In our countdown to the show finale, we are re-releasing a handful of our most popular episodes of all time, starting with one from season 8. This episode features Dr. Darian Parker, who brings a lot of interesting thoughts about the age-old debate: medical or recreational?
In our countdown to the show finale, we are re-releasing a handful of our most popular episodes of all time, starting with one from season 8. This episode features Dr. Darian Parker, who brings a lot of interesting thoughts about the age-old debate: medical or recreational?
(00:00) - Podcast Highlights
(15:15) - Navigating Misconceptions About Cannabis
(24:19) - Breaking Stigmas Around Cannabis Use
(34:47) - Understanding Cannabis Usage and Stigmas
(44:19) - Social Media Challenges in Cannabis Industry
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00:00 - Diana (Host)
Welcome to your Highness Podcast. I'm your host, diana, and today we're re-releasing our top five episodes of all time. So we'll begin with an episode today from season eight, when Dr Darian Parker came on to get into a pretty heated discussion friendly but heated heated about the debate between recreational and medicinal. So stay tuned for that, after a message from our sponsor. Hey there, seekers of balance and clarity, imagine starting your day with a little extra spark of focus, creativity and calm, without the jitters or fog. Does that sound too good to be true? Meet Silly Rabbit Medicinals.
00:47
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02:08 - Darian (Guest)
Fantastic and I feel like we're doing a lot of episodes together.
02:19 - Diana (Host)
It's really rewarding. I would agree, because I learn something from you every time and I think that you're just a joy to talk to and it's going to be an exciting episode, especially since you don't know what we're in for.
02:34 - Darian (Guest)
Yes, I'm all about it. I'm all about it.
02:37 - Diana (Host)
Okay, well, here we go. We're going to start this episode, as we do every episode, with our fave pot, fave not pot segment and, if you're new to the podcast, that is when we discuss our current cannabis and non-cannabis related item that we're just really into at the moment. So I will start with my fave pot. I was recently sent a sample of a product called here and Now by Flora and Bast. There are these gummies that say that the benefits are to enhance present state awareness during activities like yoga, meditation, breath work and mental and emotional therapies, and it has, in each gummy, 30 milligrams of cbg and 150 milligrams of alpha cpg, and it says that it's packed with a mindful mindfulness, enhancing cbg, which is the mother cannabinoid which creates an uplifted and euphoric state of consciousness, optimizing present state awareness and therefore the therapeutic value of a physical, mental and emotional health-promoting activities. Okay, I don't have my glasses on, but anyway, I really like these.
04:02
I actually did take them. You have to take them 40 minutes before whatever activity you're trying to do, and so I did it before yoga the other day and I did not get annoyed with the practice at all Not that I get annoyed when I'm doing yoga, but sometimes I'm like when is this over?
04:20 - Darian (Guest)
When is this going to be done?
04:21 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, am I almost through this routine and I didn't feel like that. I felt like I could keep doing yoga and also I'm noticing it's helping a lot with focus when I have to do, like you know, any kind of work. I've been trying to take it before that and it's really helping with that.
04:38 - Darian (Guest)
So, yeah, what's your favorite?
04:41 - Diana (Host)
pot right now.
04:42 - Darian (Guest)
Well, let me ask you a question here. This is the podcast. Hey, this is my podcast. Okay, no, no, I don't think so.
04:47 - Diana (Host)
You're not hijacking it.
04:49 - Darian (Guest)
This is. This is going to be a very different episode for you because I'm intervening, this is how this works with me and, uh, there's no THC in the product Interesting. So how do you feel? Like I don't, like what's the feeling?
05:04 - Diana (Host)
I just feel more focused and less anxious and it calms me in a way that doesn't make me feel groggy or anything like that. I'm a big fan of CBG. Yeah, I try to take it in the morning and I usually use a tincture, but I've been using this gummy lately, so yeah, as far as the other ingredient in there alpha-CPG I don't know enough about that to speak intelligently. I'd have to do some research. But, preliminarily found out that it can really help people with ADHD, which I have.
05:38 - Darian (Guest)
So that explains why I like it so much. Okay, okay, very interesting. And you said gummies. I was like oh, I wonder how much THC is in it. None, apparently.
05:51 - Diana (Host)
No, it's not always about getting high. I know that you don't believe me.
05:56 - Darian (Guest)
I'm not sure about that.
06:01 - Diana (Host)
What's your fate? Pot, you're in. You're in. Uh, uh.
