Last month, this column discussed the
myths about legalizing marijuana, and its impact on our children. A few
weeks later, we were invited to attend a local meeting (sponsored by
Strive Health, a new recovery program in Bergen County), of a number of
community professionals, Jewish educators, therapists, recovery
specialists and a few private individuals dedicated to combating drug
addiction in our Jewish community. Clearly, our community is finally
waking up to the need to be aware, to get involved and find solutions
for the people in our community suffering from this debilitating
disease.
The column also generated a number of
emails and private discussions with us. Here, we’d like to share one
email we thought we all could learn from.
“Dear Eta and Lisa,
Your June 20 article reached into my
heart. I am so sorry about Eric. Thank you for a wonderful review of
some of the myths about marijuana.
My son too died by suicide after years
of mental illness very apparently caused or vastly exacerbated by
marijuana use. His story here: http://momsstrong.org/our-stories/andys-story/.
I work now to Help Andy Help Others, to reduce stigmas and raise
awareness. Our purpose is to unmask the marijuana charade, much as you
are doing in discussing the myths.
We aim to educate (the public) about the
mental health risks of using today’s high potency products with today’s
new secretive methods of ingestion through vaping and edibles. Sadly,
too many deaths also occur from other effects of someone’s marijuana
use—vehicle crashes, parental neglect and criminal activity are some.
Perhaps you have read Alex Berenson’s
book “Tell Your Children”? It is more important than ever that we start
early and arm our kids with facts even though they do sound like scare
tactics. It is scary. It is dangerous.
Developments in the addiction-for-profit
industry of Big Marijuana are making this a much more dangerous drug
and parents need to be educated about this. Our legislators need to be
educated as well so they slow down on their rush to continue the spread
of legalization. Their rush is on because the product is very dangerous
for too many and once the death toll reaches a critical point, voters
will stop supporting the continued easing of laws protecting public
health and safety.
Moms Strong and several other
organizations share a wealth of information about recent science and
industry developments. I would be very happy to share with you (and your
readers) a list of organizations you might want to check out if you are
interested in pursuing this topic further. We are all always looking
for more partners to help share and educate the public.
Please let me know if we can discuss how we might magnify our marijuana education reach by working to support each other.
Sincerely,
Sally Schindel
MVAA.info
MomsStrong.org
SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), LearnAboutSAM.org
Prescott, Arizona
By Eta Levenson and Lisa Lisser
Since the passing of her son Eric by suicide in 2016, Eta Levenson and her family founded the Eric Eliezer Levenson Foundation for Hope to fight the stigmatization of mental illness, raise awareness about mental health challenges and help prevent suicide. She can be reached at Jeserichad@gmail.com.
Lisa Lisser is a freelance Jewish
educator focused on adult Jewish learners. She is also a board member of
The T’Shuvah Center, a residential addiction recovery facility that
will be opening in New York City in the fall. The T’Shuvah Center offers
a Jewish response to addiction. Lisa can be reached at lisazlisser@gmail.com.
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