I started smoking pot when I was 40. At a time, I had been struggling with really bad anxiety for a while. My marriage was failing and my career was taking off. I was stressed out. So I started taking Clonazepam, a benzodiazepine, to get through the day. Then Seroquel to be able to sleep at night. Then I had to take more. And then more. I was up to 600–800 mg of Seroquel every night. And the benzos are highly addictive. They’re bad for your liver. It's not good. I wasn’t thrilled with the fact that I had to take all these pharmaceuticals just to function. 

When my husband and I split up and I moved into my first apartment, a friend rolled me a joint and said, ‘Just smoke this before you go to bed.’ I was reluctant. I don’t smoke pot. I tried it in my teens and it always made me feel paranoid. But the weed now is different. I felt fantastic! It was the first time in two years that I didn’t have a racing heart and a knot in my stomach. 

Fast forward a couple years and my mental health had continued to deteriorate. I started using CBD oil and capsules when my anxiety was really bad. I was really thin at that time. My anxiety was out of control and I had a hard time eating. I felt like I was going to throw up all the time. I found if I took a few CBD gummies, I was able to stomach food. It was appetite stimulant. And it helped calm the anxiety in my head. I could center my thoughts and had better focus.

How it Helps

THC and CBD have allowed me to drastically reduce my reliance on pharmaceuticals for sleep and anxiety. I smoke THC every night before bed and have transitioned off sleeping pills. The CBD, I take as needed to manage the days when my anxiety is crippling. 

I’m a huge fan. I even turned my dad onto the chocolate. He’s 76. He’s got arthritis in his hands and the pain keeps him up at night. When it’s really bad, he takes the chocolate and he sleeps like a king.