How Cannabis Has Helped Me

by Josh Stevens
(Vancouver, BC)

Weed Calms The Mind

The Story

Throughout middle school and high school, I was always a straight edge kid. I rarely cursed, didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs. I would spend almost every day going over to my really close friends house to play soccer.

We weren’t good or anything, just playing recreationally, but we enjoyed every minute of it. I spent most of my most fond memories with my friend, we shared the same hobbies, thought the same way, his family was basically my second family. When we played soccer, which was what we did mostly, we would usually play at a neighborhood field but sometimes we would play in his cul-de-sac.

One day, we were waiting for a few more friends to show up before heading over to the field and we decided to play a little bit in his cul-de-sac. My buddy’s next door neighbor came out and was yelling at us because they were convinced that eventually we would hit a ball at their garage door and dent it. Trying to avoid conflict we moved down his hill and played along the street.

While we were playing, in the street, he put the soccer ball on his outside foot, along the curb. I started coming at him to defend him from our makeshift goal and he tripped over the curb and landed on his head. I attempted to avoid him but ended up falling as well but I caught myself. My friend began seizuring and we all started freaking out. I had never experienced a person seizuring in front of me. We called the ambulance and prayed.

Many things happened after that, to make it short; my friend was supposed to have died from internal bleeding in his brain. His family was on the news because he miraculously survived. After visiting him for months, he finally woke up from his coma but couldn’t remember anything. The doctors said that his memory wasn’t gone, it just needed a kickstart.

I spent every day going and visiting him, with him as he relearned how to read, play games, remembered my name. Slowly I started to notice his mother, whom I looked at as a second mom to me, start to despise me. She began blaming the incident on me, at the time, I knew she had it hard so I allowed her to use me as a scapegoat. Slowly, I began feeling less and less welcomed at their house.

My friend’s little sister went to the same school as us (before he had to drop out because of the incident) and rumors began spreading that I attempted to kill my best friend. People would come up to me and ask me “Why did you try to kill your best friend?” Eventually I started to feel less and less welcomed at his house and stopped visiting him.

I had lost my best friend from 12 years, and everyone was gossiping that I did it on purpose. He was never and is still not the same person I shared all those memories with. He couldn’t even remember most of them.

I began falling into depression and my anxiety and stress began piling up like nothing before. On multiple occasions I contemplated the easy way out, but never committed to the atrocity.

What saved me, what helped me get through all this was cannabis. I was diagnosed with depression by my doctor and was recommended to be prescribed medical cannabis as a deterrent. I was told that there were many benefits to the medicinal properties of THC, one of them being depression. Here is a link to more information about that.

At first I was scared, but at the same time I was curious. I knew of people who I went to school with who smoked but I never thought I would smoke. I had a few friends who helped me with my first time, and it was nothing like I’d ever experienced. My worries, my stress, seemed like I forgot all about them, for once I felt my anxiety decreasing. I didn’t feel ‘high’ my first time, but I felt the medicinal effects of the herb.

I was lucky that the state that I reside in made marijuana legal. Now I frequent dispensaries a few times a week. When I first started, I usually smoked it, I tried out vaping it, using a G-pen or something. But recently, I found that cannabis tinctures has been my go to. I also researching a ton about different strains, what would be best for depression, anxiety, etc. You can check out one of the articles I read here.

With cannabis tinctures, I can buy a bottle and take it with me anywhere. I can either put a drop or two under my tongue or put a few drops in my food or coffee. I noticed that I was no longer having to waste my time prepping or smoking and I loved the convenience of it.

Nowadays, I don’t suffer from as much depression as I once did, and my anxiety has gone down tremendously. My doctor told me I could stop my prescription for medicinal marijuana and I immediately went to get a recreational license. I also try and help contribute as much as I can to various cannabis charitable organizations. They help donate and support a variety of different causes and issues and you can find more information about this.

My one piece of advice, is that if you are feeling scared, alone, depressed, anxious, anything like that, don’t be afraid of seeking a professional to help you out. Marijuana helped me get through probably the toughest part of my life so far, and I am unbelievably thankful that it existed.

Sources:

http://www.healthbenefitadmin.com/medical-cannabis-cure-depression-anxiety/

https://mmjcanada.ca/best-weed-for-depression/

http://www.twelvehighchicks.com/charity-begins-cannabis/

https://mmjcanada.ca/best-weed-for-anxiety-panic-attacks/