Reefer MEDness

In this episode, Kirk and Trevor review “The Cannabis Cancer Connection” by Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich. Dr. Joe is a cardiologist who, in his retirement, became a self-descripted “cannabis oncologist”. He now applies pre-clinical cannabis research and his years of expertise and patient experience to his clinical cannabis practice. In his book, Dr. Joe discusses the “Art” of practicing medicine within a...

We continue our discussion with Dr. Genester Wilson-King about the use of cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The episode starts with a discussion on the various routes of administration for cannabis, including inhalation, tinctures, edibles, and topicals. She discusses the use of cannabis for hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness, and the potential risks and benefits....

In 2018, the Federal Cannabis Act was proclaimed. This federal act gave the provinces many of the responsibilities of managing the recreational use of cannabis. Although the recreational consumption of cannabis became legal throughout Canada, the Manitoba conservative government of 2018 placed several restrictions on cannabis, including not allowing Manitobans to grow cannabis at home. This despit...

Dr. Genester Wilson-King is an experienced OB-GYN and cannabis specialist practicing in Florida. In the first part of this two-part episode, Dr. Wislon-King explains how the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is present throughout the female reproductive system. The ECS plays a surprisingly large role in women's health. All health professions, including Dr. Wilson-King and Kirk & Trevor, agree that...

There are very few, if any, reliable methods of measuring cannabis impairment. Road-side sobriety tests done by trained Drug Recognition Experts are very subjective and workplaces are limited with how they assess employees with safety sensitive jobs. Back by video evidence, Gaize offers real-time impairment screening within 6 minutes. This portable AV device is considered accurate, providing objec...

Sharing stories is how we learn and connect. Kirk travels westward from Dauphin along North American’s most northern provincially connected highway system. Listen to the quirky, cool Bud Tenders stories he brought back from the road. Additional Music: Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com Marc Clement - Facebook Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Kirk and Trevor once again chat with Owen Smith, a key figure in the Canadian Cannabis movement. Owen has recently written a book chronicling his Cannabis experiences and is also on social media advocating for a "Buy Canadian" movement within the Cannabis industry. This episode is a catch up with both Owen and the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club exploring their collective legal battles establishing...

Don't kink-shame the promiscuous CBD. It's okay that in a world of orthosteric normative binding, CBD is into allosteric binding. In fact, CBD is not just into any allosteric binding. CBD is into negative allosteric binding. If none of that makes any sense to you, don't worry. We are going to take a deep dive into how the famous cannabinoid, CBD, interacts with the cannabinoid receptor CB1. And it...

Kirk and Owen continued discussion moves into a more personal realm as they share their views of the current state of Medical Cannabis industry. Kirk sees a disconnect with federal verses provincial government system management whereas Owen wants more services for individuals needing cannabis as medicine. As he continues his advocacy of medical cannabis, Owen also speaks to current projects to hel...

In this episode, Kirk learns how the law was on the side of righteousness when Owen Smith found himself in front of the Supreme Court of Canada defending a desire to help the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, a longstanding compassion club. In the first part of a longer discussion, listeners gain insights to his six-year legal journey which ends with him becoming a medical cannabis industry advocate...

Kirk and Trevor meet Sean Boyd, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and discuss the operations of Little Beach Harvest, a cannabis dispensary owned and operated by the Shinnecock tribe. The key to this episode is the community leverages its sovereign status to create its own cannabis regulations, allowing for indoor cultivation and a more customer-centric approach. The community has created a...

At the beginning of the Pandemic, we met Eric Greening. He wanted to start a craft cannabis operation just outside our hometown of Dauphin. We check in with Eric and see how pandemic construction has been going, and as a preview for our eventual facility tour! Trevor and Kirk also discuss what Trevor is and is not allowed to tell patients about cannabis as a pharmacist. Our My Cannabis story is Hi...

How do we define “Craft Cannabis” in Canada? Greencraft Cannabis, a local Manitoba grow operation, is out to answer this question. Eric Greening discusses the process of obtaining his Health Canada micro cultivation licence and how his new company will grow smaller batches putting the plant first. Not only has Health Canada created opportunity for smaller craft growers to finally legally enter the...

