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Speaker 1: Welcome to Wellness un Mass.

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Speaker 2: I'm doctor Nicole Saffire and this is your weekly Rundown.

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Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about cannabis today because

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Speaker 2: it seems like everyone's talking about it, the normalization of it,

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Speaker 2: the commercialization of it, and whether public health is just

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Speaker 2: keeping up with the science. Seems to me people are

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Speaker 2: actually starting to pay attention. If you scream loud enough

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Speaker 2: at the potential harms. It takes a while, but it

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Speaker 2: sounds like people are starting to listen. So let's start

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Speaker 2: with reality. Cannabis is now legal for medical use in

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Speaker 2: most states and recreational use, you know, for fun in

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Speaker 2: more than half the country. But the perception of harm

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Speaker 2: is dropping, meaning people are not realizing that it actually

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Speaker 2: has some risks, especially young adults and teenagers. Well, teenagers,

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Speaker 2: they seem to be pretty risk averse. They don't necessarily

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Speaker 2: think anything is risky. But the biology hasn't changed just

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Speaker 2: because the laws have changed, there are risks.

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Speaker 1: Here's what we know.

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Speaker 2: According to the CDC, about three and ten people who

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Speaker 2: use cannabis become addicted to it, called cannabis use disorder.

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Speaker 1: That number climbs to nearly.

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Speaker 2: Half among people who smoke or use cannabis in whatever

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Speaker 2: form they're using it in daily and the younger someone starts,

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Speaker 2: the higher their risk for dependency. Now why is that

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Speaker 2: an issue, Well, let me tell you it's not because

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Speaker 2: some study just came out last month.

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Speaker 1: No.

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Speaker 2: In fact, the oldest study that I know of is

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Speaker 2: from twenty twelve that shows teenagers young adults who regularly

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Speaker 2: use cannabis and THHD products have lower IQs. Uh. Oh,

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Speaker 2: that's not good. Fast forward twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty studies all coming out showing younger users that use

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Speaker 2: cannabis and THHC have a higher risk of psychoses schizophrenia,

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Speaker 2: particularly in young men. There's also higher rates of anxiety

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Speaker 2: and panic disorders, impaired attention, memory, executive function, increased emergency

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Speaker 2: departments visits for hyper emesis syndrome.

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Speaker 1: Do you know what that means? That means they can't

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Speaker 1: stop vomiting. It's awful. I've seen it.

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Speaker 2: People come in and no, you just can't give them

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Speaker 2: a little medicine and they feel better. They are wretching

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Speaker 2: so badly that they can actually start bleeding from vomiting

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Speaker 2: so much. And by the way, there's growing data showing

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Speaker 2: cardiovascular disease may be linked to it, heart attacks, strokes, arrhythmias,

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Speaker 2: and other things. Now, are there potential benefits of Sure,

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Speaker 2: there's evidence supporting cannabinoids for chemotherapy induced nausea, certain seizure disorders,

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Speaker 2: chronic pain, syndromes, multiple sclerosis. But that's very different than just,

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Speaker 2: you know, blanket normalization of recreational, high potency daily use cannabis,

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Speaker 2: especially in those who brains are still developing, which doesn't

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Speaker 2: happen until about twenty five. Let's be honest, today's cannabis,

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Speaker 2: it's not your parents. Marijuana THC potency has increased dramatically

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Speaker 2: over the past two decades. High concentrate products, vapes, dabs, edibles,

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Speaker 2: whatever the kids are doing these days, I don't even know,

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Speaker 2: but they can contain sixty to ninety percent thchc because

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Speaker 2: that matters. The higher the THHD levels, the highest the

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Speaker 2: risk of psychoses and all of those other negative things.

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Speaker 2: And teen cannabis use is rising again. Sure, kids are

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Speaker 2: drinking less alcohol, but they're trading one vice for another.

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Speaker 2: Nearly one in five high school seniors report using cannabis

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Speaker 2: in the last month, but that's because the perceived harm

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Speaker 2: is at Historic Loves. Parents, you have to educate your kids.

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Speaker 2: Cannabis is dangerous, just like alcohol, just like other drugs.

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Speaker 2: It's not oh well, it's not as bad as some

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Speaker 2: of the other stuff.

