Miami Hurricanes alum Mike James becoming medicinal marijuana pioneer

He also suffered another tragedy during his Sophomore year with the Miami Hurricanes. James was raised in Davenport, Florida a small town near Lakeland. by his single mother Elgusta. It was James mother who got him into football. He told CNN:

"“My mom was a huge football fan…and I got into football through her.”"

James mother passed away after a car accident in December 2010 as the Miami Hurricanes were getting ready to play in the Sun Bowl. The Miami Hurricanes were already dealing with playing under interim Head Coach Jeff Southland. Randy Shannon was fired at the end of the regular season.

James has dedicated his career to his mother. Because of his father, James was very aware of the dangers of drugs.

He told CNN that he thought that the painkillers he was being given were safe since they were prescribed by a doctor. In spite of the opioids being prescribed by a doctor, Aubrey was still worried.

During the interview with CNN, Gupta quoted James as saying he didn’t want to stop and couldn’t stop. Aubrey told CNN Mike could take as many as 24 opioid pills in one day. It only took James a few weeks to “develop a dangerous dependency on the drugs” per CNN.

The opioids did damage to more than just James’ body and his dependency on them. He told CNN:

"“I never had something where I could be coherent and still have pain relief”"