Good Dudes Grow

Drug tests today are antiquated and often inaccurate, and they keep folks from accessing the medicine they need. There's reason to think that, soon, this will change. But in the meantime, what should you know about your risk of failing a drug test due to using CBD products, or inhaling secondhand smoke?   As a firefighter who's passionate about helping other first responders heal from PTSD, anxiet...

Zachary Babcock was sitting in prison, having just been booked a second time after a previous four-year stint, trying to picture what his newborn twin sons looked like. That's when, as he tells it, he woke up.   He'd grown up without a father himself, spending time in and out of juvenile detention centers, boys' homes, and group homes. And he'd gotten into hard drugs at a young age. Now, he'd been...

Back in the '90s, Dr. Pamela Kryskow was a forestry firefighter in the summertime while earning her undergraduate degree in criminology. But being a first responder, she discovered, was something she had a natural affinity for, as well as something that felt like so much more than a summer gig. So, she became a firefighter in the Greater Vancouver area for the next eight years. And it was her work...

Former college football player Mark Tullius has always had dark thoughts. That's part of the reason he was drawn to heavy metal music, and it's a big part of his writing today in the horror and dystopian genres. But after a lifetime of playing violent, contact-based sports, he started to think that maybe the darkness wasn't entirely his personality at play — maybe it was his history of head trauma...

At 18, Nick Wingo thought he'd struck gold in his new career as a firefighter. It was the period just after 9/11, and it felt like he was doing something purposeful with his life: "We were America's heroes," he says.    Then, the deaths started — and so did the impact they'd ultimately have on him. Within his first few months as a firefighter, he responded to a call that involved a dead infant. Af...

A consultant in the emerging field of psychedelic medicine, Dr. Julia Mirer's medical career began first on the path to pediatrics. But after graduating from medical school and beginning her pediatric residency, she realized the medical system wasn't exactly what she'd imagined it to be. Namely, she got to see its many pitfalls up close. "I started to grow very disheartened. It started to not make...

Dr. Lonny Weiss got his professional start in integrative psychology working in a drug treatment program, where he eventually became clinical director. But his personal introduction to the merits of integrative, holistic medicine came much earlier in life.    "My mom comes from the islands, and when I was a child, I remember walking through parks with her and she'd say, 'Lonny, can you pick that u...

Supporting small cannabis and hemp farmers doesn't just carry the benefit of knowing you backed a small business. From a product quality standpoint, there's no comparison between mass-produced CBD purveyors on Amazon and small, boutique farmers like John Sedillo, Founder of Family Hemp Brands.   That's because, with CBD, consistency counts for a lot. Too often, folks turn first to big-time manufac...

A lot of women struggle to see themselves represented in the way cannabis is sold and talked about. That used to be the case for Ellen Lee Scanlon. A San Francisco native, Ellen is quick to say she's "always liked weed." But for a long time, that mainly looked like smoking a joint that someone else — usually a man — was offering.   "It was mostly through a guy; either my husband had it or someone...

There are cannabinoids, and then there are rare cannabinoids. Found in trace amounts and costly to extract, most of these rare cannabinoids have historically been underutilized, despite their known health benefits. Dennis O'Neill wants to change that.    Dennis came to the cannabis industry from investment banking, where he'd logged over 30 years of his career. While working for banks, including t...

As a Regulatory Compliance Analyst at Mr. Cannabis Law, Sean Hardwick is exceptionally well-versed in the legalities of cannabis and CBD.    In just the past two years, he's drafted over 17 marijuana state license applications, business plans, and operating procedures for dispensaries in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, and Utah. And he's also one of the people responsibl...

Ashlee Powers, who comes from a family of runners, started running at the age of six. By the time she entered high school, it had become more than a hobby — running seemed to her, with divorced and low-income parents, like her only option for going to college. In search of a better opportunity for her kids, Ashlee's mom even moved the family to a new city, Newport Beach, precisely so that they cou...

Cannabis can be a natural healer to your body and mind, though many would oppose it. Dr. Thomas Rocco, an accomplished medical practitioner, is currently the Medical Director of a Medical Marijuana Evaluation Center, a medical director for hospice in the local area, and many more. Dr. Rocco says, "I honestly knew nothing about Cannabis at all, and there was no real curriculum for medical marijuana...

