Minorities in cannabis, with Steven Philpott Jr.

02/16/22 • 59 min

In light of Black History Month, we feel it is important and relevant to talk about how minorities in the United States and around the world have been disproportionately affected by drug policy and the war on drugs. Part of our conversation today centers on how we can break down barriers and find ways to build cannabis companies that are minority-owned and uplift them.

Joining us for this discussion is Steven Philpott Jr., one of our science reviewers at The Cannigma and a cannabis trichome expert who is getting his master's in Plant Sciences. Steve is also one of the co-founders of the Illinois Minority Growers Association and is heavily involved in social equity and minority issues within the cannabis space.

As part of his master’s degree, Steve is currently using electron microscopes to take super close-up pictures of trichomes, tiny protrusions on cannabis plants. Tuning in, you’ll hear more about what these trichomes are and why they’re important. Steve sheds light on his experience in the military and how losing friends to opioid use led him to become interested in cannabis. We also discuss the disparity between what is taught at medical school and what science actually shows us.

To hear more about Steven’s research, what he hopes it will lead to, his predictions for the future of cannabis, how he is helping those most harmed by the war on drugs, and how you can help too, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

Some background into how minorities have been disproportionately affected by drug policy and the war on drugs.

The upcoming webinar that showcases Black-owned and social equity-focused brands.
An introduction to Steven Philpott Jr and his involvement in social equity and minority issues within the cannabis space.
Insight into the catalog of trichomes that Steven is currently working on.
What trichomes are and why they’re important.
How Steve’s experience with the military led him to become interested in cannabis.
How his experience as a strength conditioning coach for athletes increased his interest in cannabis.
Insight into the research he is currently doing.
The disparity between what is taught at medical school and what science actually shows us.
What Steve hopes his research may lead to.
The problems with a system driven by THC research and how Steve is doing things differently.
The Minority Growers Association and Steve’s role in it.
The importance of recruiting the people who were most harmed by the war on drugs.
What Steve predicts for the future of cannabis.
The connection between hemp and fungal networks and some of the other subjects that Steve is interested in.
Hear about cannabinoid testing in the Americans for Safe Access segment with Heather Despres.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Steven Philpott Jr on LinkedInIllinois Minority Growers AssociationHarrington InstituteCleveland School of CannabisHeather DespresAmericans for Safe AccessElana GoldbergDr. Codi PetersonThe Cannigma

Key Points From This Episode:

Some background into how minorities have been disproportionately affected by drug policy and the war on drugs.

The upcoming webinar that showcases Black-owned and social equity-focused brands.
An introduction to Steven Philpott Jr and his involvement in social equity and minority issues within the cannabis space.
Insight into the catalog of trichomes that Steven is currently working on.
What trichomes are and why they’re important.
How Steve’s experience with the military led him to become interested in cannabis.
How his experience as a strength conditioning coach for athletes increased his interest in cannabis.
Insight into the research he is currently doing.
The disparity between what is taught at medical school and what science actually shows us.
What Steve hopes his research may lead to.
The problems with a system driven by THC research and how Steve is doing things differently.
The Minority Growers Association and Steve’s role in it.
The importance of recruiting the people who were most harmed by the war on drugs.
What Steve predicts for the future of cannabis.
The connection between hemp and fungal networks and some of the other subjects that Steve is interested in.
Hear about cannabinoid testing in the Americans for Safe Access segment with Heather Despres.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Previous Episode

Cannabis and women's health, with Dr. Melanie Bone

By now, we’ve all heard of the concept of using cannabis to treat ailments like cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s, seizures, HIV, AIDS, Crohn’s, and terminal illnesses, but fortunately, those aren’t necessarily what physicians are most commonly confronted with. What then, can be done about things like anxiety, pain, insomnia, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and other women’s health issues?

