Johnny’s Ambassadors: How One Mother’s Loss Started a Youth Marijuana Awareness Movement, With Laura Stack
Host: Brenda Zane, brenda@brendazane.com
Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Guest: Laura Stack, Founder, Johnny’s Ambassadors
Free ebook: “HINDSIGHT: 3 Things I Wish I Knew When My Son Was Misusing Drugs, by Brenda Zane. Download here
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About this episode:
After studies showed the medicinal benefits of marijuana for certain conditions, state legislatures across the country slowly began legalizing medical and recreational marijuana in defiance of federal law. But those studies were based on the potency of leaf material available before marijuana became a legal, multi-billion dollar industry – and the industry has changed. New, high-potency forms of the drug (like shatter, wax, and vape oils) are delivering regular doses of THC that are hundreds of times more powerful than the original recommendations for medical treatment. To make matters worse, they are increasingly available to middle and high school kids.
Resources for parents:
Johnny’s Ambassadors Parents of Children with Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (POCCIP) support group
Video library of THC research and presentations
Partnership to End Addiction Marijuana Talk Kit - how to talk to your child about marijuana
The Link Between Youth Marijuana Use and Suicidality - research
Frequently Asked Questions about today’s marijuana
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As I sat down to work on today's episode, I felt overwhelmed by the volume of information and resources you are trying to consume and navigate. While I was preparing for the conversation you're about to hear. I got a message from a member in the stream about whether or not IAP was going to be sufficient for her son and how she was sifting through the hundred plus hours of video content we have in the community to learn as much as she could as fast as she could, because her son needs to get into some sort of treatment immediately.
First of all, that probably doesn't sound so crazy to you. It certainly didn't. To me, it's the kind of question I get every day. But if you step back and think about most families, these are not the decisions they're making on an average Friday afternoon. So I hope you are giving yourself a gigantic amount of credit for the research and the learning that you're doing, while also likely parenting your other kids, holding down a job and trying to have some sort of personal life of your own.
It is astounding how much you are juggling, and I need you to recognize that and give yourself positive reinforcement for it because unfortunately, it may not be coming from anyone else. I was also debating a question that feels normal to me, but probably sounds crazy to anyone, not in this world. And that was which substance should parents be more worried about right now?
00;02;46;18
Brenda
Fentanyl or marijuana? A few years ago, I would have never even asked the question because the answer obviously would have been fentanyl. And still to some degree, if your child has been using both THC and fentanyl and now they're in a harm reduction mode to stay safer. Marijuana may feel like the tamper Prairie, and I want to make sure and stress temporary safer option.
But what many parents are not taking into consideration when they think, well, I'd rather have my kid smoke weed than fill in the blank. Drink alcohol, use cocaine, use fentanyl is the brain and emotional damage that's taking place from the high potency of today's THC products. Laura Stark, my guest today, and the founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Johnny's Ambassadors, knows way too much about THC and what it does to developing brains.
A former professional speaker, corporate spokesperson and bestselling author, Laura suddenly acquired the undesired wisdom of knowing what it's like to lose one's child when her 19 year old son Johnny, died by suicide. He became psychotic after dabbing and vaping high potency marijuana concentrates and thought the mob was after him. Laura's world took a 180. She knew so little about the harms of marijuana and was determined to teach other parents and teens what she had learned so the same thing wouldn't happen to them.
Her bestselling book, The Dangerous Truth About Today's Marijuana, Johnny Stacks Life and Death Story, has 300 pages and 176 scientific notations about what happens when young people use high potency THC. Described as a woman with an unstoppable drive and unwavering purpose. Laura hopes to help other parents, grandparents and teachers. But honestly and boldly sharing Johnny's story of his high potency marijuana use, his psychosis, and ultimately his suicide.
00;04;55;29
Brenda
I do want to also provide a trigger warning for this episode since we will be discussing suicide. If you need help or if your child needs help for suicidal ideation or attempts, please contact nine, eight, eight and you can find a ton of resources specifically about suicide. And I need a lifeline. Call org. Along with the other episodes I've done about high potency THC, which I will link to in the show notes.
This is one you must hear and share. And if you've got a young person who is currently using THC in the form of dabbing, vaping, wax or shatter. Yep. Those are all high potency formats. You will probably feel very anxious when you hear this story and you may decide you need to take some action quickly if that's the case.
