High Society with Paxton Quigley

Paxton Quigley Spotlight today on High Society with guest host Jorge Hermida only on Cannabis Radio. Prior to authoring books, Paxton worked as a Director in Community Relations for Playboy Enterprises, Inc., Los Angeles, for five years, and reported to Hugh M. Hefner and Christie Hefner. She was at Playboy in its heyday, the cable network had just started up, the magazine at the time had over 5 million readers. So we talk about how Paxton embraced this icon of the counterculture and an iconic figure in Hugh Hefner. Paxton worked with actor, Robert Wagner, as the promotional director for two years for the Jimmy Steward National Relay Marathon in San Monica, California, and was also the editor-in-chief of The Valley Magazine in Sherman Oaks, CA., You chair your family foundation, “Pathways to Success From School to Work”, at the University of Chicago. She's on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Career Development, NYC. So we talk about the charitable efforts and how the doors to these opportunities were opened to her.

High Society's One Year Anniversary with Paxton Quigley only on Cannabis Radio! Welcome to this first-anniversary recap of High Society with Paxton Quigley. Since Paxton joined CannabisRadio.com last year, she has explored a wide variety of topics from cannabis science breakthroughs to space travel to what people are doing together and alone during this long pandemic.During the height of the lockdown, Paxton spoke with Dr. Sarah Mann, a Chicago-based physician who discussed how the pandemic and its social distancing restrictions were affecting people's sex lives and what role cannabis plays in enhancing one's sexual activities. Dr. Mann also talked about how prevalent anxiety was, and perhaps still is, among people who are unsure of what awaits them now that we are hopefully seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.In this episode, High Society with Paxton Quigley speaks with one of the most prestigious astronomers and astrophysicists of our time: Dr. Abraham Loeb of Harvard University. Dr. Loeb believes that we on earth very likely have been visited by aliens. He cites one example when a cigar-shaped object flew past Earth in 2017. Loeb goes into detail in this fascinating interview. He also wrote an informative book on the subject called Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.

Dr. Peter Grinspoon discusses current events from Sha'Carri Richardson to legalization after a busy week of events that have seemingly affected not only cannabis legalization but provoked an outpouring of emotions and opinions that can only mean that what remains of the stigma surrounding weed is finally lifting and beneath it are millions who do not agree with its continued prohibition.

UFO expert Avi Loeb discusses the long-awaited Pentagon report and what the U.S. government knows about UFOs and what it didn't manage to learn and why.The nine-page unclassified document detailed 144 of what the government calls “unidentified aerial phenomenon,” or UAPs, seen by Navy pilots and others between 2004 and 2021.

Award-winning sex educator and coach gives free advice to Paxton Quigley's listeners in this spicy interview with Ashley Manta, the much sought-after authority on combining sex and cannabis as part of her “Cannasexual Brand.”Manta, author of “Sex: How Cannabis, CBD and Other PlantAllies Can Improve Your Everyday Life,” explained that Cannasexual - a concept she created - describes “mindfully and deliberately combining sex and cannabis to deepen intimacy and enhance pleasure.” This concept is also the basis of Manta's sex therapy and coaching, which she describes in juicy details, especially when Quigley asked to role-play as if she were talking with a female client looking to make her sex life “more orgasmic.”

Meet the Ohio mother taking on the powers that be for medical marijuana for autism: Tiffany Carwile, who seems to never sleep.For the third year in a row, the Ohio Medical Board has refused to approve autism spectrum disorder as one of the state’s 25 qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. So Carwile is taking her arguments, based on science and experience, to Ohio’s legislators and governor. Carwile, president of the Autism Alliance of Ohio, said the most recent round of negative responses from the Ohio Medical Board was disheartening but “failure is not an option, for me or for my son.” Carwile’s 7-year-old son Jaxsyn was diagnosed with severe low-functioning autism in 2016.

Harvard physicist Abraham "Avi" Loeb talks about outer space in his second interview with Paxton Quigley.A recent report from the National UFO reporting center noted that the number of sightings in the United States rose by a thousand nationwide to 7,200 this year, according to the government’s reporting center. And only now, apparently, the Pentagon is taking them seriously.Prof. Loeb agreed that many more have probably been in our atmosphere, and go either unseen or unreported.

The future of cannabis is in rare cannabinoids such as CBG, CBN, THCV, THCA, and more, said Dennis O’Neill, president of BioMedican, a biotech company that has developed a unique patented method of producing pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids. “These rare cannabinoids offer specific health benefits that are better than CBD,” O’Neill said. 

The burgeoning hemp industry and where it’s headed was the topic of in this interview with Robert Hoban, Esq. president and founder of the Hoban Law Group, one of the largest cannabis and hemp industry law firms in the United States.Hoban talks about the versatility of hemp as a manufacturing product as well as how beneficial its use can be for the environment. He pointed to such benefits as less reliance on fossil fuels and more efficient use of energy; less build-up of carbon in the atmosphere; forest conservation and a deep reduction in agricultural pesticide use. Hemp can also be used to replace cotton, which is a crop that requires enormous amounts of water. 

The Martha Stewart of edibles talks about Wana Brands, which produces the country’s top-selling cannabis-infused gummies and other yummy edibles.Nancy Whiteman, CEO of Colorado-based Wana Brands, the largest cannabis-infused products manufacturer in the U.S., tells us how she started her edibles company over a decade ago, what it was like for females to get ahead in the cannabis industry, and how she is now using her success to help women and people of color to get a fair break.With Wana Brands available in dispensaries across 11 states including Canada and the company having been ranked the top edibles brand in terms of sales revenue in 2019, Ms. Whiteman makes a point of giving back to communities in need.  In Sept. 2020, Wana Brands launched a new resource, Cannabis for Justice, which provides “a compendium of trusted resources designed for companies in the cannabis industry seeking to do more.”

