Fortitude: Turning Tragedy into Action
A podcast by the Parent Action Network (PAN), a division of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), dedicated to amplifying the voices of parents whose lives have been devastated by the harmful effects of marijuana. Each episode features personal interviews with parents sharing their heart-wrenching stories of loss, addiction, and the impact on their families. Through these powerful narratives, PAN aims to educate, inspire, and mobilize listeners to take action against the widespread dangers of marijuana use.
Fortitude: Turning Tragedy into Action
High Potency, High Stakes: The Myth of "Medical" Marijuana
The quiet devastation of cannabis-induced psychosis remains one of the most misunderstood public health crises of our time. Once a normal family with three sons, Pennsylvania mom, Jen's world changed when her oldest began using marijuana in eighth grade. While she viewed it as typical teenage experimentation, even ultimately helping him obtain a medical marijuana card, what followed was a parent's worst nightmare - paranoia, psychosis, and thirteen hospitalizations that transformed her bright, ambitious child into someone unrecognizable.
Initially she equated his marijuana use with alcohol experimentation until she started noticing her son used alone to self-medicate, and "fit-in". After her husband's unexpected death, her son's marijuana use accelerated, leading to paranoia and psychosis. The funny, smart boy, his siblings looked up to had disappeared. "We all looked up to him," Jen shares with raw honesty. "When he was four, he knew every country on the map. You could point to any country on the globe and he would say the name of it... Now he can barely read. He can barely watch a TV show because he cannot stay attentive to it."
This powerful conversation exposes the stark reality of today's high-potency marijuana products, which bear little resemblance to the marijuana of previous generations. Even as medical professionals diagnosed her son with every psychiatric condition imaginable - bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder - they failed to recognize the connection to his marijuana use. One doctor even recommended medical marijuana for his anxiety symptoms, completely unaware of his history of cannabis-induced psychosis.
Jen's journey from passive observer to fierce advocate offers crucial insights for parents, healthcare providers, and policymakers. After connecting with Johnny's Ambassadors, a support group for families affected by marijuana-induced psychosis, and ultimately Parent Action Network, she transformed her approach - writing to judges, arranging interventions, and educating medical professionals about the risks most refuse to acknowledge. Given the buzz around Pennsylvania as legislators push to legalize recreational marijuana in the Commonwealth, Jen is more empowered than ever to continue the fight!
While her son is now in recovery, living at home and slowly rebuilding his life, the road remains challenging. Perhaps most heartbreaking is his continued denial that marijuana caused his condition, despite overwhelming evidence. "He still does not believe it was from marijuana," Jen explains. "I show him pictures of himself and videos of himself before and during... I know he feels a lot of shame."
If you're concerned about a loved one using marijuana or experiencing similar challenges, connect with Parent Action Network to share your story with our nations leaders. Share this episode with healthcare providers, educators, and policymakers who need to hear these stories before making decisions that affect our communities.
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Greetings, listeners. It's Chrissy Grow and we can back for another episode of the Fortitude Podcast. And today I'm very excited to welcome Jen Kelchner from Pennsylvania. Jen is another mom with a very impactful story, and this one involves medical marijuana as well. As some of you might remember in listening to some of these episodes, I've talked a little bit about what's happening in Pennsylvania and that there is very possibly the worst bill in the nation on the horizon for Pennsylvania recreational legalization. So I'm trying to get our Pennsylvania parents' stories to the forefront so that we can send them on to legislators through social media so that they can hear what's going on in their own state before they make a really bad decision. I'm happy to welcome Jen from Pennsylvania. As always, I like I like to hear about what life was like, Jen, before marijuana became a factor in your life.
SPEAKER_00:Uh well, my life was ordinary, great, boring, struggling, challenging, but overall normal. I married, three kids. Uh, husband was a lineman. I was a second grade teacher. We were active. We had family dinners, we played games, we did sports and um piano lessons and all that stuff. Um so very close-knit family, very with our parents. Both our parents were very active in our lives. My I have three brothers. My one brother had a beach house every summer, and we went and spent summers there. So it was it was a great childhood uh for my kids. I have to say, I if I want to come back, I want to come back as them because they had a really good child upbringing. So we um were just normal. And one of the things that I think was so cool is that we all got to celebrate both my husband's parents and my parents' 50th wedding anniversaries a month apart.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:How cool is that?
SPEAKER_01:That is so cool.
