Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Ethan Edelman, and this is Psychoactive, a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Protozoa Pictures. Psychoactive is the
Speaker 1: show where we talk about all things drugs. But any
Speaker 1: views expressed here do not represent those of I Heart Media,
Speaker 1: Protozoa Pictures, or their executives and employees. Indeed, as an
Speaker 1: inveterate contrarian, I can tell you they may not even
Speaker 1: represent my own. And nothing contained in this show should
Speaker 1: be used as medical advice or encouragement to use any
Speaker 1: type of drugs. Hello, Psychoactive listeners, So we got a
Speaker 1: fun one today. My guest is Ellen Scanlon, and about
Speaker 1: three years ago she started a podcast called how to
Speaker 1: Do the Pot, specifically for and directed at women, all
Speaker 1: about cannabis. So, Ellen, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: me on Psychoactive. Thank you for having me. It's great
Speaker 1: to be here. Well, I'll tell you I've been listening
Speaker 1: to your podcast and I'm really enjoying the kind of
Speaker 1: very sensible advice that you've been given to people, and
Speaker 1: and and the thinking about it. So, I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess let me just ask you right now. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, firstly, just a bit about yourself, you know,
Speaker 1: when did you first start using cannabis? You know, my
Speaker 1: first memory of it is in high school. I moved
Speaker 1: when I was in high school from Connecticut to Maryland,
Speaker 1: and my parents were pretty strict and uh, they needed
Speaker 1: to know where I was going to be at all times.
Speaker 1: But there was this moment in time when I had
Speaker 1: moved and I was a sophomore in high school and
Speaker 1: they wanted me to make friends, and so things got
Speaker 1: a little bit looser with my social life and I
Speaker 1: got to go out with some new friends and I
Speaker 1: remember being at a party, uh and toten d C
Speaker 1: and someone handed me a joint. And I've been around
Speaker 1: it before, but it had kind of felt scary to me,
Speaker 1: I think. And I remember trying it and nothing much happened,
Speaker 1: to be honest, Um, but it was a very pleasant
Speaker 1: experience and kind of got me more curious, not terribly curious. Really,
Speaker 1: College was when I think, um, it was more accessible
Speaker 1: and more available, and so that's when I really started
Speaker 1: to have more of a relationship with it. So would
Speaker 1: you say that, I mean, you've basically had a positive
Speaker 1: and friendly relationship with marijuana since your teens, I have,
Speaker 1: you know, I've always liked weed. Um. I like how
Speaker 1: it makes me feel. I like, um that it it
Speaker 1: sort of enhances creativity. And that's the type of weed
Speaker 1: that I like. Was started to happen after college. I
Speaker 1: moved to New York City and access got harder for me.
Speaker 1: You know, I think most women that I talked to,
Speaker 1: and and this is true for me as well, kind
Speaker 1: of got weed through a g I and if there
Speaker 1: was a guy in my life that had it, then
Speaker 1: I had access, and if not, then I didn't. And
Speaker 1: so that was sort of my story in New York.
Speaker 1: I also I was working on Wall Street. I was
Speaker 1: like a very sort of high pressure environment, and I
Speaker 1: think that, um it just it just changed, um my,
Speaker 1: my relationship. It wasn't around and I wasn't seeking it out.
Speaker 1: But that is to say that when it was around,
Speaker 1: usually I wanted to be a part of it. Um
Speaker 1: But I don't like to get super high. And I
Speaker 1: think that as I've gotten more confident with the plant,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm happy to say that, and I love
Speaker 1: cannabis so much, but I also just really like to
Speaker 1: use it in ways that match the environment that I'm in,
Speaker 1: and I think that that wasn't really as available when
Speaker 1: cannabis was illegal and I didn't know what I was
Speaker 1: putting into my body. M hmm, yeah, you know. It's funny.
Speaker 1: So I think about my own I want to use
Speaker 1: going back to when I was eighteen, and I know
Speaker 1: that that for me sometimes that it was a way
Speaker 1: of kind of turning off my brain, like Okay, you
Speaker 1: think you're high. Now you can't think about work anymore. Um.
Speaker 1: In addition to that, of course, is all about the
Speaker 1: pleasures associated with it, in the enhancement of you know,
Speaker 1: positive things, whether it's sensory stuff for emotional stuff, but
Speaker 1: for you. So this kind of turning off of the
Speaker 1: brain element, like when you're working on Wall Street wasn't
Speaker 1: really a part of it. You were sort of in
Speaker 1: net work mode or maybe alcohol played that role. I
Speaker 1: think alcohol played that role. And um, I I love
Speaker 1: cannabis for its creativity and like being in nature and
Speaker 1: taking a walk, and I think New York City was
Speaker 1: a little stressful for me. I went to college and
Speaker 1: in Charlettsville, Virginia, and I grew up in the suburbs
Speaker 1: of Maryland and in Connecticut. And so I think in
Speaker 1: retrospect that maybe just being really high in the middle
Speaker 1: of New York City was just overwhelming. I screw the
Speaker 1: movies a lot, and those movie theaters with like twenty
Speaker 1: front movies and tons of people, and it was very
Speaker 1: hectic and it just, um, it wasn't as relaxing as
Speaker 1: it had been for me in different environments. But so
Speaker 1: you decided to start this podcast three years ago. So
Speaker 1: what prompted that? Really it was health challenges, um, that
Speaker 1: brought me to the plant and I, um, gosh, probably
Speaker 1: about ten years ago now, I had a really bad accident.
Speaker 1: I was in New Orleans for jazz Fest and with
Speaker 1: my boyfriend that and my now husband and a bunch
Speaker 1: of friends who had grown up there. We were having
Speaker 1: a wonderful time and we were riding bikes and I
Speaker 1: fell off of a bike and I broke sixteen of
Speaker 1: my teeth and I tore up my shoulder, I broke
Speaker 1: three ribs my wrist, and um, it was it was
Speaker 1: a very scary accident that didn't have sort of a
Speaker 1: violent start to it, but it was. It was a
Speaker 1: slow roll from there because I had to go to
Speaker 1: the emergency room and um, they gave me some very
Speaker 1: very strong pain killers. I came home to my friend's
Speaker 1: house and was sitting talking with our friends and and
Speaker 1: trying to sort of salvage the day. And suddenly I
Speaker 1: woke up and I was on the floor. I had
Speaker 1: passed out and hit my head. And it was sort
Speaker 1: of the start of just an incredible number of side effects,
Speaker 1: um from different medications that I was given. If you've
Speaker 1: ever had any dental issues, uh, each tooth, imagine about
Speaker 1: three appointments and thousands of dollars and so I UM.
Speaker 1: I think very luckily, I don't handle opioid and narcotic
Speaker 1: kinds of pain killers very well, so I wasn't able
Speaker 1: to take those. But what I took instead was advil
Speaker 1: about every three hours for ten months. And I had
Speaker 1: been a person who prior to that, you know, I
Speaker 1: did what the doctor said I did, you know, I
Speaker 1: followed the rules. And this was really a moment, and
Speaker 1: I was not getting better. I had to learn to
Speaker 1: advocate for myself, and I had to advocate for myself
Speaker 1: in a way that felt like I was going against
Speaker 1: what I had been taught. And I think that that
Speaker 1: was the start of of of thinking about cannabis in
Speaker 1: a new way. I had moved to California just before
Speaker 1: my accident, and so also living in San Francisco and
Speaker 1: just having a very different environment around cannabis. UM it
Speaker 1: was legal for medical use. I had a medical card.
