High Truths on Drugs and Addiction Dr. Roneet Lev

Dr.  Roberto Olivardia is a Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He maintains a private practice in Lexington, MA where he specializes in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders and issues that face students with learning disabilities. He is on the Professional and Scientific Advisory Boards for Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD), The Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) and ADDitude Magazine and website. He is also a Featured Expert for Understood.org. He has spoken at numerous conferences, webinars, and podcasts.




https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4414493/

Zulauf CA, Sprich SE, Safren SA, Wilens TE. The complicated relationship between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2014 Mar;16(3):436. doi: 10.1007/s11920-013-0436-6. PMID: 24526271; PMCID: PMC4414493.

Drugged Driving.
4/20 – the improptu national holiday for marijuana, and we want to bring about marijuana awareness.  Marijuana has many side effects and health consequences, but today’s focus is on drugged driving.   If you smoke weed for any reason don’t get behind the wheel for at least 4 hours.  If you use edibles, wait at least 8 hours.  Driving sober means no alcohol or drugs.

Lesley Phillips is an Education & Training Specialist with the Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) program at UC San Diego. She develops online learning programs for various health-related projects and implements marketing campaigns to expand the reach of TREDS’ traffic safety curriculum. Lesley served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa after she completed her bachelor’s degree at Occidental College. This experience sparked her interest in health education and inspired her to pursue a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Lesley has over 15 years of experience in public health and has a passion for working with people in a variety of settings.
Steer Clear Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Course for High School Students

How does journalism play a role in drugs and addiction?

Eve Simmons is a British writer, journalist and health and wellness editor at DailyMail.com.
She is an award-winning health journalist with a dogged determination to sniffing out fake health news – especially when it comes to diet. Formerly the deputy health editor at the Mail on Sunday in the UK, continues to work on vital and entertaining reports on her specialist subjects in the US which include mental health, disability and eating disorders. And she’s not afraid to dress up like a fool and try the latest fitness fad…for the good of journalism.
She’s written several in-depth reports on cannabis legalization – most recently covering the Bryn Spejcher manslaughter trial.
From 18 year-old who shot his girlfriend’s baby while high on marijuana to stoned babysitter who let TWO toddlers drown: we reveal how cannabis has led to nearly 300 brutal child deaths
 
How California’s legal cannabis dream became a public health nightmare: It’s a class B drug in the UK – but in the US state it’s led to spiralling addiction, psychotic illnesses and hospitals facing a deluge of poisonings

The brain in neuroplastic – it can be directed towards great achievement as well as disorders.  Marijuana can cause synaptic reprogramming of the brain. Learn more from Dr. Kristen Gilliland who is a scientist who watched her own son’s synaptic programming, cannabis use disorder, and tra
 

Kristen M. Gilliland, Ph.D.
Dr. Kristen Gilliland delivered a TEDx presentation titled Rewiring Revolution: Neuroplasticity’s Impact on Wellbeing in 2018.
She earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She later served as an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. During her professorship at Cal Poly, she taught Organic Chemistry, Neurochemistry, and the Chemistry of Drugs and Poisons.  After Kristen’s son was diagnosed with cannabis-induced schizophrenia at the age of 17, Kristen joined the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Vanderbilt University (2018) to research new treatments for schizophrenia.  Tragically, Kristen lost her son to an accidental overdose in 2019 after his mental health severely declined and he became addicted to opioids and stimulants. Kristen then changed the trajectory of her life to utilize her scientific teaching, presentation, and research skills to educate adolescent-aged children and their parents on mental health challenges and how it can lead to substance use and/or substance use disorder. As the Director of Outreach and Advocacy Programs for the Warren Center, Kristen presents to middle schools, high schools, community centers, and recovery programs across Middle Tennessee. In addition, she has developed an award winning educational documentary aimed for middle school and high school-aged children titled Speaking Through Me which will be released Summer of 2023. The documentary and Kristen’s presentations focus on the developing teenage brain and neuroplasticity, the structural and functional changes that occur in the brain when under repeated stress and anxiety, the impacts of high potency cannabis on the adolescent brain, the neurobiology of addiction, and the dangers and prevalence of fentanyl.  Lastly, the documentary and presentations also include methods to combat everyday stressors or adversity and the importance of self-care and self-compassion on the developing adolescent brain.

