Why More Women Are Choosing Weed Over Advil

283. Why More Women Are Choosing Weed Over Advil

[00:00:00] Ellen Scanlon: This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over.

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[00:00:50] When I think about cannabis for pain, I think that it is not like cannabis is going to change the way you feel pain. It is a similar experience to taking [00:01:00] other kinds of painkillers. It just has significantly fewer side effects for me.

[00:01:07] Welcome to How To Do The Pot, an award-winning podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis. I’m your host, Ellen Scanlan.

[00:01:22] You just heard me talking about pain and what I’ve learned about how cannabis can help with both chronic and acute pain. Today, New York based strategy and innovation expert. Nicole Brown is back on the show for a conversation about cannabis as medicine for pain. We’ll share how cannabis can replace over the counter and prescription painkillers, whether it’s for endometriosis, which I have period pain or even recovery after surgery.

[00:01:52] If you’re curious to learn more about cannabis and pain, last summer we released a three-part series to celebrate the Paris Olympic Games. [00:02:00] The series talks about how cannabis is inspiring workouts, relieving pain, and boosting mental and physical health for active people. It’s episodes 2 50, 2 51 and 2 52.

[00:02:13] One of the experts I spoke with in this series, Dr. Deandra Ske, a pain specialist at Johns Hopkins, shares a physician’s perspective on cannabis for pain relief. I’ll add a link in the show notes if you wanna check it out. I’ve been hearing from so many of you that you like the recommendations that I share on my substack newsletter.

[00:02:33] Thank you. I’m so glad that they’re helpful. So in today’s show, Nicole and I are gonna talk about some of our favorite movies, TV shows and books that can help you relax and take a well deserved break. I also have some incredible news How to Do The Pot has been nominated for a Webby Award. If you’re not familiar, the Webbys are the leading international awards, honoring excellence on the internet.[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] They were founded in 1996 by Tiffany Slain, a woman from the Bay Area, who I really admire. Today, a web award is the Internet’s most respected symbol of success. Past winners in the podcast category include shows like Serial, the Daily, and 10% Happier with Dan Harris. I am really proud that how to Do the Pot has already won three major media awards, two signal awards, and one Anthem Award, and I would love to add a webby to that list.

[00:03:34] We’re actually up for two Webby awards, one awarded by the panel of judges and the other called the People’s Voice Award. You can help us win the People’s Voice Award by voting. I’ll add a link in the show notes with all the details. Voting ends on April 17th, so please take a minute and vote today.

[00:03:54] Thank you so much for your support. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nicole [00:04:00] Brown.

[00:04:11] If you don’t know a lot about cannabis, you may have heard that cannabis helps people with chemotherapy, that it helps people who are experiencing pain. It’s one of the reasons why boomers are coming to cannabis because they’re finding alternate ways. To use cannabis instead of opioids. I did a whole series on weed and workouts and athletes use cannabis for recovery.

[00:04:35] It’s a little bit of a head scratcher for some people because I think that they are expecting cannabis again to kind of be this thing that you take to zone out. And when you think about cannabis for pain, maybe you can talk a little bit about what cannabis is doing that is helping to change the experience of pain.

[00:04:56] Maybe we can start there.

[00:04:58] Nicole Brown: The origin story really [00:05:00] for THC and cannabis products in general is medicine. The dispensaries that we’re so familiar with now, you know, started as medical dispensaries, like there was a use case, and pain is one of the big use cases that exists. So the way. Something like cannabis will allow you to alleviate your pain is, and I think you said it well, Ellen, which is the experience of your pain.

[00:05:24] So pain is very much in your brain. It’s your brain sending a signal that’s saying that something is hurting, and then you are registering. Pain, whether that’s having a headache or a migraine. I also get terrible menstrual cramps every month. Yay. Love that. Once a month. And I think this is also where if you’re not in a severe chronic state where you’d be getting a prescription, having access to low dose cannabis is a wonderful solution to think differently about how to treat your own pain.

