I would like to include my experiences I’ve had with my now almost 18 year old daughter and her obsession with marijuana. I’ve almost lost her twice, first from a drug dealer and then by her ex boyfriend who would violently fight with her. I pray everyday for her, and I’ll never rest until I know for sure she will be drug free from marijuana and other illicit drugs. I’ve been told to not enable my daughter but it’s not really enabling, it’s keeping her alive until she’s strong enough to understand to take care of herself. Currently, she’s a student living in college housing. I’ve given up so much just to help pay her college expenses and make sure she’s living in a safe secured environment. However, it’s been a roller-coaster with her, and sometimes I don’t know if tomorrow will be a good or a bad day.

After her long use of marijuana during her high-school years, my daughter now suffers anxiety, depression, and anger issues. These are withdrawal symptoms I’ve seen in my daughter, and yes addiction to marijuana is real. During her freshman year in high school she was actively participating in dance team and during her sophomore year she was a player for her school’s softball team. She was also a member of the Health Science organization at her school and had an interest in music playing the violin, cello, guitar and the piano. She lost interest in all dance, music and sports because illicit drugs became her interest and all her friends were druggies.

My daughter did manage to graduate high school a year earlier than expected; she just happened to be attending among one of the best schools in the country where even the problem kids ended up graduating. Although I was glad for her accomplishment in finishing high school early, the drug problem was still evident. My daughter went from being a lovable helping caring girl to a cold angry depressed girl and that was when I realized she was using drugs. I found out by noticing changes in her personality, cognitive behavior, energy level, diet, digestive stomach problems, and sleep patterns. I started looking through her phone which showed videos and pictures of her and friends smoking and trying marijuana in different ways through pipes, dabs, vapes, bongs, joints, etc.

I was petrified the day my daughter had run away and ended up with some druggie who sells drugs in a bad side of town. I tracked her phone and called police. They couldn’t find her, but then she called me crying at around 3 am saying she was trying to get away from this guy who had a gun. Fortunately, she was able to get away from him. After all this, she claimed she wouldn’t smoke marijuana again, and I wish that was the end of this story. During a weekend at the lake with her pot smoking boyfriend and his uncomfortably older friends, my daughter and her boyfriend had an argument and told him she wanted to go home but he refused. He then started choking her and while she tried defending herself his friends also assaulted her, took her in the boyfriend’s truck, continued beating her, threw her out of the truck off of Hwy 16 and then drove off. Fortunately, someone who saw her thrown out, pulled over and called the police and ambulance.  She was transported to the Boerne Methodist Hospital and thank God survived this incident.  How many more incidents have to happen for my daughter to see that drugs like marijuana can cost her life?

I also believe strongly that medical marijuana is opening doors to legalizing the drug recreationally and putting youth at risk. It’s becoming much more difficult being a parent these days because of society and the ProPot movement trying to normalize recreational marijuana. I know I’m not alone in this battle and many of us have our share of stories and frustrations with society due to this drug war within our families.  Drugs tear families apart and that’s the real drug war happening, the one in our homes. I love my daughter and I hope someday she will see her wrongdoings as lessons learned so that maybe she will tell her own life story and set an example of how marijuana negatively impacted her life.

Told by,

Patricia

SW Texas