Thank you for your book and for continuously speaking up about this subject. We lost our daughter, a brilliant young woman, to high potency THC "pens" and the insanity of covid lockdowns. Suicide is a multi-faceted death, but she was an honour roll student, happy, well adjusted and a star athlete before she first tried drugs. All she ever did was "pot" but she developed psychosis within a few months. I speak up for her, and so many other young people we are losing to this insanity that allows profits to trump our children. Again.
I'm so sorry for your horrible loss. I'm dealing with something similar. It's a horrendous thing. Thank you for speaking up and sharing yours and Mila's story. It is a heart-wrenching, love-filled, powerful, and critically important piece that needs to be heard/read by everyone. This is a tragedy beyond understanding. Most people have no idea how dangerous this stuff is. The devastating impacts of today's "weed" on our young people are real, widespread, and horrific.
Thank you, Susan. That one was written by Laura Stack who is truly inspirational. Her book is both heartbreaking and speaks to the power and dedication of a mother's love. This is her website for anyone that may be interested in her advocacy work on behalf of her beautiful boy: https://johnnysambassadors.org/
"Suicide is a life sentence for everyone who loved you."
My heart goes out to you. I lost two sisters this way, 10 years apart and as harrowing as that is, I can only imagine the agony you've endured as a parent in this situation. I'm so, so sorry.
Thank you, Jim. I am so sorry you know the pain of losing two sisters in the same way. I've thought, over the last two years, about how when someone kills another person, we have classifications for that murder. Was it manslaughter because it wasn't intentional? Was it Murder 1, 2, 3? With suicide, it just is - "they killed themselves". My question is "Who is that person?" Is it true that my daughter killed herself? Yes, technically, but who was in control of that mind at the time? Not her. We were blessed by her leaving us her diaries of her last few months. They tell a tale of hallucinations and psychosis - a girl trapped and lost in a chemical storm inside her body. It helps to understand the chaos when we try and fail to make sense of anything. I don't know if that helps when you think of your sisters. I hope, at least, it doesn't make it worse. I send you my deepest compassion.
I recall reading about your daughter on Heather’s SubStack. Powerful.
Just. This. Week. I wrote — for the first time — to both my TX State Rep (R) and my TX State Senator (D) to urge them to realize that decriminalizing cannabis in TX —which is under consideration — is not the end game. Legalization is the goal.
And that the argument that “the police have better uses of their time” would translate in reality to more violence and suicides for them to investigate. I suggested they consider the crime stats for Colorado.
I began both emails by noting that the young adult son of a friend shot himself in the head after ingesting cannabis edibles while on a family ski trip In Colorado. (This led me to read Tell your children, btw)
The Republican legislator responded; I have yet to hear from the Democrat.
Thank you for your advocacy. I am heartbroken to hear of your friend's son. I think our natural inclination as humans is to hear of situations like this and naturally start building in the reasons why it could never happen to us. I know I did that. We have a loving, warm, close family, all of our other children thrive... blah blah blah... Our daughter's friends used the same products and were okay (although some now struggle with ongoing addiction). We just don't know the unique biochemistry of each individual.
I'm buoyed by the parenting groups in the US that are taking this subject on. Here in Canada, there is complacency and acceptance as the legalization of this drug was federal and now provinces are regulating and licensing, making money on it. I wrote to our provincial and federal health ministers, to our flake of a prime minister and our premier when our daughter died. Nobody wrote me back. We spoke to the police about why they allow this open illegal selling and we were told that they are told to look the other way because of the politics of Indigenous relations with the government. We put in hundreds of pages of studies and evidence to our provincial coroner with a request for a coroner's inquest over a year and a half ago and have been met with stall tactics and excuses. We are donating money to groups in the US fighting these big pro-pot lobbies because nothing is happening here.
Yes. And it's not enough to "know". It is important to tell others. Warn others. Mike Savage was also constantly warning about the dangers of marijuana. (I DO miss him on radio.) Thank you very much for sharing this - reminder is important. So many ways to make bad choices. Young people don't seem to realize that with some drugs even ONE try will change your brain chemistry FOR.EVER. Don't go there. It is just not worth the risk.
It is hard to understand. In our daughter's case I think it was the lockdowns that led to a smaller social circle, lack of school and a group of kids that had easy access to blackmarket THC via our Native reservations here in Canada that openly sell poisonous, unregulated products to minors. A veritable storm of circumstances.
It was also happening prior to covid when lots of high schoolers were thinking it was "perfectly fine" and cool and safe to vape cannabis during and after school. The synthetic, toxic vapes with super high levels of THC were all over high school campuses 5 years ago.