[00:05:59] And that [00:06:00] was, again, a discovery that. Led me to understand cannabis in a different way when I was experiencing menstrual cramps and like literally I have a super high pain tolerance, so I’m like, I’m good. That will take me out. But if I have. A few milligrams of THC. That experience of pain has been completely flipped and it will allow me to work and go about my day.

[00:06:26] And interestingly, it does not give you the same high or elevation when it’s being used as medicine. And I know this. And again, everyone can experiment and, and find where their place may be. When I am experiencing pain, I might take a few extra milligrams because I know I actually like need it, and it’s gonna go to those transmitters in my brain and go directly there and do the work.

[00:06:51] So I don’t have the same high experience when I am experiencing high pain. Another use case personally for me [00:07:00] is. I was just away on a girl’s weekend and I remember like waking up the next morning and like everyone’s got a hangover. You know, we’d had way too many espresso martinis. Everyone’s reaching for their Advils and their ibuprofen, and I was reaching for two milligrams of THC, and literally within 30 minutes was like, no more headache, no more nausea.

[00:07:21] So I think getting the awareness and, and also of course, paying attention to your own. Body and what feels good for you. It’s completely kind of changed my personal experience with pain to have that. I haven’t taken Advil in like 10 years for anything because low dose THC has taken the place of it entirely

[00:07:41] Ellen Scanlon: and.

[00:07:41] I have endometriosis, which is a very painful, uh, disease that affects one in 10 women and causes severe cramping. In a lot of women, it has more than 30 symptoms, so there are a lot of different symptoms, but they are all tied together with pain. And one of the. Things that [00:08:00] I have been learning about pain through endometriosis is that it’s not dissimilar to the prescriptions that I would take.

[00:08:09] I just have fewer side effects. Mm-hmm. So I get the same pain management without those pills that I would take would give me. Terrible. Like my stomach would feel terrible. Oh yeah, no, it diarrhea. All of that. And so I think that when I think about cannabis for pain, I think that it is not like cannabis is going to change the way you feel pain.

[00:08:29] It is a similar experience to taking other kinds of painkillers. It just has significantly fewer side effects for me. And so as. We’re talking to people and kind of introducing maybe what’s a new idea? I think that’s the way to frame it. It’s just another option. Yes, that may work better in some situations and not in others.

[00:08:49] For instance, I drive my son to school. I pick him up, and so when I have been experiencing severe pain from endometriosis, there’s sometimes when I know that I have to pick him up, and [00:09:00] even though I know that I’m not going to feel the same level. Of high that I might, if I’m taking THC, I’m just not comfortable driving.

[00:09:08] Yeah. And so I’ve got something else that I can take or I ask someone else to pick my son up so that I can’t drive. And I think for a lot of people that have family responsibilities or job responsibilities, like understanding the boundaries of when you wanna use cannabis for your own comfort level are really important.

[00:09:27] And sometimes. I felt more pain than I needed to because I was a little bit afraid about the variability that could come from how I was feeling. I’ve shared this story on the show before, but there’s a wonderful cannabis farm up in Sonoma County called Sonoma Hills Farm. I. They grow very high potency cannabis, they’re run by a wonderful couple.

[00:09:49] And for me it’s very, very high dose. And I was invited to a party and I went, and that morning I got my period. I was having trouble walking. I really wasn’t sure if I was gonna be able to go. [00:10:00] My husband came with me and I got up to the farm and I realized that I could take a really, really tiny hit, an almost not inhale hit and just see what happened.

[00:10:09] And I did that and. Within five or 10 minutes, I felt no pain. I felt terrific. I amazing. I felt excited to be there. And it was, I don’t know, 26, 20 7% THCI. My gosh, I don’t smoke very much. So like it hit hard and fast, but I really didn’t feel high. I just felt the lack of pain, which was almost an adrenaline hit, given that I was embarrassed to be sort of shuffling in because I was in so much pain.

[00:10:38] And so. It’s a Goldilocks thing for sure, but it really works and I think that’s why so many companies are trying to kind of figure out how to crack the code. It’s not the sexy part of cannabis right now, but I think that if we ever do get a rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule one to schedule three, there’s so many physicians that are incredibly excited about [00:11:00] the possibilities because of the.