Speaker 1: UM that was I think the real kernel of of
Speaker 1: how I got into cannabis. I then, UM was trying
Speaker 1: to have a baby. And the reason I'm mid forties
Speaker 1: mom is because I didn't have my son until I
Speaker 1: was forty, because it took me about four years. I
Speaker 1: learned at the very end of this road UM, on
Speaker 1: this fertility journey, that I have endometriosis. And endometriosis affects
Speaker 1: one in ten women. It is the cause of fifty
Speaker 1: to sixty percent of unexplained infertility, and cannabis is an
Speaker 1: incredible treatment for it and endometriosis. Endometriosis is when the
Speaker 1: endometrial tissue that should be in your uterus is in
Speaker 1: other areas and other organs. People have described it. It
Speaker 1: can be like a spider web on your other organs
Speaker 1: and it is incredibly, incredibly painful, and it affects different
Speaker 1: women differently. It can have g I issues. UM cramps
Speaker 1: are sort of the most classic symptom that is related
Speaker 1: to endometriosis. But I try and talk about it when
Speaker 1: wherever I can, because cannabis is truly magic and it
Speaker 1: has completely changed my life. UM. Not that other pain
Speaker 1: killers don't work. They do, but they have side effects,
Speaker 1: and the side effects, as we know, can be addiction
Speaker 1: and other very very challenging UM issues as well as
Speaker 1: just physical issues for the people that are trying to
Speaker 1: solve their problems with pain. So long, long way of
Speaker 1: getting to cannabis, I think as a professor, but it
Speaker 1: comes from from a real place of passion for me
Speaker 1: because I talked to so many people whose lives have
Speaker 1: been improved by consuming cannabis and bringing it into their
Speaker 1: life for stress, for sleep, for pain and uh, and
Speaker 1: I really don't want anyone to feel bad about that,
Speaker 1: which I think has you know, a long storied history
Speaker 1: of stigma. Now. I mean, obviously, when you started this podcast,
Speaker 1: you could have done a podcast that was because you know,
Speaker 1: you're offering very thoughtful comments and feedback about you know,
Speaker 1: how to use marijuana with types and strains and the
Speaker 1: benefits in CBD versus THHC, but you focus specifically on women.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously some of the advice is generic, UM,
Speaker 1: but it's clear that that's the niche you've decided to
Speaker 1: focus on, and how and why did you decide to
Speaker 1: make that the niche. Well, prior to starting the podcast,
Speaker 1: I had been working for a women's healthcare company startup
Speaker 1: based in San Francisco, and I think for the first
Speaker 1: time I started to realize that women's health was really
Speaker 1: different than men's. It sounds so obvious, but you know,
Speaker 1: I spent my early part of my career working on
Speaker 1: Wall Street. I got my m b A. I had
Speaker 1: been in very heavily male environments, which UM just didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of space for conversations about things that
Speaker 1: were specific to women. And so between having this accident,
Speaker 1: which UM, you know, there are really frustrating statistics that
Speaker 1: came out. I think in UM the University of Chicago
Speaker 1: and Berkeley came out with a study that said something
Speaker 1: like of women have been overdosed in taking prescription medicine
Speaker 1: because the dosage is just too big, too strong for
Speaker 1: their body type. For women, it wasn't until you know,
Speaker 1: the nineties that drugs were even being tested on women
Speaker 1: because the hormone cycle quote unquote messes up the data. UM.
Speaker 1: And so I think that women are underserved in cannabis.
Speaker 1: I think historically there has been more stigma around women,
Speaker 1: and I really believe that cannabis is an incredible tool
Speaker 1: for women. You know, the endocannabinoid system, which I'm sure
Speaker 1: you're familiar with, but for your listeners who may not be.
Speaker 1: It's a system that's been in humans since there were humans,
Speaker 1: but it was discovered in the nineties UM by Dr
Speaker 1: Machell lamb Chel, leading Israeli researcher, an incredible researcher who
Speaker 1: has really just helped all of us understand the cannabis
Speaker 1: plants so much, UM, and the carnabinoid receptors that live
Speaker 1: in our body are you know, we have the system
Speaker 1: that is similar to the nervous system, to the cardiovascular system,
Speaker 1: but the entire purpose of the endocannabinoid system is to
Speaker 1: create homeostasis and balance and so really balancing your body.
Speaker 1: And men feel that as well. But the receptors for
Speaker 1: cannabis are you know, the the top, the main receptors,
Speaker 1: the largest number of receptors are in the brain, but
Speaker 1: after that they're in women's pelvic regions. And so this
Speaker 1: is why cannabis can help with cramps. It's why it's
Speaker 1: so effective for endometriosis, and so I think we're just
Speaker 1: at the beginning of understanding ways that women can just
Speaker 1: based on their hormones, UM, really benefit from cannabis. And
Speaker 1: then you know, women disproportionately suffer from autoimmune diseases. Eight
Speaker 1: out of ten people that have them are women. UM,
Speaker 1: women disproportionately stuffer from stress and sleep issues, and so
Speaker 1: there were just a lot of health issues that UM,
Speaker 1: I felt were important to specifically talk to about women.
Speaker 1: I've been so thrilled that we we have, you know,
Speaker 1: a pretty large male audience. It kind of veers from
Speaker 1: depending on when we're looking at it, because I do
Speaker 1: really feel like so much of the content that we
Speaker 1: put out is practical, it's fun, it's meant to just
Speaker 1: help you in your day. UM, but there are some
Speaker 1: really specific things that cannabis can help women with, and
Speaker 1: I wanted to get the word out about that. We'll
Speaker 1: be talking more after we hear this add So just
Speaker 1: going more in on the issue about because you spend
Speaker 1: a fair bit of time talking about women in hormones
Speaker 1: and so in terms of like dealing with menstrual cramps
Speaker 1: or I mean, do you like, do you give advice
Speaker 1: for example, where you are in your cycle and how
Speaker 1: certain types of marijuana or combinations might be better at
Speaker 1: different times in the cycle. Definitely, And I learned that
Speaker 1: depending on where you are in in your cycle, cannabis
Speaker 1: can be stronger. So as you are kind of in
Speaker 1: the last phase right before you get your period, that
Speaker 1: is when your tolerance to cannabis is the lowest, and
Speaker 1: so you're gonna be getting the most high. So that
Speaker 1: also is something that I think is in credibly important
Speaker 1: for women to know. You know, I love CBD, I
Speaker 1: love ratios like twenty to one, where I'm just feeling
Speaker 1: that the benefits of sort of the balancing effects and
Speaker 1: the calming and stress relieving, and so for me, as
Speaker 1: I'm getting closer to my period, I lower my dose
Speaker 1: so that I can maintain the same effects throughout the month. Um.