Erica Ricky Blaze can clearly remember when she first recognized there was money to be made investing in the cannabis industry. It all started with two words: evening commute.   Formerly a real estate agent, Erica was working in a college student-heavy part of Boston, where she lives, and on her way home, she'd pass a dispensary.    "I didn't know what was going on, but the lines were out the door...

As a former offensive lineman in the NFL for nine years, starting his career with the Seattle Seahawks and ending it with the Detroit Lions, Rob Sims has seen the need for professional athletes to access holistic healing. It's a need he saw before he was a football player, watching the career of his NFL-playing father.    "I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly of what it looks like to go in and ou...

  Nine years ago, Marcello Leone often got walking pneumonia, and he was getting runner's knee "every other day." Around that time, he was introduced to a CPG drink with plant-based functional minerals.  He started noticing how it was benefiting him — and, within three months, he and his wife had acquired the company based in their native Canada. Not long after that, they developed the bottling fa...

Chris Duffin's belief in resilience runs deep. As an athlete — who, no big deal, holds the Guinness World Record for squatting and deadlifting over 1,000 pounds — he knows the value of tearing down muscle to build it back stronger. In his life, he's seen that value manifest, too, as the survivor of a deeply traumatic childhood.    Chris grew up homeless in the mountains of Northern California. His...

Coming out of the womb with a hockey stick in hand, Canadian Jeff Friesen spent his whole life trying to make it to the NHL.    Eventually, he'd reach that goal, becoming a Stanley Cup champion. In the process, though, he'd acquire injuries that would come to see him on a whole host of medications, and he also received different diagnoses, including ADD, from the NHL's psychiatrists. An insomniac,...

As principal investigator of the International COVID-19 Cannabis and Health study, Dr. Denise Vidot's current cannabis research is incredibly timely. It's also the latest in a string of cannabis-tied studies she's done, starting with her first informal investigations as a teen.   Today a cannabis epidemiologist at the University of Miami, Dr. Vidot, first discovered the medical benefits of cannabi...

For NBA legend Antonio Harvey, athletics are life. He's spent the entirety of his 25-year career in and around professional sports, playing ball domestically, for teams like the Lakers, Clippers, and Grizzlies, as well as internationally. He's coached, has spent 12 years as a broadcaster, and he also hails from a family of athletes. Both his father and older brother played professional football, a...

For a lot of folks, CBD is a tool in their toolkit for breaking out of addiction and ending destructive cycles in their life. At the end of the day, that's what this show, and our belief in CBD, is most about — ending toxic cycles and beginning healthy ones. And that's why we felt we had to hear from Erik Allen on the show.   Erik Allen's life started out normally enough, with Sunday school and Li...

Marc Wasserman, along with his brother Craig, are big names in the cannabis law industry. Both practicing attorneys in California since 1996 and 1986, respectively, it wasn't until 2000 that their careers shifted to this new strain of law.   "My nephew, my brother's son, was showing a green thumb for cannabis and compassion for cancer patients he knew who needed it," "He started out as a caregiver...

Jenny Argie was a single mom with three kids when, one day, her world changed: she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer.    As someone familiar with applying a sustainable, organic perspective to products as a children's furniture designer, Jenny was eager to do the same with her battle against cancer. But as she looked for healthy, cannabis-infused alternatives to traditional cancer and post-cance...

Irish Wick is the host of the top top-rated YouTube show " Keep It Medicinal ." In addition to being the first Australian medical cannabis patient, he's also a World Cannabis freelance and consultant who serves as a celebrity cannabis manager. If that wasn't enough, he's also the first medical cannabis patient who might be going to the moon via Elon Musk's company SpaceX .    Irish's journey start...

The power of public speaking found JaMarr Johnson early — and in an unexpected format.   Growing up, both of his parents struggled with drug addiction. JaMarr's father, who was killed when JaMarr was nine, became addicted to heroin after returning from the Vietnam War, where he'd fought as a marine. His mother, who was addicted to crack cocaine, saw the pain and suffering her addiction caused and...