There is a Plague that is killing tens of thousands of people in America each year is leaving us with millions of decimated families who are having to deal with this problem on a daily basis.

The crisis I'm talking about is the Opioid Epidemic and also referred to as the Prescription Pain Medication Crisis. It is getting worse and worse every day and so we are dealing with this in the worst possible way. So I fully understand the scope of this and understand what's really going on. I want to share with you some Statistics from the Center for Disease Control or the CDC.

In 2018, we had 2 million people clinically addicted to opioids in the United States. However, because there are very few clinically or socially acceptable alternatives that number went from 2 million in 2018 to 3 million in 2022. I'll do the math for you that's 21,000 people added to the addicted list each month, every month for four years.

's 140% increase in one year.

I have been studying this plague and researching how we can turn this plague into simply a memory. It was truly an honor to be on the TEDx stage talking about the epidemic, and more importantly, bringing solutions to the forefront.

Check out the full talk from the TEDxUCincinnati YouTube Channel

As a nation, how have we been impacted by the opioid addiction crisis? Thousands of families and lives devastated and destroyed, but what if there was a way out?

What is the difference between opioids and cannabis? You would be surprised what the research shows.

What is the psychological stance on using cannabis for pain relief?

Research matters in discussions around cannabis, and medical uses. What do you think?

What do you think about cannabis? Well, my opinions have changed through additional research.

New information can help change your mind on how you perceive things in life. Cannabis is a topic with new data starting to come out.

Addressing opioid addiction is a huge issue in the United States, and together we can make a difference.

Check out Chalmers Pillarsofwellness.com for Wellness updates! And ask me any questions you have at questions@chalmerswellness.com. I answer all of them and look forward to hearing from you.

The Chalmers Wellness Substack just launched. Comment, Like, Interact with other people on their wellness journey. Communities can make a difference. DrChalmers.substack.com

Dr. Matt Chalmers

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Before taking any action based on this information you should first consult with your physician or health care provider. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions regarding a medical condition, your health, or wellness.

________________________________________________________________________

How medical cannabis could reduce pain Matt Chalmers TEDxUCincinnatiHighlights of the Ted Talk

00:00 - Intro

00:36 - Statistics from the Center for Disease Control or the CDC

01:24 - Opioids are the most addictive substances we have available to us medically for pain

01:48 - Dr Matt Chalmers experience with Opioid Medication

03:08 - Cannabis is the solution to our Opioid Epidemic

04:12 - One of the ways that Cannabis is substantially healthier for us and better than opioids is the way that actually works in the brain05:22 - Cannabis the higher the Euphoria from Cannabis, makes it unusable for daily life

05:56 - It's impossible to Dose Cannabis

06:17 - Sublingual Strips are extremely doseable

06:43 - Cannabis Produces Substantial unwanted Psychological effects create anxiety and things like that

07:10 - Amygdala holds all the bad things about mankind Fear, Hate, Anger, Terror, Anxiety

07:52 - My ten year old son had have surgery to remove a plate and six screws from his arm

08:56 - The Research is showing that states that legalize Cannabis see a 24% drop in Opioid Overdose Deaths the first year after legalization

09:32 - Our society cannot sustain the levels of Addiction and Death we are currently allowing

10:25 – Outro

Automated Transcript: May have edits for grammar and not content. Please refer to the TEDxUCincinnati YouTube video for content.

Shows via MRI that CBR1 in the amygdala (attenuate) suppress anger and fear. Thus, decreasing anxiety

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657360/

Same study different write up. Shows suppression of BL amygdala

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4360235/

Again referencing the same study same conclusion

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841401/

Showed that baso-lateral specifically R lateral activation of the amygdala helped suppress the feelings of pain and thus decreased the reported subjective pain felt.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3549497/

Activating the 5 HT1 receptors in the BLA can suppress the learned failure response and thus reduce future anxiety. Viewing anxiety as perceived failure (conditioned defeat) in the future that holds fear now as if you are living in the failure at the moment. The 5 HT1 receptors help increase serotonin levels to the cleft.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3242817/

More on 5 HT1 receptors

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3927969/#:~:text=The%205%2DHT1A%20autoreceptor,Sharp%201991%3B%20Meller%20et%20al.

Showing that Delta 8 is just as effective with less side effects as medications already on the market.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34797727/

Cannabis

Showing that cannabis greatly reduced pain and the only real issue was cost and stigma. Reduced opioid use by 64% with a 17% reduction in opioid fatalities.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK574562/ (5)

Many of the studies showing negative effects of cannabis on pain were set up to fail. Cannabis has been shown to be better than codeine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK224384/

Pretty solid overview of how the receptors CBR1 work and where they are. The evidence that CBR1 is almost entirely inhibitory to neuronal tissue is pretty apparent. This widespread systemic placement of ligand based and cytoplastic receptor function that again is inhibitory shows a cannabinoid specific and dose dependent functionality of cannabis all over the body save the upper brainstem where the breathing center is. Activation of CBR1 greatly reduces excitotoxicity and reduces glutamate which by itself could stop seizure activity.

This also demonstrates significant protection against oxygen deprivation and reperfusion so the benefit to concussion and all oxygen deprivation function like epilepsy, and Parkinson's where oxygen deprivation is a significant issue especially from sleep apnea issues.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5877694/

Showing that the medulla has a low amount of CB1 receptors

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2008.01671.x (6)

Opioid issues:

https://www.addictionresource.net/opioids/overdose-deaths/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35105535/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553166/

Nearly 70k deaths in 2020

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/index.html (2)

Death rate of 2019 just under 50k

https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2020-07-16-cdc-drug-overdose-deaths-46-2019 (1)

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html#:~:text=Over%2070%25%20of%20the%2070%2C630,rates%20decreased%20by%20nearly%207%25.

More info government numbers

https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/opioid-crisis-statistics/index.html

More death numbers with graphs and age delineation

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

Estimated 2 million Americans are addicted to opioids 2018

https://psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/nearly-one-in-three-people-know-someone-addicted-t (3)

Nearly 3 million Americans addicted in 2022

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448203/#:~:text=Three%20million%20US%20citizens%20and,States%20are%20dependent%20on%20heroin. (4)

Opioid receptors in the pons:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22747535/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3545180/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2642894/

Opioid vs cannabis overdose

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6135562/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392651/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33367882/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5563007/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392651/

Deaths from cannabis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32370933/

Many of these studies look like they are trying to blame cannabis. The sidney study showed that of men with Aids that smoke cannabis they still died of Aids. They are somehow trying to tie the cannabis to Aids deaths its from 1997.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425742/

Also many of the deaths that are attributed to cannabis are not solely or even closely related to cannabis. Many of them are motor vehicle accidents, most 47% had high levels of alcohol, and many of the deaths were suicide, while still others had other drugs in the system. It is very hard to find cannabis deaths where only cannabis was involved.

Cannabis and blood pressure

This area of research is very odd as there is evidence that cannabis lowers blood pressure when they gave it to people that already had high blood pressure. However, from a we looked at people that used cannabis and we saw higher blood pressure they also mention that the people in the study also used a lot more alcohol. I lean on the study where they already had the BP issue and cannabis helped. Again the mixing of other substances, drugs or alcohol, makes many of these studies useless.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5237375/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33483174/

Reducing the amount of opioids via coadministration of cannabis shows promise

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6135562/

Anxiety and cannabis

Shows that cannabis is a solid choice for anxiety from a prescription point.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7531079/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8458732/