Victoria Tatum used marijuana for 15 years to calm her anxiety. But she developed asthma and the cannabis interfered with her thinking so she stopped. She tried CBD on her adult son with autism, but without the THC. Now that it is legal, which she supports, she’d like to see more public discussions on the long-term side effects of recreational cannabis use.
Victoria Tatum
I was a married mother of two and had an abortion. Will you judge me?
Victoria Tatum had an abortion as a young mother of two. She doesn’t regret it, she writes, and she also didn’t make her choice lightly. She has lost her strong ties with the church in Santa Cruz, but says she has an ongoing, private connection to God. She thinks the church, the state and the Supreme Court should mind their own business when it comes to the choice a woman makes.
Mr. W: What my autistic son has taught me about motherhood
Victoria Tatum has spent more than two decades fighting for services for her autistic son, Eliot. As her son became a teen, his anxiety made him increasingly violent. She thinks Santa Cruz families need better intervention, sooner, for families with special needs.

