A D1 baseball scholarship. A happy, close family. A teenager with a future that looked set. Then marijuana shows up in college, and what seemed “not that serious” quickly becomes the start of a long, brutal spiral: lost academics, lost baseball, escalating substance use, arrests, homelessness, and years of grief for the whole family.

I’m joined by Nancy, a Michigan mom who shares her son’s story with clarity and courage. We talk about how cannabis stayed the common thread across 16 years of substance use disorder, and how legalization didn’t make marijuana safer, it made high-THC products easier to get. Nancy also walks us through a heartbreaking pivot point during her son's cancer treatment, when marijuana was suggested for pain, leading to frequent high-potency use that ultimately fed cannabis use disorder.

The most chilling moment comes when Nancy describes cannabis-induced psychosis and a house fire, with marijuana as the only substance in his system. From there, we shift to what helps: court-ordered treatment, therapy, medication, family boundaries, and rebuilding a life one stable day at a time. We also dig into mental health pressures for competitive athletes, why identity loss can be a trigger, and how parent-to-parent support can pull families out of isolation.

Finally, Nancy explains how Hill Day training sparked real action back home, including building Michigan Families Affected by Marijuana and pursuing practical prevention efforts like using opioid settlement funds for school substance use education.

If this conversation resonates with you and you would like to join PAN's efforts, please subscribe and share Fortitude and email us at PAN@learnaboutsam.org

To contact Nancy about joining Michigan Families Affected by Marijuana (MIFAM) email her at Michiganfam2026@gmail.com

If you need support or help in your recovery journey contact Parents of Addicted Loved Ones at https://palgroup.org/

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A straight-A kid with a huge friend group doesn’t fit most people’s picture of a cannabis crisis, which is exactly why Steve’s story will stop you in your tracks. Steve from New Jersey joins me to talk about his son, Nick, and how a backpack find, and what first looked like sudden college anxiety unfolded into cannabis-induced psychosis and, tragically, a suicide that could have been prevented. Nick wasn’t “checked out” of life. He was working, social, and trying to do the right things, which made the warning signs easier to dismiss and harder to connect.

We walk through the timeline: the first anxiety at the end of Nick’s freshman semester, the pandemic disruption, a transfer to a better-fit school, and the moment Steve’s wife finds a backpack full of marijuana and paraphernalia. Steve shares what he didn’t know then about today’s high-THC marijuana, THC potency, and the potential mental health risks including paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality. We also talk about a brutal barrier families run into: when a young adult is legally an adult, treatment programs may not address cannabis use unless the patient names it, even when parents see clear patterns.

After Nick’s death, Steve explains how his family found information after hearing SAM's CEO, Kevin Sabet speak, and support through Laura Stack and Johnny’s Ambassadors, and why he now advocates with the Parent Action Network, showing up for Hill Days to meet with lawmakers and staffers educating on the harms of today's high potency products and advocating for public policies that protect our youth and communities from today's highly potent products. If you’re a parent, educator, clinician, or policymaker trying to understand cannabis-induced psychosis, teen mental health, and prevention, this conversation is honest, specific, and painfully instructive.

If this hits close to home, please subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find these stories. If you're interested in sharing your story on Fortitude, or advocating with Parent Action Network, please reach out to Crissy@learnaboutsam.org or pan@learnaboutsam.org

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Four years ago, Parent Action Network (PAN) starts with a simple realization: facts matter, but stories change minds. Crissy sits down with SAM CEO, Dr. Kevin Sabet, to unpack why organizing parents becomes the missing force in the marijuana legalization debate and why the human toll keeps showing up in our inbox every week. We talk about the loneliness of prevention work, the attacks advocates face, and the way one family’s loss can become a lasting purpose for policy change.

Kevin shares the story that still stops him in his tracks, Sally Schindel’s son Andy and the note he left behind. We dig into why those words cut through talking points, and how today’s high-potency cannabis, youth mental health concerns, and normalization collide in real homes and schools. If you’ve ever heard “it’s just marijuana,” we explain why that line falls apart when impairment affects other people, from bus drivers to pilots to public safety.

We also go deep on the New York Times and what it means when a legacy outlet finally admits “America has a marijuana problem” while still clinging to regulation. From there, we zoom out to Kevin’s book One Nation Under the Influence and the wider drug crisis, including fentanyl, safe supply drug substitution debates, psychedelics, and the prevention strategies that actually show results. If you care about smart drug policy, youth prevention, and advocacy that moves the needle, hit play, share this with a friend, and leave us a review.