420 originators tell how it all started fifty years ago at San Rafael High School and in the scenic mountains of Marin County, California.Known as the Waldos, five high school friends met after school at 4:20 to then go off and search for an abandoned cannabis patch that was planted then abandoned on Point Reyes Peninsula by a member of the U.S. Coast Guard. “We never found the marijuana patch but we had a blast searching for it!” said Steve Capper who along with his friend of five decades and fellow Waldo, Dave Reddix, shared many of the Waldos’ escapades in this fascinating interview.

A new cannabis coalition seeking to influence federal policy was recently launched and is called the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation (CPEAR). The CPEAR Coalition has not only enlisted cannabis policy experts, academics, mental health experts, and law enforcement, it also includes tobacco and alcohol companies as well as several convenience store partners, explained its executive director Andrew Freedman, whom many may remember as Colorado’s cannabis czar in 2014 when then-Gov. John Hickenlooper was implementing the world’s first legal adult-use cannabis market.

New York’s legal weed program is set to be the best in the nation, according to David Holland, executive and legal director of Empire State NORML. How great is New York State’s legal cannabis program? First of all, possession of up to three ounces of cannabis and 24 grams of concentrate is effective immediately for adults. Home GrowHome cultivation, the bane of our collective existence, is permitted once regulations are adopted. Adults can grow a maximum of three mature plants and three immature plants. Households with two or more adults are permitted to grow twice that amount. “Home grow was a critical element as far as NORML was concerned,” said Holland, former legal counsel for High Times and president of the New York City Cannabis Industry Association (NYCCIA).Social Equity and Automatic ExpungementNew York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) provides for automatic expungement or resentencing for anyone “with a previous marijuana conviction that would now be legal under the law and provides necessary funding.”In terms in fair reinvestment, the law stipulates that 40% of cannabis tax revenue will be reinvested in communities that have been disproportionately targeted by cannabis enforcement and the racist war on drugs as well as women and disadvantaged farmers. “We were no longer going to tolerate rampant abuse of law enforcement against people of color especially black people who suffered under the war on drugs with over policing,” Holland said.Twenty percent of revenue will go to schools, and 40% to drug treatment facilities and public education.Home DeliveryHolland pointed out that there is already an informal yet extremely efficient infrastructure functioning among the legacy cannabis market operators. “Legacy market operators are very capable of continuing to operate efficiently and effectively. We’d like these so-called ‘outlaws’ to become in-laws. They clearly know how to run the industry whereas legislators in Albany have no idea.”Public Consumption New York will have public consumption spaces, pop-up shops, and eventually catering licenses will be available. How many operating licenses? That has not been decided yet, so stay tuned. A tribute   Holland ended the interview with a tribute to those who worked long and hard for legalization. He specifically named two people. “We would not be here discussing this if it were not for people like [former High Times Magazine Chairman and civil rights attorney] Michael Kennedy and [NORML founder and attorney] Keith Stroup.”

Delta-8 THC is popular, legal, and quite fantastic, say consumers of this lesser-known, and now much sought-after, cannabinoid.In the past several year's researchers have found that the Delta-8 THC molecule, which occurs in the cannabis plant in very small concentrations, contains much of the same unique therapeutic potential as Δ-9 THC and CBD. This includes anti-nausea properties, pain and anxiety reduction, appetite stimulation, and much more, explained Eric Recker, Executive Vice President of Indicaloud, a producer of high-quality, compliant, and consistent Delta-8 THC products, made from premium hemp. Recker noted that, unlike CBD, Delta-8 THC can produce a heady, psychoactive experience for some consumers, although less so than Delta-9 THC. 

FDA approval to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with MDMA is imminent, explained Betty Aldworth, Director of Communications and Events for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).“We are on the precipice of filing that application to the FDA for approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD,” Aldworth said.Indeed, several years ago the Food and Drug Administration designated MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD a “Breakthrough Therapy,” which ensures that the FDA will work closely with MAPS to complete the Phase 3 trials currently underway. This would also fulfill MAPS’ aims to develop MDMA into an FDA-approved prescription treatment, a move Aldworth said would bring a great deal of relief to those suffering from PTSD as well as other mental health conditions. “What we are seeing right now is an acknowledgment that psychedelics might fundamentally change the way we think about mental health conditions,” Aldworth explained. “It may offer us a window into treating these conditions by giving people the tools to work with to get to the core of the issues that are causing them, whether it’s PTSD, depression, or anxiety since many of these things are very much connected.” MAPS is also are studying whether MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can help heal the psychological and emotional damage caused by sexual assault, war, violent crime, and other traumas including anxiety related to life-threatening illnesses.“We are looking at psychedelics as a catalyst to provide people with a new way of looking at themselves and the elements of their lives that are causing them stress and anxiety, with the hope that we might be able to fundamentally shift how we’re treating mental health within the western paradigm,” Aldworth said. 

