THIS WASN’T IN THE PARENTING MANUAL

HE CAME UNRAVELED

Robin Noble, Boulder

“The first time my son got suspended from school, I remember his coach said to me, ‘Don’t be too hard on him; it’s just pot.’ He said that because my son was an athlete and a good kid. He was just 14. But within two months, my son exited his life. He became a different human being. His joie de vivre was impacted. One day I got in a fight with him about not showing up to school, and I said, ‘I think this is the pot. You have to stop.’ He said, ‘If I have to stop smoking pot, I’m going to kill myself. In fact, I’m going to kill myself right now.’ He went to his room and locked the in the backyard shed. He was crying. He told me he used to have fun before drugs, but now he only had fun when he was doing drugs. I was like, We sent him to a wilderness program, then to a therapeutic boarding school. When he got home, he immediately started dabbing. But then he developed cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome; he was just vomiting all the time. I took him to the ER 11 times in nine months. Eventually we found a doctor who said, ‘This is the pot.’ He looked at her and said, ‘This is medicine!’ He stopped because of the hyperemesis, but his executive functioning has been impacted and there are cognitive issues. I wonder why an 18-year-old can get a medical card and buy two ounces a day but can’t buy tobacco or a Coors Light.”