“Weed Is Much Worse for You Than You Think” - How it Affects the Brain & What You Can Do to Quit - Video

This is a 13 July 2024 video. The host Doug Bopst talks with five doctors on the topic.

Cannabis sativa has more than 500 distinct chemical entities, the most significant and well-known components being cannabidiol [CBD] and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]. While the term “cannabis” includes any product derived from the plant, marijuana encompasses the parts that contain significant levels of THC, which produces the drug’s psychoactive effects.

Over the last several decades, the THC content of cannabis has changed substantially. In 1995, the average THC content in cannabis seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was about 4%. By 2017, it had risen to 17% and continues to increase. Beyond the plant, a staggering array of other cannabis products with an even higher THC content like dabs, oils, and edibles are readily available—some as high as 90%. “The marijuana and cannabis products that your grandparents may have used are very different from what’s out there now,” says Deepak Cyril D’Souza, MD, Albert E Kent Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.

https://youtu.be/d-uFz7anFKU

Dr.K is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in modern mental health for the digital generation. He is the President and Cofounder of Healthy Gamer, a mental health platform that provides content, expert wellness coaching, and community to young people. He has inspired millions of people with online content while overseeing the mental health coaching of thousands of young people. He is widely regarded as the foremost expert on video game addiction and most prominent mental health authority for young people.

Dr. Anna Lembke is chief of the Stanford medicine, dual diagnosis clinic, and professor and medical director of addiction medicine at Stanford university’s school of medicine. Dr. Lembke has testified before Congress and consulted with governors and senators from Kentucky to Missouri to Nevada. You may also recognize her from her appearance on the hit Netflix movie, “The Social Dilemma.” Aside from this. Anna has also written two books, “Drug Dealer MD,” and her latest book, the New York times bestseller “Dopamine nation.”

Dr. John Krystal is McNeil Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at Yale and Yale-New Haven Hospital. He studies the neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders.  He directs the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcohol, and Neuroscience Division of the National Center for PTSD.

Dr. Yasmin Hurd is the Director of the Addiction Institute within the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health System as well as the Ward Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Hurd is an internationally renowned neuroscientist whose translational research examines the neurobiology of drug abuse and related psychiatric disorders. Her research exploring the neurobiological effects of cannabis and heroin has significantly shaped the field. Using multidisciplinary research approaches, her research has provided unique insights into the impact of developmental cannabis exposure and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the drug’s protracted effects into adulthood and even across generations. Dr. Hurd’s basic science research is complemented by clinical laboratory investigations evaluating the therapeutic potential of novel science-based strategies for the treatment of opioid addiction and related psychiatric disorders including pioneering work with cannabidiol.

Dr Marta Di Forti is a Clinical Reader in Psychosis Research at the Dept of Social, Developmental and Genetic Research, KCL.  She leads the first Cannabis Clinic for patients with Psychotic disorders in UK. In 2021 she awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrist Researcher of the year prize.  In 2020 she was granted a MRC Senior Research Fellowship to expand her research in the role of cannabis use in psychosis and its underlying biology. 

https://youtu.be/d-uFz7anFKU