Women’s successful inclusion in the cannabis industry has been the goal of ArcView’s Chief Investment Officer, Jeanne Sullivan, since she left the world of corporate tech investment in 2014 and entered the cannabis industry, bringing her much-needed skills along with her. “Throughout my career, I have been interested in supporting women entrepreneurs who receive less than 3% of venture capital funding and very little access to resources to help grow their businesses, especially women of color,” Sullivan said.Enter Women’s Investor Network “Our goal is to do better than the tech industry has done,” said Sullivan, who co-founded the Women’s Investor Network (WIN), which is part of the Arcview Group. WIN’s members seek to mutually empower, train and support women working in all areas of the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industry.  “We’re bringing more women investors, companies, and products to the forefront of the industry,” Sullivan said. “By focusing on diversity, inclusion, and developing an equitable cannabis industry, we’re opening a door for women and encouraging them to walk through it.” Currently, WIN has more than 120 members. “Many of the women who joined WIN have no formal training and yet they’ve managed to set up and run successful companies,” Sullivan said. “And that inspires me. We share and teach each other.

Reflecting on Black History Month and the cannabis industry was the topic addressed by Dr. Kirsten Shepard Ahmed, CEO & founder of Texas-based CBD company, Pain Stoppers, who pointed out that only 4% of cannabis businesses are owned by African Americans, of whom she is one. As the legal cannabis industry continues to grow, the reality is that white business people are almost exclusively profiting from it at the moment, said Dr. Shepard Ahmed, known as Dr. K, who is a member of the Minority Cannabis Association, Texas NORML, and the Drug Policy Alliance.     Although Black and Latina female entrepreneurs are the fastest-growing category of business owners, they receive only a fraction of available funding and have very little access to resources that can help them grow their businesses...and yet they persist! Dr. K is not only persistent…but she’s optimistic.“As with any new business venture, the biggest challenge is having the capital to get up and running. We had our share of those problems in the beginning,” said Dr. K whose Pain Stopper brand includes a variety of products made with full and broad spectrum hemp. Pain Stopper, Inc., said Dr. K, not only seeks to transform healthcare on a global level, their goal is also to help solve the country’s worsening opioid epidemic by getting people off addictive pharmaceutical pain meds and onto safe hemp-sourced CBD options. Recent studies have concluded that indeed cannabis may have the potential to not only reduce the harms associated with opioid use but also improve the quality of life of those who use opioids. To learn more about Dr. K’s Pain Stopper products or speak with a professional about which of the many medical protocols would best serve your needs, contact the Austin-based company. 

Author discusses Mars landing and inner workings of NASA in a fascinating interview that also looks at the agency’s exploration of Saturn’s moon, Europa, whose ocean, say, scientists, is habitable and similar to Earth’s. And if you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of NASA (who hasn’t!?), journalist and bestselling author David W. Brown talks about how NASA scientists worked for years to discover a large saltwater ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface. Europa is one of Jupiter’s four Moons. “There is three times more water on Europa than on Earth, which makes scientists believe that complex life could very well exist there,” said Brown whose creative non-fiction book, “The Mission: A True Story,” was published in late Jan. 2021. “Life could be anywhere, we just have to look for it,” said Brown who added that it is a long trip to Jupiter: 6 years!And Mars? It’s much closer: around 7 months.

The moon is hollow and aliens rule the sky, says bestselling author and UFO investigator Rob Shelsky, referring to one of his recent books that contain his hollow moon research findings.“I laughed off the idea at first then I started researching and found that the moon is actually very light. If it was any lighter, it would float away,” Shelsky said. “It is missing mass. When it is struck, it rings for hours, like a hollow bell.”According to evidence he gathered for his book, For The Moon Is Hollow And Aliens Rule the Sky, Shelsky noted that the moon’s hollow spaces contain alien structures. He posed the question of whether aliens in fact reside within the Moon’s hollow spaces. In this fascinating interview with Paxton Quigley, Shelsky contends that evidence supporting the idea of our Moon being hollow comes from a wide variety of scientific disciplines and sources. He also notes that there is recorded historical evidence that our Moon has not always been in our skies.Referring to a question about governmental organizations such as NASA that generally covers up UFO sightings and has censored employees who have produced evidence of their existence, Shelsky scoffed. One such incident involved former NASA contractor, Donna Hare, who claimed there were three flying saucers on the moon during one of NASA’s lunar landings, but that the whole episode was covered up. Hare and other NASA officials who wanted to speak out about the existence of UFOs were forced to sign gag orders or lose their pensions.“Our media still seems to have a strong predilection for ridiculing the whole UFO phenomenon and everything related to it,” Shelsky lamented. 

Jointly app helps users track cannabis usage and much more, said the company’s co-founder and CEO about a new consumer-driven database, which is already making waves in the legal weed market by helping consumers get organized about what they need, want, and how to find it. “Jointly advocates and promotes purposeful cannabis consumption by serving as a personal and collective database that essentially revolves around the goals users are aiming to achieve,” said Jointly CEO David Kooi. “It does this by providing a clear method to track their own [cannabis] usage, more specifically which products, methods, and routines work best for them." Jointly creators assessed why and how people are consuming cannabis and CBD products and distilled them into eleven holistic wellness goals. 

We might have been visited by aliens says Harvard astronomer when a cigar-shaped object flew past Earth in 2017.  And we might not have even realized it.Dr. Abraham Loeb, the author of a new book called Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, says that astronomers were too quick to label the peculiar asteroid as something natural rather than investigating it further. “Most of the mainstream astronomy community ignored 'Oumuamua's anomalies," Dr. Loeb said, rather than really investigating it. Oumuamua, the first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system, was discovered on Oct. 19, 2017, by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope on the island of Maui. The telescope is equipped with the world's largest digital camera. “Some scientists find my hypothesis unfashionable, outside of mainstream science, even dangerously ill-conceived,” writes the Harvard astrophysicist in his new book. “But the most egregious error we can make, I believe, is not to take this possibility seriously enough.” Loeb, director of Harvard’s Institute for Theory and Computation, and founding director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative thinks the visitor was more than just an “interstellar object,” which it is currently dubbed, but rather a byproduct of intelligent life outside our solar system. 