You can download resources from a document that I have put in the show notes, and those are always at Brenda's income for podcast when you get there. Look for episode 167 with that. Please pay special attention for the next little bit to this vitally important conversation between me and Laura Stack from Johnny's Ambassadors.
Laura Stack How We have not met yet, I don't know, but I'm so happy to finally meet you to have this time today to talk about your organization, about your family, your son, and just get some information out to parents, which is what we're both trained to do. So welcome to Hope Stream.
00;06;33;15
Laura
Thank you. Likewise. I'm so glad one of our ambassadors could introduce us. As it seems we have a common passion helping parents whose children sadly are addicted. And I'm really happy to share my experience and Johnny's story and anything that would would be helpful.
00;06;54;29
Brenda
Yeah, I think that would be helpful to get that context. And thank you for for doing the work that you're doing. I know a lot of a lot of parents do get, you know, into advocacy and doing things like this when they lose a child, but not all of them do. And so I just think there's some super power that you must possess that allows you to do this in the wake of what is just an insanely tragic loss.
So why don't you just take us through to whatever degree you want and are comfortable what happened in your family? What led you to be sitting here across from me today having this conversation?
00;07;34;05
Laura
Sure. Well, you know, the bottom line is we live in Colorado and as many people know, that is ground zero for marijuana legalization over ten years ago. Now in 2012 and in 2014, it came out into the dispensaries. And my son Johnny, was 14 years old. He was a freshman in high school. And before he used anything, he was very involved in school.
He was involved in our church, were Christian family. He was very smart. He had a perfect S.A.T. score in math. He had a 4.0 GPA, never got a B until his second semester of his senior year when he got four D's, when things suddenly changed. And he was a great kid. He had a scholarship to Colorado State University and a wonderful, sweet, loving, kind, funny young man.
And sadly, he used marijuana for the first time at a party that was offered to him by a friend's brother who at the time was 18 years old. And this boy was to become Johnny's first drug dealer. And I did not know it, but he had a medical, which is a joke. Marijuana card. And Johnny came home from the party and told us, standing right here in our hallway that there was marijuana at the party and that all the boys wanted to try to get high and that he didn't know what to do or shaved.
And when had handed it to him and she had hit that, she felt very pressured. And he told us which would not have been unusual because we were very close. And I told him at the time, Johnny, don't ever use that again. It will destroy that brilliant brain of yours. And I thought that was going to be the end of it.
00;09;21;25
Laura
It was a five year battle from 14 to 19 when he finally died. We tried everything. I mean, everything as the parents on here can relate to, to save him from his himself and his addiction. But, you know, it's interesting because looking back when he told me he was using, I was very surprised because he was a rule follower up until then.
And we always had the rule, you know, no drinking, no drugs, no smoking marijuana. And so I was surprised and I told him so. And I said, you know, I appreciate you being honest with me. And I remember saying to myself in my head, Oh, you know, it's just weed, whatever. You know, it's not that big of a deal.
Thank God he's not using cocaine or matter opioids. You know, I used marijuana when I was a kid and I was so, so wrong and ignorant and naive and stupid, really, As it came to marijuana, I had no concept when he told me, and I think this is why I'm just so passionate about this, because most parents like me, you know, we think of the old weed, We think of the stuff we used when we were kids.
I mean, I remember a piece of paper and putting it in a little paper and rolling it up like a joint. And there were like eight of us and we shared it. And I remember just kind of feeling a little weird. I didn't like it, so I didn't use it after that and kind of giggly. But we went to Denny's like, I don't know why.
00;10;49;09
Laura
I remember we went to Denny's, but that was my that's my whole experience of marijuana range of when he told me that I put my whole perception and experience of it onto what he should.
00;11;02;25
Brenda
Right.
00;11;03;10
Laura
Not understanding how the marijuana industry had changed. I mean, I'd never even heard of Dabs. I didn't even know what Dabs were until like four years after he started his addiction. But, you know, that's where it came from. And then after he died, you know, it was covered. He died in November, right before Thanksgiving 2019. And then we were locked down and we were alone.
And so I started writing and researching and talking with doctors and forming a board. And out of that six months later came John as ambassadors, you know, with a mission to really educate parents and teens about the dangers of this high potency stuff. What how does it impact adolescent brain formation? How does it cause mental illness? And sadly, many people don't know that there is an association with suicide.
