High Truths on Drugs and Addiction

We have standards unit amounts for tobacco and alcohol, what for THC and marijuana? Is it time. Dr. Tom Freeman is a Reader in Addiction Psychology at the University of Bath, UK. He directs the Addiction and Mental Health Group, an interdisciplinary group bridging Psychology, Life Sciences, Health, Management, and the Institute for Policy Research. He is currently funded by a UKRI Future Leaders F...

Can't Look Away is one of Amy Neville's documentaries showing a case against social media. Her son Alex was killed by a pill bought on Snapchat at the age of 14. Amy Neville is the President of the Alexander Neville Foundation (ANF) , an organization her family founded after the tragic loss of her 14-year-old son, Alexander. A drug dealer on Snapchat convinced Alex to buy a pill that killed him. T...

Is social media safe? What protections do our children deserve? Alexander Neville died at 14 years old after buying what he thought was oxycodone on Snap Chat.  A 12 year old boy died after doing a Tik Tok choking challenge. Amanda Todd died by suicide at age 15 after cyberbullying and blackmail. Molly Russell was 14 years old when she died by hanging herself after she binged graphic and romantici...

The association of mass casualty violence and THC is growing. Dr. Ken Finn has been following these cases. Kenneth Finn, MD practiced Pain Medicine in Colorado Springs from 1994-2024.  He moved to Prescott, Arizona in 2025 to continue practicing comprehensive Pain Medicine.  He is Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (1995), Pain Medicine (1998), and Pain Management (2000).  He...

Positive Directions, Drug Free Side-walks, Drug-Free Housing and Recovery. San Francisco activists give hope to people with addiction. Cedric Akbar is a San Francisco-based community leader and a passionate advocate for recovery and prisoner reentry. With over 25 years of leadership, particularly in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point, Cedric serves as the Director of Forensic and Recovery Servi...

Julie Dreifaldt is a nationally recognized expert and speaker for One Chance to Grow Up , where she educates communities about the dangers of today's high-potency THC marijuana and hemp products that pose risks to children and teens. Julie regularly presents to policymakers, regulators, school organizations, parents, youth-focused coalitions, and trusted community leaders. Her work highlights how...

Faith is an important tool in recovery. Not everyone has is, but if you do, you should tap into this magical source. Globally, about 70-75% of the population believe in God or a higher power and faith traditions represent about 84% of the population. There are about 20 -25 organized religions and over 4,000 faith groups worldwide. The Faith Leaders have an important role in the issue of drugs and...

Canada is number one in marijuana consumption and is also producing large population based public heath research on pot. Dr. Daniel Myran is a public health and preventative medicine physician, a family physician and researcher. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Social Accountability at the University of Ottawa and is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine. He practices fami...

Does Snapchat have blood on their hands? You decide after listening to what happened to Sammy and other kids who got pills from drug dealings using Snapchat. If pornography can be censored on social media, why can't the sensor or at least curb illegal and killer drug sales? Samuel P. Chapman is CEO of  The Parent Collective  Inc, a California non profit operating in the areas of social media harm...

Hope vs Handcuff is what Judge Linda Davis recommends for people with a substance use disorder. Judge Linda Davis was appointed to the bench on March 27, 2000, by Michigan Governor John Engler. Prior to her judgeship, she spent 13 years as an Assistant Prosecutor with the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. Davis played a crucial role in the creation of Face Addiction Now, formerly Families Against...

There has been a complete reorganization of the Health and Human Services Department.  What has remained, what has been DOGED?  What happened to SAMHSA, CDC, NIDA, FDA and key agencies that are important to the prevention, treatment, and recovery of drugs. What about payment for addiction services and medical care? How does all that affect the average American or organization that deal with drug i...

iPill - a devise to ensure medication compliance. Is this something that methadone clinic patients can use to ensure safety? Dr. John Hsu has practiced anesthesia, chronic pain management, addiction medicine for 31 years.  He is now on a quest to address the opioid epidemic. He has started three companies, including: IPill Dispenser  - a medical device for remote medication adherence monitoring. I...

Drug Endangered Children - 1 in 8 children live with one or more caregiver with a substance use disorder in the United States. Millions of children and families are affected by parental or caregiver legal and or illegal substance misuse today.  759,000 children experienced a parental death due to drugs from 1999-2000. Dr. Lev discussed drug endangered children and solutions with Eric Nation. Natio...

