As Shannon DeGrooms often shares, it took a gun to her head to try cannabis for Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), often referred to as Childhood Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But her story really began with a lineage of trauma, with DeGrooms eventually healing herself with the plant, now helping to heal others—as is so often the case.
She came out to her mom and stepdad late in life, at 27 years of age, at a Chinese restaurant.
“It was our tradition to read the fortunes out loud at the end of the meal, and when it came to my turn, instead of reading my fortune, I said, ‘Mom, I’m dating someone and its a woman!” she shared. “I had dated guys, but never really felt safe with them. I was always falling in love with my girlfriends. After I announced, my mom asked, ‘It says that in your fortune cookie?!’”
DeGrooms founded the This is Jane Project to help other women who may be in the same situation as she, trauma survivors—with women across the female spectrum helped emotionally and physically, with emotional support and a compassionate care program that provides access points to cannabis for those in need.
“After I was helped with the plant, I thought to myself, there must be others like me who need to know,” DeGrooms said. “I needed to challenge the stigma of medicating with cannabis for women and non-binary women. Many of the groups already established offering help are well intended, but have extensive applications that can be triggering, and we get that.”
Righting the Wrongs
DeGroom’s own CPTSD began due to childhood sexual abuse by a close