It seems that the general population considers marijuana use relatively benign. Younger people in particular seem to regard it as “not a big deal” even if they don’t partake. This is a big problem now leading to being an epidemic.
Add to this, the increase in Drs prescribing Adderall, Prozac and other dangerous medications and we’re ending up with a mess. Terrible cocktail of bad outcomes!
Our government leaders don't care just like our Legacy media who receives 75% of earnings from Big Pharmaceutical companies. Look at what they are trying to do Tucker Carlson he is the Johnny Carson of TV shows. We American people must take our country back.
Thanks for doing your best to alert people, Alex. This is a catastrophe affecting many, many lives and families, and society. Yet people remain incredibly clueless that marijuana can be anything other than a mild drug and even a healthy(!?) way to relax. This ain't the marijuana from the 60's and 70's, everybody! Most of the cannabis being ingested now is brain- and life-destroying.
A former friend was a heavy supporter of the legalization of cannabis, and took it while in California for medical reasons. It seems she had great benefit from it. But it might have just been a placebo effect. I am not for legalizing this, and I would like to see whole lot more serious laws for regular medication as well. I think there are way too many dangerous drugs on the market. Just found out for myself how dangerous metformin can be! Doc prescribed it while I had an infection, which should never be done.
Alex, if you are looking for the topic of your next book - researching whether there is a connection between cannabis usage and the mass shooter phenomenon would be valuable.
And add pharmaceuticals/ "mental health drugs" to the list! Put those two together (which apparently many do), and who would report that in mainstream media??
Yes! We should demand toxicology reports on all violent crimes-especially mass shootings. Let's get the data. It was front page news when Purdue Pharma (& the Sackler family) paid out the BIG BUCKS for the opioid fiasco (mostly-straight to our politicians pockets through their "worthy" pet causes). Now, it is forgotten. Is allowing mentally ill people, high on drugs to bring chaos to productive lives merciful?
It's not a homeless issue, it's a drug and alcohol issue that is driving mental health. Between the legal drugs and the illegal ones killing our citizens, I think population collapse is coming quicker than any can imagine. IMHO this is all a result of the tragic rejection of God when the Supreme Court kicked Him out of the public square in the Madline Murray Ohare decision in 1963. Spiritual emptiness is driving this train.
My brother and our next door neighbor (male) both pot smokers in high school, developed schizophrenia at age 20, maybe coincidence, who knows, my brother definitely has a family history of mental illness, a long thin thread we can find in the family tree. That was 45 years ago, we had no idea of the potential harm but it did serve as a learning experience for my kids and now grandchildren. It’s like the Covid vaccinations, I know so many people, all ages, who had zero side effects with the vaccination and never got Covid, but one friend who did develop an immunological syndrome his doctor said was directly related to the Covid vaccine. He still has trouble walking and is in a lot of pain. You just never know, bodies are so different and you’re playing Russian roulette with supposed benign substances in many cases. With pot, most people are fine, but there’s that small percentage where pot can be catastrophic. In any family where there’s a history of mental illness it would be a good idea to not smoke pot until after age 25 and the brain is pretty much set.
I have changed my mind on marijuana legalization over the years. I am basically a libertarian but -- this stuff has become dangerous. Between illegal stuff and prescription psych drugs, I wonder how many people walking around in an average day are drug-free and sober? I mean, I like a beer sometimes but all this other shit, no thanks.
Stoned, fat and stupid. When you’re high you couldn’t care less about life. So fire up another fatty, get another tube of pringles, start streaming some mind control programming and lose touch with any semblance of reality.
Thank you for your book and for continuously speaking up about this subject. We lost our daughter, a brilliant young woman, to high potency THC "pens" and the insanity of covid lockdowns. Suicide is a multi-faceted death, but she was an honour roll student, happy, well adjusted and a star athlete before she first tried drugs. All she ever did was "pot" but she developed psychosis within a few months. I speak up for her, and so many other young people we are losing to this insanity that allows profits to trump our children. Again.
I wrote about her story here if any other people are interested in learning how insidious these modern day products are: https://www.slowdownfarmstead.com/p/what-happened-to-our-daughter
Heather Heying, of Dark Horse and Natural Selections fame, also published parts of her story here: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/milas-story
Thank you for your perseverance and strong spine, Alex. We need more people speaking about this issue with conviction and heart.
I'm so sorry for your horrible loss. I'm dealing with something similar. It's a horrendous thing. Thank you for speaking up and sharing yours and Mila's story. It is a heart-wrenching, love-filled, powerful, and critically important piece that needs to be heard/read by everyone. This is a tragedy beyond understanding. Most people have no idea how dangerous this stuff is. The devastating impacts of today's "weed" on our young people are real, widespread, and horrific.