06:04 - Darian (Guest)
Well, you're in an airbnb right now, but you I'm in an airbnb you usually have access right, yeah I always have access and uh, uh, there's like four dispensaries here in uh blaine and such a tiny town, five thousand people, four dispensaries incredible. Um, my favorite currently is gravity, uh, which is a gummy. All different flavors like watermelon, mixed berry and all that stuff. Strawberry is probably my favorite flavor of it, but I was.
06:31
I remember I went there this was like maybe a couple months ago and I was like, hi, you know, I love edibles, but I don't want this stuff with like the crazy stuff like butane in it and all this. I don't want any of that, I want something better. So I was like, oh, you got to try gravity and it's a great body high. And I said, oh, awesome, and I got it. And they were right, man, I mean, I shot to the moon quickly, man. And so what's interesting for me is like so you want to be, you want to be focused, sounds like you want to be focused and stuff Like I don't want to be focused. I, I don't want no part of that. It's been way too much time. I'm a very like, generally a very serious, focused person all the time and I'm not okay.
07:14 - Diana (Host)
So, okay, this is what we're talking about I'm like, even though this is, even though the podcast has the theme of getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, it's always with a healthy dose of laughter and foolishness, because I am, that is me, you know. In a nutshell, I like to talk about serious stuff but with humor and all of that.
07:38 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, I need to take the myself off the gas pedal. Yeah, like at least once a week just to like you know, not be a robot. I don't think. Some people like they normally don't think that I'm like that, but I feel like that's kind of overwhelmingly how I am and so I need to just kind of like fade from being so serious. And it's always, you know, I'd like having the lack of being focused is actually so gravity.
08:03 - Diana (Host)
Big fan of them, um gravity is just what you need just what you need.
08:08 - Darian (Guest)
You know it's. It's a very it's not filled with a lot of people. They don't even look at what's in edibles, but there's a lot of terrible stuff yes in them. Yes, ingredients. So I really like I'm very careful about the ingredients. Uh, the edibles, uh, like very high quality, and this crazy thing is they're so cheap. I can't believe how cheap edibles are, man, it's unbelievable.
08:27 - Diana (Host)
But what?
08:27 - Darian (Guest)
you get back. But what you get back, I don't know. It seems very cheap to me.
08:32 - Diana (Host)
Well, I'm sure a lot of gummy people who are listening are very happy to hear that. Gummy producers, you know.
08:41 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, it almost seems illegal, how cheap it is well, let's not make it illegal you're like hey, man, let's not. Uh, I'm just saying you get like three to four hours of like great time snacks, weird conversations, huge laughter yeah, I mean get a package of a you know 100 milligram package for like 25 to 45 dollars. I mean that's amazing really it's pretty good. It's not like that here anyway let's not talk about where you're at, yeah it's cheaper in some places, for sure it's true, that's true, so I didn't talk about your show so much yet, because that's my fave, not pot.
09:20 - Diana (Host)
My fave, not pot is dr d's social network podcast.
09:24 - Darian (Guest)
Is that for real?
09:25 - Diana (Host)
It's for real. I'm a huge fan of podcasts, not just because I'm a podcaster. I love podcasts, and I love yours because you really do talk to everyone. I mean just so many different. Every time I check out your LinkedIn, I'm like oh, wow, okay, wow, look at that, you know, and every time I listen, I learn a lot of new things and I love your interview style and I appreciate you having me on your show twice.
09:56 - Darian (Guest)
That was amazing. Yeah, I think there'll be another time to it's I tend to like no, no, I just you know what it is Like.
10:04
If I feel really like a lot of chemistry with someone, like a nice back and forth I mean I'd rather have that than you know just a bunch of random people. But I don't find that the chemistry is that often Like, maybe like with someone I have with you, like that that, and I mean I think if you pay attention to the show, if I have someone back several times, clearly I enjoy spending time with them. You know, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy with other people, it's just that we maybe just don't have that chemistry that I really like you know, Right, yeah, absolutely.
10:39
So what's your fave not pot right now? Right now, I would say probably is. I'm watching a documentary about arnold schwarzenegger that I really like. It's brand new. Uh, it's fairly one-sided though, like it's clear. I'm like, well, this is clearly about him and, uh, I'm not sure they're doing about the other stuff about him, but you know. But, uh, documentaries in general are probably my favorite non-pot at currently, because I just like learning as you can tell from my podcast about people and I'm simultaneously doing that while also doing a very deep dive into George Washington. Uh, right now interesting actually my wife and I are doing this big project where we do extremely deep research on all the presidents of the United States. That's so fun. You guys do that together.