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Speaker 1: Okay, sure, you're right. It's not like black tar heroin,

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Speaker 1: but it doesn't mean it's good for you. So first

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Speaker 1: start early. Don't wait until your kids are in high school.

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Speaker 2: Parents, you need to talk to your kids, especially when

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Speaker 2: they're in middle school, because that's when curiosity begins.

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Speaker 1: Be specific when you talk to them. Don't just say, ooh,

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Speaker 1: marijuana's bad.

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Speaker 2: Don't do it because if you say that, they're going

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Speaker 2: to be like, okay, mom, you don't know what you're

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Speaker 2: talking about. Explain that the adolescent brain is wiring its

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Speaker 2: executive control system at that very moment, and THHC directly

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Speaker 2: affects parts of their brain, specifically the hippocampus and the

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Speaker 2: prefrontal cortex. They need that if they actually want to

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Speaker 2: go and be a CEO one day. If they blunt it,

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Speaker 2: they're not going to be the CEO. They're always going

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Speaker 2: to be working for someone else. Next, differentiate the whole

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Speaker 2: medical from recreational messaging. Kids here, oh well, it's medicine,

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Speaker 2: so it must be okay. Clarify that FDA approved cannabinoid

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Speaker 2: medications are not the same as dispensary products with unregulated

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Speaker 2: potency and other additives. And also, of course, just watch

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Speaker 2: for red flags.

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Speaker 1: Kids.

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Speaker 2: They experiment all the time, if they have declining grades withdrawals,

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Speaker 2: not sleeping very well, mood swim hiding things. You're finding

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Speaker 2: those little vap cartridges. I'm telling you guys, they're no good. Yes,

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Speaker 2: I get it. We don't want kids smoking cigarettes. We

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Speaker 2: also don't want them smoking pot. We just don't now

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Speaker 2: zooming out. I'm going to take away from cannabis my

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Speaker 2: take on it. I don't like it. I personally never

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Speaker 2: have tried it. I think CBD products are probably significantly

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Speaker 2: less harmful if they don't contain THHC. I am not

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Speaker 2: a fan of THCHC. I think if people are trying

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Speaker 2: to get away from alcohol and they want to take

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Speaker 2: low doses of CBD, not inhaling it, not smoking anything,

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Speaker 2: I'm sure it's probably less risky than some of the

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Speaker 2: other things out there. But when I talk about the

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Speaker 2: concerns with cannabis use, I'm specifically speaking on the THHC

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Speaker 2: side of it.

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Speaker 1: Now zooming out.

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Speaker 2: I want to quickly mention something else that happened this week,

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Speaker 2: because it's a.

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Speaker 1: Leadership change up in the administration. Doctor j.

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Speaker 2: Bodicharia has stepped in as acting director of the CDC.

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Speaker 1: You may know him.

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Speaker 2: He became nationally known for challenging the pandemic orthodoxy and

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Speaker 2: advocating pretty much for more open scientific debate. President Trump

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Speaker 2: appointed him to lead the NIH right now under Secretary Kennedy.

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Speaker 2: Now he is stepping in to fill the temporary role

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Speaker 2: of CDC director. I don't know if you've noticed, but

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Speaker 2: we actually haven't had a permanent CDC director for more

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Speaker 2: than a couple of weeks since President Trump took the

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Speaker 2: White House.

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Speaker 1: It's been a revolving door.

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Speaker 2: It's probably because the CDC is a complete mess and

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Speaker 2: it's hard to kind of find someone that is able

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Speaker 2: to take charge but who can also gain the trust

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Speaker 2: of the people who are working there.

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Speaker 1: It's definitely going to be an uphill battle.

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Speaker 2: Doctor Bodicharia a very intelligent physician. He is open minded

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Speaker 2: and he listens to other people. So I like him

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Speaker 2: in a leadership position. I'm interested to see exactly what

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Speaker 2: exactly he will do at the CDC level and that's

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Speaker 2: that more to come. Good luck to you, doctor Brodacharia.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to Wellness Unmasks. This

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Speaker 2: is your weekly rundown. I'm doctor Nicole Safire. Be sure

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Speaker 2: to listen to Wellness Unmask on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts, and I'll see you next time.