School Is In Session
Pull Up a Chair…Professor Cutie’s Breaking Down Plant Science, The Endocannabinoid System, and The War on Drugs
This one’s a deep cut! So many gems in this interview with Toya of the “This Wasn’t In My Textbook” podcast.
Check out the highlights of our discussion below, or CLICK PLAY listen to the full interview right here.👇
And be sure to check out her website for more episodes!
Toya: I always start off with this question: how do you define cannabis, weed, or whatever you call it?
Tammy: I prefer to call it cannabis, which is its scientific name given to it in the 1700s.
There is one word that I prefer not to use, and that is marijuana, the M word.
If there is a racist word in the cannabis lexicon, it would be that one.
And that's because after The Mexican Revolution, there were a lot of refugees coming over the southern border.
And in order to demonize this plant, they gave it an exotic name since xenophobia against Mexicans was at an all time high.
So they started calling it marijuana to give it an exotic, Spanish-sounding name to scare Americans into what would be the modern day prohibition for cannabis.
Toya: So did you learn about cannabis in any textbook? Even in grad school?
Tammy: Not in any of my education. There was nothing mentioned about cannabis history. Nothing about its medical benefits.
The only cannabis information I received was from the D.A.R.E. officer that would come into school when I was a kid.
Toya: If it could be a part of a textbook, what topics do you think are important to include?
Tammy: The endocannabinoid system. I think it's important for people to understand that inside of our bodies, we all have these receptors.
And these receptors are basically locks. In order to unlock them, you need a key, and there are only a few sets of keys that fit in these locks.
And the keys that fit in there are chemicals made in our body, our endogenous or endocannabinoids, and those made in the cannabis plant (phytocannabinoids).
So I think if we need to learn about anything, it's about how the endocannabinoid system and our bodies and this plant are a perfect match for one another.
Toya: Wow, I love that you were able to break that down. Give us a summary of cannabis. What’s it like?
Tammy: So, again, you should definitely know about the endocannabinoid system and understand that the reason why those cannabis keys fit in our locks is because our body produces its own version of cannabis.
Take “Runner's High” for example. People think that it’s endorphins, but endorphins are actually too big of a molecule to cross the blood brain barrier.
What you're actually getting is an increase in what's called Anandamide, or the bliss molecule. Its shape is very similar to THC such that the runner's high feels like a cannabis high because chemically and molecularly they're very similar.
And I think another important point is that CBD is really good for depression.
Pharmaceuticals make what are called SSRIs. And they're targeting serotonin and trying to increase its production.
But CBD has the potential to enter our bodies and balance out the chemicals. So CBD can be a really good candidate for depression over THC. But they're both equally medicinal and good.
And I think THC gets a bad rap because it causes intoxication. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when your body produces that chemical already. So there are health benefits to both.
I see a lot of posts on social media where people are saying that hemp is not marijuana or cannabis and that's categorically false.
The hemp plant is just a cannabis plant that is not allowed to produce THC. That's the only difference.
Toya: I think nowadays, a lot of products are coming out that have CBD in it. For example, I just purchased a muscle relaxer for my knee because I run. The CBD helps me when it aches.
So can you talk about the difference between CBD and THC?
Tammy: CBD is a really powerful anti-inflammatory, so topical rubs with CBD are great for aches and pains and soreness. I definitely use them for myself and my children.
CBD is going to give so many better benefits, but it's going to affect everybody differently. So for some people, CBD may help with sleep.
And for other people, it's going to give them energy. So it's all about trial and error in your own genetics and your own endocannabinoid system.
And CBD is actually psychoactive.
I think what a lot of people get confused by is the word intoxication and psychoactivity. So anything that is psychoactive is going to change your state of being.
And CBD is a mood enhancer. So it is psychoactive because it's changing things that are going on in your brain. It can be very helpful for depression, anxiety, and inflammation.
And CBD works best when coupled with THC, even if it's just one milligram.