Why don’t doctors understand medical marijuana was a question put to cannabis experts Drs. Samoon Ahmad and Kevin Hill in a fascinating interview done by Paxton Quigley. Dr. Ahmad, a psychiatry professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said that a large part of the problem is due to the fact that there has been no real discussion of medical marijuana and the endocannabinoid system in medical schools over the past several decades. He lamented that the situation continues today although attitudes are slowly changing. 

Pot Shop Changing Hearts & Minds While Getting High Rebelle Dispensary: A conversation with Rebelle Dispensary's Charlotte Hanna and Marcus Williams today on High Society with Paxton Quigley.When Rebelle Dispensary stepped into the dynamic Massachusetts legal weed market in the fall of 2020, it took off at a clip, much like the rest of the state’s pot shops. After all, Massachusetts was the first state on the East Coast to legalize recreational cannabis.As the retail brand of vertically integrated recreational marijuana company Community Growth Partners (CGP), Rebelle was founded by Charlotte Hanna, whose goal was to establish a female and minority-owned company to empower those communities that have been negatively affected by the failed War on Drugs. “I’ve never understood why cannabis, a plant with so many beneficial properties, was criminalized in the first place,” said Hanna who worked for years in real estate, finance and philanthropy, and Goldman Sachs. “Our goal is to establish a social equity program to remedy some of the damage done by criminalization.”

Legal Weed’s Advances and Lawsuits to Overturn Them. Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, talks about how and why lawsuits have been filed in three of the five states where some form of marijuana was legalized on Nov. 3rd. First the whyArmentano called these lawsuits frivolous attempts to undermine the democratic process. “Since 1996 when California legalized medical marijuana, voters in 35 states have gone to the ballot box to legalize adult-use or medical cannabis. Where they have done that, they’ve been successful. The reality is: when we are given the chance to vote for legal marijuana, we win.” In addition to the unprecedented actions of trying to overturn the will of the voters, opponents of legal marijuana have also tried to kick the issue off the ballot before it even got there. That tactic was unsuccessful in Arizona and unfortunately, it worked in Nebraska.  Sound familiar?Invalidating legally cast ballots after the elections seems to be the tactic de jour of losing opponents. Regardless, Armentano doesn’t think it will work. “They (prohibitionists) have lost the hearts and minds of the American people on this issue. There’s now a supermajority in this country who believe that marijuana should be legal and will continue to vote for it.”The new administration in the White House Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has said the Biden administration would decriminalize marijuana and automatically expunge all marijuana use convictions and incarcerations. Harris has also been the chief sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in the Senate.  Armentano thinks that once cannabis is removed from its Schedule l spot on the DEA’s list of Controlled Substances and dealt with under the jurisdiction of individual states, like alcohol, the incoming Democratic administration will back that sort of cannabis reform…so long as the prohibitionists and obstructionists don’t stand in the way.

Mike Robinson refers to himself as a “hippie stoner savant” though he is way beyond what any label can fully describe. Once a successful race car driver, Robinson’s racing career ended in 1995 when his car smacked into a wall at 181 mph. He ended up in a coma and then a wheelchair with a series of disabilities such as severe neuropathy and brain Injury, epilepsy, and several forms of cancer.“I went from making seven digits a year to collecting social security,” Robinson said. “Then my roommate gave me some CBD from whole-plant hemp and things totally changed.” Robinson soon became an unstoppable advocate for medical cannabis with a passion for helping others. He soon founded the Global Cannabinoid Research Center and the American Cannabis Compassion Alliance, worked as the director of communications at the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, and was a registered Civil Rights lobbyist. He continues to provide various alternative protocol treatments to countless disadvantaged cannabis patients.  All of the above ultimately led Robinson to his most important job of all: being Genevieve’s dad. Genevieve, now 17, suffers from severe autism, epilepsy, and OCD.  Her mother contacted Robinson in 2016 seeking an alternative to the pharmaceutical medications her daughter was taking to little effect. Robinson responded with a cannabis-based rescue oil to which Genevieve responded positively and immediately. She continues to make enormous strides with a drastic reduction in seizures. As luck and love would have it, Genevieve’s mother and Robinson decided to tie the knot. And, while the rest is history on a personal level, there will surely be more to come from Mike Robinson, starting with the production of his own products, Mike’s Medicines. 

Vets Still Having Problems Getting Medical Cannabis with Eric Goepel. It’s Veterans Day and nearly a third of the country now has access to some form of legal marijuana, yet military vets are still being left out of the equation. Why?The VA does not permit its physicians to recommend, and in some cases discuss, medical marijuana to veterans suffering from chronic pain, PTSD, opioid addiction, etc. arguing that cannabis is a Schedule l drug. Eric Goepel, founder, and CEO of the Veterans Cannabis Coalition, finds that situation untenable especially in view of the fact that VA physicians regularly recommend various forms of opioids for chronic pain and benzodiazepines for anxiety, which is often related to post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and suicide.  Indeed studies have shown that Xanax and Valium are tied to higher suicide risk, especially among those suffering from PTSD. 