Colorado has as its number one cause of death in youth ages ten through 18 suicide. And our number one substance found in the toxicology report of those teens who die by suicide is THC three times that of alcohol. And it's taken us, you know, ten years to get here. But we look at all these schools that, you know, they're legalizing, and that's what I do full time.
My other you know, what I normally do is I speak at school assemblies, middle schools and high school. And it just it breaks my heart because these kids have this perception, because their parents believe it's harmless and benign. And the marijuana industry wants people to think it can heal like every malady under the sun. And sadly, some parents buy marijuana for their children, thinking it's going to help them chill out or stress last or help with anxiety.
00;12;47;25
Laura
And it just makes all those things worse because they don't understand. They just how would they they don't understand the science behind brain development. So that's mostly what I'm doing is out talking to teens, usually three high school and middle school assemblies a day. So, I mean, wow. So full time out there on the road. Yeah. So we're still we just got back last night.
We are. We're humping it because school's in session and then we have a we'll have a break for summer and then we'll be back on the road again in the fall. But that's why I'm so passionate about it. You know, I knew nothing. I teach the parents and talk to the kids and I tell them I tell them Johnny's story, basically.
00;13;28;12
Brenda
Yeah. Wow. So I think you're situation is so, as you know, incredibly common. That conversation is going down in so many kitchens and hallways. Yeah. Of mine. You know, either the young person say, mom, it's just weed. And I remember being in this situation and thinking, well, I would rather have him smoking weed than drinking alcohol. Where that came from, I don't know.
Like, that doesn't even make sense. But that was my perception and common reaction.
00;14;01;20
Laura
But people don't understand receptors, you know? So we have receptors for alcohol, we have receptors for dope, dopamine, we have receptors for nicotine. You know, there are all different receptors. And this is called a cannabinoid endocannabinoid receptors. CB One cannabinoid, one receptor. CB two is in the body, cannabinoid two, and cannabis is the only plant that interacts with that receptor.
And unfortunately, they discovered in the early nineties that THC mimics a natural chemical, a molecule we have in our bodies called Ananda mind, which is our natural and cannabinoid. It's the feel good molecule, it's Sanskrit for pure bliss and it's what regulates our mood, our anxiety, our emotions, our energy, our sleep, inflammation. Turns out we have receptors in our body parts, all over, in organs, all of our bodies.
So when THC comes in and slips into the schnapps and binds with that receptor, Ananda might can't get in and it down scales. It pushes down that level of Ananda mind. So the user starts feeling terrible because now they're nauseous and anxious and sweating and irritable. So now they have to use more THC in. It takes over this very important system that we have.
So all parents need to look up. The easiest endocannabinoid system should be one receptors and they are plentiful in the brain. Unfortunately, because teens brains are still forming, it hijacks that system which often called hypo fatality in arrests, the formation of the brain during that time. And we dumbed down the science a lot when we talked to teens, obviously.
00;15;52;00
Laura
But research has shown through MRI studies that depending upon how many times youth use marijuana during adolescent brain formation, they actually show a thinning in the prefrontal cortex. They literally lose gray matter. So it changes the development of their brains. And that's what's really critically important, even with one or two uses. So you can't see the changes that are happening.
Johnny never thought anything was going to happen to him either, Right? Right. You can't see it. It's slowly changing that brain and preventing it from forming correctly. It literally is brain damage. And, you know, they would kids would be like, well, look at that. Johnny's dad, you know, he use he uses every day and he's not having any problems.
And Johnny always used to say that, too, like, Mom, what do you want? I've got a 4.0. Right, right. And everything was fine until it wasn't. And it happened very quickly in terms of him being, you know, using on the weekends and using every day and then moving to a vape and, you know, using in the morning before school, after school, before, you know, all day long, and then moving to a dab pen.
00;17;06;00
Laura
As his tolerance increased and now using wax. Right. And then all of a sudden, his senior year of high school in the book, I call that the unraveling. It was like an alien came and took my child. And I'm sure appearance can relate to this, but he became vile and nasty and defiant and verbally abusive. I mean, f you, I mean, to me, and I'm like his person, like, who loves him more than anyone.
We do put locks on our doors. We were afraid of him. He was very unpredictable. He would run away two weeks at a time. We would, you know, I knew where he was because his parents would call me, but he didn't want to go to school anymore. I mean, he literally just became this other person. And so when he became a senior a second semester of his senior year, he left.
