High Truths on Drugs and Addiction

Did the United Nations reschedule cannabis? Yes, but it may not be what you think. In 2021 cannabis and cannabis resin was taken off Schedule IV and kept on Schedule I.  The United Nations used a difference scheduling system that the United States DEA Schedule. For the United Nations,  Schedule IV is even higher and more restrictive than Schedule I.  For DEA, Schedule IV is below Schedule III and...

People working in cannabis industry have suffered work related injury from second hand smoke effects. Patients suffered malpractice injury when doctors recommend cannabis that exacerbated or created mental illness. Dave Evan discusses the growing cases of  cannabis litigation. David G. Evans, Attorney at Law has decades of experience consulting with treatment programs on regulatory, policy and hum...

Kratom, also known as mytragynine  is a plant with opioid and stimulant effects. It can be addictive just like opioids are addictive. And yet, the drug is being sold in drinks and supplements. Romulo Torres worked hard to achieve sobriety from alcohol and bought "Feel Free" drink at 7-11. He had no idea the "Fell Free" would bring him back to the shackles of addiction to Kratom complete with full...

Cannabis includes hundreds of different chemical, some of which have promising medicinal value. What does it take to get more cannabis based medications that are FDA approved?   Jacquelyn L. Bainbridge, BSPharm , PharmD, , FCCP, MSCS, FAES Jacquelyn L. Bainbridge, BSPharm, PharmD, FCCP, MSCS, FAES, is a Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she holds joint appointm...

MAT is Medication Assisted Treatment. Dr David Deyhimy talk about the FDA approved medications to treat opioid use disorder. David I. Deyhimy, MD, FASAM, is an addiction medicine specialist and anesthesiologist dedicated to helping those suffering from substance use disorder and preventing overdose deaths from opioids. He is the founder and medical director of MYMATCLINIC, specializing in managing...

A medical marijuana card does not follow the standard of care for prescribing antibiotics or pain medications.  There is no benefit-harm calculation for cannabis cards. A concerned parent calls into High Truths because of the mental health harms cannabis caused his son.  Dr. D'Souza is one of the leading scientific experts on cannabis and head of Cannabis Research Center at Yale.  He teaches us ab...

Cannabis has many different chemicals, namely cannabinoids that have pharmaceutical benefits. Learn about FDA approved cannabinoid research.  There is a big difference between medications that are FDA approved and smoking weed. Jennifer Triemstra, MS PhD Jennifer L Triemstra, MS, PhD – Associate Medical Director – Cannabinoid Education, US Medical Affairs, Jazz Pharmaceuticals  Jennifer, also know...

The  National Marijuana Initiative  strives to dispel misconceptions about marijuana and raise awareness of issues surrounding the drug; so that citizens and policymakers can make well-informed choices regarding marijuana use and regulations. Some of the services offered include: Educational presentations on marijuana and the effects of its legalization for law enforcement groups, public forums, c...

There is much overlap between mental health and SUD, substance use disorder. 44%, almost half of everyone with a SUD has some form of mental illness. Eric Gremminger trains behavioral health professionals on using patient reported outcome measures for personalized clinical pathways. Eric Gremminger, ICADC Eric is CEO and Co-Founder of ERPHealth and a nationally recognized leader in the behavioral...

What is DBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy? Dialectical, sounds like diabolical - but it is not.  Dialectical means opposite. It is a type of behavioral therapy that aims at changing negative thinking and destructive behaviors into positive outcomes. DBT works for substance use disorder  and is a great tool to learn at an early age for everyone, even those without an SUD. Laura Petracek, PhD, LCS...

What role does Prehospital Medicine or First Responders have in treating addiction? Is it just naloxone, or is there more? Dr. Gene Hern received his MS in Medical Ethics from UC Berkeley in 1994 and his MD from UCSF in 1996. He did his residency in Emergency Medicine at Highland Hospital in Oakland in 1996 and stayed on as faculty starting in 2000. In 2013, he was named US Emergency Medicine resi...

When we want to solve a problem we need to understand it, to map it. We do mapping for COVID, for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis. We need to use the same infectious disease strategies to map, trace, treat and prevent overdoses. Ali Burrell, MPH, is the ODMAP Program Manager at the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (W/B HIDTA). She received her Master's in Public Health with...

