COMING UP – THIS SATURDAY May 8, 2021
SEASON 3 • EPISODE 9
CDC Youth Studies of Marijuana Use
Dr. Sheila P. Vakharia is Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Academic Engagement for the Drug Policy Alliance. The Alliance is the national drug policy reform organization. She reports that the Center for Disease Control conducts national annual surveys in all 50 states and DC on high school students in 9th to 12th grades. Every year they collect data on mental health indicators and a variety of other issues. Their most recent report released data on the past ten years. Studies show that legalization of in many areas was not followed by increased use of marijuana by young people. This counters concerns that legalization would encourage use by the young.
Vaccine Against Opioid Addiction?
Therese A. Kosten, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at the University of Houston as well as Director of Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience, Director of Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program, and Principal Investigator of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Kosten – and her colleagues are doing amazing research on creating a vaccine for people who suffer from opioid addiction. They are creating a vaccine against fentanyl, by using the body’s immune system to develop antibodies against fentanyl. This allows the body to fend off future use of the drug sequestering in the blood so that it doesn’t reach the brain. This is where it has all of its physiological and psychological effects. Many people who turn to hard illegal drug use have consumed substances that do what cannabis would never do. This breakthrough research may offer a unique approach and unprecedented relief.
W420 Lifestyle Radio Correspondent Rich Walcoff in the field Special Report:
How Pot Got Legal
Wayne Justmann, sometimes called “The Godfather of Legal Weed,” will forever be known as Patient #1 in the California medical marijuana program. This pioneer in the cannabis legalization movement tell us that “All use of cannabis is medical.” Wayne worked on the words of Proposition 215 in the years leading up to legalization in 1996. This held that a patient, with a doctor’s recommendation or approval, could possess or cultivate cannabis for their illnesses and health related issues. If you’re living in one of the 36 states that has legal marijuana, or one of the 16 states that permits growing and adult use for any reason, you may owe some debt of gratitude to Mr. Justmann. He received the very first legal marijuana use card in the United States. Hear the story of this pioneer trek toward legalization and the obstacles he faced.
Medical Cannabinoids
Norbert Kaminski is a Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Michigan State University, where he also serves as the Director of the Institute for Integrative Toxicology and the Interim Director of the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety. He tells us about his work on how inflammation occurs in the human body. Inflammation in itself can be a helpful process that protects the body. The problem comes when inflammation occurs inappropriately. In such cases, it can lead to damage and destruction of our tissues. His work is focused on using cannabinoids that try and temper that inflammatory response when its inappropriate. Learn how marijuana once again leads the way to finding remedies for our illnesses.
S3.E09. Marijuana Youth Studies. Vaccine for Opioid Addiction? How Pot Got Legal. Medical Cannabinoids.