SPEAKER_00:So and I just kept telling my kids, wow, we're really fortunate. I don't think they understood that yet. Maybe they will later, but that was really neat. And they were so active in our lives. We are constantly with them. So it was it was good. Life was good. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:And I know we're gonna talk about it a little bit, and you had definitely an awful tragedy that could very well have triggered what happened, but prior to that tragedy and in your normal life, what was your stance on marijuana and legalization? Because it legalized in Pennsylvania in 2016 with medical marijuana.
SPEAKER_00:So my husband and I really didn't think about it. I mean, we both had tried it in our younger years, neither one of us really cared for it. We didn't like how it made us feel. So we we didn't really do it. However, we knew it was around us. When my kids started entering middle school and high school, my older two, I mean, that was their drug of choice. It wasn't necessarily alcohol. And so we we equated it with alcohol. All right, if they legalize it, well, what's gonna be different? We didn't really have an opinion on it until my oldest son, we found out he was doing it in eighth grade. And as a mom, I just felt a weird feeling because he was doing it on his own. He was doing it alone. And I thought, you know, I think of alcoholics. Like I know people that drink and they're social drinkers and they're happy drinkers, and they're not drinking to get over something or to medicate. And I felt like he was doing it to not be so shy, to be a little more social, to fit in. And that bothered me. So I just pushed it in the back of my head, but we did not condone it in our home because I felt like he was using it in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable. But again, I didn't think that the legalization would make it any different. Right. I just took it as a family. I didn't think of the outside part of it.
SPEAKER_01:And we also, and we also, as parents, I mean, we kind of expect that our kids are going to experiment with certain substances, alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, even, you know, vaping. Like, like you expect it, you don't want it, and you're going to discipline and set a standard, but you expect it as a quote unquote rite of passage, right? So we all expect those things and deal with them in the normal sense of the world. No matter whether it's legal or illegal is really not the issue. Simply, all of these things are illegal for our kids when they're under the age of 21, basically, for most drugs at this point. So yeah, I hear what you're saying is that in the outside world, you weren't really thinking about, like, oh, what's legalization going to do to the country?
SPEAKER_00:And the other thing was, too, is my son would talk to me about all this. Like he was very knowledgeable in it, but he was getting his knowledge probably from someone who truly believed that it was safe and healthy and all that, because we were very close to a family whose youngest daughter was dying of cancer. And she was, you know, eight to ten. And she was using it medicinally. And and my son came home and was very impacted by that, just saying how you know it was good because she was in paying. So we thought, all right, maybe that's okay. And then I also had professionals tell my both my older children who were very heavily into sports, that yeah, it was okay. It's better than drinking. It's safe, it's natural. Like we heard all that that you hear from your kids. Um, but again, I wanted to be respectful of my son and what he was telling me. I also didn't, it did not sit well. So we did not condone it, but we knew we kept finding it. And we actually made him go to rehab at a young age. And even the therapist said, Your kid's fine. He's just experimenting and dismissed him. So again, you hear from all these professionals too. You know, they're like, okay, maybe we're okay. We're just being overprotective. So that was difficult because society really does think it's it's okay. But I thought then it was okay. It wasn't a big deal. I equated it to drinking. Oh, I had some drinks at that age. He's just doing this instead.
SPEAKER_01:And you have three sons. So which son age-wise was this?
SPEAKER_00:This was my oldest son.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And and my and he was an athlete, but he was playing football too at the time and wrestling. And, you know, he was in that world. Like it started off with going to um one of those, uh, I forget the name of it, but you go and you get all these vitamins, and like he was very into the vitamins and the supplements, and and even that, what we went with him one time to support him, and it was some year-rolled kid telling us how safe all this these products were, and it just didn't sit right. Believe your mother's intuition. So then we went, took him to his pediatrician and asked, and he didn't like to hear that. She said, Absolutely not, do not use this. But it's out there and it's legal. So these kids are bombarded with, you know, especially in what I know when they're athletes. Oh, this will help you bulk up, this will help you feel better, this will help you get through the next game. So a lot of that, and from professionals and adults, you know, and kids, kids' minds are developing brains. Adult tells you to do something, you do it. And Danny was a rule follower in that way.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you at least trust an adult to be telling you the right thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So that was hard. I'm for the first time I was dealing with other influences when my kid was uh believing other people over his own parents. I, you know, and that was hard to lose that control.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And then the other two boys were not using and no, the other my two oldest are 18 months apart.