The conversation with BioSource Botanicals continues. In Part 2 Kirk and Trevor look deeper into the use of cannabis and cannabis-derived products offered by BioSource Botanicals. The expert panel discuss the differences in absorption and bioavailability between topical, sublingual, and edible cannabis products. They emphasize the importance of using whole plant extracts rather than isolated compo...

Bald, gloved, masked up and looking for drug dealer in New York. This is not a recent COVID-19 story. This is a story of former pro soccer player Ethan Zohn. Ethan didn’t do drugs in his youth because he was an elite athlete. Now in his thirties, Ethan had cancer, and cannabis helped his symptoms. As a chemotherapy patient, he had to go to the illegal market to get his cannabis. Ethan Zohn is a wo...

This episode of Reefer Medness - The Podcast features a discussion with a team of experts from BioSource Botanicals, including a pharmaceutical microbiologist, a cannabis clinician, and a pre-clinical research chemist. Kirk and Trevor discuss the importance of mitochondrial health and how the endocannabinoid system plays a crucial role in maintaining it. The experts explain the benefits of using w...

Dr. Rob Sealey returns to the podcast. Back in S3E7 he talked about Cannabis For Kids. Today we drive down the road to the other end of the age spectrum, Cannabis and Seniors. Dr. Sealey is super knowledgeable, but also pithy comment machine! Within this episode he says "you wouldn't go into your local liquor store and say, which bottle of Marlow should I use for my arthritis." He also figures "if...

There is an app specifically designed to sell more weed. In this episode, Kirk and Trevor hear the story of a serial entrepreneur who has curated a comprehensive marketing platform empowering dispensaries and other cannabis companies to promote their products within the law. This is yet another game changing idea from Carl Sailing, the creator of “High Day” his all-in-one marketing command centre....

Here is yet another story of how individuals found cannabis to be beneficial for their own personal medical needs. The difference in this story? These people went on to grow a grassroots organization called EduCanNation, a non-profit association of Certified Cannabis Educators. While many traditional healthcare professions remain hesitant or outright dismissive of cannabis medicine, EduCanNation i...

Rather than measure the wing span of mosquitoes, Dr. Lynda Balneaves RN became a nurse. Her story begins with recognizing a love for people and for travel. Her academic journey, of supporting people and health care providers with engaging in shared decision-making related to complementary and integrative health care, includes some of Canada’s earliest cannabis research. The scholastic chronicles,...

Dr. Ethan Russo has made immense contributions to the understanding of cannabis. 2024 was particularly productive as Dr. Russo’s name kept popping up in some very interesting papers. We got him to chat with us about two of them. First there is the entourage effect paper. The entourage effect is the idea that different cannabinoids, terpenes and other components of the cannabis plant work together...

What were you doing during the start of the pandemic lock down in 2020? Did you build a puzzle for the first time in year? Did you get reacquainted with how stupid and long and frustrating monopoly is? How about sour dough bread? Did you make your first sour dough? Dr. Igor Kovalchuk and his wife, Dr. Olga Kovalchuk from the University of Lethbridge were locked out of their labs too. Their lock do...

The Canadian Medical Cannabis Program has been available for more than two decades, yet the process of obtaining cannabis as medicine remains very cumbersome. In comparison, Recreational Cannabis, seen as a substance of misuse, is easy to acquire. When people express an interest in trying cannabis as a medicine to their health care team, many health practitioners simply direct their patients towar...

Tarris Baptiste was athletically gifted. Tarris was driven. Tarris was on the brink of breaking into the National Football League. And then, it didn’t happen. Ten thousand hours plus spent on becoming an elite football player didn’t matter anymore. Now what? Tarris had a shadow pursuit that paralleled his football career. Sometimes it helped him succeed. Sometimes it got in the way. But now, he sh...

Dr. Suzy Pinnick, a family physician specializing in palliative medicine and remote northern medicine, shares her cannabis story with Kirk. In this episode, the two health professionals sit in a casual masked conversation within the warmth of the NIC’s office of a northern nursing station during a deep Covid19 Canadian winter evening. She is quick to say she has very little knowledge of cannabis,...