I come by my anxiety honestly. My mother suffered at least one nervous breakdown – I was ten – and 50 years later my father killed himself with a handgun. Between those years, I rode the anxiety roller coaster. I still do.

To cope, I’ve used several interventions: therapy, exercise, and SSRIs. I also tried pot.

Twenty years ago, as part of a whirlwind trip, I found myself in Amsterdam, filled with too much travel worry. Pot was legal there, so I inhaled. With one quiet breath, I shed my anxiety like old skin. 

And then I came home to America, where prohibition reigned.

Today I rarely leave my house. For me, the benefits of getting out into the world are swamped by constant, irrational worry. That’s my anxiety talking. It’s debilitating.

I’m writing this because I want to help change North Carolina’s marijuana laws. I’m frustrated to live in a state that prohibits medical cannabis, a treatment I know is effective for anxiety. Instead, I’m held captive by the pharmaceutical industry. I still take prozac. It doesn’t help much. 

North Carolina is home to thousands upon thousands of people living smaller lives and worrying needlessly because they suffer from anxiety. I’m one of them. 

Access to a simple plant could alleviate much of this suffering. People could be happier.

How can anyone be against that?