Speaker 1: So that is just one example of something that is
Speaker 1: just really only affecting women because of their hormones. Is
Speaker 1: anything knowing about the pill in marijuana and an interaction
Speaker 1: or if any between them. Interestingly, so this is totally anecdotal,
Speaker 1: and I'm not a doctor, but I talked to women
Speaker 1: who are on the pill and they don't have that
Speaker 1: tolerance change. It's women who are not on the pill
Speaker 1: who really notice the difference in how the weed affects
Speaker 1: them at different times of the month. Well, how about menopause. So,
Speaker 1: menopause is a really really interesting area. I think for
Speaker 1: a lot of companies that are starting to pay attention
Speaker 1: to this huge block of women who are not feeling
Speaker 1: well and have money to spend on it. And so
Speaker 1: I do think that there's more interest in cannabis in
Speaker 1: older generations as well, baby boomers. Um. The companies that
Speaker 1: I know that are focused on women and menopause are
Speaker 1: putting out products like suppositories. Um So suppositories are um
Speaker 1: you know, it's sort of like an applicator less tampon
Speaker 1: that you insert uh into your body. And I think
Speaker 1: for menopausal women who are dealing with things like a
Speaker 1: lack of moisture, they can really just create those balancing
Speaker 1: effects because of the endocannabinoid receptors that are in the
Speaker 1: pelvic region. Sleep is another thing that really can be
Speaker 1: a challenge for women facing menopause and cannabis, and its
Speaker 1: depending on how your sleep issues affect you. There are
Speaker 1: different types of cannabis. So we did four part series
Speaker 1: on this because I was answering the same questions so
Speaker 1: frequently that I just thought I have to put out
Speaker 1: a very comprehensive series on this. And you know, if
Speaker 1: you have trouble falling asleep, to each c can be
Speaker 1: very helpful. If you have trouble staying asleep, CBD can
Speaker 1: be very helpful. So there's some questions that you have
Speaker 1: to ask around cannabis for sleep. But I think that
Speaker 1: that along with stress are are are very um interesting
Speaker 1: and I hope that more women who are facing amout
Speaker 1: of pause are open to considering cannabis. Are you hearing
Speaker 1: from many women who do not use cannabis either ever
Speaker 1: and then start in their forties or fifties, or maybe
Speaker 1: did use it when they were younger, stopped for twenty
Speaker 1: years and or back to using it now. I hear
Speaker 1: from women like that all the time, um, and I
Speaker 1: think that you know, that's really who I hope to
Speaker 1: serve with this show, because I think that legal cannabis,
Speaker 1: you know, in a huge part thanks to you and
Speaker 1: two advocates like you, is just completely different, and people
Speaker 1: who have been consuming cannabis for a very long time
Speaker 1: entering the legal market are entering a new environment. UM,
Speaker 1: and so I am really trying to help people understand
Speaker 1: this new landscape UM and what it means to have
Speaker 1: legal cannabis and help to teach people how to do it.
Speaker 1: I talked to a lot of women who love weed,
Speaker 1: and I'll ask them what to me are pretty simple
Speaker 1: questions like you know, what's your favorite strain or you
Speaker 1: know what ratio do you like of CBD to th HC,
Speaker 1: And they really don't know what I'm talking about because
Speaker 1: they've been getting weed in a baggy. No, It's true
Speaker 1: for long time users the often times don't keep up
Speaker 1: on what's the latest. You know, it's probably I'm probably
Speaker 1: guilty of that to some extent, makes myself except for
Speaker 1: doing this podcast, we're now being obliged to learn, you know,
Speaker 1: more and more about this and I was learning stuff
Speaker 1: from what listening to your episodes about the th hccb
Speaker 1: D combination stuff. You know, I mean, I'm wondering only
Speaker 1: it sounds in terms of the medical stuff and in
Speaker 1: terms of a lot of what you talked about, a
Speaker 1: lot of it is about the emphasis on cb D.
Speaker 1: You know. I had Martin Lee from Project cb D
Speaker 1: on the Psychoactive recently and we're talking about what's the
Speaker 1: latest research in this area, But it sounds like, I mean,
Speaker 1: for many people it's either the THI CBD low THHC,
Speaker 1: which works better for a range of conditions, thinking about
Speaker 1: things like stress and anxiety and such like that. So
Speaker 1: you know, why, why is that, and what's your experience
Speaker 1: what have you learned about that. CBD is a cannabinoid
Speaker 1: that really works well for me, and I am so
Speaker 1: grateful for it every day. I think that there are
Speaker 1: a couple of things about CBD that have been just
Speaker 1: sort of hard for people to to take in. And
Speaker 1: the first is that you really need to take it
Speaker 1: for at least two weeks consistently before you're going to
Speaker 1: feel any effects, sometimes a month, sometimes longer. And you
Speaker 1: probably need more than you think. So having a little
Speaker 1: CBD and some you know, beverage that you have something
Speaker 1: like that, it's just not bringing that much into your system.
Speaker 1: And the goal of of bringing CBD into your system,
Speaker 1: bringing cannabis in general, is to create that balance in
Speaker 1: the endocannabinoid system. And so I love CBD. I'm a
Speaker 1: huge believer, but um, you need a little more than
Speaker 1: you think, and you need to keep trying it for
Speaker 1: longer than you think UM. And the effects can also
Speaker 1: be fairly subtle, so if you are not UM paying
Speaker 1: very close attention to how you feel. You know, I've
Speaker 1: recommended CBD to so many friends and I'll ask them
Speaker 1: about it later and say, how's it going, you know,
Speaker 1: do you like the product that I recommended, And they'll say, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling a lot better. I don't know, maybe I'll stop,
Speaker 1: maybe I don't need it, and I'm like, I think
Speaker 1: that's what's helping. So it's it's a little tricky, and
Speaker 1: it's typically the case that it's not CBD by itself
Speaker 1: but with some element of th HC as well. I
Speaker 1: take a lot of CBD by itself. I for me personally,
Speaker 1: when I am consuming th HC, I really like it
Speaker 1: to have CBD in it, especially with edibles which can
Speaker 1: just last a long time, and sometimes th HC can
Speaker 1: make me anxious. UM. And so I found that this
Speaker 1: sort of body effects. UM. They CBD is great for inflammation,
Speaker 1: and so I think we all probably have more than
Speaker 1: what we should or what we would like, and so
Speaker 1: it's sort of lowering that inflammation, which then helps to
Speaker 1: also balance the endocannabinoid system and and bring on these
Speaker 1: balancing homeostasis type effects. UM, So I I really like
Speaker 1: CBD with my THHC. If I I just got a
Speaker 1: pre role from delivery service with a mix of A
Speaker 1: C d C and Jack Carreer low dos really pleasant.
Speaker 1: It was just like a wonderful kind of a little
Speaker 1: bit of creativity in your head. But I also felt
Speaker 1: like I heard you want to show talking about how
Speaker 1: sometimes when you smoke weed, your come up with great
Speaker 1: ideas and maybe they're not so good the next morning.
Speaker 1: And I feel like CBD sometimes can can UM just
Speaker 1: counter that a little bit? You you kind of feel
Speaker 1: more like yourself. So what's the ratio that you enjoy
Speaker 1: with the T h C CBD in edibles? I like
Speaker 1: it from kind of a three to one ratio to
Speaker 1: about a twenty to one UM if I have a
Speaker 1: little more time, if I, you know, have a little
Speaker 1: bit more freedom, a one to one UM, like if
Speaker 1: I'm going on a fun hike or something without UM
Speaker 1: twenty part cd D to one part th HC. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're newly non intoxicating. Uh huh. And but the CBD
Speaker 1: N and you'll say you'll you'll you'll find some benefit
Speaker 1: from it, even if there's not the slightest bit of
Speaker 1: t HC in there. I get a lot of benefit
Speaker 1: from it. I take it in UM a gel cap.