11:29 - Diana (Host)
Is it something you?
11:30 - Darian (Guest)
do regularly. No, we just came up with the idea. It was like, why don't we do this? I think it's because I feel like a lot of things we talk about we just don't know much about. Everybody says stuff but there has no real deep understanding of the stuff. Like, if you actually like push somebody to explain things, they struggle with it because they don't have a deep history of the thing they're saying. So I don't want to be one of those people. I want to be able to explain the things I'm talking about you know, I feel like I can't even do that with things.
11:58
I have a deep history you're like I don't know, I I'm not sure.
12:03 - Diana (Host)
Even in therapy, I'm like what I don't know. You want me to explain my own life? Yeah, I don't know how to do that.
12:09 - Darian (Guest)
You're like where do we start?
12:10 - Diana (Host)
I mean like Not really when do we start, right? Yeah, well, that is so fun. I love to hear that, though, that you guys are doing that together. That's so cool. Ever feel like life stress gets to be too much? Welcome to Meetra Gaya, your natural wellness partner. We are the number one rated provider of Kratom, a 100% natural plant-based solution used in Asia for centuries to help increase focus, energy and relaxation. Want to know more? Use the code YHPOD to get 10% off. Your first order today. That's meetyourgaiacom and code YHPOD for 10% off. So on your show, you interview people from all walks of life. Like I mentioned, how did you decide to start interviewing people in the cannabis space?
13:21 - Darian (Guest)
I think one from my own usage. And then a lot of my friends are into cannabis and we've had incredible conversations after ingesting cannabis and I was like man. This is a substance that I feel can make you feel focused, depending on what you're doing, but also, I think it just takes down some of the inhibitions to really talk about things that maybe you're just not going to talk about regularly with other people you're close to. But then I also just wanted to have a well-rounded experience with cannabis. We're all essentially a prisoner to our own experiences and if we don't go outside of those experiences, then we're only telling a story based off of our lens for it. So cannabis I want to get around to different people in the cannabis space. So cannabis, I want to like get around to different people in the cannabis space.
14:21
That's how I found you was talking to Danielle Simone Brand because I was very curious about cannabis use and moms and I felt like this I want to talk about this because I think there are a lot of parents who get high but they don't. They feel a stigma behind oh, you're a bad parent, or something like that, and I wanted to talk about that. And then I was like, well, okay, just send me more people that in the space doing different stuff, you know.
14:37 - Diana (Host)
Yeah.
14:38 - Darian (Guest)
It's how it led to that, you know.
14:40 - Diana (Host)
Deep friend of the pod, Danielle Sohn-Brand.
14:42 - Darian (Guest)
Big shout out, big shout out.
14:45 - Diana (Host)
Big fan and she's on the show often, so, anyway, what are some of the more interesting things that you've learned from the cannabis people that you've interviewed, and just plant medicine in general, like? What are some of the more surprising things you've learned over time?
15:05 - Darian (Guest)
You know I always bounce back between cannabis and psychedelics, Two things that I have a lot of experience with and had incredible experiences with. I think one of the things I've learned that surprised me about the cannabis business is that it's not as successful as I thought it was. I hear a lot of people in the business say no one's making money and it's really difficult, and like it kind of jumped the shark, and how people are very skeptical of like that. The psychedelic business needs to be very careful and not go the way of the cannabis business. I'm like, really I don't, I didn't know that. You know I'm not in those businesses. I just as a consumer, I was not aware that there were these feelings about that. So I think that's interesting.
15:49 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, I think that it is kind of a weird vacuum sometimes the cannabis industry, because I just assume people know that it's not not a great space to be in all the time, right, for a variety of reasons, and then I talk to people quote-unquote in the real world outside of the space or people who aren't, you know, completely in it all the time and they're just complete.
16:20
They're like what do you, what do you mean? And and not even just that, just what is not known about the laws, just the law part, like the legality part of it. You know, um, I recently did a 420 event and I was outside and in the state.
16:36
It is currently not legal yet, but that will change very soon but, anyway, it's not adult use here and I still had people coming up and thinking that I was selling it at the. You know, I was promoting the podcast but they were thinking I I had like giveaways and things like that and they thought they're right. I can't even tell you how many times people were going, but does it have any ghc in it? Uh is this the good stuff you know, and I'm like what?