To learn more about the myths of marijuana and the drug policy crisis in this country you can find Dr. Sabet's books here:

Reefer Sanity

Smokescreen

One Nation Under the Influence

If you have a story to share please reach out to us at PAN@learnaboutsam.org

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A tragedy can arrive quietly, then all at once. We talk with Texas mom Laura Broom about her son Gregori, a good kid with a bright path who became withdrawn during a major life transition and then encountered today’s marijuana landscape, where high potency THC and easy access can collide with depression, isolation, and pain. What stays with us is how short the timeline can be and how many details remain unknown for families left trying to make sense of the unthinkable.

We also dig into the part of the story that surprises people: Laura’s family ran a drug and alcohol testing business, so they understood more than the average household about substances, labs, and consequences. Even then, the warning signs were easy to misread while juggling health issues, work, and everyday life. Laura shares the real-world red flags she noticed in hindsight, the way vape shop culture can connect young people to stronger products without obvious “deals” happening in the open, and why the commercialization and normalization of marijuana products changes the risk calculus for parents and communities.

From there, we shift to what it takes to keep going. Laura explains “radical acceptance,” her I Cope To Hope Resiliency Framework, and why she chose to turn pain into purpose through mentoring and public health advocacy. We also share how connecting with Parent Action Network and attending the Hill Day with other families profoundly changed Laura's outlook. We also touch on the importance of continued advocacy regarding such federal bills as the No Dedcutions for Marijuana Businesses Act, and enforcing the implementation of the Farm Bill Loophole closure.

If you care about youth mental health, marijuana regulation, high potency THC, and practical ways families can advocate, this conversation is for you. To learn more about how you can advocate with PAN, contact us at PAN@learnaboutsam.org.

Click here to listen to Laura's Podcast, Flourishing After Adversity

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A teen tries THC at 14. Many years later, his mom is sitting in court watching her once bright, funny kid , full of promise, cycle through paranoia, delusions, lost jobs, and a system that's failed him because it can’t agree on what’s causing it. That’s the reality Patrice H. from Montana brings to Fortitude, and it’s a hard listen in the best way: honest, specific, and focused on what parents wish they’d known before high-THC cannabis entered the picture.

We talk about cannabis-induced psychosis, why today’s marijuana products aren’t the low-potency weed many adults remember, and how early marijuana use can intersect with the developing adolescent brain. Patrice walks us through the scramble to get help, the isolation of being dismissed by professionals, and the moment a psychiatrist minimized cannabis even while prescribing mood stabilizers. We also get into the ripple effects families rarely say out loud: siblings living in fear, relationships breaking, and the constant shame that keeps parents silent.

Then the story turns to advocacy and solutions. Patrice shares how finding Parent Action Network and Smart Approaches to Marijuana gave her language, community, and the confidence to speak up. We unpack what Parent Action Network’s Capitol Hill Day asks lawmakers to do, including implementing the Farm Bill loophole, tracking the costs of legalization, and pushing for stronger regulations that reflect real-world harms.

If you’re a parent, educator, clinician, or policymaker trying to understand high-THC cannabis and mental health, this conversation offers both warning signs and a path forward. Be sure to share this with anyone you think needs a wake-up call! If you have had a similar experience and are interested in learning more about PAN's Hill Days, how you can raise your voice against todays harmful market, and being a guest on the Fortitude podcast, email us at PAN@learnaboutsam.org

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A gentle, gifted student leaves home for college in Seattle, finds easy access to high‑potency marijuana and within months is wandering Seattle sleepless, homeless and delusional. A late-night ER visit unsurprisingly reveals what the ER doctors refer to as "The King's County Special"-ONLY high potency THC in the tox screen, leading this physician-mom to confront the truth she wasn’t trained to see: every relapse is a result of marijuana triggered psychosis; every stretch of abstinence and medication brings her son back to himself.

We walk through the hard details—why early warning signs can hide behind good grades, how “normal” college stress masks escalating use, and what happens when step‑down care collides with pandemic shutdowns. Jackie explains the diagnoses of cannabis use disorder and bipolar I, the pattern that repeated for years, and the painful recalibration of expectations as her son rebuilt stability, finished a degree at 27, and finally moved out without slipping back. Along the way, we unpack potency and access, from labeled 28% joints to concentrates, and the stubborn myth that today’s THC is the same as decades past.

