When people ask me about my son before he started using THC, I try not to get emotional. But the truth is, my kid is gone. It’s been 28 months since he went into psychosis, but it feels like a lifetime.
Before THC, my son was fun, smart, and loving. He was in college. He was our go-to tech guy. He was so sharp and full of life. But that future started slipping away the moment he and his friends bought Delta-8-THC vapes from a gas station when he was 23. It seemed harmless—it’s “just weed,” right?
If one more person says to me that it’s just weed, I might just scream. This isn’t the same stuff kids smoked in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then, THC levels were around 1 to 3%. My son’s vapes had over 60% THC. It’s lab-engineered now and designed to be addictive and hijack the brain. I watched it hijack my son.
Since then, we’ve endured three hospital stays and months of confusion. The one time he truly improved was when he was clean for 144 days. That did give me hope. But hope is hard to hold onto when what you’re fighting is everywhere—legal, cheap, and available on every street corner store.
In all those times in the hospital, he didn’t get a single visitor. Not one. No friends. No best friends. No childhood church friends. No cousins. No family. No one cared about my son but me and his grandparents. That truly breaks my heart.
What terrifies me most is the fear that he may never come back. I lie awake at night wondering: Who will care for him when I’m gone? Will he wander into traffic, confused? Will someone hurt him because they don’t understand he’s screaming at demons that only he can see? I’m never going to be okay—ever.
Every morning, I pray for God to keep my son safe and bring him back to me. Every night, I pray for God to heal him.
Parents, please hear me: Stop your child from using THC—every form of it. Find a support group. And find someone to pray for you—especially when you don’t even know what to pray for anymore.
And if you’re someone who smokes weed or uses Delta products, just know this is not harmless. Don’t do this to yourself. And please—don’t do this to your mom. Because when all your friends are gone, it will be your mom trying to put you back together again.
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 https://JohnnysAmbassadors.org/parents and join our private Parents of Children with Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (POCCIP) group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/POCCIP.