Is It 'Just Weed'?
Jane West gets real about addiction, research and risks in the cannabis industry
Truth be told, the lifestyle industry doesn’t give much lip service to some of the issues it enables—be it the alcohol industry and alcoholism, the fashion industry and shopping addiction, or the cannabis industry and rising mental health issues that the plant potentially harms as much as it helps.
Using any of these consumables doesn’t automatically make someone an addict, but that doesn’t mean they’re without risk. As new generations become exposed to plant-based medicine being marketed as a recreational product during a time when the country faces a larger addiction and mental health crisis, there’s a growing demand to address some of these heavier topics that challenge us.
On the pod today: noted cannabis industry O.G. and founder of the eponymous global lifestyle brand, Jane West. Over the past 10 years, she’s evolved from hosting a Denver-based cannabis event series to making national headlines for her high-profile collaborations and cannabis advocacy, pissing off local politicians, and even having her brunch event raided by a SWAT team. Following her court case, she founded Women Grow while on probation, which remains the largest professional networking organization in cannabis, and is now black woman-owned. Most recently, she’s expanded her high-end smokewear line to New York State, and can now be found on the shelves at Gotham and the Travel Agency.
She joins the Pipe Dreams podcast fresh off her guest appearance on the “Is it just weed?” episode of Dr. Phil Primetime addressing marijuana addiction where we’re introduced to two families that have suffered from cannabis-induced psychosis, an anti-legalization activist and emergency room physician, the Executive Director of the National Cannabis Industry, and West, representing the rest of us—all brought on to address a pretty complicated and nascent issue squeezed into a 40-minute segment. Given that she was frequently cut off on the heavily edited segment, I thought she deserved a few extra minutes on the mic.
In pop culture, there’s a tendency to make light of “a trip gone wrong” because—for the most part—cannabis is pretty harmless compared to other substances. It’s true that research is starting to show that opioid use and death has actually declined in states with legalized cannabis use and that cannabinoids have incredible health benefits that are still actively being discovered. But realistically, it’s also fair to say that weed isn’t “just weed” anymore—you can still end up in the hospital for anxiety attacks through overconsumption, which is becoming an increasing phenomenon as THC percentages rise in the recreational market.
The push for recreational cannabis has decimated the medical market where education and compassion care were paramount, creating a huge shift towards a limitless market that looks strictly at the bottom line to push products catering to what consumers want rather than what they need. Kids aren’t just getting a dime bag of ditch weed and rolling joints like back in the day—they can easily order vapes and dabs with medical grade THC percentages through their phones without the adequate education to help them make informed decisions due to online censorship.
Unregulated product is now just as susceptible to being laced with fentanyl as any other drug, while conditions like cannabinoid hyperemsis syndrome and questions surrounding addiction are becoming more prevalent, leaving the industry with a sobering responsibility to itself and the communities it claims to want to help. Righting the wrongs of the past War on Drugs has equally put the formation of a D.A.R.E.-style drug education replacement program in a bit of an impasse about addressing drug mixing and addiction, inviting people with huge platforms like Dr. Phil to draw up their own narrative.
On the latest Pipe Dreams podcast, West shares her perspective as a longtime advocate following the twists and turns of the industry to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and silver linings for creating a socially responsible future cannabis landscape. Listen, like and share the episode. Follow Jane West on Instagram and browse her stunning glassware over at Flwr.Shop.
Have someone in mind that you think should be on the show? Drop a line at itstheweedwitch@gmail.com.
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