He moved out of the house. We still had a younger son at home, and he was using THC right in front of us and he wouldn't follow any of our rules. And so we let him. It was just and unbeknownst to us, we found this out after he died because we have a cybersecurity friend expert who helped us get into all his devices, but he went and got a medical marijuana card also when he was 18 and he had no medical condition.
So I cannot imagine we call them the pot shop docs here in Colorado. What a pot shop, doc. What a given it. You know what, Migraine backache, hangnail? I don't know. He didn't have anything. He had become the drug dealer and it broke my heart. And I cried for weeks after he died. And we got into his phone and we saw hundreds of photos of him dealing his legal products from a legal dispensary with a legal med card at 18 years old to these poor now 13, 14, 15.
00;18;57;14
Laura
Now he's the drug dealer. And I found all these photos of all the drugs parents are. So they always think it's not their kid. Oh, well, my kid's an athlete or my kid's a Christian or goes to Temple or, you know, is brilliant or what? And it's like so much. Might I read all the protective factors that they talk about that's not going to keep good kids from making bad decisions.
And Johnny made a lot of them, but he was a victim. He should not have had access, so easy access to this sham system that gave him a way to get these 80, 90% THC vapes and DABS legally. And it wasn't long before he became suicidal, psychotic. And every time he would stop using, he would recover and he would be sober for three or four months and then he would go back to using.
And it was just a disaster. And we didn't even really understand at the time how much his marijuana use was affecting him. I mean, we found a lot. We found journals, blogs, videos that he made. And this was all a lot of it. After we were able to get into his devices after he died, he had a journal that he had written while he was in cannabis to do psychosis that we didn't even know he had.
But in it he was writing, you know, the mob is after me. The FBI knows who I am. Everybody knows everything about me. And so now his journals are being studied by many medical doctors on our board as a as a case study of this is why you take an otherwise healthy person. No medical conditions, no psychosis in the family.
00;20;43;11
Laura
In fact, we had him tested because we were like, he's just suspicious and paranoid, Like maybe we have some kind of genetic predisposition so we wouldn't have the genome done. And he didn't have anything. He didn't have the serum gene, the negative one gene. You didn't have any clusters for schizophrenia. So the more I reached out originally to a very well-known researcher in London named Sir Robin Murray, and he told me, without a doubt, after looking at it all, that the marijuana caused Johnny Psychosis.
And he was unfortunately one of the ones who took his life. You know, it's sometimes it's violence to other people. They get kind of homicidal thoughts like thoughts about killing other people. And and but unfortunately, he took his life, he told us three days before he died in our kitchen, he came here for dinner and he said, Mom, I just I want you to know that you were right.
And I said, About what? I didn't know we were talking about. You said, You may not remember, but you told me many years ago that marijuana would hurt my brain. And it has ruined my mind and my life. And I'm really sorry. And I love you. And three days later, he was gone.
That's so you know, that's that's what we we try to warn students, you know, you never want to make them sad. We don't go in with scare tactics. I mean, we don't go in like, don't do drugs. Drugs are bad, you know? But I just say, look, I'm not your mom. I'm not I'm not here to tell you what to do.
00;22;16;00
Laura
I don't want to make you scared or try. You know, I'm not trying to make you shot. I just want to share for my horror what happened to my son and give you some research and some very important information that I think you will want as you are moving through, you know, your high school career. By the time you get to college, it's everywhere here.
And so that you believe you are equipped, you know, to make these very important decisions for yourself on whether you're going to use or not. And I asked them for permission. And they always say yes and a share. And I and I share Johnny's warning, you know, and that is something that I tell them that he said marijuana ruined my mind and my life.
And so I think I mean, I know it's making a huge difference. I get letters and calls every day from kids, from parents. We have 1000 teens following us on Instagram. We've got 10,000 ambassadors now and just people who are out sharing our message. We have a Facebook group of about 2500 people. And, you know, an ambassador means to help promote an activity.
And that's what we're promoting is marijuana prevention for youth. We don't get into the whole like legalization and don't use and all that. We're just we're talking about children. So we really don't get a lot of pushback, you know, because even the pro-marijuana people, there aren't very many who come out and be like, yeah, kids should be using pot.
00;23;34;29
Laura
I mean, they just don't right now for the most part, you know, people kind of leave us alone in the industry. It's kind of like with pornography, like you're not going to beat the whole industry, but nobody thinks children should be in pornography, you know, So you can focus on child pornography and you can get somewhere. And I feel that we've made that conscious decision, you know, to really focus on youth, but then also having to educate their parents because they're just as clueless as I was.