Speaker 1: There's a women run company based in Chicago called Equilibria.
Speaker 1: I love their gel caps. They own their farm in Colorado,
Speaker 1: and I've been using their products for a long time.
Speaker 1: And there'll be times when I don't have it with
Speaker 1: me or I go away and I you know, I
Speaker 1: run out, and I really noticed that my anxiety goes up,
Speaker 1: my sort of irritability go is up. UM it has
Speaker 1: a very very balancing effect for me. And what dose
Speaker 1: level are you talking about? Anywhere from like seventy milligrams
Speaker 1: to two hundred milligrams if I'm having a very stressful time,
Speaker 1: so it's a lot. And then is it kind of
Speaker 1: daily supplement? What do you do for that that is
Speaker 1: my daily supplement? I mean, I really think of it
Speaker 1: as a supplement. Uh huh. So you might be if
Speaker 1: it going through a stressful time, you might kick it
Speaker 1: up to two hundred milligrams and otherwise be it around
Speaker 1: seventy five or so exactly and taken once a day,
Speaker 1: morning or night. Does it make a difference. No, you know,
Speaker 1: it's funny. This is sort of another part of the
Speaker 1: medical side of cannabis that I think people have to
Speaker 1: wrap their heads around a little bit, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: doctors and nurses have talked to me about this. They say,
Speaker 1: you know, I have a patient who is used to
Speaker 1: taking their medicine, you know, every eight hours or every
Speaker 1: six hours, and that can be how cannabis works as well.
Speaker 1: You know, you're not just going to take it first
Speaker 1: thing in the morning and your pain will be gone
Speaker 1: all day long. Um. You know, this is one of
Speaker 1: the reasons that things like can of butter is really
Speaker 1: popular because you can put a little bit of butter
Speaker 1: on your toast in the morning, have some at lunch,
Speaker 1: have some at dinner. You kind of need to keep
Speaker 1: it in your system so that you can keep the effects.
Speaker 1: That's really what micro docing is when people talk about
Speaker 1: micro doce in cannabis, is taking smaller amounts so that
Speaker 1: you can feel the positive effects for longer. And how
Speaker 1: about sleep. Sleep is a huge topic, and the first
Speaker 1: question to ask is do you have trouble falling asleep
Speaker 1: or do you have trouble staying asleep? So I had
Speaker 1: never had any sleep issues, and then I had a
Speaker 1: small child and I started a business kind of in
Speaker 1: the same year, and I still don't have trouble falling asleep,
Speaker 1: but I do wake up a lot. I was at
Speaker 1: a conference recently talking to some other women entrepreneurs and
Speaker 1: we were like, oh, is it three oh four for
Speaker 1: you or like three oh seven because it's the same
Speaker 1: time most nights. Um. But CBD has really really helped
Speaker 1: to solve that for me. So I take another gel
Speaker 1: cap before bed. Um. You know, CBN is a cannabinoid
Speaker 1: that's showing some promise in sleep. You know, the cannabis
Speaker 1: sleep medications that are coming out, more of them have um,
Speaker 1: the more minor cannabinoids in them. Um. But I really
Speaker 1: just think that it is a wonderful thing to try
Speaker 1: if you are not having results from sleep medications that
Speaker 1: you're taking, or even if you even if you are.
Speaker 1: You know, I've had women on my show who have
Speaker 1: been dealing with terrible insomnia and gone into their doctor
Speaker 1: and that their doctor has given them a prescription for
Speaker 1: ambient and said, you're going to have to start taking
Speaker 1: more of this. It's going to stop working. So maybe
Speaker 1: what you do is take it for two weeks of
Speaker 1: the month and then don't take it for two weeks,
Speaker 1: and it's like, is that really a solution, that's really
Speaker 1: the advice that you're getting. And the same issue about
Speaker 1: people developing tolerance. Does one develop tolerance for the effects
Speaker 1: of CBD and that it does need to be increased
Speaker 1: over time to achieve the same effects or not, But
Speaker 1: I guess there's really no research on that as well.
Speaker 1: At this point, I have not found that to be
Speaker 1: the case. I don't need more. I need more when
Speaker 1: I'm more stressed, but I don't need more just to
Speaker 1: kind of keep my balanced level. And one thing I
Speaker 1: will say about sleeping cannabis, I talked to a lot
Speaker 1: of people who will kind of say, you know, Ellen,
Speaker 1: I'm just really not into weed, but I take an
Speaker 1: edible every night to sleep, and it's changed my life,
Speaker 1: and so um sleep is so important to just human
Speaker 1: functioning that it has been I think an entryway for
Speaker 1: some people who are willing to try anything to get
Speaker 1: a good night's rest and finding great, great relief with cannabis. Now,
Speaker 1: everything you're saying right about thertal immune disease and stress
Speaker 1: and anxiety and sleep, it all applies really equally to
Speaker 1: men and women. I mean, obviously, I think probably women
Speaker 1: suffer from many of these issues more than men do. UM.
Speaker 1: But in terms of the advice, is there anything significantly different. No.
Speaker 1: You know, my husband takes CBD just like I do.
Speaker 1: It works for him. When he stops taking it, if he,
Speaker 1: you know, starts to feel more stressed, he takes more. UM.
Speaker 1: The thing that I do notice, and this is also anecdotal,
Speaker 1: but you know, if my husband and I are sharing
Speaker 1: a joint on a Saturday night, sometimes all like it
Speaker 1: and he won't, or you know, I'll have effects that
Speaker 1: feel like I feel very chatty and um, really kind
Speaker 1: of excited about things, and he gets super sleepy. So
Speaker 1: the effects can really differ a lot between us UM.
Speaker 1: Which is one of the challenges about cannabis and why
Speaker 1: I've tried to make my show so practical, because I
Speaker 1: really want people to feel confident about cannabis for health,
Speaker 1: for well being, for fun and knowing more about it.
Speaker 1: You know, there are some kind of tools that you
Speaker 1: can use. You know, if I find myself too high,
Speaker 1: I know that I can take a CBD oil tincture
Speaker 1: and put it under my tongue. And it'll balance out
Speaker 1: how I'm feeling. Um, A little tricks like that that
Speaker 1: can really help with confidence for men and for women,
Speaker 1: because there's just not enough. It's interesting point that if
Speaker 1: you are feeling too high, that putting a little CBD
Speaker 1: thinks you're saying under your tongue can really help bring
Speaker 1: you down from that a bit and turn turn it
Speaker 1: kind of too much high into a pleasant high. It's
Speaker 1: the best advice I try and tell everyone that I can. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's amazing. Um, if you're trying a new strain, or
Speaker 1: if you're going to be out with people and you're
Speaker 1: not sure you know how you want to feel, just
Speaker 1: throw a CBD oil tincture um into your bag and
Speaker 1: put um a dropper underneath your tongue, hold it there
Speaker 1: for probably sixty seconds, and then about fifteen minutes you
Speaker 1: will feel less high and more like yourself. Oh, that's
Speaker 1: it's it's great advice. Well, let me ask you. I
Speaker 1: mean maybe it's just cross the line, let me know.