With the 2020 presidential elections finally decided, cannabis fans of all political persuasions have a lot to be happy about, especially in five states where legalization measures passed with flying colors.  And, with the Democratic administration of President-elect Joe Biden set to take over, we can all share a sigh of relief. Though we must hold their feet to the fire to honor their promise to decriminalize cannabis and undertake drug policy reform. Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said that support for legal marijuana has only increased over the years. He pointed to the five marijuana ballot measures that passed in Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. “Prohibition has been an abject failure while legalization has brought nothing but benefits to the states that have approved it. No one has ever repealed their [legal] marijuana policies,” Schweich said.Asked whether New Jersey’s decision to legalize adult-use cannabis would set off a green wave on the East Coast, especially in New York, which has a potentially enormous market. Schweich said legalization in the Empire State should be inevitable in 2021 unless, of course, they want to “donate millions of dollars in revenue to their neighbor New Jersey.” The same goes for Pennsylvania and Connecticut. “Not only will they be missing out on the taxes, but thousands of jobs connected to the industry as well as existing industries that have been around for year will also grow.”Listen to the entire interview with MPP deputy director Matthew Schweich and let us know what you think!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paxton.quigley.568Twitter: https://twitter.com/CannabisWithPaxLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxton-quigley-0ba439/

2020 Elections and Cannabis is on the Ballot! Michelle Rutter-Friberg of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) explained exactly what is happening in the five states where some form of marijuana legalization is on the ballot. But Ms. Rutter-Friberg stressed that almost all decisions regarding cannabis legalization, including banking, are decided by our legislators, therefore every candidate running in 2020 needs to be in favor. Pointing out that the NCIA is non-partisan, Rutter-Friberg, the organization’s deputy director of government relations, noted that democrats are traditionally more supportive of “favorable marijuana reform.” For example, Rutter-Friberg said, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has been a constant obstacle to forward motion. “He is not even willing to bring (cannabis) legislation to the Senate floor to be voted on.” So, if you’re voting for a senator or representative, get informed and do the right thing. The 2020 elections are crucial for many reasons but will also give cannabis supporters a chance to flip the Senate from Republican to Democratic control.  “This year’s elections could prove to be a game-changer.” Meanwhile, if you’re in New Jersey, Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, or South Dakota, get out and vote ASAP. A combination of adult-use legalization and medical marijuana is on the ballot. Rutter-Friberg goes over each state in her informative interview here on High Society with Paxton Quigley. She also warned that in some states, specifically mentioning Mississippi, ballot initiatives can be confusing. To help clear up general voter concerns and confusion, Rutter-Friberg urged voters in all states to have a look at an informative website: votesaveamerica.com, which is a non-partisan site where one can check out if they’re registered, see a sample ballot, confirm where and how to vote and much, much more.

MS Degree in Medical Cannabis Now Available with Dr. Leah Sera, the program director of the nation’s first Masters in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics. Dr. Leah Sera says that the graduate program is a response to the rapidly growing medical cannabis industry and the need for an educated workforce to fill the many professional roles in this field. Launched in 2019, the goal of the University of Maryland’s MS in Medical Cannabis Science is to increase understanding of the science behind medical marijuana in the areas of research as well as policy development and to fill the growing need for more cannabis education. In addition to medical cannabis science, other clinical specialties in the program include pain management and palliative care. Dr. Sera said that in her own ten-year career of providing palliative care, she noted that her patients were becoming interested in utilizing medical cannabis for symptoms, mostly for pain and nausea. In terms of who qualifies to apply for the Master's Program, Dr. Sera explained that the only requirement is a Bachelor’s degree (or higher) from a regionally accredited institution. Courses in the necessary science and clinical information are offered as part of the program, which now has over 400 students. Most of the coursework is online, which is convenient in view of the current pandemic, though the university requires that students attend a day-long symposium once per semester.  

The Doctor Is In: Cannabis Effective for Treating Arthritis Pain. Dr. Caplan is a physician and medical marijuana specialist who has helped thousands of patients treat their arthritis. Dr. Caplan has called cannabis a far more effective and powerful anti-inflammatory agent as compared to traditional drugs…without the detrimental side effects. The Arthritis Foundation agrees. A 2019 national survey done by the foundation showed that nearly 80% of arthritis sufferers had already gotten the CBD/cannabis message and are now seeking guidance rather than permission! Physicians like Dr. Caplan are doing just that: helping people figure out which cannabis types and doses work best for their arthritis as well as other conditions. Caplan is the founder and chief medical officer of the CED Foundation and Clinic in Massachusetts, which provides a full spectrum of family medicine options and expertise in medical cannabis for a variety of illnesses. With arthritis being the leading cause of disability among some 54 million American adults, information on treating the often crippling pain and inflammation with a healthy option like cannabis are more than welcome. So, we appreciate our doctors, researchers, and medical professionals who are looking at CBD and cannabis as a proven viable option for arthritis inflammation, pain, and more. 