Today we are joined by Dr. Melanie Bone, a physician in Florida practicing cannabis-based medicine. Dr. Bone has an impressive medical background from working as an OBGYN and delivering thousands (literally thousands!) of babies, to doing robotic surgery, and now, helping geriatric patients navigate cannabis medicine. In this episode, we hone in on one particular sphere of interest, and that is the way that Dr. Bone has integrated her OBGYN expertise with her medicinal cannabis practice. We hear about how her son’s run-in with cannabis set her forth on her research and ignited her passion, and how Dr. Bone integrates cannabis to alleviate women’s health issues. She lists the various women’s health issues that can be treated with cannabis, from debilitating menstrual cramps to sexual function, and breaks down the endocannabinoid system and the effects of vaginal suppositories. We find out how women and other estrogen-predominant people react differently to cannabis than men and those with more testosterone, and why microdosing is far more effective for the former. As it turns out, edibles also affect women differently, and Dr. Bone explains the ‘start low and go slow’ method that they should be approached with.

We move on to dissect Florida's current cannabis market and prescribing model, speculating on the dangers of over-regulation going forward. Dr. Bone fills us in on why she doesn’t believe the THC limit model to be of much use, and why she is such a fan of ratio products! Tune in for this informative episode on cannabis and women’s health, straight from the source of someone who truly has seen it all!

Key points from this episode:

The cannabis laws in Florida, where Dr. Melanie Bone is based.
Dr. Bone’s medical background and how she came to merge cannabis with her OBGYN expertise.
The science behind why women react differently to cannabis than men, taking the trans population into consideration.
How Dr. Bone integrates cannabis to help with women’s health.
The various women’s health issues that can be treated with cannabis!
Dr. Bone breaks down the endocannabinoid system and the effects of vaginal suppositories.
Why Dr. Bone takes the “start low and go slow” approach to treatment.
The effectiveness of microdosing for women, and the symptoms it can resolve.
Why women respond differently to edibles than men and how they should approach them.
Dr. Bone dissects Florida's current cannabis market and prescribing model.
The government's concerns about diversion in terms of cannabis recreational legalization.
The dangers of over-regulation.
The medicinal benefits of CBD to THC ratio products.
Heather Despres briefly joins us to discuss the work Americans for Safe Access is doing to advance cannabis therapeutics for use and research.

Links mentioned in today’s episode:

Cannigma
Dr. Melanie Bone
Dr. Melanie Bone on LinkedIn
Dr. Melanie Bone on Twitter
Dr. Melanie Bone on Instagram
Parallel

Next Episode

Telling cannabis stories with pictures with Anthony Travagliante

Welcome to another episode of the Cannabis Enigma! We’ve got something a little different for you today. We’ll be talking about how visual storytelling can be used in the cannabis space with Anthony Travagliante.

Hear the tale of how Anthony came to work in the cannabis space, telling the stories of cannabis brands and making them accessible to non-users. Find out how he has overcome some of the challenges caused by COVID, what he enjoys most about the industry, and the strides it is making in business. Elana is uniquely positioned to review his services for listeners, having hired Anthony herself, she closes her conversation with him with a shining recommendation.

During the second half of our conversation, we are joined by Abbey Roudebush for the ASA segment, who gives us some insight on the newly published State of States Report. Learn what's included in the report, how the dataset is compiled, and who it is intended to educate. Abbey shares why they have totally revamped the scale and metric they once used to calibrate this kind of data and leaves us with the big takeaway that no state is perfect, but some are making strides. Join us to hear all this and more today!

Key Points From This Episode:

An introduction to today’s topic: how visual storytelling can be used in the cannabis space.
Meet today’s guest, Anthony Travagliante, and how he is connected to our community.
Lockdown challenges and how they sparked creativity while shooting.
The story of how Anthony came to work in the cannabis space as a storyteller.
What he enjoys about the industry and what it is doing in business.
How he sees his role in telling the story within the cannabis space.
His favorite target audience: the people who wouldn’t usually be interested.
Some of the biggest challenges he faces with different clients.
Who his ideal clients are for web, photo and design, and events, and what he does for them.
A plug for his brother Dustin’s shop in Brunswick, selling inhalables.
Elana Goldberg’s positive review of Anthony’s services after having hired him.
An introduction to the ASA segment of the show with Abbey Roudebush, Director of Government Affairs at Americans for Safe Access.
We discuss the State of States Report that came out this week.
What the report and assessment consist of.
The main audience for the report: policymakers across the country.
The individualized recommendations included in the report.
How they have totally revamped the scale and metric they once used.
How the majority of the states are not doing well on the grading system.
Where to find the full report.
The big takeaway she wants to share: no state is perfect.