At the age of 15 my son discovered a "miracle" cure to his struggles with anziety. Weed had this amazing effect of slowing down the craziness, alleviating all the negative self talk, even bringing a social acceptance without stress. No more worries about the difficulties learning and keeping up in school. No more guilt about the angry outbursts and hurting family members. And it was so socially acceptable, even cool. At the age of 16 my son dropped out of high school, he would binge, go on tirades, sometimes hurt himself, go to the hospital and then to short term rehab. At rehab he felt inferior because his drugs of choice were "only" weed and alcohal, not the harder stuff. At the age of 17 my son began to suffer from severe paranoid delusions and psychosis. He has had 3 episodes where his reality is completely distorted, always following a binge. We are told it could become permanent if he doesnt allow his brain to get clean and rebuild. Today, at 18 he is in a recovery center and we pray he will begin meet clean young adults and see the possibility of life without marijuana and alcohal. It breaks my heart when I see our culture moving to a greater acceptance of these "recreational" substances, where it is more "normal" to partake than to live without. My son deserves a chance. All of our children deserve to live in a world without destructive substances as a part of everyday adolescent acceptance.