SPEAKER_00:And then, but my middle one was a great athlete, and he did not touch it until probably senior year, I'm guessing. And because again, he was told it's good, it's this. And slowly, you know, it didn't impact my kids in the beginning. It really did not impact them much. I didn't see much of a difference. But then I don't think it had the high um potency it did back then, too. Because they're now they're 27 and 26 years old. But I did see a change, and that really impacted. My son went to school, my second son, and he was a baseball player and he was, you know, playing for Alabama, which is a great school to play baseball, and just saw a lot of things, but because their father died during that time too, I didn't know it was because of that trauma or other things. So there was a lot of things going on, and I missed a lot because I myself was grieving and just trying to survive.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So and and and I know it's very difficult to talk about, but can you tell us a little bit about um how you're already experiencing this a little bit, but then of course you have the loss of your husband and their father, unexpectedly, of course, you know? And and so this accelerated.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Um this really I think accelerated for my oldest. And and then later on, for yeah, maybe both, like now that I'm looking back. I mean, so my husband passed away suddenly. They both were at school at school way, like in other states at the time. So they had to be flown home. And at that point, my husband was missing. So just the airplane ride home must have been traumatic. And thinking, where's my dad? Where's my dad? And so anyway, they both ended up going back after a month or two, but um that's when they really I started started picking up on the use that I learned later. And I remember having to fly out to Alabama to see my son because he just wasn't right. He ended up checking himself into a a psychiatric ward because he felt like he was he was not himself. And when I went to go pick him up from school the one day, he lost like 30 pounds. He was just a mess. So he then checked himself in, which was great. Um, but we didn't know it was from marijuana. We thought it was just from the trauma of his dad.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:But he was smoking a lot then to help him sleep. And then my oldest, over time, he was smoking, doing more and more and more. And then finally, like two years after that, he um, his friend called me and said, Hey, Danny's not right. Something's wrong with him. He needs to come home. He was living in Maine at the time, working. And I said, Okay, he goes, I can't get him on a plane. So he ended up driving him home because he was so bad. And when I saw him, it was a totally different child. It was scary. He was paranoid. He thought the helicopter was gonna land in our front lawn for a business that did not exist. He was manic, he was going around writing in journals. Mom, I got like he wasn't scary to, I he wasn't gonna hurt any of us, but his personality was completely different. He was dirty, and we talked him into going to the hospital. And to this day, he's still acute, he still will say, Mom, you put me in that hospital and you did this to me. He still believes it's not his fault, it's not from the weed, which is hard because it's been about five years. But when we brought him to the hospital, I didn't know I didn't know it was weed at this point. Did not know. And they brought him back, they said, Well, we will um come get you. We're just taking his vitals. And the nurse came back out afterwards and said he's been admitted. And I not knowing that whole process, I was like, oh my. So I didn't 302 him or anything at the time. They did. Wow. Which means they saw that he was bad enough to be put into the hospital. So that was the start of 13 more hospitalization stays.
SPEAKER_01:My gosh.
SPEAKER_00:And I didn't know it was from marijuana until probably about a year later.
SPEAKER_01:And how did you find that out?
SPEAKER_00:So he was it was only about maybe a year and a half ago. At this point, he was he was arrested several times for small things. Like the one time he was in a different um state and found out he was living in a box, homeless. He went to Walmart and he stole poke Pokemon cards because he thought the Taliban was after him and they needed these Pokemon cards. So he was arrested for that. So, and then he was uh arrested because he had marijuana in his car and he crossed state lines at that time, and uh, so that was considered a felony. And then in order to get him off on the felony, he had to spend a month in jail, which was devastating, devastating in a whole other state. So stuff like that happened, and one day I just broke down, I just didn't know what to do, and I Googled on Facebook because he was diagnosed with every disability, like bipolar schizophrenia, schizoaffective, all this stuff he was diagnosed with, PTSD, because he's been in and out of 13 different hospitals. Um, so I I Googled on Facebook support for parents who have loved ones with bipolar schizophrenia, and I came across Johnny's ambassadors. And I I read a lot of the groups for a while and I, wow, this is this is what's going on with me. It's my story. And before that, I didn't I thought I was alone with this. And I I finally reached dad, I finally posted something, and a dad responded immediately and said, call me, call me. And I'm scared to death because I didn't know who this dad was, and I called him and it changed the whole way of thought. And I then became someone who just let this all happen and not knowing what to do, to someone who, all right, I got him on my benefits again. I wrote letters to the judges, I got him an intervention, I got him into a place in Florida where they understand that it's cannabis-induced psychosis. And I learned how to handle him. I read books and things on what to say to him so that I didn't exacerbate the things. Um, so that's what started it all. And I was able to get him in somewhere just to help him. Now he's home with me. Um he's not using, he's not working fully yet. He's recovering, but he's safe and he's not using. So I take that as a win right now. And I know it takes time for the brain to heal, but he does not believe still that it was from marijuana. And that is just amazing to me. Because I show him pictures of himself and videos of himself before and during. I've taken some videos. Um and I know he feels a lot of shame, which is sad. And it's just trying to love him and parent who he is right now. He's he's not my kid, though. I see glimpses of him, but he's not my kid.