First ever Study Explores CBD and Cannabis for COVID-19-Related Anxiety – And You Can Be Part of It! The Cannabinoid Anxiety Relief Education Study (C.A.R.E.S.) is a first of its kind anywhere and they need subjects! Researchers at the University of California Irvine will be surveying millions of CBD and cannabis users across the United States in an effort to assess the potential role of cannabinoids in reducing COVID-19-related anxiety, insomnia depression, and more. Dr. Sean Young of UC Irvine talks to Paxton Quigley about the role cannabis and CBD might play in alleviating some of the negative effects people are experiencing as a result of isolation, job loss, and financial insecurity as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc at an alarming rate. So far, at least 207,000 Americans and over a million people worldwide have died from COVID-19. Dr. Young, a professor of emergency medicine and a researcher at UC Irvine, tells us about the large research project he and his colleagues are undertaking, which some of you might want to take part in. “This large-scale research study is especially relevant given high COVID-19 driven anxiety levels nationwide and the many state and local governments which have deemed cannabis businesses ‘essential’ and thus accessible during this time,” says Dr. Young, the lead investigator on the research. The researchers note that millions of Americans are already using CBD and cannabis, yet there is very little controlled research as to their efficacy to treat these conditions. The University of California, Irvine Departments of Emergency Medicine and Informatics are working in partnership with Wholistic Research and Education Foundation on this exciting research project.

What Do UFOs and Cannabis Have in Common? They Both Need More Research! Paxton Quigley decided to step out of the world of cannabis and right into outer space!  Her guest, Dr. Ravi Kopparapu, a planetary research scientist at NASA, tells listeners that star-gazing has increased lately as many of us, in these strange times, find ourselves staring up at the night sky. As such, sightings of unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) – or  UFOs – have exponentially increased. The National UFO Reporting Center reported that this year - 2020 - sightings are up 51% from last year, with at least 5,000 recorded sightings. One-fifth of those sightings occurred in April alone. Dr. Kopparapu co-authored an article in Scientific American on July 27, 2020, in which he called for more research into UAP, calling them a “scientifically interesting problem.” He also talked about three videos released by the Pentagon recently that show "unidentified aerial phenomena," which had been reported earlier and have prompted the Navy to establish a UFO task force. In a discussion about why so many scientists have shunned the idea of UFOs and the existence of life in other parts of the universe, Dr. Ravi told High Society with Paxton Quigley that it’s all about the science and expanding research. 

National Expungement Week: Co-founder Tells Us How to Get Involved with Torie Marshall. Torie is the cofounder of National Expungement Week, Sept. 19-26, 2020, talks about exactly how and where individuals can find legal assistance to manage the complicated process of clearing and sealing past convictions from their permanent records. Marijuana possession arrests comprise the vast majority of all drug busts and a conviction can follow a person around for their entire lives, blocking them from getting a good job, housing, student loans, and in some cases, preventing them from voting. Therefore, expungement is crucial.  And automatic expungement is the key, Ms. Marshall said, as a way of righting the wrongs of the racially biased War on Drugs, which decimated communities of color. Marshall specifically mentioned the work of tech company, Code for America’s Clear My Record, which expunged thousands of cannabis conviction records in California in minutes.

While most of the media, and our own attention, is naturally focused on the coronavirus and the widespread chaos it is wreaking on our country, our economy, and ourselves, we’d like to examine how the pandemic, social distancing, and general anxiety are affecting people’s sex lives. According to a series of studies we consulted, it seems that forced togetherness for many couples has not necessarily resulted in increased intimacy in the bedroom. So we decided to ask an expert: Dr. Sarah Mann, M.D. is a critical care physician, who has expanded into disease prevention and the use of medical cannabis to treat a variety of illnesses and conditions. To that end, Dr. Mann who is also a professor at De Paul University founded the Mindful Medicine Clinic, which is based in Barrington, Illinois.Dr. Mann told High Society with Paxton Quigley that cannabis can indeed help with the unavoidable stress and anxiety that seem to be on the rise as we all face numerous pandemic-related issues. She also explains the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and how it regulates sexual function, indeed all of our organisms.Our interview with Dr. Mann is informative for both men and women, and full of some great advice!

Instagram Sensation Courtney Trop Launches CBD Brand in playboy Interview and Tells Us All About It today on High Society. Courtney Trop, one of the country’s biggest fashion influencers and bloggers, whose popular Instagram site, “Always Judging,” has over 340,000 followers, is now using some of that expansive influence to introduce another popular trend: CBD. Courtney tells High Society with Paxton Quigley how and why she happens to be very familiar with the benefits of cannabis: her father is “quite a stoner.” Now Courtney has come out with her own CBD product (“Stevie” after Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks). The idea of Trop’s CBD product is to share with her friends in the fashion industry whose lives are fast-paced and stressful. And to share with the rest of us too!

The coronavirus continues to surge across the United States at a shocking rate with little to no federal plan of action to protect citizens during this unprecedented health crisis.  A concerning and controversial expression of that fact is that the U.S. still has no federal policy around the universal use of masks, which have been proven to slow the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. To help clear up some of the confusion and misinformation around masks and the coronavirus, Paxton Quigley spoke with an expert who gave us some tips on how to protect ourselves in some very practical ways. Dr. Tod Cooperman is the CEO and founder of Consumerlab.com, which is an independent website that tests, evaluates, and objectively rates thousands of dietary supplements, as well as other healthcare products.

Nurses Talk Cannabis And The Need for More Marijuana Education with Heather Manus and Sandra Guynes. As the coronavirus continues to rage throughout the United States, Paxton Quigley decided to look at some of the challenges facing the first-line healthcare providers who are giving their all during these tragic days. Some 600 health care providers in the United States have died from COVID-19 and as many as 116,000 have fallen ill.  The dire shortage of medical equipment for medical workers as well as patients was, and still is, devastating. Having said all that, High Society spoke with two amazing nurses who specialize in medical cannabis and who are trying to educate their colleagues on how to integrate the plant and its endless benefits into the medical profession, clearly where it belongs. 

