Cannabis can be a confusing concept. THC, CBD, CBN, CBG, 420, there are a lot of terms to learn.
Luckily, a locally made podcast called "Reefer Medness", produced in our CKDM studios, explores a huge range of topics on cannabis, and looks to answer almost any question
The show is hosted by registered nurse Kirk Nyquist and pharmacist Trevor Shewfelt, and together with a wide variety of special guests, they explore the mechanisms of cannabis, what it does, and how it affects society.
The series recently released its 100th episode, with 101 coming out shortly, and as host Kirk Nyquist details, the show covers "reefer madness", medicine, and more.
"We've explored driving under the influence of cannabis, taxation of cannabis, cannabis and chronic pain, we've explored cannabis and migraine headaches, we've explored the "madness" of cannabis and the stigma behind it. and we've explored Cannabis as an exit drug."
Cannabis was often seen as an entry drug, or gateway drug, to harder substances. On the podcast, Nyquist dives deep into where this idea is flawed, and how the opposite is true.
"One of the old tropes was that cannabis was an entry drug, the idea that if children started smoking cannabis, they'd be heroin addicts by the end of their life. While with actual fact, that's been discredited. There's a group of caregivers that are using it as an exit drug, meaning cannabis, when prescribed to a person to people who use narcotics, actually lowers the expenses of the narcotics, because people use less."
4/20, a widely observed cannabis-related "holiday", was a big topic of discussion with Nyquist. He commented how the origins of the day had a focus on legalizing or decriminalizing the drug, but also noted that the meaning of 4/20 has changed since cannabis became legal.
"Today, 4/20 brings forward the concept that cannabis is medicine and the federal government is ignoring it. A lot of emphasis is placed on the fact that cannabis is recreationally legal, so lets just go get our cannabis from the budtender. Unfortunately, budtenders are by law not allowed to discuss cannabis as medicine."
With the podcast celebrating the success of its first 100 episodes, it's likely there will be even more interesting, investigative, and informative episodes to come.
If you're looking to learn nearly anything about cannabis, check out the Reefer Medness Website for a full list of topics and episodes.
