As a teenager she had problems with drugs, but she never thought that 20 years later she'd be fighting a battle against cannabis addiction.
"I was not your typical, what somebody would think of as a drug user," she said. "I was still able to function, and kind of fool people maybe."
CBC has agreed not to identify the woman, who is in her 30s. She works for government, is a mother, and is very involved in her community.
She had a problem with cannabis abuse as a teen, she said. She'd planned to go to university, but instead spent her early 20s partying with friends.
She had a "highly addictive personality," she said, and trauma — she was sexually assaulted — that she believes may have led her to self-medicate with pot, hashish and alcohol.
'Never touch that again'
She thinks most people would never have guessed she had addiction problems, because she had a job and was active in her community. And she said although she tries not to judge others, she judged herself.
"I always felt there was something wrong, and I was going against my values," she said. "I still had dreams that I wanted to accomplish — have a family and have kids and everything."
She went for help and tried to beat the habit three or four times. She was a few weeks into recovery when she began dating a man who who didn't smoke pot, and quickly got pregnant.
"That changed everything — I did not use," she said. "That was a godsend."
She didn't smoke pot for more than 10 years. She was happy, and thought the addiction was behind her forever.
"I remember thinking, I'll never touch that again."
'A good justification'
A couple of years ago, she was with some people socially having a few drinks, when they passed around a joint. On the spur of the moment, she took a puff — just one.
"I thought, I'm an adult now, it's not that bad," she said. "I hardly felt it."
She continued meeting with the same people as they were working on a project, and they continued to pass around joints. She began taking more puffs. Within three or four months, she said, she was smoking daily again.
Even though this was pre-legalization, she said getting weed was no problem. She got it from friends who smoked casually, and from people who grew it themselves.
Then, she hurt her back, and asked her doctor if he thought cannabis might help. He wrote her a prescription on the spot, she said.
"That's my fault, but he knows I have addiction issues from the past," she said. "And he still gave me this without thinking twice."
The pot didn't help her back, she said. But it helped feed her addiction.
"That made it more OK, that was for me a good justification — 'Well, I have a prescription now,'" she said.
'Cannabis addiction is real'
This kind of story is "not uncommon" in the P.E.I. health system said Dr. Amanda Hudson, an adjunct professor at UPEI and program lead of mental health and addictions with Health PEI.
The province monitors cannabis-related cases at community addiction services, emergency departments and inpatient mental-health admissions. Hudson said from 2018 to 2019 they have seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of people seeking addictions services for reasons related to cannabis use.
"We do notice slight increases in the last couple of years, so I think it is becoming more common — or people are seeking help more anyway," Hudson said. She applauds the woman for sharing her story.
All the Credits - Source - Orignal Story = CBC