Andrew DeAngelo Talks about Cannabis Industry, Challenges, Advances, and his New Playboy Column. Playboy, as an early advocate for cannabis rights, supported the National Organization for the Regulation of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for years. Playboy writers consistently produced authoritative articles about the failed war on drugs, benefits of weed, and the wisdom of its legalization. Playboy Foundation’s annual donation of $100,000 to NORML for a full decade launched the advocacy group - under the leadership of Keith Stroup - to become the nation’s leader in the fight against marijuana prohibition and advocacy for just laws and the fair treatment of cannabis users. Playboy’s mission has not changed from its original role that began over six decades ago.

Cannabis Is Not A Crime with Weldon Angelos from The Weldon Project. Weldon is a former music producer who worked with legends like Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur’s recording group. In 2004, Weldon became the national face of criminal justice reform after he was sentenced to a mandatory 55-year prison term for a $1000 worth of cannabis. His cause was championed by Senators Cory Booker & Mike Lee, celebrities, leading news organizations like the Washington Post & Rolling Stone magazine, and even the Koch brothers, which led to an early release in 2016 after serving 13 years of his 55-year sentence. Since his release, Weldon has become a leading activist working to end cannabis prohibition and reform our federal criminal justice system. The Weldon Project is dedicated to funding social change and financial aid for those who are still serving prison time for cannabis-related offenses. Through extensive partnerships throughout the legal Cannabis industry, The Weldon Project launched the MISSION [GREEN] initiative to is raise the bar for awareness, social justice, and social equity by providing unique ways for cannabis businesses and consumers to participate in a nationwide campaign aimed to provide relief to those who have been negatively impacted by prohibition.

Paxton Quigley Speaks with Cannaclusive and AlmostConsulting today on High Society. As protests gripped the country following the murder of George Floyd and other people of color at the hands of police officers who more often than not never face any consequences for their violent actions, Paxton Quigley had the honor of speaking to a group of women who are insisting on equity, accountability, and inclusivity in the cannabis industry.Co-founder of Cannaclusive Mary Pryor and her colleague Kassia Graham along with owner and CEO of AlmostConsulting, Kieryn Wang, spoke with Paxton about these important issues.

An Alternative To Tobacco with Joe Deighan, TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. founder and CEO. TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. is focused on hemp-based products that have been demonstrated to aid in improving health, quality of life, and overall wellness. TAAT Herb Co. provides an alternative to tobacco that tastes and smokes as well as, or better than, traditional cigarettes. TAAT Beyond Tobacco Hemp cigarettes effectively deliver high yielding CBD & CBG without the “high” and without the scent or taste of cannabis. While hemp can’t treat nicotine addiction, the act of smoking a cigarette can be replaced with a non-addictive hemp cigarette. It can help satisfy the oral fixation of smoking with zero tobacco, zero nicotine, and less than 0.3% THC* while delivering the better-for-you benefits of CBD with no psychoactive effects.

Creating A Safe Environment In Cannabis with The Farmacy Berkeley's Sue Taylor. The Farmacy Berkeley is an expertly curated, fully licensed 21+ retail store and consumption lounge for cannabis consumers who visit and live in Berkeley. No prescriptions or medical cards are required. The Farmacy Berkeley is particularly focused on providing seniors with a welcoming and non-judgemental place to explore the possibilities of cannabis in their lives and get educated on its potential health and wellness benefits. From striving to find the highest quality products to create a welcoming atmosphere where anyone can feel like family, The Farmacy Berkeley is designed to make learning about and buying cannabis as empowering and inviting as possible. This is why education is an enormous part of their mission.

The War on Drugs and Cannabis Prohibition's role with David C. Holland, Esq. Today we about the link between the war on drugs and how it has resulted in the militarization of local police and law enforcement. For this discussion, we talk about the extraordinarily large role cannabis prohibition plays in this as well as where we go from here. David is the Executive and Legal Director of Empire State NORML, the New York State affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and he is a former counsel to High Times Magazine having served in that capacity for more than 10 years. His firm is one of the foremost authorities on the legal issues related to the cannabis industry including producing tradeshows and cannabis-themed competition such as the High Times "Cannabis Cup" and "Medical Cannabis Cup". During his time at High Times, he was responsible for all litigation, investigations, Human Resources duties, and intellectual property matters. As well as contracts, and contributing author to magazine and website. David also oversaw all national and international tradeshows and marijuana-themed competitions.

Helmand Valley Growers Company with Bryan Buckley, Matt Curran, and Andy Miears founders of HVGC. Conceived from the stresses of battle, to help everyone battling day-to-day life. We're on a mission to help put an end to the opioid and suicide epidemic plaguing our Nation's Heroes. We believe that exploring the benefits of medical cannabis is the most effective way to combat these issues and bring proper aid to those who gave so much for our great nation. HVGC was founded by the United States Special Operations Veterans (Marine Raiders). Since its inception, HVGC has been in discussions with some of the cannabis industry’s top researchers and has developed a veteran based protocol to effectively prove the benefits of medical cannabis. HVGC is supported and essentially ran by three Marine Raiders that served following 9-11. Over time, and through HVGC presentations and seminars, the principals of HVGC realized a recreational brand will be a monetary success and will help fund the ultimate mission of HVGC, providing medical cannabis to the veterans of our United States Military.