Exactly. They don't understand when I was a kid, a joint was like five milligrams a dab today of a concentrated marijuana is 100 milligrams.
00;24;17;00
Brenda
It's a different product.
00;24;19;08
Laura
One dab is the equivalent of 50 joints, 55 zero from the stuff that everybody, you know, used to smoke. And it's not like nobody ever had any problems, but it wasn't even considered addictive until 2013. It wasn't even listed in the DSM five as cannabis use disorder until very recently. You know, so these newfangled high potency vapes and dabs and edibles shatters products.
It's really it is robbing our children. And there is no doubt anymore in the literature that marijuana causes psychosis. Zero. It's even on a warning sheet. Every purchase that you make in a Colorado dispensary, they put a piece of paper in your bag that says marijuana concentrates can lead to psychosis, delusions, hallucinations and disorders. So it's not like science doesn't already know this.
00;25;06;13
Brenda
Right? Right. No, you're right. Science knows it. And what I've learned over the last few years is science. And researchers are really great at digging up the information and validating it. And then they're horrible at getting it into the world. Yes. And so what I love is you are doing that part of it for them because it's like, okay, you guys go in your labs and do your thing and find the research and prove it out.
00;25;31;00
Laura
Let me talk it out. Well, yeah.
00;25;34;06
Brenda
If we wait for them to do it, it's going to be 20 years from now.
00;25;37;19
Laura
So and bless them, they I mean, they have great research in that. And I use the research, but many people don't know the new research. You know, they're still looking at all the old research. It's like, oh, my gosh, look at all the new things that have been created in just the past year or two or three years with these new high potency products.
You know, that's the stuff that we need to be looking at. And other countries who have already done all this research, like the U.S. thinks are so different and special. It's the same molecule, the stage Z, and we have stronger products here than they do anywhere. I just had a hosted a webinar for Sir Robin Murray this morning.
Hi. As they have a skunk that's like 35%, I'm like, What would happen if you had 80%? He thinks that 80% of the psychosis that he sees is related to cannabis use. He showed only 14% of the people who come into his clinic for psychosis don't use cannabis, that it was some sort of genetic a cause. So he said he's 100% sure that marijuana induces a schizo effective type of disorder, that if you don't stop with multiple episodes, an incidence of psychosis can convert into into a permanent schizophrenia.
You know, and and we just we have to get the word out. No, they're not all going to become psychotic, but they're going to have memory problems. They're going to have IQ problems. They're going to have poorer life outcomes. They're going to have dependance, they're going to have a motivational syndrome. They're going to have problems with driving. But the the list of problems with youth who use research is so overwhelmingly negative.
00;27;11;17
Laura
There's no research. You know, and I keep challenging the marijuana is they're like, show me one study you have that proves that high THC marijuana is beneficial in any way for a child. And they can't do it because it doesn't exist, because there are none. Right. So I think, though, that, you know, their whole job is to cast doubt.
And so anything you try to put, they're going to be like, oh, that's not true. Reefer madness. You know, it's they they just they have so much money, billions and billions of dollars in this this multibillion dollar industry that they just really shut up a lot of the opposition because they don't have the funds. I mean, we're just a little nonprofit and we have 500 parents right now in our support group of children with cannabis and do psychosis.
500. It's like and we're just this teeny tiny little microcosm. And because it's not coordinated nationally, we can't get data across the United States like they can in socialized countries, you know, where they can access 7 million people's records all at the same time. So I know just from what what we're seeing, I know 100% with all my heart that Johnny would still be here today if he had not found marijuana.
Absolutely. And if I knew then what I know now, I think I could have saved him.
00;28;43;00
Brenda
If you're here listening to Hope Stream, I'm guessing you might be glad to know there are other resources that you can take advantage of as you work on getting your family to a better place. We've now combined all the information you need into one simple space called Hope Stream Community. It's where you can learn about our private online communities for moms and dads, our retreats are educational offerings and of course, the podcast host Dream Community is a nonprofit organization that exists solely to help you navigate this challenging season in life and to be connected, educated and taken care of so that you're better equipped to help your child make positive change in their lives.
You are not helpless when your child misuses substances, and we're here to give you the tools and information you need After the episode, take a look at Hope Stream Community dot org to find what we offer. Now back to the show.