Speaker 1: But so listen to the issue of mari one in sex. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, what's your general advice and thoughts about about that.
Speaker 1: Every woman should have a weed lube in her bedside table.
Speaker 1: Just every woman a weed loube. Finally, so cannabis lube.
Speaker 1: It's you know, just a serum. Um. If you live
Speaker 1: in a legal state, you can buy uh we lube
Speaker 1: that has th HC in it, which um is wonderful.
Speaker 1: But if you don't, cannabis lube with just CBD is
Speaker 1: also really fantastic and I highly highly recommend it um.
Speaker 1: This goes back to the pelvic region and the endocannabinoid
Speaker 1: system and having more receptors and cannabis in a lube
Speaker 1: it topical. It will not make you feel intoxicated, but
Speaker 1: it will bring more blood flow to the area and
Speaker 1: that increases sensuality, increases touch. And so the weed lube
Speaker 1: just as a as a topical is something that I
Speaker 1: give as a gift. UM. I give it as to
Speaker 1: friends as a gift a lot and UM and I
Speaker 1: highly highly recommend it um. And are there I mean
Speaker 1: I said, I don't think either of us is getting
Speaker 1: paid anything by any cannabis companies. Are there are there
Speaker 1: brands that you'd recommend? Yes? Um, there's a brand called
Speaker 1: fouria Um which has a CBD and a th HC
Speaker 1: lube t HC is available in California. In Colorado, I
Speaker 1: think a company called Quim which you can buy I
Speaker 1: think like at Nordstrums and urban outfitters. There's another one
Speaker 1: called um Her Highness. Her Highness has a very very
Speaker 1: fantastic weedlube that comes with some other um herbs in it,
Speaker 1: and so yes, I highly highly recommend weed lube for everyone,
Speaker 1: for every woman, and it does not really have an
Speaker 1: effect on men, So this is just for women topically,
Speaker 1: These weed lubes are are really not going to do
Speaker 1: much for men, but you'll have a partner who is
Speaker 1: you know, feeling hopefully much better, stronger orgasms, just feeling
Speaker 1: more sensation and and stronger positive feelings. So that is
Speaker 1: a wonderful thing. Cannabis for sex as sort of consuming
Speaker 1: it is definitely a little bit more complicated, and again
Speaker 1: it goes back to kind of what you are noticing
Speaker 1: the theme of what I'm saying, which is lower th
Speaker 1: HC having cb D. I always recommend that if you
Speaker 1: are new to cannabis and sex, that you start experimenting
Speaker 1: with yourself and understand how you feel with these different strains,
Speaker 1: because issues of consent and and comfort really can can
Speaker 1: play a role. And so we lube I am on
Speaker 1: for for every woman and then experimenting a little bit
Speaker 1: more if you want to bring cannabis, whether you're consuming
Speaker 1: it with edibles or um or smoking it into the bedroom.
Speaker 1: And the loops you're talking about are generally CBD high
Speaker 1: and low th HC. So the loops that I'm talking about,
Speaker 1: it is sort of a funny experience to walk into
Speaker 1: a dispensary and buy a weed lube. UM. So I
Speaker 1: do it like periodically just to remind myself that it's
Speaker 1: a little bit uncomfortable. But that is the only place
Speaker 1: where you'll be able to buy weed lobes with th
Speaker 1: HC from a licensed dispensary or delivery service. Um. But
Speaker 1: cbdlubes because CBD, because CBD is legal all across the country. Um,
Speaker 1: you can order it over the internet. M hmm. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: this conversation is going through some sensitive directions. But I've
Speaker 1: wondered too, when you have a more heavy a loube
Speaker 1: that's more heavy on th HC. You know, how shall
Speaker 1: I say this? I mean, if oral sex is involved,
Speaker 1: this demand getting high. Yeah, and and this is where
Speaker 1: again you know, not a lot of data, mostly anecdotal UM.
Speaker 1: And I think where it really becomes a question is
Speaker 1: around drug testing UM and there is definitely a possibility
Speaker 1: of having a positive drug test UM and so I
Speaker 1: think that that's another reason why it's really important to
Speaker 1: talk to your partner about what is happening about how
Speaker 1: you want to handle the loop. Maybe if you have
Speaker 1: a partner who's getting drug tested, it's CBD lube, you know,
Speaker 1: just considering all of the parts of how cannabis UH
Speaker 1: affects your sex life but also your life outside of
Speaker 1: the bedroom. Now you have the series of episodes on
Speaker 1: your podcast called the twelve Best Cannabis Strains for Women.
Speaker 1: So I mean, there's no hard research any of this stuff, right,
Speaker 1: It's all anecdotal coming from consumers and from people who
Speaker 1: work in stores and such. But well, let me start
Speaker 1: off with a very specific question. Have you found in
Speaker 1: talking about this that there are certain strains they prefer
Speaker 1: with sex? They say this one is great for sex.
Speaker 1: I think that the strain that comes up the most
Speaker 1: is GSC which used to be known as Girl Scott Cookies. UM.
Speaker 1: People really like that one. I like to recommend it
Speaker 1: because I think it offers a balance of a body
Speaker 1: and a head high. It can be a strong strain,
Speaker 1: so one or two hits should should be fine. UM.
Speaker 1: We recently put out a series about what is good
Speaker 1: weed for women, and our most popular episode of the
Speaker 1: series is what is good Balanced Weed? And the two
Speaker 1: strains that we recommended in that UM in that series
Speaker 1: are bubblegum and Harlequin, and I think those are also
Speaker 1: really great strains to consider for sex. And this is
Speaker 1: why trying out a strain knowing whether you like it,
Speaker 1: knowing how it makes you feel, is a really important
Speaker 1: part of introducing it into a sexual relationship with a partner,
Speaker 1: because you want to know how it's going to make
Speaker 1: you feel. And some people love those strains, but some
Speaker 1: people don't. UM, So this is not the time to
Speaker 1: try something new. I wouldn't recommend let's take a break
Speaker 1: here and go to an ad. Do you find it's
Speaker 1: important that that? I mean that many consumers like to
Speaker 1: switch between strains, that if you keep using the same
Speaker 1: strain over and over and over, you sort of begin
Speaker 1: develop more of a tolerance for its psychoactive effects, and
Speaker 1: that by mixing them up that can keep, you know,
Speaker 1: keep one appreciating the particular psychoactive effects or alternatively, uh
Speaker 1: that people uh, you know say that well, I like
Speaker 1: this strain, you know, for sex, and this strain is
Speaker 1: great for just chilling and going to watch a movie,
Speaker 1: and this strain is best for, you know, when I
Speaker 1: want to do my yoga. Um. And that people are
Speaker 1: tailoring which strain they use for what activity they're going
Speaker 1: to be engaging in. I think that is one of
Speaker 1: the incredible parts of a legal market that you can
Speaker 1: go shopping and decide what you want to buy. And
Speaker 1: if you've had a good experience at yoga with a
Speaker 1: c d C, you know, you can probably find a
Speaker 1: C d C. If you love O G kush Um,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe that's the perfect strain for you to
Speaker 1: be watching a movie. Um. We have a series on
Speaker 1: our show called The First Time I Bought Legal Weed
Speaker 1: and women sending their story from all over the country
Speaker 1: and talk about their first experience. Because I really believe
Speaker 1: that it's a big barrier to a lot of women
Speaker 1: that they're just scared to go into a dispensary. There's
Speaker 1: a you know, usually a big dude outside, which is
Speaker 1: partly because it's a cash business. And so I want
Speaker 1: people to understand that this really can be more of
Speaker 1: a shopping experience and that you can start to dial
Speaker 1: in how you feel. Um, there are some people who
Speaker 1: just will always love the classics. But I also always
Speaker 1: say cannabis is a plant. So just because you love
Speaker 1: this strain from this particular brand, you know, it might
Speaker 1: be different in December than it is in June because
Speaker 1: the growing conditions were different, and so they're just a
Speaker 1: lot of variables to this being a plant. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of those other best cannabis strains, um, what
Speaker 1: were other ones that really stood out in terms of
Speaker 1: particular activities or preferences. One of the most popular strains
Speaker 1: in our series. Uh, we call it the Giggly pot
Speaker 1: and that's x J thirteen, which, um, is a really
Speaker 1: fun strain that you know. I think that this started
Speaker 1: sort of mid pandemic when I would just get texts
Speaker 1: or calls from friends like I just need to laugh?
