Marijuana is highly addicting, harmful, and as dangerous as other drugs of addiction. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5, 5th Edition
THC stimulates neurons in the reward system and causes the release of dopamine at levels higher than natural rewarding stimuli. The boost of dopamine trains the brain to want to repeat the rewarding behavior with more cannabis, setting up the path to addiction. 2020 NIDA, NIH
Three out of 10 cannabis users developed DSM IV criteria of cannabis use disorder (CUD). IASIC
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 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 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,…
On December 23, 2021, my son, Josh, took his own life by jumping in front of a train in Pecos, Texas. He was on his way home from California, where he had been dabbing Delta-8 and -9 THC. Joshua left our home in Texas after dabbing marijuana for the full month of December. He decided…
Our son Kevin was 15 years old when he started abusing marijuana. He was very good at hiding his use until he came to us and said he was depressed and needed help. We spoke with an educational consultant who evaluated Kevin and recommended a therapeutic wilderness program. This was the beginning of many years…