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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