Speaker 1: Can you please help me? Like what, it's just gonna
Speaker 1: make me smile? Um? So x J thirteen is one
Speaker 1: that I love to recommend to people. Um, I tend
Speaker 1: to recommend sort of either lower th HC strains, which
Speaker 1: would be t HC you know around t or looking
Speaker 1: for either flower or pre roles that have CBD in them,
Speaker 1: because you know, sometimes not really feeling it can be
Speaker 1: the perfect place for you to kind of start again
Speaker 1: understanding how cannabis might come into your life. And I
Speaker 1: just it's like my mission in life that that no
Speaker 1: one gets too high, you know, higher than they want,
Speaker 1: because I've just watched so many people say I will
Speaker 1: never or I'll never touch that again. I had such
Speaker 1: a bad experience. I ate an edible and I you know,
Speaker 1: it was high for two days and it was awful.
Speaker 1: And it just doesn't have to be that way. And
Speaker 1: so I really encourage people, um with all the strains
Speaker 1: that I recommend just start slow. Wait, you know, don't
Speaker 1: eat another edible and have fun with it. You know,
Speaker 1: like you don't have to be like me and keep
Speaker 1: notes on your phone and in a journal and all
Speaker 1: of that. But it can be really fun to keep
Speaker 1: a journal and kind of remember which strains make you
Speaker 1: feel a certain way. It's also a really helpful way
Speaker 1: to find your next favorite strain because when you go
Speaker 1: into a dispensary, one of the questions I always recommend
Speaker 1: people to to talk about with the retail salespeople the
Speaker 1: bud tenders, is you know, what was the last best
Speaker 1: experience you had with cannabis and what did you like
Speaker 1: about it? Because if you can tell them that, they
Speaker 1: will understand the clues of what you're saying. And most
Speaker 1: people who were a dispensaries absolutely love weed and absolutely
Speaker 1: want to help people find the perfect weed for them.
Speaker 1: So um, really paying attention to why you like what
Speaker 1: you try is just such a great way to kind
Speaker 1: of um build your relationship with cannabis. So it's perfect
Speaker 1: for for your needs, we don't. I also think that
Speaker 1: when I think about you know, many people over the
Speaker 1: years have said to me that, oh, yeah, I didn't
Speaker 1: really want it, but it made me feel uncomfortable or
Speaker 1: paranoid or whatever, and I just not used to try
Speaker 1: it again, although maybe they're under pressure or feeling they
Speaker 1: should give it a go again because it's becoming so
Speaker 1: much more common, um in our society. And sometimes what
Speaker 1: I'll do is I'll find that many times people whose
Speaker 1: initial experience is like that it said because they used
Speaker 1: cannabis for the first time in a social environment where
Speaker 1: they were not entirely comfortable, and so my advice to
Speaker 1: them will oftentimes be less about strains. It will be
Speaker 1: more about well, next time you do it, you know,
Speaker 1: do it only with people you really feel comfortable with.
Speaker 1: People you don't have to feel that you're being on with,
Speaker 1: you know, people you can relax with their Do it
Speaker 1: by yourself or with one other person, your partner or friend,
Speaker 1: and do it, you know, sitting outdoors or watching a
Speaker 1: sunset or maybe taving a swim in the lake or
Speaker 1: or something like that, and give yourself another chance to
Speaker 1: re encounter marijuana in a in a safe way and
Speaker 1: a safe place. Now. You know. One of the things
Speaker 1: is that people say they talked about an element of
Speaker 1: you know, some paranoia, and I think you did an
Speaker 1: episode specifically about marijuana and paranoia. So what was that about?
Speaker 1: We did? We have a series that's called Weed Words,
Speaker 1: which helps to just dig into the words that you
Speaker 1: think you should know but maybe you don't um and
Speaker 1: we have a show on marijuana, CBD and paranoia and
Speaker 1: the Paranoia show is I love this one because I
Speaker 1: think there are two ways to look at paranoia. There's
Speaker 1: a physical, you know, the feeling of being paranoid that
Speaker 1: a person can have if they have too much cannabis.
Speaker 1: And what I have learned and what There are some
Speaker 1: studies around this um showing that high THHC can activate
Speaker 1: the amygdala in your brain, which increases feelings of paranoia.
Speaker 1: So it is a real phenomenon UM. And I also
Speaker 1: think that what you said earlier about set and setting
Speaker 1: can really play a role. We have another show on
Speaker 1: the Munchies, and this also kind of comes to play
Speaker 1: with people who are experiencing the munchies. If you have
Speaker 1: an expectation that you are going to be super hungry,
Speaker 1: you might eat more, and cannabis makes food tastes smell better,
Speaker 1: so you're probably gonna like it. And I think the
Speaker 1: same thing can can be with with paranoia, where if
Speaker 1: you have an expectation that this is something that might
Speaker 1: make you feel self conscious, that might make you feel uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: then that can become a self fulfilling prophecy um. And
Speaker 1: and it just goes back to trying to kind of
Speaker 1: confidence in people that it doesn't have to be this way,
Speaker 1: that if you get too high, there are ways that
Speaker 1: you can come down. UM, And like my CBD oil
Speaker 1: tincture tip and and trying to just open up to
Speaker 1: this maybe being related to kind of cultural phenomenon. The
Speaker 1: third meta layer of paranoia is just you know, all
Speaker 1: of the propaganda that has come out of the War
Speaker 1: on drugs and fear and very real fear for people
Speaker 1: of being arrested. Black people are four times more likely
Speaker 1: than white people to be arrested for possessing cannabis. So
Speaker 1: there are very real reasons that paranoia and cannabis are
Speaker 1: tied together. But we tried to unpack it in this
Speaker 1: episode and and break down the specifics so that you
Speaker 1: can feel more confident that you can avoid that as
Speaker 1: a side effect and also potentially open up your mind
Speaker 1: to why you feel that way. Mm hmmm mmmm. So
Speaker 1: marijuana and markets, right, I mean, you know, so much
Speaker 1: of business is still male dominated. Uh, you know, most
Speaker 1: of the entrepreneurs, most of the startups are men. Although
Speaker 1: I will say I was just recently at a at
Speaker 1: a meeting with all sorts of women, in fact, women
Speaker 1: of color, who were engaged in starting their own marijuana
Speaker 1: businesses or involved in marijuana regulation or involved in marijuana advocacy. Um,
Speaker 1: but what's your sense about, you know, perception is the
Speaker 1: proportion of women in the industry growing? Um? I mean,
Speaker 1: do you encourage women to shop at women owned stores
Speaker 1: or outlets. What's your approach on this. I think it
Speaker 1: really comes back to capital and access to capital, and
Speaker 1: in an industry like cannabis, which is federally legal, uh,
Speaker 1: there's no access to banking and so to fund cannabis
Speaker 1: businesses requires either running them off of profits, which are
Speaker 1: hard to come by in this industry at this moment
Speaker 1: for many people, or raising money, and women historically have
Speaker 1: raised two of all venture funding, so of venture capital
Speaker 1: money is going to men, and UM, it's it's fairly depressing,
Speaker 1: um to think about it. I was just at a
Speaker 1: conference with a bunch of women and we were, you know,
Speaker 1: experiencing this lack of capital and cannabis and talking about it,
Speaker 1: and the men were talking about it and the women
Speaker 1: and I kind of moved to the side and we're like,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it might just always be this
Speaker 1: hard for women. So maybe we're at an advantage in
Speaker 1: a moment when capital is really hard to come by. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think that a lot of the women that
Speaker 1: I know who have gotten into the cannabis industry are
Speaker 1: in it because they or someone that they love has
Speaker 1: had their life drastically improved by the plan, and so
Speaker 1: there's just a very strong passion. UM, this is a
Speaker 1: really challenging industry. It's a startup industry, it's federally illegal,
Speaker 1: it is completely different by state. There's no interstate commerce.
