Confessions of a Recovering Pothead

Wil Ravelo has marched thousands of miles under a loaded pack. He started in the Marine Corps as a Force Reconnaissance Marine, and when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan kicked off, he chased them—jumping to the Army, joining Special Forces, and landing on the streets of Baghdad in combat inside of a year. After the military he spent thirteen years with the San Francisco Police Department, much of...

NOTE: This conversation between myself and Isaiah was recorded during a strenuous walk up a steep cemetery drive – the first of what might become a series of “Zone 2 Podcasts.” Zone 2 is the range of physical activity at which your heart rate is elevated, but you are still able to maintain a conversation (albeit with some huffing). Despite the sound quality limitations, I like this format and hope...

Modern life is inherently constricting, stultifying, and often just plain boring. It's no wonder that more and more men are opting out of the rat race. If you once found marijuana to be a reliable gateway into unexplored realms, but are not struggling to peel yourself off the couch, I suggest reframing your dependency as a catalyst to break free of the constrained path you're on, into literal open...

Does cannabis make you more creative, or just make you feel like it does? What makes someone opt to get high versus doing other things that are naturally rewarding? Josh Weil, my good friend and freshman year roommate tries to help me remember what those early days of smoking were like – when every high carried so much potency, and seemed to put me at my creative peak. In hindsight, while we had a...

I used to be convinced that I had a natural deficiency that required marijuana to medicate away my boredom, restlessness and anxiety. I was sure that weed was the solution – not the problem – until my experiment in smoking all day every day led me down a rabbit hole from which I couldn't escape. Timmen Cermak, M.D., is the author of several books on marijuana, and a leading expert on how our natur...

My name is Charlie and I'm a marijuana addict. Join me on my recovery journey – in search of pipedreams and Paradise Lost – in the heart of California's San Francisco Bay, where nature and the elements hold the key to unlocking an inward calm and healthy functioning Endocannabinoid system. Learn the 5 things that have kept me clean for 6 years and counting. This is a public episode. If you'd like...

Being sober is more than just not using your drug of choice, whether marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, or anything else. It means being at peace with your identity as an addict, who craves the substance, but also a human with naturally good desires. The paradox of addiction is that the more we use our preferred drug, the less we get the desired effects over time. With cannabis, this is especially insid...