00;29;46;02
Laura
We were in Nashville two days ago and I had a mom come up to me. I was in Nashville a few months before at some other schools, and she said, I did what you said and I drug tested my daughter and looked at her phone and got in. And you were right. And I had no idea. And I found all the THC cartridges, which is illegal in Tennessee, by the way, recreationally and medically.
And they hired a private detective and they found the guy and he's in jail and they broke up this drug ring. And I'm like, what? And it was just the most she wrote me a six page handwritten letter, just handed it to me. I cried and cried on the plane last night. It's unbelievable how something like this happened.
I think Johnny died for a reason, I believe. I mean, God is God. He knew I would do what I do because he just knew how I would respond because that's how I am. I would I'm going to be mad and I'm going to not I am not going to be silent and I'm not going to shut up and I'm not going to be shamed.
You know, I wasn't a perfect parent, but I was a darn good one. I mean, we spent almost $200,000 trying to help Johnny Sherry, mental hospital stays, treatment programs, doctors. I mean, you name it, we did it. And it's not like we didn't do everything we could.
00;31;09;26
Brenda
He still died, right?
00;31;11;17
Laura
Yeah. So I just. I just have to think there's a better reason, you know, I just got to do something about it.
00;31;19;18
Brenda
Well, you're right. I believe the same that you know what happened with my son and I didn't lose my son. Which is why I believe I'm the luckiest mom in the world. Because I came within millimeters with fentanyl overdose. But I feel the same that I know for a fact that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
And this is why our family went through what we went through. Exactly. And I believe also and I believe that God probably said this is his purpose. His purpose is to be here and it is going to hurt so much. And then it's.
00;32;01;08
Laura
Yeah, it's now it's recorded. But yeah, exactly. This is this is the only thing I could do that's going to fix it. Yeah. You know, because I'm never going to get over losing my son. Right. But it helps, you know, to know that. That other people are being helped. That's all I got.
00;32;17;26
Brenda
Yeah. I would love to have you talk a little bit about there's two things that I love to just tap on. One is what messaging are you seeing? Work with young people. So you're you're in it all day, every day. You're talking to young people. Yeah. What is Because these are parents who are going to be listening and they are desperate to have some sort of message that might get through.
Because I think part of the challenge, too, is a lot of these kids are using THC pretty much around the clock. So when the parents are speaking with them, I always try to get them to find a time when they're not high, which is very difficult. But if you can find a time when they're not high to have some conversation, but what messages are you seeing resonate with young people around this?
00;33;05;10
Laura
Well, I mean, it depends. We have ours is a primary universal prevention method. So we are talking with 1000 teens in a school. Not all of them, of course, are using. So the message that we use, of course, is not don't do drugs. Drugs are bad. It's let me share what THC does to you. Share some information, share some research.
We talk to them in a very respectful way. Right. Parents need to do the same, you know, to to be able to go to your child. And first of all, be educated. You have got I mean, we have 80 hours of video on our site at Johnny's ambassadors board that they need to study and really understand because it's okay to say to your child, oh, my gosh, I had no idea that one dad today is the equivalent of 50 joints.
I clearly don't understand potency. Oh, my gosh. I didn't know that there were special receptors in our brains that THC latches onto. I didn't know about the endocannabinoid system. They respond very well to facts, to data, to science. What they don't respond to is, oh, my gosh, you know, right, Don't do drugs. You're messing up your brain. Right?
Why? It is, is you high? Why does it mess up your brain? Specifically? How does it change the formation of your mind? Marijuana is fat soluble, so it doesn't matter if they're not high. It's going to take four weeks before the THC exits their system. By then their Ananda mid levels are in the toilet because it's been blocked by the THC.
00;34;53;20
Laura
So it takes another 30 days for their Ananda mind to regulate and then another 30 days for their entire eggs to come back to equilibrium. So it's about a 90 day process and being able to tell a kid, you know, when you stop using marijuana because of the issue, yes, you're going to feel nauseous and irritable and anxious and you're going to sweat and you're not going to sleep.
So you have to just you have to be very knowledgeable and come at it from a practical point of view and asking them, you know, what is it that you like about being high? What happens when you stop being high? What symptoms are you having? Right. And asking those kind of questions and being able to say that is cannabis, see?
