John Hudak of the Brookings Institute

Soul D'licious Infused

Ben and Stephanie begin their interview with John Hudak of the Brookings Institute. Then, Bea Martinez talks with us about the relationship between CBD & Type 1 Diabetes. Finally, we discuss topicals and their various application.

Cannabis Science

Type 1 Diabetes is the version that occurs naturally in the body. It has nothing to do with a poor diet or an unhealthy lifestyle. However, a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle may exacerbate the symptoms.

THC has shown that it can modulate and regulate TH1 and TH2. When out of whack, TH1 and TH2 can encourage diabetes to have worse symptoms. TH1 may be in excess and TH2 is lacking. CBD treated mice showed an improvement in diabetic symptoms when using CBD. In fact, CBD showed it enriched the TH2 environment in the system. But just how much does CBD help treat Diabetes?

It turns out that 86% of mice studied developed Type 1 diabetes in an average of 14 weeks. However, CBD-treated mice only developed diabetes at a rate of 30%. Additionally, it took upwards of 20 weeks (or 6 weeks longer) for symptoms to occur.

Hash It Out!

Today we’re talking with John Hudak; an author and policy analyst with the Brookings Institute. John Hudak is deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management and a senior fellow in Governance Studies. His research focuses on campaigns & elections, legislative-executive interaction, and cannabis policy.

John’s 2016 book, Marijuana: A Short History, offers a unique, up-to-date profile of how cannabis emerged from the shadows of counterculture and became a mainstream public policy issue. In it, he describes why attitudes and policy have changed. Additionally, John talks about what those changes mean for cannabis and its future place in society. Cannabis captured John Hudak’s imagination later in life.

In the 1930s, the head of the new Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, began a crusade against cannabis. A teetotaler, prior head of the Bureau of Prohibition, and avowed racist, Anslinger determined that it would behoove him and the country if he could stop the moral decay of society. His ability to divide the country by race was something he was quite fond of. Despite cannabis being used and recognized as a medicine, not many people know much about it. Additionally, not much was known about it or its existence.

According to John Hudak, Anslinger saw cannabis as a scapegoat for crime, corruption, and the fear of non-white members of society. In fact, he was quite aggressive in his crusade against cannabis. And his efforts would completely shift the public view of the plant. His work would lead to the drug war and to many decades of poor public policy which would destroy a number of lives.

Later, President Nixon would take up his torch and further his cause. Nixon then convinced the country that drugs would destroy the stability of the nation. He used cannabis as a tool to get rid of anyone who defied or disagreed with him. This included Jews, psychiatrists, hippies, and more. Now, the U.S. government had a legal tool to silence and imprison anyone that spoke out against them.

Nugs of Knowledge

This week, we discuss topicals. How do they work and do they get you high? Topicals are products you put on your skin. They include sprays, oils, ointments, balms, lotions, transdermal patches, and more. According to chemist Noel Palmer, THC will not permeate into the skin and into the bloodstream. Therefore, the majority of cannabis topicals will not get you high. However, cannabis transdermal patches are formulated to permeate the skin.