In this bonus episode, Diana shares the top three listener favorites of 2023 that feature Dr. Peter Grinspoon, Charity Moran, Kristin Souza, and Laura Beohner.
In this bonus episode, Diana shares the top three listener favorites of 2023 that feature Dr. Peter Grinspoon, Charity Moran, Kristin Souza, and Laura Beohner.
(00:16) 2023 Listener Favorite Episodes
Nature's complexities of cannabis use disorder, misconceptions, overinclusive criteria, and differences from other substances.
(12:17) Benefits of Suppositories for Wellness
Destigmatizing CBD suppositories for digestive conditions, their effectiveness, and advice for use from Healing Rose co-founder, Laura Beohner (use code HIGHNESS to 15% off The Healing Rose products)
(20:49) High and Beautiful
Grateful for your support, stay informed with our newsletter and keep your spirits and beauty elevated until we meet again.
00:16 - Diana (Host)
Welcome to your Highness podcast. I'm your host, diana Crash, and today it's just me. I am not joined by anyone because we are doing a special recap, a high-level, high-level highlight reel, a clip show, if you will, of listener favorites from 2023. I know it's well into 2024 by now, even though I haven't written it down on a piece of paper yet, but we wanted to gather up some clips from the most listened to podcast episodes of our 2023 season. And it was really hard to pick these out because originally we were going to list our favorite episodes in addition to listener favorites, but we figured that would be an epic episode and also it was too hard to pick, because I really love everything that we've done in 2023. And I'm proud of the conversations that we've had and I learned a lot, and I think that you will too. If you haven't heard these episodes yet and if you haven't, I suggest that you go back and listen to them in their full form but for now, enjoy this highlight reel of the listener favorite episodes of 2023.
01:47
So, first up, we have episode five of season eight.
01:53
It is called the complexities of cannabis use disorder and in this episode, I interviewed Dr Grinspoon about how complicated cannabis use disorder is to discuss, because language hasn't evolved in such a way where addiction and dependency are discussed in a non shameful, non judgmental way, and so having these conversations is a little tricky, and it helps to have someone with a medical background who can speak thoroughly about substance abuse disorder and addiction. So I highly recommend checking out the full episode if you haven't yet, because it's really important to understand why these terms are being used in medical settings, and it's also important to empower ourselves as cannabis consumers when we're trying to be our own advocate, and completely ignoring the conversation because you don't agree with it only delegitimizes something that is so powerful. So I mean, basically, what I'm trying to say is that it really helps to hear all sides and understand why this discussion is so important. What I really would love to have you dig into more is cannabis use disorder. So what is a common misconception or something you wish people knew about cannabis use disorder?
03:32 - Dr.Grinspoon (Guest)
Well, cannabis use disorder is the series of criteria that the psychiatrist used to define cannabis addiction. So cannabis use disorder and cannabis addiction are sort of synonymous and I think both sides of the issue the pro cannabis people and the anti cannabis people both have misconceptions about cannabis use disorder. So that's a great question. The pro cannabis people tend to think cannabis isn't addictive and to dismiss cannabis addiction. And in fact it can be addictive and just like any other addiction that can really take over someone's life and needs to be responded to with empathy, understanding and high quality treatment. So I think the fact that cannabis can be addictive and can really derail people's lives is one misconception. On the other hand, the anti cannabis people are really exaggerate. How many people are addicted to cannabis? The criteria for cannabis use disorder, cannabis addiction you only need two out of 11 criteria to qualify and, for example, one of the criteria is tolerance and another of the criteria is withdrawal.
04:38
Now, when we prescribe opiates to people medicinally, we don't include tolerance or withdrawal, because everybody who uses opiates medicinally has tolerance to the medication and gets withdrawal when they stop taking it. So 100% of our opiate patients would be addicted to opiates if we included those. Why rope in and pathologize all these medicinal patients for no reason Yet with cannabis, due to stigma, due to the drug war and due to like old-fashioned sort of anti-cannabis thinking. In my opinion, I go over this very, very meticulously in my book. That's a very controversial but hard-hitting chapter about cannabis addiction. I think that the psychiatrists are by including tolerance and withdrawal. They also use things like cravings. You know these are things tolerance and withdrawal you'd get with your benzodiazepine, with alcohol, with your antidepressant, and you know most medical cannabis patients have tolerance and withdrawal.
05:33
So the way cannabis use disorder or cannabis addiction is defined ropes in needlessly and needlessly pathologizes many of the medical cannabis patients and they, by doing so, they exaggerate the numbers of cannabis addiction. And you know what. You wonder why they do this. Is it just not understanding cannabis? Or is it because they've been on the anti-side of all the legalization debates and this was a good weapon to use? Oh look, 30% of adult cannabis users get addicted to it. I mean the number we don't know because our definition is broken, but it's probably like 2 to 5%, it's not 30%. You know, dr Alina Wen just had an op-ed in the Washington Post a week ago saying 30% of American adults get addicted to cannabis, that's because of these like really flawed and overly broad criteria, and when you give someone a definition of addiction and they don't have an addiction, you're harming them.
