{
  "id": 11656287,
  "title": "I Smoked Marijuana for 17 Years. One Terrifying Night With My Son Made Me Quit, But I’m Still Recovering",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/i-smoked-marijuana-for-17-years-one-terrifying-night-with-my-son-made",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-03T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/smoked-marijuana-17-years-terrifying-night-with-son-12498276"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "My friend offered me a joint in her basement rec room, and I took a hit in 1980 at the age of 13. I had no idea how this first toke would change my life forever. I practiced inhaling from a cigarette before mirrors, always ending in coughing fits. My friends and I would gather after school to watch television and get high. Smoking pot became a ritual for me, blessed with incense and Visine. I was anxious as a child, and cannabis was my escape, making me giddy and free of insecurities. I spent my money chasing that feeling, lighting up several times a day. My parents divorced, and they wished I wasn't born. When I was 16, they split up for good, and I moved west with my mother and siblings. I was homesick upon arriving in Seattle, but I found a group of like-minded individuals. My anxiety subsided when I was high, making it my savior. However, I always returned to it, as the relief felt as urgent as breathing. Over time, I endured bronchitis, a sore throat, and coughed up coffee ground-like substances. My son was 10 years old when he found me unconscious in the kitchen, and that was the moment I decided to quit. I white-knuckled it, enduring anxiety and depression. It took years of psychiatric care and medication to recover. My experience with marijuana remains a mystery, as the potency of today's cannabis is higher than when I smoked at 13. I wonder how this decision may have impacted my life. Even after 30 years of sobriety, I continue to learn how to live with the anxiety I buried with drugs.",
  "summary": "When I came to, a neighbor knelt over me, and my son yelled, \"Mom, mom, mom.\" The second I saw his face, I knew.",
  "key_points": [
    "Started smoking marijuana at 13, age 17 for 17 years",
    "Son's emergency led to quitting, ongoing recovery",
    "Marijuana's potency has increased since 1980"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}