Unspeakable violence happened in 2018, when a 28 year old professional audiologist, Bryn Spejcher, was on a date with a 26-year-old accountant, Chad O'Melia. Chad was a regular marijuana user with a large bong displayed on his coffee table.  Bryn inhaled the THC from the bong and within minutes developed cannabis induced psychosis. Having severe hallucinations, Bryn stabbed Chad 108 times, using k...

Hello again High Truths Listeners. Get ready for a special podcast. It’s special... and a little emotional. Because I have some big news to share with you. So let’s start with the tough part first. The bad news is... I’m going to need to hit pause on the High Truths podcast for now. High Truths is one of my most favorite projects.  I love talking to you and I learn so much from my guests. We learn...

HIDTA published its 2025 Marijuana's Impact on California Report. In 2022, 43% of suicides among individuals 25 and under in San Diego County involved THC. Emergency visits due to marijuana rose by 521% in California from 2008 to 2022. Youth aged 12–17 accounted for nearly 38% of marijuana treatment admissions in 2023. High-potency cannabis is increasingly linked to psychosis and cannabis use diso...

Mar-Anon is an important support group for people who have loved ones addicted to marijuana. Mar-Anon is based on the same concept of Al-Anon for alcohol. While AA and MA are for people with a substance use disorder, Al-Anon and Mar-Anon are for families. In keeping with the anonymous aspect of the organization, I am just using Bart's first name. Bart was a summer camp counselor, camp director and...

There are different opinions on smart drug policies. Some want to decriminalize all drugs, some promote all drug legalization, and there is drug commercialization. What is the balanced approach from international experts? Luke Niforatos with Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions discusses what an expert panel recommends. Luke Niforatos serves as the Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to M...

Marijuana is addictive, especially with the high potency products. And with addiction come withdrawal. Withdrawal of THC is not like withdrawal from fentanyl or alcohol. It is more like withdrawal from nicotine - insomnia, anxiety, headaches. The symptoms last about 2 weeks and there are no medications to help. However, going up the FDA rapid approval pathway is a new medication. We talk about thi...

Jamie Ross wears many hats.  She is Executive Director of the PACT Coalition , coordinator for the Nevada Statewide Coalition Partnership and sits on too many boards and committees to count. Jamie Ross has been the Executive Director of the PACT Coalition since 2011. She has been involved with substance misuse prevention from a young age, and took that passion into a career creating system wide ch...

Communities can and should lead in creating an environment that prevents addiction. It is much easier to prevent a problem than treating a problem. One high level prevention initiative is fixing the Farm Bill that opened up the door to a new type of poison on Americans. The various intoxicating Hemp products, Delta-8, Delta-10, and others, have never been tested on rats, let alone kids. Sue Thau h...

The students at the San Diego State University Graduate Program in Homeland Security use this High Truths podcast as part of their curriculum. Robert J. Harkins, MS, is a Lecturer and Academic Advisor (Lastnames: A-M) for the  Graduate Program in Homeland Security .  Professor Harkins has extensive Homeland Security public safety expertise specializing in offenses and conspiracies involving United...

Sean Hemeon  is an actor (911, Criminal Minds, True Blood, CW’s the Husbands), writer and artist. Originally from Northern Virginia, he now lives in Los Angeles with his husband and two Bostons. Sean will have his debut memoir The Good Little Druglord, the inspirational story of a (former) Mormon drug dealer who found redemption as a narc for the federal government—confronting the Russian Mafia, h...

Lori Jane Gliha is an award winning investigative reporter with Scripps News. She is also the nation's expert in tracking pediatric fatalities due to fentanyl. She joins us to share her experience. This is an episode you may want to watch on You Tube to view some of Lori Jane's video clips. The show notes have links to reports. Lori Jane Gliha is an ethical, enterprising, award-winning national in...

Fentanyl Pipeline: How a Chinese Prison Helped Fuel a Deadly Drug Crisis in the United States - we discuss this publication in ProPublica and much more in a fascinating discussion with Sebastian Rotella. Sebastian Rotella is an award-winning foreign correspondent, investigative reporter and novelist. His reporting has taken him across the world to more than 30 countries. Since 2010, he has been a...