17:03
no and then I had to check my check myself, you know, I mean, I'm constantly having to do that, assuming that people know things that you know. I think that's why I like your show so much, because you don't do that at all. No, no.
17:23 - Darian (Guest)
I'm going to be very open-minded. I'm a very open-minded, I'd like to think I'm very open-minded and I just want to understand what the hell is going on and anything. And and I think that's part of like maybe a larger societal issue is that I think we think we know what's happening based off of a headline or something we re-skimmed. You know a two-minute headline so accurate I can't tell you I'm like it's just a lot of I'll tell my husband, oh, oh, I saw that this, you know, dot dot dot.
17:53 - Diana (Host)
And he's like, oh, it'll ask for context. And I'm like I don't know. I just saw the headline. I didn't think I'd ever get to that point in my life. But we're just so inundated with content, you know it's it's hard to sift through it sometimes.
18:10 - Darian (Guest)
Yes, yes, I talked about this not to well recently. I was saying you know, we're not in a we're not in an information seeking era, we're in an information filtering era, like when I was growing up, it was you had to really work hard to find content.
18:26 - Diana (Host)
And now.
18:27 - Darian (Guest)
You don't have to work hard, you just have to be very savvy about filtering through what is actually accurate and what's inaccurate. And I find that the majority of people I talk to, like just when I'm not on my podcast and I talk to them about stuff like, they just don't have a deep knowledge of the things they're discussing. It's and and it's, and so I was like you know, you should really have a deep knowledge of this. Like, if you're going to like go hard for a subject, like really hard, and be like have this zealotry about it, you probably should.
18:57
That's kind of my whole thing with the whole George Washington thing is I got tired of people talking about the Constitution and all this stuff who actually have never read it and don't actually know the ins and outs and under you know this founding fathers and stuff. I'm like, well, okay, I, you know what. If I want to talk to people about this, I need to have a deep knowledge of the start of the United States and as Americans, I think it's important to know about your country that you're from actually. But I always find in any subject doesn't matter if it's that or something the people who fight the hardest in that subject often know the least about the history about it. That's been my experience, so I don't ever want to be that. So my podcast is an education for me personally to be able to build on my knowledge on a regular basis. So when someone asks me something, I can go oh yeah, well, you know this is part of this aspect and you know here's the origins of this, and that doesn't make me an expert.
19:53 - Diana (Host)
I'm no expert in cannabis, but I could certainly hold my own in a conversation about cannabis, different products, and you know effects of it and things of that nature you know cannabis, but you're an expert in interviewing and I think that if anyone wants to start a show, they should listen to you, because you have your own unique brand of interview style.
20:23 - Darian (Guest)
Do you want to talk about that a little bit? Yeah, and it's great because I've been talking about it a lot lately.
20:28
Yeah, and which is funny, because I love talking to other hosts and I, you know, once I revealed to them kind of how I interview people, they're like, oh, that's a good idea. You know, because people, just as a disclaimer, I'm not trying to toot my horn about this and be like, oh, I'm so amazing, it's nothing to do like that, to do it like that, but one of the things, if you listen to the show, you'll often hear the guests say that's a really good question. That's a really good question. Oh, I never thought of that.
20:58
And so for me, I really focus on first listening and then I think, as I told you, diana, like I use a tailing method. It's the name I don't know if anybody else came out with, but I know that's what I call it. I came up with that. It's just the tailing method is every person has a tail to the end of their monologue, if you will. You know they start slowing down the talk. You can just feel like they're about to stop talking, all right, and I always just focus on the last two or three things they say before they stop talking, and then that creates the next question for me.
21:37
Sometimes I try to remember what they say earlier, but then I find I'm focusing too much on what they said earlier. I'm not actually listening to them. So I just kind of listen for that wind down and I take that tail and then I just keep tailing people. I've taught it to my daughter. A bunch of people I'm just like just tail people and you'll never be bored, you'll never have a terrible conversation because you'll always have something interesting to ask.
22:01 - Diana (Host)
And I love how you had made the point before in our earlier conversation about how if someone doesn't give you that pause, it's because they really need to get that out and they need to say what they have to say. And you give them that space to do that, and you definitely did for me. I know I rambled quite a bit, it's funny.