Hash from trash with The Hash Queen Mila Jansen. It was 1994 in Amsterdam, Holland, and Mila Jansen realized she was on to something. She watched her kids’ clothes tumble and spin in the dryer. Little did she know this mundane experience would revolutionize the art of separating hash from trash, and inspire one of her famous catchphrases. In an industry where women’s contributions are often overlooked—and at a cultural moment when this is beginning to shift—it’s essential to know our weed "herstory", in which Jansen is at the center. Her recent autobiography Mila: How I Became the Hash Queen chronicles these historic entrepreneurial endeavors; and illustrates her intimate relationship with cannabis through the lens of a transglobal adventure. Hash making’s been around for years, so there’s an array of methods to separate trichomes from the plant. But Jansen’s dryer-inspired invention made it simple. The Pollinator machine’s screen-covered spinning drum allows the crystals to gently separate from the leaf and collected easily from the tray at the bottom of the box. To say this invention single-handedly altered the course of the industry is an understatement: it’s a defining moment in the modern history of western cannabis.

Dr. Brooke Worster, a physician at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, joins High Society with Paxton Quigley to talk about the nation’s first state-authorized medical marijuana research program underway in Philadelphia where investigators have begun two studies. Dr. Worster, lead investigator on a cannabis research staff of 10, tells High Society that the first observational investigation will focus on the impact of cannabis patients’ quality of life among those suffering from any one of Pennsylvania’s 23 qualifying conditions. The second study will assemble a smaller focus group to look at MMJ patients’ experiences obtaining patient certification from the state and what they’ve confronted in dispensaries. A unique aspect of Dr. Worster’s study: this is the first time in the United States that a cannabis producer has partnered with academic researchers.Enter Ethos Cannabis, which is collaborating with this important research. Ethos’ CEO Teddy Scott, Ph.D. talks about their groundbreaking research agreement. For starters, Ethos is funding all of Thomas Jefferson University’s research, which is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Ethos Cannabis’ involvement also provides the researchers with high quality cannabis ensuring quality control. Without a partnership with a cannabis dispensary, Dr. Worster noted, there is no no way to tell what patients are using or have used to address their symptoms. “Working with Ethos, now we can have tighter control. This is light years above anything that we’ve been previously capable of doing,” Worster said.Kudos to Ethos Cannabis and good luck to Thomas Jefferson University’s medical cannabis researchers.In the near future, which Quigley will be reporting on, a planned clinical trial at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College will look at marijuana’s ability to help cancer patients struggling with nausea and weight loss.

Keith Stroup is the founder, former executive director, and current legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, better known as NORML, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. He’s the author of the autobiography It's NORML to Smoke Pot: The 40-Year Fight for Marijuana Smokers Rights (High Times Books). He’s also the recipient of the 1992 Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform from the Drug Policy Alliance, and the 2012 Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award from High Times, and on April 20th, 2020 was named a 420 Icon (one of top 100 cannabis influencers of all time) by the Cannabis Business Awards.

Broad Spectrum CBD with Dr. Rachna Patel. Dr. Patel is a world-recognized expert in the field of Cannabinoid Medicine. Since 2012, her consultations have helped people relieve their symptoms, transform their health & live a better quality of life. People have walked away from her consultations with a clear understanding of how to use CBD products, what to expect when using CBD products, while also dispelling fears people may have and putting their minds at ease. She has helped people from many different countries manage a wide range of medical conditions including anxiety, chronic pain, insomnia, and more. At Doc Patels, they are passionate to help you find natural remedies towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle and alleviating everyday inevitable stresses. Their organic and high-quality Broad-Spectrum CBD products are Curated By Doctors which means they are thoroughly vetted by trained and licensed professionals so you can feel confident that what you’re using is clean and effective. Between their manufacturing partner and they're in house team, they consist of 30 engineers, scientists (including 8 Ph.D.’s, 2 MD’s, 2 MA’s), a Psychiatrist and a Dentist that are available to help you figure out how to use these CBD products so that you get consistent results that you’re looking for. Doc Patels CBD products are made from industrial hemp plants derived on American farms which produce 100% 0.00% THC Broad Spectrum CBD products through our patented process. Dr. Patel's insights into the field have helped many, many people. And, now having expanded to Doc Patels she hopes to reach even more in need of her help. With Doc Patels, Dr. Patel’s aim is to put medical grade CBD products in the hands of licensed healthcare professionals trained by Dr. Patel herself. In an industry full of misinformation and questionable products, it’s about time!

Cannabis and Cancer with GreenBridge Medical founder Dr. Allan Frankel. As the founder of GreenBridge Medical in Santa Monica, California, Dr. Frankel is on the cutting edge of cannabis medicine, developing treatment plans for his patients that entail measured doses of particular cannabinoids targeted towards specific maladies. In doing so, Dr. Frankel aims to give patients an experience closer to that of a traditional doctor’s visit, but without the numerous side effects of conventional pharmaceuticals and procedures. In 2007, Allan I. Frankel, MD, established GreenBridge Medical in Santa Monica, California, with the mission of treating patients living with chronic pain or illness through a combination of traditional treatments and medical cannabis. Dr. Frankel’s expertise in internal medicine, as well as his pioneering work on the applications of clinical cannabis, form the foundation of the GreenBridge Medical treatment philosophy. In 2017, Mark Kurzman, MD, joined the practice as a general practitioner. GreenBridge Medical is committed to explaining and demystifying the treatment process to new patients, whether they have been referred by their primary care physician or they’ve found the practice on their own. GreenBridge Medical uses a unique method of dosed cannabis — a treatment involving a regimen of regular doses of cannabis, usually delivered through a capsule or spray, designed by a physician to treat each man or woman’s individual needs.