Laura Stack’s 19-year-old son, Johnny, died by suicide on November 20, 2019 from paranoid delusion from using high-THC marijuana concentrates. Soon afterward, Laura started a 501c3, Johnny’s Ambassadors, to educate parents and teens about the dangers of today’s high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide. In this session, Laura will share the story of Johnny’s marijuana addiction from a parent’s point of view, a poignant chronicle of the shocking descent from innocence to eventual suicide. Before marijuana, Johnny was a computer whiz with a 4.0 GPA and a perfect math score on the SAT. After marijuana, he stole his family dog from the home and threatened to kill it without payment from his mother. With moving candor, Laura traces the first warning signs, their attempts at rehabilitation, her desperation, and his eventual demise. Three days before his death, Johnny issued his own warning about marijuana usage. Through this tragic, transparent tale, Stack hopes to use her pain to help parents talk to their children about the dangers of today’s marijuana.
Key Takeaways
- About Laura and how she lost her son to suicide.
- If it can happen to Laura’s happy family, it can happen to anyone.
- Laura believes if marijuana wasn’t around, she’d still have her son.
- When Laura first found out about Johnny’s drug use, what did she do?
- Why is marijuana so addicting? Isn’t it safe for use?
- Laura talks about the difference between marijuana and alcohol.
- Laura wants to stress that this is not the same drug we used when we were kids in the 70s or 80s. There’s a new breed of strong and more addictive weed out there.
- How do you deter your children from using drugs?
- You have to teach your children boundary-setting skills.
- Laura thinks it’s important to set clear boundaries in the household and to not be afraid to drug test your children.
- Marijuana is harmless? Think again. As a parent, you must speak up against this false messaging.
- What are some of the behavioral changes you should be on the lookout for?
- Marijuana is destroying teen’s futures. It is making permanent changes to their brains.
- We have to protect our children in the end.
Resources:
Quotes:
“Everything we did, we still couldn’t keep him from using the marijuana and sadly, he took his life at 19 years old. You just look at this and you think, how can this happen?”
“We didn’t understand how potent marijuana is, how addicting it can be, and how it can cause mental illness. All of this was new to us.”
“We tried tough love, taking his phone, taking his car, therapy. Once he turned 18, it was impossible. There’s no way to help your child when they are a mentally ill adult.”