SPEAKER_01:And we hear that so much from so many of you parents, that even while they're recovering, there's still something missing. One of our Georgia moms put it really profoundly, saying that he's here right in front of me every day, but I miss him with every fiber of my being.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. We mourned him. We mourned my youngest son and I, who I say he's the rock of the family. Since he's been 12, he's witnessed all this. He's now 18. And he just went the whole other way, thankfully. But he had to 302 Danny one time when I was not around. And because it happened so quickly. So what's interesting is Danny stopped using, he was doing well, and he stopped using marijuana, and he went into a full-blown psychosis, and that was really bad. That was the last time, and it happened overnight. And my son, with the help of some neighbors and friends, because I was far away and I didn't get home in time, he had to go and throw it to him, and he ended up writing about it for his college essay. And he ended up getting into a lot of good colleges because he's been through a lot and he's an advocate for it. And but wow, like he and I do miss him and my and my middle one. We missed the Danny we had because he was funny, he was smart. We looked up to him, we kiddingly say he had the most potential because he had such a good memory. Like when he was four, he knew every country in on the map. You could point to any country on the globe and he would say the name of it. Wow. I mean, it was just amazing. He could read at a young age, he just was so interested in history, and he wrote a book when he was eight, and when first place it became published in our local library. Like he was just so ambitious. And now he could barely read. He can barely watch a TV show because he cannot stay attentive to it. Now it's coming back a little bit, but you know what's interesting is he's watching old shows that he used to watch when he was a kid. It's almost like my goal is I'm gonna like parent him like he's four again and have family dinners and talk to him and play games and you know, just to build that basis again. He's he's working for a friend like three days a week, which is great. The friend um said he would take him because when he works, he's a great worker. So at first he didn't do too well, but the because it's a friend and it's landscaping, and now he's he's really he's losing weight. He went from 185 to 314. Like totally different kid. Um but he's losing weight now. He's he's on time to this job, he works hard, so that's good, and he's doing it a couple days a week. So there's hope. I have hope, but um, you're always waiting for something to happen though. You're always waiting him for him to go back to smoking weed. Right. Or stop taking his meds. I'm always scared he's gonna stop taking his meds because that was another way he went into psychosis. So I've had to learn to to trust in God. I've become I've become much more faithful. Um, and I've learned to take care of myself because I am the only one my kids have. I've lost my parents and my in-laws and my husband all within the last nine years. And we were all so close. So I feel like my kids only have May as their family. So I don't know if that's good or bad. I could either just fall in the feudal position or and I'm so fortunate, so fortunate that when my husband died, he was very savvy and provider. He took care of us. So I was able to stop working and take care of my kids, which I've been doing since.
SPEAKER_01:Right. That's wonderful. Wonderful. It's not wonderful that your husband's gone, but it's wonderful that he provided for you so that you because who could have predicted this, right? So you need to be there for your kids. Right. Yeah. And of course, we've heard so many stories about how much parents have lost financially trying to help their kids, you know. So it's very few that have the means to do it. And then I mean, we we know stories, of course, where parents have sold their homes to provide for their kids through this trauma of cannabis-induced psychosis.