Speaker 1: You know. They're all kinds of chal lenges to scaling
Speaker 1: and running a business. And I think that, um, it
Speaker 1: is it's hard because the more capital is scarce, the
Speaker 1: more likely it's going to go to the bigger companies.
Speaker 1: I listened to your fascinating interview with Boris Jordan's, who
Speaker 1: I think has a similar view that you know, the
Speaker 1: next few years and watching what is going to happen
Speaker 1: with something like safe banking could really make a difference
Speaker 1: for smaller players, and I do agree with him. I
Speaker 1: think that access to capital is one of the biggest
Speaker 1: challenges for women and for people of color in cannabis.
Speaker 1: Mm hm. You know it's interesting, um. And I was
Speaker 1: recently at the ark View conference. You know, the ark
Speaker 1: View Marijuana Business conference has been around for quite a
Speaker 1: number of years, and that always weaves in some themes
Speaker 1: around equity and social justice, cetera. But two people I
Speaker 1: met there, um. One was the head of Truly, the
Speaker 1: Florida based company. I think it's Kim, who I never
Speaker 1: met before, and I that's one of the five biggest companies.
Speaker 1: So I guess she's the one woman who's playing at
Speaker 1: that kind of top level of things. Um. And and
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of the multi state operators are
Speaker 1: seeing quite critically by the small business folks. The other person,
Speaker 1: by that way, I met with somebody who I think
Speaker 1: has been a guest of yours quite frequently, and that's
Speaker 1: Dr June chin Um talking about the medical aspects of marijuana.
Speaker 1: We had a little connection. I guess she's living in Scarsdale,
Speaker 1: New York, which is where I didn't grow up there,
Speaker 1: but I graduated high school there. UM. So yeah, June Chinn,
Speaker 1: by the way, her expertise is she specialized on women
Speaker 1: and cannabis. She has a lot of expertise on women
Speaker 1: in cannabis. But I think she just specializes in cannabis. UM.
Speaker 1: And there's so few physicians that have that expertise and
Speaker 1: are willing to talk about it. Um. That's who I
Speaker 1: sent to my friend yesterday who had sent me the
Speaker 1: questions about Crownscincy. She's a wonderful resource. M and so listen,
Speaker 1: so all this talk about marijuana. And meanwhile, there's this
Speaker 1: psychedelics renaissance going on, and you know, there's always been
Speaker 1: in the academic world. I mean, I have on my shelves,
Speaker 1: I have book after book about women and heroin women.
Speaker 1: It's like it's women in pregnancy, women in this one
Speaker 1: in that historical perspective, health perspective. In fact, you know,
Speaker 1: I grabbed the book off the shelf because my notes
Speaker 1: I need. I need a large sized book to to
Speaker 1: keep my notes on. And the book I just by coincidence,
Speaker 1: grabbed off the shelf is one that came out forty
Speaker 1: years ago called Shaman Women Mainline Lady Women's Writings on
Speaker 1: the Drug Experience, edited by Cynthia Palmer and Michael Harowitz.
Speaker 1: So all which makes me wonder, are you find yourself
Speaker 1: getting interested in women and other drugs, notably psychedelics. Are
Speaker 1: you gonna stay on this women in marijuana thing for
Speaker 1: a while. It's funny that you ask that. I So,
Speaker 1: I live in San Francisco and I have been going
Speaker 1: to parties where everyone is on mushrooms a lot and
Speaker 1: lose basic lodos mushrooms, and I really kind of it's
Speaker 1: just it kind of makes me laugh because if you
Speaker 1: years ago, it was like Ellen works and weed, and
Speaker 1: now it's like Ellen doesn't know anything about mushroom. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you. I was just at a gathering and
Speaker 1: it's so I mean, I went over to friends house
Speaker 1: and and he showed me the guy who, you know,
Speaker 1: the marijuana delivery guy in New York City. And now
Speaker 1: the delivery guys are bringing not just all sorts of
Speaker 1: cannabis to smoke, but also vade pens and also edibles
Speaker 1: and you know, drinkables and tinctures in this and that.
Speaker 1: And they're bringing over, you know, seven different versions of
Speaker 1: mushroom chocolate bars or mushroom candies and maybe a little
Speaker 1: too CB and stuff like that. And I mean, this
Speaker 1: is what's going on on the kind of illicit delivery
Speaker 1: front um and now the kind of quasi legal delivery
Speaker 1: front And the same thing. I'm at a party and
Speaker 1: there's somebody's got some you know, kind of micro dozing
Speaker 1: or slightly higher level of mushroom stuff. Um, so what
Speaker 1: are you thinking? Are you going to be diving in?
Speaker 1: You know, I've asked a lot of people about this,
Speaker 1: and when I go to conferences, I usually walk in
Speaker 1: and I tell myself, I have to learn more about
Speaker 1: psychedelics before I leave here. And the people that I've
Speaker 1: talked to have said, you're kind of called to it
Speaker 1: or you're not, And right now I don't feel called
Speaker 1: to it. I think that what's happened for me working
Speaker 1: in cannabis and and understanding the way that a legal
Speaker 1: market works, and especially around dosage, I just am not
Speaker 1: very comfortable putting something into my body than when I
Speaker 1: don't know how much is there and can Mushrooms have
Speaker 1: been decriminalized in San Francisco, so that could potentially open
Speaker 1: up dosing for me, and I'm sure that there are
Speaker 1: many many people who could help me with this, but
Speaker 1: right now I feel pretty happy um with cannabis. But
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated by what I've been learning about psychedelics, which
Speaker 1: is really just like the advances that are going to
Speaker 1: be possible in the next few years around treatments for
Speaker 1: mental health issues. So UM. I was speaking to someone
Speaker 1: at this conference that where I was called Trailblazers in
Speaker 1: o Hi a few weeks ago at a great conference,
Speaker 1: and he was saying that basically, right now, when you
Speaker 1: go in and you're talking to a psychiatrist or someone
Speaker 1: about a mental health issue. You kind of spill your
Speaker 1: symptoms and then they have a handful of drugs that
Speaker 1: can help you to combat them, but many of them
Speaker 1: come with side effects. Many of them aren't, you know,
Speaker 1: very specific about what they're doing. And what the research
Speaker 1: into psychedelics of of all different types is going to
Speaker 1: allow for is really really targeted care for specific issues.