Thank you, Susan. I am so sorry that you are dealing with something similar. My heart goes out to you.
And thank you, Tara, for your excellent list of resources on your site, such as this one:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8672965/
Marijuana Killed My Son! Doctors, Let Me Tell You Something About the Dangers of Cannabis
Thank you, Susan. That one was written by Laura Stack who is truly inspirational. Her book is both heartbreaking and speaks to the power and dedication of a mother's love. This is her website for anyone that may be interested in her advocacy work on behalf of her beautiful boy: https://johnnysambassadors.org/
"Suicide is a life sentence for everyone who loved you."
My heart goes out to you. I lost two sisters this way, 10 years apart and as harrowing as that is, I can only imagine the agony you've endured as a parent in this situation. I'm so, so sorry.
Thank you, Jim. I am so sorry you know the pain of losing two sisters in the same way. I've thought, over the last two years, about how when someone kills another person, we have classifications for that murder. Was it manslaughter because it wasn't intentional? Was it Murder 1, 2, 3? With suicide, it just is - "they killed themselves". My question is "Who is that person?" Is it true that my daughter killed herself? Yes, technically, but who was in control of that mind at the time? Not her. We were blessed by her leaving us her diaries of her last few months. They tell a tale of hallucinations and psychosis - a girl trapped and lost in a chemical storm inside her body. It helps to understand the chaos when we try and fail to make sense of anything. I don't know if that helps when you think of your sisters. I hope, at least, it doesn't make it worse. I send you my deepest compassion.
I recall reading about your daughter on Heather’s SubStack. Powerful.
Just. This. Week. I wrote — for the first time — to both my TX State Rep (R) and my TX State Senator (D) to urge them to realize that decriminalizing cannabis in TX —which is under consideration — is not the end game. Legalization is the goal.
And that the argument that “the police have better uses of their time” would translate in reality to more violence and suicides for them to investigate. I suggested they consider the crime stats for Colorado.
I began both emails by noting that the young adult son of a friend shot himself in the head after ingesting cannabis edibles while on a family ski trip In Colorado. (This led me to read Tell your children, btw)
The Republican legislator responded; I have yet to hear from the Democrat.
Thank you for your advocacy. I am heartbroken to hear of your friend's son. I think our natural inclination as humans is to hear of situations like this and naturally start building in the reasons why it could never happen to us. I know I did that. We have a loving, warm, close family, all of our other children thrive... blah blah blah... Our daughter's friends used the same products and were okay (although some now struggle with ongoing addiction). We just don't know the unique biochemistry of each individual.
I'm buoyed by the parenting groups in the US that are taking this subject on. Here in Canada, there is complacency and acceptance as the legalization of this drug was federal and now provinces are regulating and licensing, making money on it. I wrote to our provincial and federal health ministers, to our flake of a prime minister and our premier when our daughter died. Nobody wrote me back. We spoke to the police about why they allow this open illegal selling and we were told that they are told to look the other way because of the politics of Indigenous relations with the government. We put in hundreds of pages of studies and evidence to our provincial coroner with a request for a coroner's inquest over a year and a half ago and have been met with stall tactics and excuses. We are donating money to groups in the US fighting these big pro-pot lobbies because nothing is happening here.
Yes. And it's not enough to "know". It is important to tell others. Warn others. Mike Savage was also constantly warning about the dangers of marijuana. (I DO miss him on radio.) Thank you very much for sharing this - reminder is important. So many ways to make bad choices. Young people don't seem to realize that with some drugs even ONE try will change your brain chemistry FOR.EVER. Don't go there. It is just not worth the risk.
I find it hard to understand, but the lockdowns brought a lot of people to scary places.
It is hard to understand. In our daughter's case I think it was the lockdowns that led to a smaller social circle, lack of school and a group of kids that had easy access to blackmarket THC via our Native reservations here in Canada that openly sell poisonous, unregulated products to minors. A veritable storm of circumstances.
It was also happening prior to covid when lots of high schoolers were thinking it was "perfectly fine" and cool and safe to vape cannabis during and after school. The synthetic, toxic vapes with super high levels of THC were all over high school campuses 5 years ago.
Tara, your daughter's story is heart-wrenching. I hope that people will listen to you and take heed. Thanks for telling us.
I am sorry for your loss
Thank you, John.
I remember your daughter’s story. Hope you are finding some comfort in this world. 💔🙏💜 Take care.
Thank you. There is great comfort even in the pain. We are blessed with great love in our lives and hold ours for our daughter forever.
