Prince Harry Says Cannabis Helped Him Cope With Mental Health Struggles & Ayahuasca Was A 'Release'

“Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me,” Prince Harry told physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté on Saturday in a widely viewed live-stream interview about the importance of personal healing.

The Duke of Sussex opened up about his drug use in the Zoom ZM conversation, nearly two months after the release of his highly-anticipated memoir, Spare, which details how he dealt with the death of his mother Princess Diana. Harry was 12 when his mother died in a car crash in August 1997 in Paris.

Harry told Dr. Maté, an expert in trauma and childhood development, that by the time he was 17, he started using cannabis and other drugs.

"I was a seventeen-year-old willing to try almost anything that would alter the pre-established order. At least, that’s what I was trying to convince myself of.”

The Duke also said that psychedelics such as ayahuasca served as a release from the outside world. 

“I started doing it recreationally and then started to realize how good it was for me. I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and pains of the past,” he said.

"It was the cleaning of the windscreen, cleaning of the windshield, the removal of life's filters just as much as on Instagram, these layers of filters. It removed it all for me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time.”

These are certainly topics that will be discussed at the upcoming Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami Beach April 11-12. In addition to lectures from the world's largest cannabis companies, the extraordinary benefits of medical marijuana are always on the table. One example is Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB ACB and the company's CEO Miguel Martin who along with MedReleaf Australia launched CraftPlant, a new medical cannabis brand, which includes three new products available for doctors to prescribe to patients suffering from similar mental health issues as Prince Harry.

Come and meet Aurora's Miguel Martin in person as well as other important medical marijuana pioneers and industry business leaders at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference at Miami Beach’s historic Fontainebleau Hotel in Florida on April 11-12. This is the place to get DEALS DONE, raise money, jumpstart M&A, and meet investors and key partners. Secure your tickets now before prices go up.