My mom uses cannabis oil. So does my daughter. I guess that makes me the sandwich generation of weed.
My mom is 82 years old and suffered a stroke 18 months ago. She has significant deficits including aphasia which have left her unable to communicate. Until recently, her days were spent crying uncontrollably with no explanation. That is, until I introduced her to cannabis oil and got her stoned.
My young adult daughter introduced herself to cannabis oil after years of trying to dealing with migraines and anxiety. She’s a perfectionist and a bio-medical sciences student. Cannabis helps her balance those two opposing forces.
So I’m the caregiver in the middle. And the funny thing is, I don’t use it myself. I have a medical card as the caregiver for my mother and while I’ve been tempted to pick up a little something for myself, I’m really too focused on ensuring that the two girls in my life are getting the right products and dosages.
My mother was taking a strong cocktail of meds that made her groggy, sucked away her appetite, and left her staring off into space. My family suffered with her in this condition until Florida realized the benefits of medical marijuana and legalized it. I surreptitiously got my hands on some cannabis oil and decided to try it on her. Those first moments were scary since we didn’t know how her body would react to cannabis and with her unable to communicate, we didn’t know what we were in for. But through a lot of trial and (little) error, we found the right combination of CBD and THC for her. She went from crying to giggling after the first dose. It was like a miracle drug. She was so much more fun to be around when she was stoned. Today, it’s part of her daily routine when she gets anxious or weepy.
The other slice of my cannabis sandwich is my daughter. She may or may not be one of those who was self-medicating before it was legalized in Florida. And I’m not going to lie, even though my daughter is of legal age, I still have a hard time getting past that stigma that marijuana is bad. But once I saw the results with my mother, I knew I needed to support my daughter in her effort to find relief from her migraines and anxiety. I’m now the cool mom on the block as her friends are incredulous that I not only allow her to use it, but I encourage it and in some cases provide it. Medicinally, of course. But again, it works wonders for her and I’d much rather her take something organic than any of the powerful synthetic drugs on the market.
When I saw how much cannabis benefitted both of them, I wondered why I wasn’t using it myself. So one day, I took a dropper full of my mom’s custom cocktail. I’ll admit, I didn’t really feel much. That was, until I started coming down. I felt like I was having a mild panic attack. I would repeat this agonizing test two more times, only to have the same result. So perhaps one of these days I’ll experiment with some different dosages and combinations. But hey. It’s cool. My mom gets high. My daughter gets high. And they’re both the envy of their peers. Stuck between them, I don’t get high, but I am using my voice to advocate for the benefits of medical marijuana for those who truly need it.