Within seconds I stopped being a parent and mother. I lost my only child, Stephen Mager, on February 14, 1996. All of this happened during noon break on a school day. Stephen was a passenger in a car that was driven by his best friend. He was sitting in the back seat without his seat…
When you bury a child, you die with them. Yet you still wake up each morning and somehow have to function in your “new” normal. I’ve always considered myself as “politically” correct so when marijuana became “medicine,” I didn’t think it would ever affect my life. It’s too late for me and many other parents…
My first son, Chase, was a good kid. He was quiet, easygoing, funny, and an Eagle Scout. Chase was small but excelled at sports, pursuing football because of his great hand-eye coordination, speed, agility, endurance, and most of all, his desire to win. Chase was an above-average student until 10th grade. Chase’s grades started slipping,…
Aaron was an intelligent, handsome, articulate, and comical young man who was compassionate and forgiving. He was accepting, loving of everyone, quick-witted, and always joking around with family and friends. He was the life of the party. Aaron was in the Future Business Leaders of America organization as well as a college accounting program. Looking…
I am a physical therapist who so strongly believed in medical marijuana that I went to work in a Massachusetts marijuana dispensary for 1.5 years as a budtender. My dispensary sold high-potency products. There were rashes, mildew, and mold on the marijuana; the labeled weight was incorrect; batches were mixed with different testing results; marijuana…
My heart is broken. I taught my son the dangers of peer pressure. I told him action is never justified simply because someone else says it’s okay. On the evening of October 6, 2017, a knock on my front door brought a parent’s worst —a police officer informed me Henry had been in a horrific…
My daughter is 24 years old and suffers from cannabis use disorder and cannabis-induced psychosis. We had her back for a short time, but the addictiveness of this drug has pulled her away from us once again. Roxanne was a beautiful baby, and as she got older, she was very bubbly and her imagination was…
My name is Juli Shamash, and my son Tyler suffered from addiction and ultimately died in the bathroom in a sober living facility at age 19 from ingesting fentanyl. Tyler was extremely bright, could hack into any computer, built computers, and could fix anything. He was curious, helpful, and kind. He would end every conversation…
My brother thought he was John the Baptist. He slept under a freeway because he believed God wanted him to live there. (See https://anightinjail.com/ and a long story of Kirk’s life from Moms Strong: https://momsstrong.org/2018/01/19/brothers-marijuana-use-led-mental-illness/ ) About 10% to 15% of the population is predisposed to psychosis, and most of us don’t know it. Many people have not heard THC…
My son Adam suffers from cannabis use disorder and cannabis-induced psychosis. My husband and I worked hard to provide our kids with a loving and stable home. Our son was born in 1995. He did well in school. He skied in the winter, swam in the summer, and always had friends. In the spring of 2017,…