Mary Alice Reporting –
A Colorado mother, who started a non-profit, shared her story about her son’s suicide and the dangers of THC marijuana concentrates.
Laura Stack formed Johnny’s Ambassadors after her son committed suicide in November 2019 after becoming psychotic from dabbing high-THC marijuana.
The informational session started with Stack noting how her son was a fun, full of life, straight A student, who was athletic and musically talented. She says the biggest question is what happened to change this young man, and according to Stack, it was because Colorado legalized recreational marijuana 11 years ago, when Johnny was 12.
“He went to a party, in 2014, he was a freshman in high school and there was a boy on our street whose big brother at the time was 18 and he had a medical marijuana card and there was marijuana at the party. How do we know, because Johnny told us. We were very close.”
She adds that Johnny did try some partly due to peer pressure and following a brief conversation, they didn’t talk about it again.
Stack points out that to her, he had tried marijuana that was equal to levels from when she was younger; however, THC levels, the chemical that gives a user a ‘high’, are different in concentrates and called different names based upon the consistency and look. Using these chemicals is known as a dab.
“Butane Hash Oil it’s a little more liquidly, it’s not as refined there’s about 60-percent THC, there’s [also concentrates called] shatter, and diesel wax. This category of THC product is known as solid concentrates. Dabbing meaning to inhale the vapors from a concentrated marijuana product.”
She also notes the concern over edibles, as some have high milligram THC levels per bag, a concern if a child where to eat it thinking it was a snack, since many edible packages look similar to other products.
Other highlights from the presentation included Stack noting that youth are gaining access to marijuana concentrates through older kids, like her son did when he first tried some and then when he got older, he became the dealer at 18-years-old.
Find the complete talk on the KSUTUSCPAC YouTube channel or go to the Empower Tusc Facebook page.
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