Weed Isn't What You Remember: A Mom's Battle With Big Marijuana

03/18/25 • 54 min

What happens when the "harmless" marijuana of the past transforms into today's high-potency nightmare? Amy, a Connecticut mother, never imagined her son's college experience would spiral into cannabis-induced psychosis and a 13-month battle with reality itself.
Amy's story shatters common misconceptions about marijuana. Her academically successful, athletic son Ethan once promoted drug abstinence to "preserve his developing brain." Yet at college, where cannabis was legal and normalized, everything changed. After his first "green out" psychotic episode, Ethan called home terrified, convinced he was "stuck in the fourth dimension" with body parts "twitching and moving." Despite attempts to stop, addiction had already taken hold.
The family's desperate search for help reveals a troubling gap in our healthcare system. Doctors dismissed cannabis as the cause of Ethan's psychosis. Police responding to wellness checks couldn't recognize the severity of his condition. Amy found herself frantically researching, connecting with support groups, and essentially "becoming an addiction counselor and psychiatrist" while fighting to keep her son alive.
Only when Ethan was hospitalized at Yale, which researches cannabis-induced psychosis, did they find knowledgeable care. Amy's journey transformed her into a powerful advocate challenging the narrative that marijuana is harmless. Through her work with Parent Action Network, she's now educating legislators about the devastating reality of today's cannabis products.
Ready to make a difference? Join our advocacy efforts by signing the letter supporting Representative Mary Miller's amendment to close dangerous Delta-8 THC loopholes. Your voice matters in protecting families from the heartbreak Amy continues to navigate each day.

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Previous Episode

From Peace to Struggle: Kathy's Journey Through Her Son's Marijuana Addiction

How does a substance once seen as taboo become a source of heartache within a family? Meet Kathy from Florida, who shares the poignant transformation her family went through when marijuana entered their lives. Her story offers a heartfelt perspective on the shift from a peaceful life with her husband and three sons to grappling with the challenges of her son's marijuana addiction. Kathy's journey compels us to question societal perceptions and the evolving potency of today's cannabis products.
Exploring the ripple effects of addiction on family dynamics, we discuss the tough choices Kathy's family made, such as encouraging their son to live independently. These decisions highlight the struggle between supporting a loved one and safeguarding the family's well-being. Our discussion challenges the perception of marijuana as harmless, drawing attention to the frustrations with medical professionals and the troubling ease with which medical marijuana cards are obtained. We underscore the complex landscape of addiction and the need for collective advocacy and education to foster change.
Kathy's emotional narrative underscores the importance of community support, therapy, and advocacy in navigating the trials of addiction. By sharing her story, Kathy inspires a deeper understanding of the emotional toll addiction takes on families and the resilience required to cope. Join our conversation to explore these crucial topics and learn more about our upcoming webinar on marijuana withdrawal, which promises to continue this vital discussion.

Next Episode

From Addiction to Advocacy: Linda and Kobe's Journey with Marijuana

When Linda Wolf realized her son Kobe was experiencing psychosis, walking the streets and claiming to control volcanoes, she faced a nightmare no parent is prepared for. What she couldn't understand was why nobody had warned her this could happen from "just weed."
Linda and Kobe join the Fortitude podcast to share their remarkable journey through cannabis-induced psychosis, multiple hospitalizations, and ultimately recovery. Their story reveals a truth many refuse to acknowledge: today's high-potency marijuana can trigger devastating mental health crises in vulnerable users, particularly young people.
"I scoured the internet looking for somebody else who had gone through this," Linda explains, describing the isolation she felt until connecting with other parent advocates. Meanwhile, Kobe offers rare insight from the user's perspective, detailing how marijuana use that began in high school gradually evolved into daily consumption and addiction before triggering psychosis. "The psychosis I experienced was very severe—I wasn't aware of what was causing it because I wasn't aware of anything," he reveals.
Now 23 and cannabis-free, Kobe is transforming his harrowing experience into purpose by studying psychiatric nursing. "I want to help people going through what I did," he says, "because I think there's a lot more people that have the potential to go down the same path I went down."
This mother-son conversation offers both warning and hope—showing how cannabis can devastate lives, but also how families can recover with proper support, boundaries, and persistence. If you're concerned about a loved one's marijuana use or struggling to understand cannabis-induced mental health issues, this episode provides invaluable perspective from those who've lived it.

Fortitude: Turning Tragedy into Action - Weed Isn't What You Remember: A Mom's Battle With Big Marijuana

Transcript

Speaker 200:00:13.051

Good evening everyone . This is Chrissy Groenwegen , director of the Parent Action Network . We are the grassroots division of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and we're dedicated to amplifying the voices of families whose lives have been devastated by the harmful effects of marijuana . Thank you for joining me for another episode of Fortitude . It's been a little while , but we're back ,