Former Celtics player helping lives turned upside down by cannabis

The basement classroom in Hingham High was stuffy and lunch was next, but the sophomores in health teacher Karen Beatty’s class were all ears.Patrick Ryan, 23, sat facing the students and said, “I remember when I first started smoking weed because it was at the same time that I was in health class when I was in high school.”Sitting next to him was Shea Finnegan.”It’s special for me to be here today. I’m 21, so I was only in high school a few years ago,” Finnegan said.They went on to open up about the anxiety, depression, and addiction to cannabis that turned both of their lives upside down.”So I went and numbed those feelings. I smoked weed around the clock to kind of deal with that,” Ryan said.”I’m smoking weed in between classes every other period. And I know some of you guys know someone that’s like that, too. I know there’s someone in the school that is in the bathroom ripping cart because they don’t feel good,” Finnegan said.Both were student athletes.Ryan was going to play college football at the University at Albany-SUNY. “I ended up breaking both of my feet my senior year. So I lost that opportunity. I gave it away because I chose to use drugs to deal with that identity crisis of losing athletics,” he said.Finnegan was voted most athletic by his high school classmates and planned to play basketball in college. “I’m ‘Most Athletic’ in the yearbook, but in between class periods, I’m changing my shirt every period, so anxious, and I’m sweating. It’s just two different people,” Finnegan said.The struggle dragged on for years for both men. “For me, the marijuana made me not be able to control my emotions whatsoever,” Finnegan said.They reached the lowest of lows.Ryan ended up with cannabis-induced psychosis.”I was just out of my mind,” he said. “I don’t remember it. It’s a week of my life that I don’t have anymore. Just seeing things, delusional and not in reality.”Both men ended up at Herren Wellness in Seekonk, named for founder Chris Herren.Herren was a basketball star from Durfee High School in Fall River who went on to play at Boston College and Fresno State before being drafted into the NBA, including for a season with the Boston Celtics.He lost it all because of his own addiction, but since 2018, he has been welcoming guests, as they’re called, of all ages get into recovery.”I was 10 years sober when we opened this, and it’s the greatest accomplishment of my life,” Herren said in an interview. “They’re supported through physical activity. They’re supported through breath work, they’re supported through yoga, they’re supported through group therapy. They’re supported through individual therapy.”But lately, Herren said he is seeing more people, especially younger ones, suffering from cannabis use disorders.”Over the last four years, there has been a major shift,” Herren said. “Now it’s become common that the young adults we see with psychosis, who are suffering.”Herren said he has no interest in debating the pros and cons of marijuana. He does think more people need to be aware of the damage that occurs to some young users.”Marijuana, cannabis, the psychosis is one of the scariest things I see in this program,” he said. “Kids need to be made aware. Families need to be made aware.””There’s just not an awareness that it can have this negative effect on you because the culture we’re in is that it’s not harmful,” said Herren Wellness Executive Director Lori McCarthy.The negative effects she sees?”Isolation. School suffers. Relationships suffer, work suffers. A lot of paranoia. Failure to thrive and just a complete disconnect,” she said. “It’s super sad and really scary.”McCarthy attributes a lot of the problems to the high potency of cannabis products available today. So when families ask her if they are “pulling the fire alarm too soon” in asking about help for their child’s cannabis use, she responds, “‘No, good for you for being present to notice that something’s off and absolutely to do something about it.'”She added, “If your son or daughter woke up and did a shot of vodka before they went to school? People would be beside themselves.”McCarthy, too, says the issue isn’t being for or against marijuana.”Like Chris said, the sides don’t matter as long as everybody has all the information. That’s the most important thing. There is a lot of information that people need to have that can prevent a lot of pain,” she said.Now, Finnegan and Ryan are working at Herren Wellness, helping others with addiction.”The most important words I heard here were ‘me too,'” Finnegan said. “I thought I was crazy. I thought I was different, but I started opening up in those rooms, and I heard people shake their head, and say, ‘Yeah, me too. I’ve been through that.'””I want to be able to help people and start the best version of my life,” Ryan said.