engineering).

He was admitted to the hospital on the Baker Act on May 28, 2021 and diagnosed with Cannabis Induced Psychosis. He came home and seemed to be doing better, but he was depressed and down. There seemed to be hope, and we thought he was on the other side of all this. He started recreational pot at age 15 and felt it helped him preform – but knew he could not use to this degree – and after release was using occasionally and many days not at all. We talked about it, and he knew the dangers.

When he was admitted in May, he had 540 nanograms in his system (50 nanograms is a positive test for pot). He was very disciplined – avid cycler – raced competitively. But was not doing any of the things he enjoyed and broke up with his girlfriend in February.

We would have never expected him to take his life at this point. He talked to us the last week about starting a blog – and getting the word out about the dangers. He was very talented – could do anything he set out to do – traveled the world. He opened an Ameritrade account on August 6 and was excited to do some trading for himself. We just don’t know why he took his life at this point. We cannot say he was in an altered state – at least there were no signs like the terrible psychotic period in May. He was sober and looked healthy and not sure why. We would have expected it in April or May but not now.
The hospital nurse just moved back from Seattle and told me that they were seeing this a lot in Seattle. She said that the doctors hate this being called “Medical Marijuana” She said Florida has no idea what they are in for…

I would like to get involved and get the message out. I tell everyone I know here my concerns about the access and amount that you can get with the card – my son had 540 nanograms in his system when he was admitted. He was held for 9 days. The judge extended the order, because of his state and would not let him out until cleared. They gave him Abilify to treat the psychosis, but it took 9 days before he was clear. He had a flattened affect and finally started having appropriate emotions. He was released June 7, but he didn’t to see a psychiatrist and weaned off the Abilify. He saw his doctor a few weeks ago and got a prescription for Ambien – he always had difficulty sleeping – even more so when using a lot of marijuana.