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.

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Join Crissy and addiction counselor and host of the Reality Therapy Podcast, Ryan Rodgers, as they discuss marijuana addiction and today's high potency products. The first hit felt like relief-that’s the twist Ryan Rogers unpacks with raw honesty: marijuana didn’t crash his life overnight—it slowly replaced it. No brutal hangover, no flashing red lights. Just drifting grades, fading drive, a new identity built around a ritual that felt sacred and safe. Until it wasn’t. We sit with the messy middle—how a “mild” drug can be the most alluring, how promises to quit crumble, and how families watch a love affair with THC eclipse everything else.

From there we widen the lens. Texas may reject adult-use legalization, but loopholes flood shelves with Delta-8, Delta-10, and THCA. Walk into a gas station and you’ll find a wall of psychoactive choices stronger than what Ryan used at his worst. That confusion extends to enforcement and to youth, who meet modern THC in candy coatings, not peace pipes. We challenge the “it’s just a plant” script, compare standardized FDA-approved cannabinoid medicines to dispensary products, and ask who’s actually using today’s THC. Ryan’s answer is blunt: mostly bored young men searching for meaning, not patients seeking targeted therapy.

The heart of the conversation is recovery that actually works. Ryan rejected “California sober” after learning how weed quietly reopens doors to drinking and stimulants. Instead, he embraced abstinence, the 12 steps, service, and faith, and now counsels men at Heartwood Recovery Center. He sees two common tracks for cannabis-only users: stagnation in a haze or gradual escalation. The antidote is structure, community, and a new story about sobriety—not as punishment, but as an upgrade. We share victories that rarely make headlines: packed meetings, degrees finished, careers launched, friendships rebuilt, families healing. And we offer parents and young adults a clear message: high-potency THC carries real risks, but there’s abundant hope when you take the next right step.

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