06:26
There's a lot of stigma. People don't get treated as well by their doctor if they see the word addiction, they don't get pain medications. We need to change how people with addiction are treated, which is what my first book was about. But we need to not be diagnosing people who don't have an addiction with an addiction, including and especially to cannabis. If you're a medical cannabis patient, so I think it is addictive, it's just not nearly as addictive as the psychiatrists say it is. We need to have much better criteria so that we're not roping in people who aren't addicted, but we are helping people who are addicted.
06:57
And then the final thing I'll say, having been addicted to opiates the quality of the cannabis addiction is different than the quality of, for example, an opiate addiction. Nobody's like robbing pharmacies or injuring themselves to get opiates. It doesn't take over your life. The withdrawal symptoms for cannabis if you're a heavy user and you stop it or you get grumpy, you don't sleep well, it's hard to eat, they're bad, they're noxious, they're uncomfortable, but they're not like the soul-crushing withdrawal symptoms from opiate use disorder that cause people to do these desperate things, and you don't die from them like you would from an withdrawal from alcohol or from benzodiazepines like valium. So I think we need to accept the reality of cannabis addiction, but put it in context and not exaggerate it, so we're not actually harming people by overdiagnosing it.
07:49 - Diana (Host)
Next up we have episode 15 of season eight and that episode was titled Journeys Through the Cannabis Landscape from Louisiana to Connecticut. In this episode I was able to talk to Charity Moran of so and Reap and she gives us some insight about cannatorism and what that looks like in a prohibition state. Also in that episode we get to hear from Kristen Souza about the Connecticut Cannabis scene and I know it has changed quite a bit since we spoke to her, but I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I suggest that you go back and listen to the whole episode if you haven't, because it's jam-packed with information and it was very entertaining. It was a lot of fun to record, but we also touched on a lot of important topics. So in this next clip you'll hear from Charity and she talks a bit about the travel industry, the cannabis travel industry and so like. With the current economy being what it is, are you finding people? Are you know, holding back on this type of travel experience?
09:13 - Charity Moran (Guest)
Yeah, so you know, we've been around and doing this since 2015. And I'm going to be honest, it really is on us, the business owner, to make sure we're putting information out there in advance enough. I'm finding that folks are more than willing and very happy to come, especially after the pandemic, but it's like you got to give me more time.
09:39 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, I've seen that a lot. Not to cut you off, but I have been seeing that Like I've seen some offerings out there that I'm like I would love to do that, but I need like a solid year to plan financially, especially right now. And they'll be like in two months or something, you know. It's like wait who has that kind of life right now, and you know being fully transparent.
10:02 - Charity Moran (Guest)
That was our learning curve, really immediately after the pandemic. People were still willing, but it's like I got to really consider the economy. I've got to consider how can I, what do I need to do as a business owner, to make the luxury affordable? And so that then the owners became on me to secure partnerships and sponsorships and, you know, network and collaborate so that I can decrease the cost to the customer one and then, you know, make sure our guests have an advanced notice.
10:39
So folks who have signed up for the newsletter, they already know next year's calendar and it's not on the website as it stands right now. And that's just some of the benefits of kind, getting people to tap into our newsletter and so that they can get that longer runway. But then, right after our Friendsgiving Supper Series in November will be announcing next year's entire calendar to give people that runway. Wow, so that they, you know. So we're doing our best to make sure that we're not cheapening the experience, yeah, that the luxury is affordable and then when they get there, that experience is just, you know, worth every penny.
11:25 - Diana (Host)
That's amazing, and do you offer any kind of like payment arrangements for people who are part of the club?
11:32 - Charity Moran (Guest)
Absolutely so. Next year will be and this is being announced in the newsletter we'll have a subscription, like a travel club membership, and then, for those who are not interested in the membership, there are options to establish a payment plan. So maybe you do want to join us to AfrofuturFest next December in Ghana? Then start signing up for the newsletter now, make a deposit and either join a subscription membership club or, you know, make those payment arrangements. But a deposit is always going to happen, you know, just to secure your spot.
12:17 - Diana (Host)
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13:06
The next episode is episode two of season eight. It's titled Supposit Stories. So in this episode I got to interview the lovely Laura Beiner, who is the co-founder of the Healing Rose, about suppositories, because the Healing Rose offers an incredible line of them and also because it is a conversation that some people have a hard time or have difficulty with, I should say because it might seem too personal, right, but the reality is suppositories are an extremely effective delivery method for medicine for many people, and it's time to destigmatize the use of suppositories and also try them out if you haven't yet. There are a lot of benefits to using suppositories, especially the CBD ones that Laura offers through the Healing Rose, and in this episode she talks about the personal reason for carrying this product and her hopes for having these conversations continue. So listen to it in its entirety, because the episode is really jam-packed and there are some other things in the episode, such as a travel segment with V Castillo, so I definitely recommend listening to the whole thing. What made you decide to create suppositories?