Support systems become lifelines. We share how Johnny’s Ambassadors, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, parent networks and important books on the topic, like that of Dr. Xavier Amador, fill knowledge gaps and reduce isolation, and why most rehab tracks—built for other drugs—can marginalize marijuana patients. Jackie brings both clinical insight and lived experience to a clear takeaway: prevention must address potency and perception, primary care needs better screening and guidance, and families need communication and support tools to replace pressure with partnership. There’s hope here, grounded in a year of sobriety and steady footing, and a call to see cannabis-induced psychosis as a public health crisis, not a punchline.

Learn more about the myths of marijuana by reading Smokescreen by SAM's CEO, Dr. Kevin Sabet, and to learn more about navigating your loved one's mental health crisis read Dr. Amador's series on the LEAP system.

Finally, if this story resonates, with you, please share it with a parent, educator or legislator who might need to be educated.

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The shiny packaging and storefronts made it look safe. Grace grew up in Colorado as legalization took hold, where dispensaries and medical cards normalized access for teens and reframed weed as a healthy, natural, risk-free choice. What followed wasn’t a mellow haze—it was an escalation to high potency THC concentrates, dependency, and a terrifying slide into cannabis-induced psychosis. Grace opens up about the vacant eyes in old photos, the constant vape in her pocket, the paranoia that kept her in her dorm, and the shock of experiencing psychosis even after quitting.

We talk about how “regulated” can still be risky when potency is the problem, and how the social ecosystem of weed—friends, routines, identity—makes stepping away incredibly hard. Johnny’s death forced a painful reckoning. Reading Laura Stack’s book gave Grace the language to see what was happening, to admit she needed help, and to seek intensive outpatient treatment, psychiatric care, and medication that finally steadied her life. She shares the moments of resistance, the grief, and the relief that comes with telling the truth out loud and becoming your own hero.

Today, Grace co-leads Together, Johnny’s Ambassadors’ virtual group for young adults who’ve experienced or want to prevent cannabis-induced psychosis. We explore how small wins rebuild confidence: reclaiming hobbies, finding non-using friends, and practicing simple steps like showing up with your camera on. If you’re a parent, educator, or young listener, you’ll get practical insight into recognizing warning signs, navigating care, and keeping hope alive. Recovery is real. Potency matters. Community saves lives.

For the parents out there who might have a teen or young adult ready to explore recovery learn more about the Together group at johnnysambassadors.org/together.

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The story starts where many do: a belief that cannabis is a natural, low-risk helper. Anne, a former budtender and longtime user, walks us through how that belief shattered inside a “medical” dispensary—mold on flower, out-of-state synthetics, and a relentless push toward high-THC concentrates that looked nothing like the mellow plant older generations remember. What begins as a dream job turns into a personal and professional reckoning with 98% THC dabs, frightening behavior in customers, and her own descent into psychosis and addiction before she pulled herself out.

We dig into the difference between legacy cannabis and today’s engineered market: contamination concerns, heavy metals drawn from soils into plants, and industrial shortcuts that put profit over safety. Anne explains how complaints were brushed aside, how agencies slow-walked or deflected reports, and why a veneer of “medical” language can hide aggressive sales targets for concentrates. We connect this to broader public health signals—DSM-5 recognition of cannabis use disorder and cannabis-induced psychosis, the rise of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, and ER trends that challenge the old “harmless” narrative. Along the way, we confront culture shifts like canna-mom content and the idea of sativa for hustle and indica for sleep, reframing them as a sign of normalization rather than wellness.

Policy threads run throughout. We weigh the risks of rescheduling without meaningful guardrails, the unintended consequences of the 2018 Farm Bill and hemp-derived intoxicants, and the spread of gray markets amid weak enforcement. Most of all, we ask what responsible regulation looks like now: potency caps, independent contamination testing, transparent labeling, age-gating with teeth, and closing loopholes that deliver high-THC isomers outside regulated channels. Anne’s survival and sobriety bring urgency and hope—proof that telling the hard truth can change minds and, with community support, move policy toward real health protections.

If this conversation resonates, subscribe and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

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