April Babcock, Founder of Lost Voices of Fentanyl – After losing her son Austen to a fentanyl poisoning April turned her pain into community service and founded Lost Voices of Fentanyl a non-profit organization devoted to illicit fentanyl education, prevention and awareness.   It began as a rally outside the Chinese Embassy, but it grew into something more and the Lost Voices of Fentanyl Facebook...

Fentanyl has been used as a chemical weapon in warfare. But we do not have to wait for a drone attack from a foreign county. Today 183 will die of fentanyl that is origination from foreign lands. How do you prepare for a chemical attack? You can't completely prepare.  Knowing the high stakes risks and loss of life, we need to prevent such a scenario in the first place. Dr. Gregory Ciottone is rece...

What is the difference between marijuana sold at a dispensary and marijuana used for research? There is a big difference? Listen to the world's leader in marijuana growth for research, Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly. Dr. ElSohly received a B.S. in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a M.S. in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, and a Ph. D. in Pharmacognosy from th...

Sandy Schneider, MD, FACEP, is associate executive director and past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, ACEP. Dr Schneider is also the adjunct professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She remains clinically active as a part-time attending with integrative emergency services at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Previously, she was a chai...

What are the current drug trends? Quest Diagnostics published their Health Trends Report on Drug Misuse in America. The showed that 1 in 2 patients are misusing prescription drugs and use of stimulants such as Adderall surged 5-fold over the last decade. Jeff Gudin completed his residency in Anesthesiology at the Yale University School of Medicine and his fellowship at The Yale Center for Pain Man...

Kids and Young Adults can make One Choice to protect their growing brain and prevent addiction. More young people are doing just that - making the one choice not to use alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or any drugs until after age 25. Learn more from One Choice PreventionRobert L. DuPont, MD Robert L. DuPont, MD For 50 years, Robert L. DuPont, MD has been a leader in substance use disorder treatment a...

Who do you go for in medical advice? A certified bud tender or a board certified physician, nurse or pharmacist? At Cannabis Training University you can get a degree for just $299, much easier and less stressful than 12 year of medical training at a University and Hospital. Anne Hassel was a true marijuana believer, leaving her job as a physical therapist to enter the Green Rush as a budtender in...

Dr Lev talks to Dennis about the normalization of drugs, marijuana, and importance of prevention. Dennis Prager is co-founder and president of Prager University, one of the most widely viewed video sites in the world, with a billion views a year. He is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, columnist, and author of ten books, most recently the third volume of his commentary on the first fiv...

Quit the Hit - Vaping Cessation Hundreds of thousands of teens are not only addicted to nicotine, but they’re using it as a coping mechanism for dealing with mental health challenges and the overwhelming stresses of post-pandemic life. Without support and guidance, quitting vaping is an incredibly difficult journey, and we often hear in our research that most teens do not feel like a traditional q...

SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is charged with  public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of our nation. This includes drug prevention and treatment programs. Mental health and Addiction health very much overlap. Of the 20 million people who have a SUD about 50% also have mental illness. Of the 47.6 million adults with a mental illness about 20%...

MAT Medication Assisted Treatment is key for treating opioid addiction. No one should suffer from opioid withdrawal and everyone with an opioid use disorder should receive treatment with compassion and hope.  California Bridge assists in providing MAT 24/7 through the emergency departments. Arianna Campbell is an Emergency Department PA with more than 20 years of clinical expertise informing her w...

Should there be consequences for dealing fentanyl? Should that consequence include secondary murder charges when known counterfeit pills kill people ? State Senator Thomas J. Umberg is the Chair of the Senate’s Judicary Committee. He is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, former federal criminal prosecutor, four-term state legislator, small business owner, and was the Deputy Drug Czar for President Clint...

The CDC published their second and updated version of their Opioid and Pain Guidelines? Dr. Chou, one the leading authors discusses what is new to the guidelines . Roger Chou, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, OHSU, and the Pacific Northwest EPC Director. Dr. Chou’s is trained in internal medicine and is internationally recognized as an expert in opioi...