22:23 - Darian (Guest)
Some hosts I've had hosts tell me that they won't release episodes like that, sometimes because and I'm like, well, that's you know for me. I mean, that's them, they want to do that. That's great, but for me I just feel like I understand that some of the episodes are self-healing episodes and the person really needs to get it out and sometimes it's going to take 15, 20 minutes of them talking straight through and I don't know that they're going to do that. But once they start I realize my place almost immediately. I'm like and then there's guests where we just have that chemistry and it's back and forth. So I let the episode become what whatever it needs to become, and I always release it. I never not release it if it's not doesn't fit how I want it. I don't know how I want it to be. I just let it be what it's going to be, you know that's awesome.
23:13 - Diana (Host)
I love that mentality. You just have to let it be what it will be.
23:18 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, just let it be yeah.
23:20 - Diana (Host)
That's cool, I like that. Um. So switching gears a little bit, you're in the fitness world, um, and the topic of cannabis and fitness training and athleticism and all of that is a very hot topic right now. It was actually the theme of our latest can of curious issue. Um, I say our, it's not my magazine. I was the editor, but it's not mine. But anyway, I find it a really interesting topic because a lot of people assume that when you use cannabis products, you will not be able to go do anything physically active. So what are you seeing when it comes to that, like, what's the intersection of fitness training and cannabis for you?
24:07 - Darian (Guest)
I think it's really, really. I'm not even going to say it's the infancy of it, I think it's still like. It's still very difficult for people in my profession to imagine that. I mean, I was at a conference speaking in Denver not that long ago and afterwards we had a dinner and I'm very open about my cannabis use. I don't see the reason to not be. I just don't care. Honestly, I just like listen.
24:33
This is, you know, I, every Friday, I have kind of my ritual, that's what I do. Some people smoke every day. I do an edible once a week. That's like my thing. I really enjoy it and uh.
24:42
But then we were talking about exercise and I said, actually, you know, uh, cannabis and exercise amazing is amazing. And they, you could have thought that my head was exploding and it was going all over the place the way people were looking at me. But again, it's just lack of knowledge. They thought, oh, you can't. You know, it's the typical thing. You're just sitting there, you're out of it, you're seeing weird things.
25:04
I was like, no, actually, whenever I do ingest cannabis before I work out and then when I work out, actually I always have an amazing workout. And I started doing that mainly because of the research in Colorado. They have really pioneered this research related to cannabis use and like endurance, running and stuff, and that research is very promising the indications of you know cannabis use and dosage and the effect it has on exercise and I just think it's just like we just need to stop putting this. Most people are just lying about, like it's okay to talk about it. I mean, I feel like so many people use cannabis but they're so afraid to talk about it. Like, okay, maybe you're in a job where they drug test I totally get that, maybe. But if you know, if you're just like working for yourself and all this stuff, like why do you care?
25:55 - Diana (Host)
Like it's like Well, the child welfare of it all too.
26:00 - Darian (Guest)
I mean even in legal states.
26:01 - Diana (Host)
people are still having CPS intervene and you know, unfortunately it's been because of people saying things like oh well, they're doing drugs, and you know it's that's still so prevalent.
26:14 - Darian (Guest)
I think a lot of people come from that fear of having you know alcohol as a drug too. I mean it's people are doing that constantly, you know tell that to the government.
26:25 - Diana (Host)
Sure, yeah, sure, you know, I mean I, I get it, I, I. I am trying to be as open as possible, but I totally will admit that it's from fear, because you know what I just said, because of all of that because attitudes are changing, but there's still a lot that needs to be done and there's still a lot of weird stigma out there.
26:50 - Darian (Guest)
Sure, sure, yeah, I mean it's completely unfounded. I just I've been pretty open about it. I don't know. I think a lot of people know this about me and if some, you know I haven't had a negative reaction, I'm sure I will at some point from someone and just be like listen, I'm a responsible person. You see what I'm up to, you see the successes I've had. I mean, I'm an overly responsible person, uh, and that's. You know, as I said, I'm very serious. It kind of helps me not be so serious uh with. But you know, I just think it's kind of the responsibility of someone like myself to be open about my usage I really feel that way and to help other people not feel any shame about it, you know.
27:34 - Diana (Host)
I love that and in that vein, I'm going to ask you the same question you asked me when I was on your show.
27:50 - Darian (Guest)
What is the craziest experience you've had with cannabis? Let's see Craziest experience I've had. I've had a lot actually. I'm being honest with you.