A friend lost her son to high THC marijuana and it's effects. This is real. Thanks Alex, and Tara, sorry for your loss.
I feel so devastated to learn about more and more of our children dying this way. I am so sorry for your friend. Thank you for your condolences.
Very sorry for your loss. My prayers for you and your family.
Thank you.
Jesus...sorry...how tragic
Thank you.
God Bless you. Sincere condolences. I can only hope that your tragedy may help someone else. I am very sorry.
It seems that the general population considers marijuana use relatively benign. Younger people in particular seem to regard it as “not a big deal” even if they don’t partake. This is a big problem now leading to being an epidemic.
Add to this, the increase in Drs prescribing Adderall, Prozac and other dangerous medications and we’re ending up with a mess. Terrible cocktail of bad outcomes!
Freaky. Thank you for writing about this though. The truth needs to be said, even if people do love their weed (and they do!).
Dependency, apathy, and mental health disorders help the party of segregation, the kkk, and slave owners with their voters.
Schizophrenics use cannabis to self medicate, so of course there's a correlation
Quite clear, that depressives do self-medicating with various forms of substances
The have also used alcohol...
Why do we always have to pendulum so far in this country...we go from prohibition to treating it like it is a goddamn multivitamin.
Our government leaders don't care just like our Legacy media who receives 75% of earnings from Big Pharmaceutical companies. Look at what they are trying to do Tucker Carlson he is the Johnny Carson of TV shows. We American people must take our country back.
I wonder if the harm caused to youngsters by cannabis equals the harm caused them by the shots?
Thanks for doing your best to alert people, Alex. This is a catastrophe affecting many, many lives and families, and society. Yet people remain incredibly clueless that marijuana can be anything other than a mild drug and even a healthy(!?) way to relax. This ain't the marijuana from the 60's and 70's, everybody! Most of the cannabis being ingested now is brain- and life-destroying.
A former friend was a heavy supporter of the legalization of cannabis, and took it while in California for medical reasons. It seems she had great benefit from it. But it might have just been a placebo effect. I am not for legalizing this, and I would like to see whole lot more serious laws for regular medication as well. I think there are way too many dangerous drugs on the market. Just found out for myself how dangerous metformin can be! Doc prescribed it while I had an infection, which should never be done.
Alex, if you are looking for the topic of your next book - researching whether there is a connection between cannabis usage and the mass shooter phenomenon would be valuable.
And add pharmaceuticals/ "mental health drugs" to the list! Put those two together (which apparently many do), and who would report that in mainstream media??
Right, that would be the taboo of all taboos
Yes! We should demand toxicology reports on all violent crimes-especially mass shootings. Let's get the data. It was front page news when Purdue Pharma (& the Sackler family) paid out the BIG BUCKS for the opioid fiasco (mostly-straight to our politicians pockets through their "worthy" pet causes). Now, it is forgotten. Is allowing mentally ill people, high on drugs to bring chaos to productive lives merciful?
It's not a homeless issue, it's a drug and alcohol issue that is driving mental health. Between the legal drugs and the illegal ones killing our citizens, I think population collapse is coming quicker than any can imagine. IMHO this is all a result of the tragic rejection of God when the Supreme Court kicked Him out of the public square in the Madline Murray Ohare decision in 1963. Spiritual emptiness is driving this train.
My brother and our next door neighbor (male) both pot smokers in high school, developed schizophrenia at age 20, maybe coincidence, who knows, my brother definitely has a family history of mental illness, a long thin thread we can find in the family tree. That was 45 years ago, we had no idea of the potential harm but it did serve as a learning experience for my kids and now grandchildren. It’s like the Covid vaccinations, I know so many people, all ages, who had zero side effects with the vaccination and never got Covid, but one friend who did develop an immunological syndrome his doctor said was directly related to the Covid vaccine. He still has trouble walking and is in a lot of pain. You just never know, bodies are so different and you’re playing Russian roulette with supposed benign substances in many cases. With pot, most people are fine, but there’s that small percentage where pot can be catastrophic. In any family where there’s a history of mental illness it would be a good idea to not smoke pot until after age 25 and the brain is pretty much set.
Terrifying, considering the push to legalize and normalize. Thank you for reporting on this!
I have changed my mind on marijuana legalization over the years. I am basically a libertarian but -- this stuff has become dangerous. Between illegal stuff and prescription psych drugs, I wonder how many people walking around in an average day are drug-free and sober? I mean, I like a beer sometimes but all this other shit, no thanks.
Stoned, fat and stupid. When you’re high you couldn’t care less about life. So fire up another fatty, get another tube of pringles, start streaming some mind control programming and lose touch with any semblance of reality.
The government thanks you.