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Victoria Tatum used marijuana for 15 years to calm her anxiety. But she developed asthma and the cannabis interfered with her thinking so she stopped. She tried CBD on her adult son with autism, but without the THC. Now that it is legal, which she supports, she’d like to see more public discussions on the long-term side effects of recreational cannabis use.
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I know firsthand how well THC works.
For 15 of my younger years, I self-medicated for anxiety, and marijuana calmed my frazzled nerves. I turned to it if I was bored or anxious, but it was also just a habit, meaning I was an addict.
I’m generally a happy person, and when I smoked it, I was happier.
My introverted self also turned further inward, and whether or not marijuana was the cause, I developed asthma. When I quit, early in my marriage before we started a family, my husband, a nonuser who had never told me what to do with respect to my intake, said, “I’m glad you quit. It was the only time we argued.”
My return in my late 20s to the Christian faith with which I was raised did not immediately lead to my quitting. But it did make me aware of the barrier I was creating in conversations with my God, and that inspired me to quit.
Decades later, when people suggested cannabis for our adult, autistic son, who has sky-high anxiety and developed bipolar disorder at age 17, I said no. By then I had many loved ones with marijuana addiction and had observed how it contributed to their mood disorders. We did try CBD oil and, not surprisingly, with no THC it did not assuage our son’s anxiety.
It was the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and antidepressants our son’s doctors subsequently prescribed to him that stabilized his bipolar disorder and decreased his anxiety to a manageable level. Manageable is the operative word, because he uses his coping mechanisms to handle what is still a debilitating level of anxiety.
What I’d like to see, for the sake of our young people, is education and easily accessible information on the negative effects. We accomplished this with millennials and drinking and driving. Marijuana should be next.
Thanks to a team of behavior specialists and dedicated staff, our son retreats to the safe zone of his bedroom, sets a 10-minute timer, takes deep breaths and squeezes his stuffed bear. He takes long walks, and once a week swims laps with his dad. Sometimes he sings out his anxiety, a self-taught coping mechanism undoubtedly born of his love for music.
I have my own tricks, mainly involving the outdoors, that I use to self-regulate, and it only takes one or two a day to keep me on an even keel. When our son was growing up with fine and gross motor challenges, I taught him to ride a bike, hike, swim and surf, and I am proud to have helped him develop these tools for self-regulation.
Each time legalization of marijuana has been on the ballot, I have voted yes. I believe in medical marijuana use. But I find the public discussions on this important topic lacking – even as the number of dispensaries in our area and across the country increases. It’s legal in 38 states, including California.
Legality has made marijuana more accepted and pervasive and turned it into big business. But there’s still an aspect of secrecy to it. The smell lingers from a passing car or a person returning from smoking it outside. Or someone exhales a puff of smoke and returns a vape pen to their pocket. This could be out of respect for those who don’t smoke it, awareness that they are using a mind-altering substance or leftover shame from what was once stigmatized.
I’d like to see cannabis come more out into the open, and for us to speak honestly and publicly about what studies on long-term use are showing.
Research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in March 2022 shows a link between long-term, regular cannabis use and midlife cognitive defects. Studies show all forms of smoking are bad for our lungs. Scientists are also focused on how long-term use might increase the risk of dementia.
This is especially relevant to me, as I just celebrated my 65th birthday. Knowing some cognitive decline is natural in aging adults, and that other factors also come into play, I will do everything I can to hang on to what brain cells I have left.
I can open any local newspaper or magazine and see ads for cannabis dispensaries. Recently in New Mexico, I passed a dispensary on every block on the east side of Albuquerque. This lends acceptance to something that might not be as safe as it seems, and it’s hard to find comprehensive news articles or stories about the potential negative side effects written for the lay reader.
What I’d like to see, for the sake of our young people, is education and easily accessible information on the negative effects. We accomplished this with millennials and drinking and driving. Marijuana should be next.
An analysis of news coverage on marijuana’s health effects published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2018 reported that, while the prevalence of marijuana had doubled in the previous decade, only a third of the public perceived “great risk” from weekly use.
We need to match the rise in regular use with publicity on the possible long-term ramifications. I am all in favor of exploring cannabis medical treatments. But I am personally invested in studying the downsides of marijuana in order to help the next generation of users face an increasingly fraught world using healthier coping mechanisms.
Our youth are enlightened and creative thinkers whose attachment to their devices gives them limitless opportunities for disseminating information. Let’s hope we take advantage of that to give them the facts, so that they can make informed decisions about their own consumption of a substance that is all around them.
Victoria Tatum is a writer living in Santa Cruz who has spent 26 years advocating for her special needs son. Her novel, “More Than Any River,” will be published with She Writes Press in January 2026.
“]] Victoria Tatum used marijuana for 15 years to calm her anxiety. But she developed asthma and the cannabis interfered with her thinking so she stopped. She tried CBD on her adult son with autism, but without the THC. Now that it is legal, which she supports, she’d like to see more public discussions on the long-term side effects of recreational cannabis use. Read More