SPEAKER_00:And it's so sad because I was there, I was spending any money I could. I mean, I had money saved for my youngest son in college, and I used that, you know, and then I feel that horrible guilt that I did this because the siblings don't understand as a parent how much you love your child, and they're just annoyed with him at this point. And he's taking all my attention and finances. I had to make, you know, the last time I said to them and myself, I said, this is it. I'm gonna put all this money for an interventionist, and then we're gonna see what happens. Uh but I'm I'm done financially paying. And I call it the BS because to me, I said, I'll pay if he wants to go back to school, I'll pay if he wants, he wants to go into a hospital, if he wants to do this, but I'm not forcing again and I'm not paying because I know it doesn't work. And that's so hard because I have to live with am I gonna let him be homeless? And that's where the faith comes in. And so I haven't gotten to that point where I had to make that decision, but that's always hanging over me because of the other two. I know the other two are doing the right things. Not that he's not the oldest and he's a he's addicted to marijuana. He definitely is addicted. There is an addiction to that, and I knew that years ago, but no one believed it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, when your kid is doing it every day and doing it alone and doing it when they're sad or anxious, that's an addiction. They need it. And then when they stop and their body goes through withdrawal, I saw that many times. That's an addiction.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes, and that's that withdrawal probably triggered that incident of psychosis as well, because this drug is so much more volatile than people want to understand. And especially today's products, because again, this isn't 1% marijuana from Woodstock, you know. This is this is um highly charged, lab-created monstrosity, you know.
SPEAKER_00:And that's what's so hard too, because you know, I have many friends that are professionals and they smug weed or do edibles or stuff like that. And it's very hard because they're not reacting to it. Now, I'm starting to see some adults are because they're getting something that's higher in potency, but for the most part, it's adults still thinking it's okay. Right. And they talk about it very freely around me and my kids, you know. I don't want to be disrespectful to them, but it's all over. These kids, I feel like, do not have a chance. Right. Don't have a chance. Like I even brought my son to the doctor's about two months ago. And I said, Can I go with you? Because I still have to advocate for him because he's not doing it on his own. Right. He's willing to let me go now, which is great. So we went together and I said, I'll leave when I'm done. I just want to ask a couple questions and I'll leave. And you two can have your time. So I left. And 10 minutes later, he comes into the car and he goes, Oh, mom, it's so good you were not there. Because as soon as you left, the doctor, my the doctor said to me, You should try medicinal marijuana. It'll really help with your anxiety. And this is a doctor I love and trust and have been going to for years. So again, I don't take it as she was being mean or vindictive, just not knowing. Yes. So I then made an appointment with her for a checkup, and I gave her all the information that I got through Laura Stack, and I just said, look, this is what because I don't really know. Yeah, this is what's happening. And she was very open to hear about it, which you know, if she wasn't, I probably wouldn't go back there. Right. I said, please, you know, I said, this is what I'm struggling with. Yeah. Outside sources. Like I have to be a bigger influence to my kids than anyone else. And that's the biggest transition I hadn't made over the last couple of years. I have to step up, whereas before I wasn't. It was very passive.
SPEAKER_01:And of course, we know that so many doctors, nurse practitioners, so many in the medical field. I mean, a lot of them are sadly driven by the dollars, you know, of giving out these cards and everything. And we know that Pennsylvania is one of the worst states. You've got 7,000 marijuana cards being given out between three doctors a year. It's it's just insane. It's so easy. It's so easy. So easy. It's so easy. And it's it's really sad because any true medical professional knows that this is not a good thing. And as we know, there's not a medical society in the country, perhaps the world, that condones the use of today's products as medicine. You know, we can talk about a couple of the forms of marijuana that exist out there, but that's not what anybody is ever talking about here in the conversations around potency and the conversations around good for pain or this or that or cancer. That's not what we're talking about today. This was all just a true ploy to make another illicit substance legal. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in a world where the whole world is stoned. I mean, there's not a day that goes by that you don't run across somebody that is clearly impaired. And what? The whole world is suffering from some ailment? Well, that's just a bunch of baloney. It really is.
