🔥 From the Fire to the Flower: Why I Advocate for Cannabis

By OG Strain

There’s something I don’t talk about much on Strain’s Strain Reviews (Talk Cannabis).

I’ve shared parts of it on my other platform, but not often in the cannabis space — and maybe it’s time.

Twenty-six years ago, at 22 years old, I survived a house fire in a four-family apartment building. It happened early in the morning while the adults were still asleep. My son and stepson were toddlers at the time and inside the home.

I got them out safely.

I was the only one injured.

By the time I made it out, over 30% of my body had been burned. The skin on my back and shoulders was destroyed. I was rushed to Albany Medical Center and then airlifted to the burn unit at Upstate University Hospital.

I was placed on full life support. A tracheostomy tube was inserted so I could breathe. I remained in a coma for nine weeks.

Skin was grafted from my thighs to rebuild my back and shoulders. A rotating medical bed designed to prevent infection caused severe nerve damage in my hands. My left hand became permanently disabled — what doctors call a “claw.” Today, it has very limited function.

I survived. That alone is a miracle.

But surviving the fire was only the beginning.

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From Patient to Dependent

After years of surgeries and physical therapy, I was left permanently disabled — and permanently in pain.

Doctors prescribed powerful opioid medications. OxyContin. Oxycodone. Hydrocodone. For years, I was legally prescribed large amounts because my injuries were obvious and severe.

Then the opioid epidemic changed everything.

Prescriptions were cut back across the board. It didn’t matter who had legitimate pain and who didn’t — the system tightened overnight. My body, however, was already dependent.

To avoid withdrawal and manage pain, I turned to the street.

As prescription pills became harder to find, my addiction escalated to heroin and eventually fentanyl. I never injected drugs, but I developed a serious fentanyl habit — approximately half a gram a day, sometimes more.

It took me to very dark places.

Places where I began to understand how someone could lose hope completely.

Half of my graduating class from Scotia-Glenville High School Class of 1996 is gone — fentanyl, overdoses, COVID, cancer. The opioid crisis didn’t just make headlines. It erased people I grew up with.

By the grace of God, I am still here.

And three things helped save my life.

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What Actually Saved Me

First: My Lord Jesus Christ.
Through every phase — the fire, the coma, the addiction, the recovery — I believe He never left my side.

Second: Treatment.
Rehab programs. Medication-assisted treatment. I tried both Suboxone and methadone. Methadone was what finally stabilized me and kept me off fentanyl for good. It has been years since I’ve touched that poison.

Third: Cannabis.

Yes — cannabis.

And I don’t say that lightly.

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The Plant That Helped Me Reclaim My Life

Cannabis helped manage my chronic pain. It helped regulate my mood. It helped reduce depression. It helped me function day-to-day without returning to substances that nearly killed me.

I truly believe it is a gift from God.

Every time I use cannabis, I say grace — the same way I do before eating. I thank God for providing something that eases my pain and improves my quality of life.

And here’s something important:

Cannabis did not replace my faith.
It did not replace treatment.
It supported both.

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To Those Who Judge

There are people who don’t use cannabis — and that’s perfectly fine. No one has to.

But some choose to judge without knowing the story behind the use.

They see cannabis and assume weakness, irresponsibility, or moral failure.

They don’t see the scars.
They don’t see the nerve damage.
They don’t see the addiction survived.
They don’t see the lives helped.

I have personally spoken to people who were trapped in fentanyl addiction and encouraged them toward safer alternatives and treatment. Some of them are alive today because they stepped away from deadly opioids.

So before labeling someone because they use cannabis, consider asking why.

Not everyone who uses cannabis is intoxicated. Many use it medicinally and function normally. Some of us have built careers, families, and platforms while managing real pain.

Cannabis users are not a stereotype.

We are veterans.
We are parents.
We are business owners.
We are survivors.

And yes — we are made in God’s image too.

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Less Judgment. More Understanding.

This article isn’t about convincing everyone to use cannabis.

It’s about asking for understanding.

It’s about recognizing that people have stories you may never see at first glance.

It’s about remembering that compassion should come before criticism.

If someone chooses not to use cannabis, that’s their right. But dismissing or condemning someone who uses it for legitimate pain relief says more about the judge than the person being judged.

My journey took me through fire, disability, addiction, and recovery.

Cannabis is part of how I stayed alive.

That’s not rebellion.
That’s survival.

And if sharing my story helps even one person choose treatment over fentanyl — or choose compassion over judgment — then telling it is worth it.

Stay lifted. Stay loving.

• OG Strain