Because then they go, Oh, well, I feel terrible when I'm not using. So then they use again, so then they feel better, right? Well, that's not helping. That's actually called being addicted to stop. I mean, you withdraw any addiction of choice, alcohol, cigarets, opioids, whatever. You stop using it and you're going to feel crappy and then you use it again and you feel better because your body now needs that in order to function normally.
And without THC, pretty soon a youth is going to feel really, really crappy. Yes. And it's okay to have empathy as a parent and to say, my God, I, I, I can only imagine how horrible you must feel when you're not using. I and I had no idea. I want to help you. That must be terrible.
00;36;33;18
Brenda
Right?
00;36;34;18
Laura
And, you know, to be able to have compassion, you know, Johnny, when he would write what he would say to us, you know, my my dorm room is bugged. My phone is listening to me. I mean, he would say the most delusional things, you know, And to be able to say to him, gosh, Johnny, that sounds really scary.
If I thought the FBI was after me, I would be really frightened. Let me help you with that. Let's let's get someone to help figure out what's going on here. You know? And then when he would take, they'd give him a little bit of an anti psychotic. And the the delusion went away and he was like, wow. And he was freaked out.
It was like, I will never use marijuana again. He it scared him so much. And then his suicide he had a suicide attempt. He was forced sober because he was in the mental hospital for several weeks from suicide attempt. Boom. All of a sudden he comes out of it like they start to realize that the marijuana is causing the problems that they're having, not helping.
Right. The problems that it's kind of covering up and masking it by that point. But almost all the kids we talked to, their marijuana use was secondary to other mental illnesses. You know, they're not all self-medicating, right? Everybody goes, oh, poor thing. They're mentally ill. They were going to get they were going to get mentally ill anyway. No, the kids here in Colorado use it as a party drug.
00;38;06;28
Laura
It is really simple to get marijuana. And and some parents are just they just don't understand that any high schooler in 5 minutes can get marijuana. They know who the 18 year old seniors are who have the med cards. Yes, I'm so, so many parents just have their heads in the sand. And I think just being very honest and open and sharing all that is going to be huge.
00;38;32;09
Brenda
Yeah, I love the education part of it because unless you feel confident about what you're saying, your message is not going to be well received. If you walk into that conversation and I love what you said about the empathy and compassion and understanding how they're feeling, and then when you can compliment that with, oh, by the way, here's some science about what's going on.
And I think young people really do care about their brains. And if they understand that this is impacting how your brain is going to function for the rest of your life and it's going to impact how you drive next year and whether you get on that sports team. They do care about their brains. So I think that's really smart.
Instead of going in with the like, Oh, you're such a loser, you know, I can't believe you're smoking weed or.
00;39;18;13
Laura
Whatever, which I'm with you. Just stop.
00;39;21;20
Brenda
Yeah, right. Just stop.
00;39;23;28
Laura
Most teens, we're finding need a good 60 to 120 day residential detox and rehab with a step down and a partial hospitalization and then a sober situation. They just. They can't do it. They can't do it. And if they're at home and they're just continuing to use and go back and then they know, go to the hospital, have psychosis, get sober, go back relapse, have psychosis, go home, get that, that is going to convert into a permanent schizophrenia.
They have they must stop. It's like an allergy. You know, why are some kids going psychotic and others aren't? So it's usually how early they started age of onset, how frequently they're using and the THC content of the products that they're using. I mean, very predictably, and they found this out in Australia, New Zealand, that daily users before the age of 17 had a seven fold increase in suicidality.
In London. They found that high potency use daily had a seven fold increase in psychosis. But to get them to stop that, sometimes we have to get them out of the home situation. If there's one thing I regret, it's not sending Jonny away. When he was 17, while I had a chance, I. I didn't know. And that's not an excuse.
I'm just giving you the. Yeah. The reason is I didn't know I was calling my insurance here in Colorado and of course, in Colorado. Oh, marijuana's not addictive, you know. And they didn't, they didn't have treatment for that. I mean, he would shit in programs with people addicted to heroin who were like 40 years old and like, there just wasn't really anything for him.
00;41;12;13
Laura
But I didn't know I could send him to a residential center in Atlanta. I didn't know I could send him to Massachusetts for an early psychosis program. I didn't I didn't know any of that. I wish I would have military school, boarding school or anything just to get him away from the home. Yeah, Get out of the house and try to save him.
They're not going to they're going to continue to relapse at home, that's for sure. That's one thing we know.