14:51 - Laura Beohner (Guest)
Sure. So I believe it was 2018 when we actually started making them. So it's going on five years now that we've been making them off market and strictly just been giving them out to people in need. We have given out thousands and thousands of them. It's kind of just been this secret mission and also research period of seeing how they work long term for people dealing with serious conditions.
15:18
And what really started it was in 2018, our first employee had really really really bad colitis. Like she was young she was in her early 20s almost had to be hospitalized in college. She was that. That severe area was all throughout her intestines or lower intestines. And when I first started making the products, I also was going what other modalities are there to use cannabis besides just eating and smoking? And suppositories had always been there in the back of my mind. Is this really amazing effective product that people just really are afraid to talk about? It's really hard to find and there just really wasn't enough conversation about it. So we started making them and using them with our employee and she saw so much improvement. It was incredible. I mean, she also made a really clean diet. She was using cannabis in other ways but through trying different 맛있ose ingredients, probably that. So those three, three and a half, four years of her using them. And she still uses them today, even though she's not with the company.
16:23
But she was for three years with us so we got to, you know, do that over almost her three year time with us she actually healed almost all the inflammation in her intestines and except for one small area. So the last time she got the colonoscopy they were just like mind blown with with how much the inflammation had healed. And then also my brother has really bad colitis. He's also in law enforcement so he can't use cannabis how we traditionally think of using cannabis or any kind of THC, and he will now not go a day without using a suppository and he's been using them for over two years.
16:57
So it really was like helping people around me who were suffering and feeling like they were hopeless, and that's why we started making the products. Literally, like I said, I've been making these for years and years, just trying to get them out to people and trying to help people and being able to help so many other people. Now we even have customers a customer who dealt with very severe rectal cancer and she feels like the suppository is a really the only thing that's able to provide her any kind of like after care from dealing with that. I mean she's in remission but she still has a lot of damage. I mentioned going through that. So those type of stories just like inspire you to just want to treat that product and just put it everywhere.
17:41 - Diana (Host)
That's amazing, and I mean because, especially when you have digestive issues and I hate to say digestive issues, I've Crohn's disease and I don't like it when people just say that, because it's not, it doesn't really encompass the hellscape that is IBDs, irritable women no, is it? It's not irritable, and I'm gonna mess this up already. I know it's IBD but it's not IVS and people conflate the two. And anyway, my whole point of this is that there are a lot of things that you're prescribed that only make it worse, and it's not even so much just the medicine itself which does cause a litany of issues. But, as I'm sure you're aware, what the suppositories kind of help with that like pills can't, is that there are, like gelatin, you know, capsules.
18:35
There is other ingredients in this, in the medication, that makes it really difficult to, sometimes even impossible for your body to absorb and especially when you're so inflamed, like when your tract is so inflamed, you know, I mean it you're not processing things in your body the way that you should be right. So that's, I feel, like a really ingenious way to, and I'm sure you had all of these people who were in a desperate situation and this is like such a great answer because of that in itself, but also I'm sure you also had a little bit of pushback from those people who have to get colonoscopies all the time, because I know from my own personal experience, when I hear suppository I'm like yeah, and I totally get that so in what way?
19:30 - Laura Beohner (Guest)
do you recommend like?
19:31 - Diana (Host)
mentally and physically preparing to use suppositories.
19:35 - Laura Beohner (Guest)
Sure. So I think a great time of the day to use it would be right before bed. You want to be relaxed, you want to be calm, you want to make sure your muscles are, you know, loose and you are mentally free of anxiety, so that the whole process isn't going to just, you know, be a very stressful and maybe not successful process if you really are anxious. So I always recommend people maybe they lay on their back on their bed. They're relaxed.
20:06
They need to use washed hands if you want to use a glove, obviously that that works too but you just want to relax and allow it to enter your body either rectally or vaginally, and it does. You can take like 10 to 20 plus minutes for it to absorb. So if you do have time, ideally you just lay back, let it absorb into your body. But yeah, it can be a lot for people to kind of break through, just trying it for the first time and then, once you kind of get your own little system going, you realize it's not really a big deal, just to like incorporate as part of your daily routine. And, like I said before, bed is such a great time for to really absorb into your body and make sure that you're getting the most out of it.
20:49 - Diana (Host)
Thank you for listening. Until next time, stay high and beautiful. This episode was produced by your Highness Media audio. Editing by JR Crash. Intro music by your mom likes my music. Subscribe to our substack your Highness newsletter for the latest announcements and event updates.