Every Brain Matters – that is Aubree Adams mantra and purpose.

Aubree Adams is a leading advocate who stands up against the predatory addiction-for-profit marijuana industry. She has a BS in Exercise Science and Health promotion but is most proud of her experience as a mom of two sons and two dogs and as a host mom for youth in recovery. She is the founder and director of Every Brain Matters, a nationally trusted educational resource formed by families with loved ones who have been severely damaged or killed by the effects of marijuana. The stories of these families are featured on the Every Brain Mattes YouTube channel and the It’s Just Pot What’s The Problem?Podcast.
This former Pueblo, Colorado, mom lived at ground zero of the marijuana expansion movement. She has shared her devastating first-hand experience about this public health crisis before the FDA, The National Academy of Science, and in the documentary Chronic State. She has testified in many state governments, asking them to embrace healthy communities and families rather than the expansion of drugs. Aubree has been nationally featured on Fox News and Newsmax along with her op-eds published in USA Today and the Denver Gazette entitled “Standing up to the Threat of Marijuana.”
After finding refuge and recovery for herself and her two sons in Houston, Texas, Aubree formed a group called Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas to unite and educate communities on the impacts of marijuana and warn Texas about THC Hemp products, which were legalized through the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas helped prevent several marijuana bills from advancing during the 2023 legislative session.
Aubree states that families and communities are unprepared for this era of industrialized marijuana that targets youth with flavored candies and vapes that provide a rapid and potent chemical assault to the brain. Families lack the resources to prevent, manage, or recover from a child or loved one addicted or psychotic from cannabis.
Aubree rejects the false narrative that potent marijuana is a harmless expression of personal freedom. Based on the latest scientific evidence and personal stories, she states that THC is a dangerous and addictive drug, and like all drugs of abuse, it can destroy lives.

Peter Komendowski is one of Iowa’s leading advocates for healthy, drug-free communities.  In the face of the opioid epidemic, a resurgence of meth use, and a marijuana industry targeting Iowa youth he is a sought-after speaker as an expert in substance abuse prevention and high-risk behavior management.
Peter serves as president of The Partnership for A Healthy Iowa and the Face It Together (PDFI/FIT) coalition, and co-director of the Iowa Digital Literacy & Wellness Project.  He succeeded Senator Grassley as Chair of Face It Together Coalition’s healthy communities’ initiative, which still stands to this day as the oldest statewide coalition of substance abuse prevention resources in Iowa.
Peter travels throughout Iowa coordinating projects including the Iowa Media Literacy Project, Take5Iowa, the Drug-Free Workplace Program, Speak Out 4 Kids, the Power of Grandparents, the Blueprint for Healthy Communities, and the Iowa Caring Communities Tour.
He was invited by Mediacom to host the TV series, Children & Drugs: Secrets for Parents, which aired eight episodes in 2013.  Building on that success he was invited back to host the TV show Surviving Bad, now in its 10th year on the air.
He is co-founder of the Internationally renowned Iowa Digital Literacy & Wellness Conference, and as a writer and a speaker, has been entertaining audiences of all ages with his observations on “living in the digital world – life at the speed of human.”
He also speaks to children and adults, on topics ranging from “How Substance Abuse, Media and other Addictive Behaviors Impact Your Bottom Line,” “A Mindful Approach to the Media – Knowing the Tricks & Traps,” to “Rebuilding America from the Inside Out.”  He has enjoyed a healthy dose of media exposure, has been a TEDx speaker, and is often aired on Iowa radio and TV stations as a subject matter expert on substance abuse, prevention, and youth high risk behaviors.
Additional information is available at www.AHealthyIowa.org