SPEAKER_00:It is. And I it's it's funny because now that my kids are a little older, like 27 and 26, right? And I feel like 20s are hard for kids, you know. And I keep saying to my middle one, who's very competitive, I always go back, you got a parent who your child is, and I know he's very competitive and wants to be a winner in life. Like I know that. So I'll say stuff to him because he doesn't see his marijuana as a big thing. And I'll say, Well, anyone I know that still smokes marijuana daily, look at them. They don't have this, they don't have that. Like they're kind of right, and and I hate to use the word loser, but I'm like, they don't have much going on for themselves. Right. If they're doing it daily, several times a day. I said, at some point you have to grow up and you have to stop and you have to move. Like, I don't have time for that in my life.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I have to do this, this, and that.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And you know what's interesting is we also do know that there are people out there that are smoking and not being affected, or so we think, you know, at least on the outside, it doesn't appear that way. But what I have noticed, and and you know, I have three adult children as well, and they're all pretty successful, and and one in particular is extremely successful, and she uses marijuana, and it doesn't matter what I do here or what I say, she uses it. But I find really interesting about the Gen Xers, especially and what they what they admit to, is while they're not against the legalization per se, what they do say is I'm not smoking because I'm in pain. I'm smoking because I want to be high, and I'm glad it's legal now that I don't have to worry about getting caught with it or whatever. But the fact is that not a single one of them will deny that they are only smoking to get high. They're not smoking because they have a medical condition, and they're the first ones to say that everybody who says that is just a liar. Everybody's smoking to get high. So that's interesting from the Gen Xers. And then, like you said, I know a lot of adults. I mean, I'm well beyond 50. I'm pushing 60. And I most of the males I know are pot smokers. Most of my husband's friends are pot smokers. And even they'll say, This stuff is too strong. I gotta take a break every now and then. You know, they kind of wish it was still the 1% illegal stuff, but you can't get it. You can't get anything uh of a low potency, even in dispensaries. Some states have such high, what they call low potency, you know. So it's really just an absolute travesty.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I I also equate it to like alcohol. Like I always said I have a drink, not because I'm sad. I always say I'm a happy drinker, like social, you know, and I have drinks, but I'm not drinking every day. I'm not drinking to make me more social. I'm not drinking because I feel bad. I'm not using it because I need it. I'm just having a drink with some friends. Right. Social thing.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Um, I think the best point about that, what you're saying though, I think the best point about the alcohol analogy is you don't go to a doctor and say, you know, I'm depressed, or I have anxiety, or I have social anxiety, and have the doctor turn around and say, Well, you know what? Go home and do four shots of tequila. Right. Right. And you shouldn't be doing that for marijuana. Right. Exactly. Exactly. So yeah. Another thing we've talked about, of course, finding Johnny's ambassadors, which is a lot when you Google, these are a lot of things they do. I do want to mention how much you've done for Pan. And I think that happened through Laura and Johnny's ambassadors because I believe that Laura introduced us where you had expressed wanting to make more of a difference and being able to advocate. So I remember reaching out to you and hearing your story. And then I said, I really want our listeners to understand how much you've done for us since becoming part of Pan and being willing to tell your story. We're just so glad to have you advocating and working with Pan and coming to our Hill Day and just being available anytime we need anything. So I really want to thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. No, I appreciate it. I want to do anything I can.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And so anything.
SPEAKER_01:So before we wrap up, is there is there a message you'd like to give to our parents? Um, you know, a message of hope or some advice, something that's worked for you. We love to end on a high note, you know, hearing from our advocates how they, you know, have survived this and how they could help others going through this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, just, I mean, what did it for me was getting informed, um, learn as much as you can, have faith, um, listen to good stories. I do like to hear people who tell me, yeah, their kids doing well, they went through hell, and now look where I am. I love to see those stories because that does give me hope. And just be um I had to really change from passive to aggressive. I I really did. I was very passive. I thought, ah, it'll be, you know, until it got really bad. And I had to do some hard things, but I keep thinking of the big picture. I want my kid healthy, I want my kid's brain back. So I need to do tough things like have an intervention for him, which he hate hated. I put him in the hospital several times, which he hated. He still blames me. He still thinks I'm the reason he's like this. And I have to live with that, but I also have to keep telling myself, it's not it's not me. I can't let myself fall into that hole of feeling sorry for myself or feeling guilty. No guilt. I have to keep going. So, and I just keep thinking of the big picture and talk to parents, tell your story because when I started to tell my story, so many other people have similar stories, and I don't feel alone anymore. And that was vital.
SPEAKER_01:And I think that that is a great note to end on. So, Jen, thank you so much for taking your time to be here. I know that you have so much going on, and I really appreciate it. And again, I appreciate so much everything you're doing for Pan. Thank you. Thank you. And and you know, again, I hope that these episodes leave you with a profound understanding of the urgent need for awareness, for better regulations, and for the power of community support that we talk about so much, right? That power in addressing these challenges posed by today's marijuana makes so much difference. And we really hope that legislators start to listen to the harms and put public health and safety before profits. So thanks again for being here, and we look forward to advocating with you in the future.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much.