00;41;37;16
Brenda
Yeah, absolutely. And the other thing I just wanted to make sure that we cover is your the program for your ambassadors. And then because a lot of people listen and they're like so fired up, right. And they want to do something and I know you have an actual thing they can do. So I just want to make sure that we get that in.
If a mom is listening or a dad is listening and they're like, I am fired up, get me involved in this. I need to be able to talk about this and be informed and be educated. What do they do?
00;42;09;17
Laura
Are these super simple? We call it each one reach one. So all we ask them to do is follow us on Facebook. Just go to our group. There's almost 3000, I think now. Johnny's ambassadors and I post nearly every day a meme, a link, research page, graphic something. And we just ask you when you feel moved by one hit share, That's all an ambassador is is a promoter of an activity.
We have a blog so you can go to Jewish ambassadors dot org. I am a prolific writer, so about every two weeks if you get on our mailing list, you'll get an article. They're always educational in nature. We also have a private Facebook group for those parents whose children have or who are already in addiction, psychosis, suicidal, mentally ill as a result of THC.
There are over 500 now that is a private group. You can find that on Facebook. Or if anybody can't find anything, just email me Laura at Johnny's ambassadors dot org and I'll send them links because it sometimes it's hard to find these groups when they're private.
00;43;20;21
Brenda
Yeah, but.
00;43;21;12
Laura
Anything that they can do to just share our information, everything on our site is free videos, toolkits, magazines, graphics, bulletin boards, billboards, posters. We have so many things it's a little bit overwhelming, but just getting that, helping us get the word out there that this is not a benign substance, that and as much as you're comfortable with your child's privacy, you know, sharing that you personally have been impacted as well.
I know some are in the throes of it. And so it's probably not appropriate timing, but you can do anything you can to share our materials and that would be fantastic.
00;43;58;06
Brenda
Awesome. I love it. And I know that you're also available to come speak at schools, like you said. So we'll put a link in the show.
00;44;06;12
Laura
But most of what we do. Yeah, yeah. So if anybody knows principals, superintendents, teachers, counselors, we mostly are in school assemblies. I mean, that's where we're really feeling like we're making a difference because, you know, we can speak literally to 4500 kids a day in some of these big districts. We know we're reaching a lot of them. They come up to me afterward.
Many of them want a hug. Many of them want a magnet. We have magnets which they stop dabbing and a lot of them say, you know, I'm using and I just want you to know that thanks to the information you just shared and Johnny's warning, I think I might have a problem like they're realizing this for the first time and they're telling me this and I I'm going to try to get help and I'm going to try to stop.
And like, that's that's the best thing anybody could ever say to me, you know? Yeah, it's very healing kind of welcome. And they cry. I cry.
00;45;02;13
Brenda
Right.
00;45;03;09
Laura
Right. Yeah. That's really where, you know, we're making a difference, I think is is talking to the teens. But it starts with parents, you know, it starts with the parents being a talking early, one in one in ten. Our middle schoolers here is addicted in Colorado to THC. It is not too early to talk to kids at ten.
It sounds horrible, right, that we have to talk to so early about marijuana. But we do.
00;45;27;22
Brenda
Yeah. They're going to find it in middle school for sure. So.
00;45;31;07
Laura
Oh, yeah, that's kind of that's where it all starts. It.
00;45;35;08
Brenda
Thank you so, so much for being here. Thank you for the work you're doing. Thank you. Keep it. I'm sure. I can't believe we met. I bet I know. Well, I'm going to come track you down next time I'm in Colorado. And we're going to. If you're in the stream or in the. Yes, if you're in the stream or the woods.
And we do have information also in our advocacy groups there about how to become an ambassador and get connected with all of this. So thank you so much.
00;46;02;15
Laura
Thanks for having me. Thanks, everyone. Have a great day.
00;46;06;00
Brenda
Okay. That is it for today. If you would like to get the show notes for this episode, you can go to Brenda Zane, become forward slash podcast host. All of the episodes are listed there and you can also find curated playlists there, so that's very helpful. You might also want to download a free e-book I wrote. It's called Hindsight Three Things I Wish I Knew when My Son Was Misusing Drugs.
It'll give you some insight as to why your son or daughter might be doing what they are. And importantly, it gives you tips on how to cope and how to be more healthy through this rough time. You can grab that free from Brenda's income. Forget hindsight. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate it. And I hope that these episodes are helping you stay strong and be very, very good to yourself.
And I will meet you right back here next week.