[00:11:02] Side effect situation, which is for most people so different with cannabis than it is with opioids or with other types of painkillers that exist.

[00:11:12] Nicole Brown: A absolutely no, I think that is a, a very helpful and good way to think about it as far as like making those, those choice. It’s an alternative, it’s a choice.

[00:11:22] You know, I have a friend who just broke her wrist, unfortunately in a, in a skiing accident, which was terrible. I had to have surgery. And she really was not looking forward to being on the painkillers. And she’s not a cannabis consumer by, by any means. But, you know, she kind of came to me and she was like, can you teach me how to do this?

[00:11:39] Like, I don’t wanna take Oxy. I don’t, and I know I’m gonna need it ’cause I’m having pins put in my wrist and I put together a regimen for her and we had time before the surgery to kind of like, get, let her feel it and understand it. She took one round of the painkillers. ’cause like there’s like right after you have, you can’t miss that one because you can’t get behind it.

[00:11:58] But she asked her doctor if it was [00:12:00] okay if she substituted and they said yes. And she went through her whole recovery without taking any painkillers. She’s also a really tough cookie too, but she didn’t feel it, right. So it’s like, I think those are choices to make and they are choices to make if it feels right for you.

[00:12:16] And also certainly if it is something that like getting a doctor’s opinion or a healthcare professional will make you feel good about it, definitely do that too. But anytime in my experience that I’ve asked a healthcare professional if cannabis was an option for X, I’ve, I’ve never heard no.

[00:12:33] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah, it’s interesting with doctors because I’ve talked to so many cannabis advocates who always recommend talking to your doctor with the caveat that many doctors know so little.

[00:12:46] Of course. And luckily, telemedicine has been changing that, and there are a lot of physicians who are in states where cannabis has been legal and they’ve been able to build up a practice, and so you can talk to them about what works best for you. I’ve talked [00:13:00] to cannabis doctors and. I really find it very helpful and interesting to understand how they guide you.

[00:13:07] I think that the guidance that I’ve gotten, which as a cautious person who doesn’t like to feel very high, is often you’re going to need more than you think, and especially when you’re in those acute pain moments, and I think that probably runs true for all types of pain, you know, I mean. Before I discovered cannabis, I would not hesitate to take four Advil if I was literally passing out from the pain and on.

[00:13:35] It was like, just get me anything. And I remember laying in my bed just being like, okay, 20 minutes. Just countdown. Just countdown. You can get through this, you can get through this, and it can be a little bit of a mental. Switch in a mental model to say yes, when I am in pain and I, instead of taking one Tylenol, I take two.

[00:13:55] And the same may be true for cannabis and it’s not because you wanna get more high, it’s not [00:14:00] because you want to check outta the situation. It’s really because that is what your body requires in that moment. And cannabis has similar mechanisms to other types of painkillers.

[00:14:10] Nicole Brown: Yeah. No, that’s very, very, very true.

[00:14:13] Certainly for, for me as well, as far as like, hey, knowing that you might need more, when it is something where you’re like, Hey, this is actually treating something acute, which is like, I’m having some pain right now and I want it to go away, I.

[00:14:27] Ellen Scanlon: If any listeners have questions about pain, we are happy to talk more about this.

[00:14:32] So please send us a message on Substack on any of the socials. You can email hi@dothepot.com and, and we’ll talk more about this. But I’m excited to talk more about the physicians that are really at the front lines of understanding how cannabis is. Helping people to manage chronic disease, to manage all types of, of daily challenges around pain.

[00:14:57] And so because pain is a hard [00:15:00] topic and if anyone is experiencing pain, I hope that you find some relief through cannabis or whatever else you need. We did wanna lighten things up a little bit and kind of talk about. Just what is making you happy and excited this week? And Nicole and I both love culture and all things that are new and exciting.

[00:15:23] Literature and movies and tv, and I’m still on my movie kick from earlier in the year where last year I was terribly. Just disturbed to realize I only watched seven movies in the entire year, so I’m trying to watch more. But Nicole, what are you watching, listening, reading that’s really sticking with you these days.

