Testimonials
Finding Inspiration in Lived Experience
FFPM is grateful to the firefighters who have shared their personal stories to inspire others and affect positive change.
Paramedic, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue
Serving since 2006
I have been a lifelong insomniac (since day 1 according to my mom) and have tried almost every approach imaginable to get consistent, good sleep. From daily exercise to falling asleep at the same time, no afternoon caffeine, you name it. It wasn’t until we were able to use cannabis that I started to get true, restful sleep on my days off. This has had a dramatic effect on my mental and physical health, not to mention my relationships with loved ones and patients. It has also helped me to limit alcohol to special occasions now, which has also contributed to benefits I’ve explained. It has exceeded all my hopes since this began almost 7 months ago. This is something I never imagined I would see in my career and after hearing similar stories from other members in the department my biggest hope is that other departments can follow suit so our fellow brothers and sisters can experience these numerous benefits in their lives.
Lieutenant, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue
Serving since 2008
I wanted to write to explain how the use of Plant Based Medicine has been beneficial to me and my family. I have been a Firefighter for over 17yrs in the Albuquerque Area and throughout my career I have struggled with finding the appropriate measures to take that would help balance my work life issues and how they conflict with my home life. Although we try hard to keep work and home life separate, inevitably one may bleed into the other. In my case, it was often the trauma that I experienced on the job that affected my home life and not usually in a beneficial way. Due to personal pride and denial, I failed to address these issues until later in my career, at which point much permanent damage had already been done. During my journey to healing and recovery of my mental health issues, I realized that many of the traditional manufactured chemical medications used to assist in the healing rarely dealt with all of my issues. Additionally, many of the medications had adverse side effects that negatively impacted my physical health and fitness. After having the opportunity to begin utilizing plant based medicine to help deal with my depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and ADHD, I noticed a marked improvement in my personal and professional lives. I am happy to say that my relationship with my wife and child have improved immensely. My wife says I'm easier to talk to, less stressed/snappy, and "more like the man she married". My son and I have grown closer together and our communication is better than ever. I have also noted a significant improvement in the ways that I sleep, problem solve, process input, and interact with those around me. These are just a few of the many different reasons that I believe plant based medicine has been extremely beneficial for me and why I encourage others to consider it as an option. As with any other treatment option, I believe that plant based medicine may not be for everybody. Yet for some, it may be life changing with side effects that may be more easily managed than those of conventional chemical medications. I am happy that I have access to a path of healing that is more beneficial to my needs. I hope to help provide this same possibility to others like me who are on their journey of healing and could use the most viable option that works for them. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Engineer, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue
Serving since 2007
When I started my career as a firefighter 18 years ago to serve the community, I knew this is what I wanted to do for my life. What I didn’t know was how negatively this job was going to affect my health. I love my job but it comes at a cost most don’t know or understand. I wasn’t given the tools or support to process the death I saw, the extreme trauma, nor the sleeping issues. You don’t realize early in your career how you’ve changed until it becomes a problem, and then it’s harder to process and heal. I had several physical injuries and have been diagnosed with severe anxiety, sleeping disorder, and PTSD. Due to the erratic sleeping schedule, these issues continued to increase and my sleep issues took a toll on my nervous system and hormones. I went to a very dark place and numerous times thought that leaving this world would make things better. Not only did this negatively affect myself but my family as well. ​ Now that I have been able to use medical cannabis off duty, my life has completely changed. My anxiety and PTSD symptoms have decreased, my sleeping has improved, I’m more present with my family, and I feel happier and healthier overall. My symptoms have not gone away and I’m still a work in progress, but the improvement in quality of life is remarkable. Medical cannabis has helped me on my healing journey and possibly saved my life. I would highly recommend similar policy change for other fire departments to allow a safe medication like cannabis to help heal our first responders.