A mother argued for keeping recreational marijuana illegal last week through sharing a deeply personal story of heartbreak and loss.
Sally Schindel argues that marijuana addiction contributed to the suicide of her son, Andrew Zorn, who committed suicide in March at the age of 31.
She told her story at a MATForce meeting Thursday, Jan. 22, conducted simultaneously by video link between Prescott and Cottonwood.
An Army veteran who completed basic training just two days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Zorn went to serve overseas.
His ultimate goal was to take over Schindel’s financial advising business.
That didn’t happen. The day Schindel told Zorn that she had sold her business to someone else still haunts her.
“That’s the day I broke his heart,” Schindel said.
Things had already started to fall apart, Schindel said, as Zorn tried to deal with depression.
When Zorn eventually took his own life, he left a note behind.
In the note, he blamed marijuana in part for his decision, Schindel said.
“My soul is already dead,” Schindel said Zorn wrote. “Marijuana killed my soul and ruined my brain.”
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Jan. 28, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
