Episode One: Is Cannabis Safe? Part One
Welcome to the very first episode of the Curious About Cannabis podcast! Briefly I wanted to introduce the podcast and let you know what to expect. There are two different types of podcast episodes that we’ll be presenting this season. Each primary episode, like this one, is a 20 – 30 minute beginner to intermediate educational episodes exploring a critical Cannabis topic or question. Accompanying the primary episodes are behind-the-scenes episodes. A behind-the-scenes episode features a full-length interview or conversation between myself and a guest, typically running anywhere from 45 minutes to two and a half hours. These behind-the-scenes episodes are more for anyone wanting a deeper dive into some of the content covered in the primary episodes.
Each primary episode has accompanying show notes that feature the show transcript and citations so you can explore any of the topics we present more deeply in your own time. You can find these show notes at CACPodcast.com
I am really excited to finally be sharing this content with you. I hope you enjoy it and find it valuable. And with that, I present the first episode of the Curious About Cannabis podcast.
– Jason Wilson
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You’re listening to the Curious About Cannabis Podcast
[Shutter]
[NURSE JANNA SEGMENT]
The combined North American Cannabis market alone is expected to exceed 16 billion dollars in value in 2019.[1]  People all over the world are taking notice and becoming more curious than ever about Cannabis. The momentum of Cannabis legalization across the world does not seem to be slowing down. And as more places legalize Cannabis, broader demographics of Cannabis users are emerging.[2]
As more and more people are trying Cannabis without fear of legal repercussions, I wanted to understand just how safe Cannabis products are or aren’t.
[INTRO MUSIC]
How safe is Cannabis, really?
Hey everybody, this is Jason Wilson with the Curious About Cannabis Podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Today we are going to be talking all about Cannabis safety and harm reduction in an effort to understand whether Cannabis is really as safe as many people claim.
To start our curious quest, we’ll be focusing on three main questions:

* How toxic is Cannabis? And as an aside, what the heck is in Cannabis anyway?
* What are the known health risks of Cannabis use?
* How can anyone that chooses to use Cannabis or Cannabis products minimize those risks?

Now, this is a really big topic that we could spend hours upon hours exploring. And in effect this topic will end up being woven throughout the podcast. As such, there are several aspects of Cannabis safety that we won’t be getting into in this initial series of episodes. So if there is a topic we don’t end up covering immediately – don’t worry. We’ll get there.
Let’s get started.
 
What’s in Cannabis?
Cannabis contains a lot of different chemicals. Depending on what research paper you read, there are anywhere from 400 to over 500 compounds that have been characterized in Cannabis so far.[3] [4] [5] But some researchers think there are likely far more chemicals in Cannabis, as well as other plants generally, than have been identified so far.
[KEVIN SPELMAN SEGMENT]
That’s Kevin Spelman, a molecular biologist and phytochemist that has dedicated his professional career to understanding why plants affect the body the way they do. And lately, he has had his eyes on Cannabis.
[KEVIN SPELMAN SEGMENT]
So despite what the scientific literature says,