You can think of CBD like a really fast car, but in The Fast and the Furious they always press this button that turns it up. And that's what the THC does.
Toya: And do they both come from the same plant?
Tammy: Yeah. So, when the plant starts producing cannabinoids, it always starts with one: CBGA.
Everything else is going to be made from that one cannabinoid. So CBGa is like the godmother of all cannabinoids. Without her, nothing else gets produced.
So CBGa can turn into THCA, CBDA, CBG, CBCA. So a hemp plant has CBG, but it's just not allowed to turn into any THC. It's just been bred not to do that.
Toya: Can you define cannabinoids?
Tammy: So a cannabinoid is a chemical that is produced from the cannabis plant.
Toya: Are there different strains that you can use for your menstrual cycle and stuff like that?
Tammy: I don't really like to give strains as an example because you could be growing two plants side by side and have two different chemical structures.
But for a fun fact, the CB1 receptor is going to be the receptor that's most interactive with THC. And those receptor sites are all throughout the body.
But in a woman's body, they are most abundant in the uterus. So there are suppositories that companies make that you can use for menstrual issues.
And just cannabis use during that time of the month seems to help a lot of women.
Toya: Okay, great. Historically, cannabis has a lot of negative connotations, especially for minority populations. What has your experience been as someone at the intersection of being a person of color and being a woman?
Tammy: My experience has been a good one. But I think it's also in how I carry myself.
I am more than just your typical pothead stoner. I’m leading with facts and holding myself as a professional at all times.
Toya: There's a lot of things that have led to where we are today, but why do you think that cannabis has taken this journey? Like, why do you think it's becoming legal now?
Tammy: I think when you have so many people with different ailments, proving and showing that they're living better with cannabis, no matter how far indoctrinated we are, it starts to wake people up.
For example, there's a girl by the name of Alexis Bortel, who, in order for her to live, they were going to have to take out a piece of her brain to stop her seizing.
She started CBD only and didn't have a seizure for about 30 days. She added THC to that CBD and she's, I think, in her fourth year of being seizure free.
And so it wakes people up when they see extreme cases being solved by cannabis when traditional medical practice has failed.
Toya: I can totally see that. Any thoughts or opinions on what the government should do for people who have been wrongfully incarcerated over cannabis use?
Tammy: Yeah, I think, if we're going to talk about reparations.
We need to be giving out retail licenses. First opportunity needs to go to people who have been incarcerated because if we're going to lock them up and put them in jail for paying their bills with weed money, but the government is now paying their bills with weed money, that's a huge contradiction.
I've learned a lot from The New Jim Crow, which is a really deep dive into the War on Drugs. What the War did was create an entire new caste in the US.
It's not even the fact that people are sitting in jail, it's the fact that now millions of people have a felony on their record that allows us to legally discriminate against them.
We deny them education, housing, jobs, voting, and that's the whole point of the war on drugs.
Toya: That's crazy. It's also a new form of slavery. You lock people up, you get free labor from these people, and then you spit them out.
Tammy: As a form of business, it's brilliant. But when you stop and think about the human lives that are impacted, you're taking fathers away from their families.
Toya: How else do you think that people of color can be a part of what they're calling the ‘green rash,’ which is just the spread and the legalization of cannabis in the US?
Tammy: I think for black people and all people of color, you've got to think about what it is that you are good at.
If you're a good storyteller, if you're a good researcher, if you're good at marketing, digital design, interior decorating, science—whatever it is that you're good at, transfer that skill into the cannabis industry.
I think so many people are like, “Oh, let's get a dispensary and we're going to make a lot of money.”
But you've got overhead, you've got insurance, you've got taxes, you've got security, you've got so many costs.
But this is a brand new industry, so the rules are being written right now. There are no rules, you get to come in, and you get to try and fail.
And then you get to try again. You do whatever you need to do until you figure it out.
Tonya: That's great. That's really good advice.
Tammy: Yeah! Dispensaries need to be designed and decorated!
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