27:54 - Diana (Host)
What's your most memorable?
27:56 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, crazy, what's crazy mean right.
27:59 - Diana (Host)
Right yeah.
28:00 - Darian (Guest)
That's different for different people. I would say most memorable To me it's several times, it's any time. I'm having cannabis with friends and we're just out and we're just chatting. Probably some of my favorite experiences is edibles while bowling and just bowling and talking trash, laughing hysterically with friends having great dinners afterwards I mean anybody, I mean you're hungry, of course and I always think those are some of my favorite times because I'm bonding with my friends, we're all kind of in the same state of consciousness and we're talking about serious things. You know we're really having deep conversations, but then we're like lap lapsing into like hysterical laughter and uh, I think that's one of the biggest benefits of cannabis is especially different strains where you just laugh hysterically and I know people would never laugh. I'm like laughter is a human emotion. That's amazing. It's so important to do and it just assists me in that in many ways. Like I can be tight. I don't like that all the time you know.
29:07
So it helps me and I'm also a very big proponent of like I know we enter a lot of this. A lot of the research is based off of helping people who have PTSD or depression different, and that's great. Those are all very good things, but we should also celebrate the usage of a quote, unquote well, people, whatever that means in general, but just using it for a social edge in many ways, and I don't think we talk about that enough, because I don't know if I mentioned this to you. I just think we have an issue with pleasure in our country, Like it's always bad, You're having too good of a time.
29:44 - Diana (Host)
How is that?
29:44 - Darian (Guest)
Oh, that's bad. How can you be having such a good time?
29:47 - Diana (Host)
You know it's like yeah, I get that, yeah, and I actually just this has been a common theme lately. I've just interviewed someone else who had this same attitude about it and I agree. I think that the reason it's not so celebrated to have the the high and the fun with the high is because people want it to be considered medicinal right and it's hard to have it be considered medicinal while also being social, because we compartmentalize that as a society, right, unfortunately.
30:26
I mean it's like kind of strange because being your best socially should be a part of wellness, right, like it should be in that umbrella it is theoretically, but still you throw the medicinal word out there.
30:42 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah.
30:43 - Diana (Host)
Medicine, and then yeah, medicine, and then yes, and it's okay.
30:47 - Darian (Guest)
If it's medicine, it's okay. Then you know because you're. But how many people let's just be honest, because this is how I am with my podcast I'm going to be like this on yours with that? I mean, how many people in the past have gotten a medicinal card and they had no reason to have a medicinal card, right? Some fake knee injury or something like that? Just to you know, listen. And then there's people who actually do need it medicinally.
31:10
But I think the overwhelming point is people want to have humans crave altered consciousness. We just do. There's so much research behind this Michael Pollan is very big into this at this point is throughout the history of humans, we have created altered consciousness, and it's not always just before medicinal reasons. Sometimes it's just you need to take your foot off the pedal sometimes and responsibly exist in a different space and I said responsibly, not wildly, that's not my existence. Responsibly exist in a different reality sometimes is really important. I'm a big proponent of that and I'm also a big proponent of medicinal usage. But for me, I have no reason to have medicinal usage for me personally, my usage is purely recreational and to exist in a different space once a week so that I can be a less stiff version of myself. That's the fact.
32:07 - Diana (Host)
I will say that the argument I've heard against that is that if you are using it to take your foot off the pedal, then that could be considered medicinal in itself. That's just the argument I'm not saying that's my argument. But people are saying because recreation sounds like fun, right, that's what we equate recreation with I don't know what the problem is with that. But some people look at it like well, I need help having fun. So therefore it is medicinal, it is healing in that way.
32:42 - Darian (Guest)
I mean, I guess I could see it from that point of view too. I'm not I mean again, I'm not married to anything all the time with it Like I had never thought about it like that. So I could understand that point of how someone could see it that way. So I mean, I'm going to definitely think about that. You know, I'm not going to just be like, oh no, that's right, I want to think about that.
33:05 - Diana (Host)
Right, I think it's important to think about things. Something like social anxiety is a mental health issue, but it's not something you can always prove on a document, because when you get these medical certifications, at least in Maryland.
33:15
You have to show your medical history, you have to show proof Like I have to show proof that I have Crohn's disease. So it's proof. Like I have to show proof that I have Crohn's disease. So it's not like I can just go in there and say I have Crohn's disease. They want to see proof of it. And then they interview me and they ask is it helping? And and all of that. So I guess it depends on where you are. I'm sure there are places in this country where you can just go in and say like I have anxiety and they go here's your card. Um, of course there is.