Speaker 1: So I'm thrilled that that is coming. You know, I've
Speaker 1: read the Michael Pollen book, I've read sort of the
Speaker 1: mainstream books about psychedelics, but right now I'm sticking with weed.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Okay, Well listen. So you've been doing a
Speaker 1: podcast now for three years. I'm at about the one
Speaker 1: and a half year more. I'm loving it and enjoying it.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's keeping me engaged and I'm both you know,
Speaker 1: interviewing a old friends and colleagues as well as meeting
Speaker 1: new people such as yourself, and I enjoy the whole
Speaker 1: process of it. And and what's your feelings? So, after
Speaker 1: three years, do you see yourself continue to do this
Speaker 1: for years to come? Do you see yourself branching out
Speaker 1: in other ways? In the in the cannabis area. Well,
Speaker 1: I am raising money for my business. So if anyone
Speaker 1: wants to talk about angel investing in a fast growing
Speaker 1: women focus business, I would love to talk more about it.
Speaker 1: I love it, and what's the business. This is the business,
Speaker 1: this is the education platform, and building a community and
Speaker 1: turning it into kind of whatever comes next in cannabis.
Speaker 1: I think that community first is the way that a
Speaker 1: lot of businesses that focus on women in kind of
Speaker 1: newer areas like well being and health related areas UM
Speaker 1: start and start strongly because you can develop your ambassadors
Speaker 1: and people really need to feel trust. So that has
Speaker 1: been a huge just passion project of mine, helping to
Speaker 1: develop this community and allow women to feel like they
Speaker 1: not only can learn, but but learn from a friend
Speaker 1: and learn from someone who is really thinking about UM
Speaker 1: how to UM encourage a you know, a happier life
Speaker 1: at its root. So I love it. UM It's it's
Speaker 1: really fun. Also, you know, I was an English major
Speaker 1: and I love to read and I love to write,
Speaker 1: and so I get to write all my shows they're scripted,
Speaker 1: and work with amazing collaborators. I think that's been a
Speaker 1: really fun part about being in podcasting that UM It's
Speaker 1: it's certainly not a movie. But you know, we bring
Speaker 1: a lot of different people in. I've got my copywriters
Speaker 1: who help with our social media. We have all kinds
Speaker 1: of sort of different growth areas digitally, because cannabis is
Speaker 1: a tricky industry to market in and to try to
Speaker 1: grow a business because we don't have access to any
Speaker 1: type of digital marketing, so everything has to be organic.
Speaker 1: So I'm sort of perpetually looking to see where where
Speaker 1: the consumer that I want to talk to might be,
Speaker 1: and other people aren't thinking about it. A Pinterest, for instance,
Speaker 1: is a really wonderful channel for us and for our podcasts.
Speaker 1: We post everything on there and we have a great reception.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's like a super fun puzzle marketing challenge.
Speaker 1: This is the most fascinating industry. Cannabis is a fascinating industry,
Speaker 1: but so is podcasting, and it's growing nearly as fast.
Speaker 1: At least it's legal, right, yeah, it is legal in
Speaker 1: all fifty states, not just nineteen all right exactly. And
Speaker 1: the website that's connected to all of your work do
Speaker 1: the pot dot com, So everything you can check us
Speaker 1: out on all the socials where do the pot dot
Speaker 1: com or at do the pot and UM, yeah, please
Speaker 1: check us out. We've got all kinds of information on
Speaker 1: the website. We have so many episodes that I hope
Speaker 1: answer all of the questions that women and that just
Speaker 1: people in general might be secretly googling and and not
Speaker 1: able to find a good resource to answer their questions.
Speaker 1: Uh huh, Well, I mean, I so much enjoying the conversation.
Speaker 1: I mean, for me, part of what I've learned, of course,
Speaker 1: is some of the issues and how they're specific to
Speaker 1: women on health and wellness especially, but the other one
Speaker 1: is simply, you know, just it's made me. It's given
Speaker 1: me a little push to develop a better understanding of
Speaker 1: CBD in the high CBD ratio visa v T h
Speaker 1: C and looking in that into more deeply. And also
Speaker 1: because I haven't done CBD really as a daily supplement,
Speaker 1: so I really really appreciate this. So I do want
Speaker 1: to thank you, um for taking this time with me
Speaker 1: and my listeners on Psychoactive, and I wish you all
Speaker 1: the best with your you know, the podcast and your
Speaker 1: future ventures. Thank you so much. This has been a
Speaker 1: great conversation. I'm so happy to have had it. If
Speaker 1: you're enjoying Psychoactive. Please tell your friends about it, or
Speaker 1: you can write us a review at Apple Podcasts or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. We love to hear from
Speaker 1: our listeners. If you'd like to share your own stories,
Speaker 1: comments and ideas, then leave us a message at one
Speaker 1: eight e three seven seven nine six that's eight three
Speaker 1: three psycho zero, or you can email us at Psychoactive
Speaker 1: at protozoa dot com, or find me on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Ethan natal Man. You can also find contact information in
Speaker 1: our show notes. Psychoactive is a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Protozoa Pictures. It's hosted by me Ethan Nadelman.
Speaker 1: It's produced by noa'm osband and Josh Stain. The executive
Speaker 1: producers are Dylan Golden, Ari Handel, Elizabeth Geesus and Darren
Speaker 1: Aronofsky from Protozoa Pictures, Alex Williams and Matt Frederick from
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio and me Ethan Nadelman. Our music is
Speaker 1: by Ari Blucien and a special thanks to Avi Brio,
Speaker 1: s F Bianca Grimshaw and Robert BP. Next week I'll
Speaker 1: be talking with Chris Killer. He's the samed medicine hunter
Speaker 1: who has explored plant medicines all around the world. For decades,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking about cava, the plant medicine from South
Speaker 1: Pacific that's making its way around the world. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've sat a couple of times and these magnificent cava
Speaker 1: ceremonies and drinking this insanely strong cova they called stone cava,
Speaker 1: which is minced with a coral head so that you
Speaker 1: rupture every last cell of this really fibrous cava root,
Speaker 1: giving every little bit of the relaxing compounds out there
Speaker 1: and into the water. And you know, it's magical. It's
Speaker 1: just plain magical, a breathtaking li so and then you
Speaker 1: go out underneath the stars and you get a sense
Speaker 1: of the the absolute tiny nous of us and the
Speaker 1: absolute gigantic nature of everything else. Subscribe to Cycleactive now
Speaker 1: see you don't miss it.