Jennifer Corinne Hrobuchak (1989 – 2012)

It’s criminal to legalize THC marijuana, a powerful and addictive drug that is killing our youth in so many ways.  The death of my innocent 22-year-old daughter is another tragic example.  It gets harder to keep retelling the tragic end of my daughter’s life.  I feel compelled not to use the word “story” because it is not a fictional account!

My daughter Jennifer was vibrant, intelligent, and driven to be a meaningful member of our society.  She was tall with beautiful hair, the brightest smile, and green eyes.  Jen played lacrosse, earning herself a scholarship.  My heart swelled with pride as she graduated with honors with an Intelligence Analysis Research degree.  She spoke fluent Spanish and Arabic, assisting in her dream career to work for the FBI or another intelligence agency.

Before graduation Jen was offered and accepted a position in a different field as a district manager, which would help her career.  Jennifer agreed to meet her manager after a 12:30 a.m. call requesting that they meet to investigate an alarm going off in her store.  As Jen drove away and crossed an intersection near our home, a man came racing through the intersection and the red light at 82 miles per hour.  He slammed into the side of my daughter’s car, sending it over an embankment and into the front wall of a Lube Stop building, collapsing it on Jennifer’s car.

Jennifer passed away at the scene from severe injuries.  The 26-year-old man who caused her death was uninjured and high on “medical marijuana,” from his home state of Michigan.  He was passing through our state, breaking laws, and killing my daughter.  After his sentence was reduced, he spent only 15 months in prison.  He had several previous OVI charges and run-ins with the law.  His life goes on with a slap on the wrist, and our lives are devastated forever.  He obtained this marijuana legally, which is another slap in the face for our family.

Every day of my life is difficult now.  I see all of my daughter’s friends getting married and starting their families.  These events were taken away from Jennifer and our family.  The pain I live with is so intense that, as I write this account, tears of sadness and pain run down my cheeks.  The world has lost a beautiful woman who would have made a difference.

My mission is to tell the account of what took her incredible life away so that others become aware of the dangers on our roads.  It’s criminal to legalize this powerful and addictive drug, which is killing our youth in so many ways.  We need to wake up to what this is really about and become aware of how we are just pawns in the game plan of the marijuana industry. – Jennifer’s Mom, Corinne LaMarca.  (This story originally appeared on MomsStrong.org.)