33:42 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, there are. I'm saying, I guess there is, I know there are. Of course there is.
33:47 - Diana (Host)
That is a thing, yes, but then again. I think, like it all just goes back to like what's your definition of medicinal and what is medicine for you? Because people some people think wine is medicine, some people think food is medicine. You know, I believe food is medicine. Some people think food is medicine. You know, I believe food is medicine. It can be it. Can you know it feeds your body right, if, if you go if you're eating the things that make your body function properly. So anyway, yeah, there's a lot to unpack there.
34:21 - Darian (Guest)
All people say that was in my profession is go, exercise is medicine. And there's a lot to unpack there. There is all people say that was in my profession is go exercise as medicine, and there's a whole movement of people who are like all about exercise as medicine. And you know, I mean I think it sounds good on the surface, uh, but I think that defining what medicine is is really important and that can have a a very negative association for people, for that it just it just depends. Like I think, defining the language, like I look at what I'm doing as a recreational, someone else, like you said, go, oh, that's probably medicinal. I'm like, okay, well, what's the actual? Is it a subjective definition or are we really like operationalizing this? Like what is medicinal usage for that? Clearly, it's not the same legally, because legally medicinal means one thing from recreational. So, um and the and the united states is heading barreling towards a recreational usage in many states. Well, I actually thought about doing that is using recreation.
35:26 - Diana (Host)
I I'm forgetting this part of it is that people don't want it to be in the same boat as alcohol. As far as comparisons when you're saying that you use and and again. That's a personal choice, because some people do use alcohol in a way that they seem they deem to be medicinal so you know, I think that's the other reason why people shift the language to adult use instead of recreational.
35:53 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, what's with the recreational? People have a problem with the term recreational. I'm curious. I have no clue. I don't understand what's the problem.
36:03 - Diana (Host)
I think it's the alcohol. It's the alcohol comparison. They don't want to be in the same boat as because cannabis brands can't advertise in the way that alcohol brands can.
36:59 - Darian (Guest)
no-transcript the focus is primarily medicinal and you and that's usually the door to get in to make it a more legalized and which is great, that's fine, feel like. On the other end, there's not a lot of discussions that I've seen that are just focusing on like hey, you know, I'm just just doing it for fun. You know I'm gonna have a different weekend.
37:27 - Diana (Host)
you know like it's well there used to be. I think it started out that way. I mean, the cannabis industry that I entered six or seven years ago is completely different than it is now and you know, even looking at the publications that are available now, compared to what was then, I feel like it was a lot more like stoner type focus. You know, not that there's anything wrong with being a stoner, it's just that that's. I mean, I'm a stoner like. I'm not saying that there's a, it was just more like the let's get high kind of attitude than it was.
38:01
And I think that also had to do with the access you know, and I think also because it's something that is so widely accepted by everyone across the board, regardless of your political status and your socioeconomic status and all of that. So I think that, to make it more, I guess mainstream people would like it to be different from all of those other things that can be toxic for your body. But also, you know, everyone has their own definition of what toxic is. So that's one of the reasons why it's not federally legal though, because no one can agree on these things. You know it's. This is exactly the reason it's. You know. You have the camp that doesn't want it to be deemed adult use or recreational. They want it only medicinal, you know. And then you have people who are wanting it just to be. Who cares who? Who uses it? You know.
39:03 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, adults whatever.
39:05 - Diana (Host)
So, yeah, that's the reason. I feel like that's one of the biggest reasons is because no one can agree on how it should be accepted, how it should roll out, what it should be referred to as, and you know who has access to it.
39:20 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, no, it makes sense, it's just it reminds me of a conversation I had with a former DEA agent on my show I'm talking to all types of people, you know and I wanted to push him on his stance on the war on drugs and stuff and he had I guess he had come to his credit that he is like oh, I'm okay with like medicinal marijuana usage and not recreational. And you know, we started getting into. I was thinking to myself, well, what's the difference? Like why do you care? Like this is okay, but this is not.
39:51
You know, it's like again, I just think it goes back like we can't be a moderate society, we can't be like OK, well, both these seem like it could be nice just to have a nice responsible weekend, it could be nice to help with depression or PTSD or chronic issues going on. It's like nope, let's, let's just go way far on this end. So maybe you went from the stoner part and then you went to the very far medical part, but really the country is probably more in the middle in the usage. You know, there's people who are doing it purely medicinal, whatever you know, according to their own definition, and there's people who are just doing it to just have like nice fun party, dinner party or whatever. You know, I just I just most of what I seen through a lot of my interviewing is that in the in the industry it's there's a lot of people trying to make it very serious, I'm very serious, wanting to be taken seriously. I get that because when you're trying to be in a business.
40:45 - Diana (Host)
You're like why so serious? Sorry, I can't you keep saying it why?
40:49 - Darian (Guest)
so serious. I think I did it better there.
40:52
You had to throw it in there. Yeah, it's like both these things. There's a spectrum of possibilities in almost anything Right, and in this spectrum of possibilities, both those things exist and I just think that we shouldn't like basically go well, let's just like get rid of this part and only focus on this other part. All these things exist and, honestly, most people I know that are ingesting cannabis, they're not doing it medicinally from the maybe the larger medicinal definition of it, they're just doing it having a nice time, honestly, with that. And a lot of people that I know and again, I'm not in the industry, I'm not doing research, but it's like myself it is um is becoming a much better option than alcohol. For that I still enjoy a good cocktail, but I think that I see a much better difference in my cannabis use versus alcohol use and I think that there's a lot of that going on too for that. So I just think there's a spectrum of things happening and it's okay if we can acknowledge all those things for that it's just okay.
42:02
It's just like the psych. I had talked to so many people in the psychedelic space and you know there's a similar thing. It's the medicinal thing, it's the. We're using it for veterans, we're using it for people who have crippling anxiety, blah, blah, blah for people who have crippling anxiety, blah, blah, blah. But then I have some people in the space who are like listen, sometimes I just want to enjoy my Saturday and microdose. You know it's like and that's the minority people.
42:25 - Diana (Host)
Sometimes I just want to make the library adventures seem a lot more adventurous, right.
42:29 - Darian (Guest)
That's what I'm saying, yeah.
42:32 - Diana (Host)
No, I agree with you 100%. I'm just telling you that the sides I hear all the time and the arguments I agree with you so much.
42:41 - Darian (Guest)
Trust me. Trust me, man, I really. That's why I want to talk to a lot of different people, so that I get a lot of different sides.
42:49 - Diana (Host)
I have some suggestions for you after we're done with this. But anyway, before we end, can you tell people where they can find you?
42:57 - Darian (Guest)
Yeah, most definitely so. My podcast is Dr D's Social Network and it's on all major platforms, but you can go directly to my website and subscribe to get it into your email every time it comes out. It may be a little annoying. Just because I put out so many episodes, you might be getting a lot of emails.
43:15 - Diana (Host)
You really do, you put out a lot.
43:18 - Darian (Guest)
You'll be getting a lot of emails. You really do. You put out a lot. You'll be getting a lot of emails. It could be annoying, I'm sorry, but it's just. It's my curiosity. But drdarianparkercom spelling doctor D-O-C-T-O-R and then darianparker P-A-R-K-E-R sorry com. And if you go there, my podcast is on there and all a bunch of other stuff. I'm into a lot of things yeah, you are.
43:42 - Diana (Host)
You have poetry on there. Poetry is on there.
43:45 - Darian (Guest)
Personal training stuff's on there and, um, that's probably the main way. I'm not on social media except for linkedin, and I know a lot of people don't even consider that really social media but because it's not instagram or other stuff. But you will not find me on those other things I do not exist, you're just on social media, yeah I'm very happy.
44:03
I'm proud to say that, by the way. Thank you very much. Yeah, I don't want to do it, the same thing everyone else is doing, so sorry well, the cannabis industry is actually very active on LinkedIn because Instagram hates the cannabis. Yeah, you know, I heard that that there's a big problem with that, like you know, getting accounts taken down and stuff and suspended. It's kind of a shame, honestly, it's a real shame, it's a real shame.
44:30 - Diana (Host)
It's unnecessary. I couldn't agree more, but thank you so much again and I appreciate it. Please come back anytime.
44:40 - Darian (Guest)
And until next time.
44:41 - Diana (Host)
stay high and beautiful. Bye, your Highness Media. Subscribe to our podcast. Please subscribe to your Highness Media. This podcast has been a product of your Highness Media. Each episode is written, produced and edited by your Highness Media. Thank you for listening.