[00:15:46] Nicole Brown: Oh, okay. Yes, you, we know we love talking about this. So there was a movie. Okay. This movie is super intense. But really good. The Last Breath, it’s a movie that just came out in theaters with Woody [00:16:00] Harrelson and Sea Mu and there’s a third actor and it’s three guys and it’s based on a true story. So then as I’m reading the review and they’re saying, ah, this movie in the theater is so, so the documentary of this movie, which is a true story, is incredible.

[00:16:16] So. Came out in like 2019. So it’s the true story of these, they’re called saturation divers, basically like they’re underwater astronauts, right? They go down a thousand feet and when they’re underwater, they then have to like do welding work on the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. So they’re in the North Sea.

[00:16:37] This is a true story of these guys who go down, they do their dive. There was rough seas and one of the divers basically like becomes detached from his umbilical cord and is floating in the blackness at the, at the bottom of the ocean. It was so intense. So I had to like pause this movie like twice when I was watching it by myself just because it, but it was, it’s an amazing true [00:17:00] story.

[00:17:00] It is so good. Definitely intense. Definitely you need like a pallet cleanser or something happy after you watch it. And there’s also, there’s all the real footage of like what their lives are like. Like living these divers a thousand feet below the surface for like 30 days at a time. It was very, very good.

[00:17:17] I’m gearing up to watch it again ’cause I was like almost so intense to watch it the first time. I wanna really experience it, but it was beautiful and amazing. And then maybe I’ll go see the one in the theater when it comes out to to stream. But this documentary was excellent. So good. What are you watching?

[00:17:33] Ellen Scanlon: Great wreck. You know, I’m still struggling with the watching as much

[00:17:39] Nicole Brown: or listening to, or reading or your,

[00:17:42] Ellen Scanlon: yeah, yeah. I’m trying to watch more, but um, I just listened to an incredible book called The Tell by Amy Griffin. And Amy is actually a friend from college. We went to college together and she is an investor, a mother.

[00:17:55] She’s just a light in the world and. It’s a tough book. It was [00:18:00] just named to Oprah’s Book Club, and it is a story of some sexual assault that occurred when Amy was a young girl. She’s a great writer. This was a book that she wrote for herself as she was discovering this experience, which she had. Kept from her own memories for most of her life.

[00:18:20] And I went to see her speak. She came to Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park where I’d never been before. Oh, nice. I love a bookstore, so I was super excited to get to discover a new one. And she was in conversation with Sheryl Sandberg and there were a lot of Bay Area women. Power women at the Talk, which was really cool to be around.

[00:18:40] And Amy’s incredible. I highly recommend listening to it. She reads it and it’s tough and I have been kind of sitting with it, but I really think that it is a story that’s gonna change so many people’s lives and I’m just very grateful that she wrote it.

[00:18:56] Nicole Brown: Oh my gosh. And yes, I definitely need to read it.

[00:18:59] Definitely. [00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Ellen Scanlon: Wonderful. Um, and then the thing that I actually did watch, I don’t often watch tv, but I was sort of feeling down and I thought that the thing that I need is low stakes drama, which is kind of the way I’ve been describing a lot of, we all need that. Yes, please, please. Things that don’t, they’re not like in a.

[00:19:20] Tap into my soul in a, in a hard way. And so I watched Running Point on Netflix with Kate Hudson the best. It was great. It’s a woman in power, so I love a woman in Power Story and it’s funny and it’s about basketball, which I love. And it’s got a fun la glamor element to it because the, it’s based off of a team that is like the Lakers and it was just a lot of fun and it was.

[00:19:44] Just picked up for a second season. So I, um, I’m excited. It’s also like 25 minutes. Exactly. Which is, is so perfect for me.

[00:19:50] Nicole Brown: It’s like you like ripped through them, but like, oh my God. Like, I mean, Kate, Kate Hudson is a gift. Love her. Also. Like, I want like all of her like power suits that [00:20:00] she’s wearing in it.

[00:20:01] There’s like this like butter yellow one that I’m like, okay, I need to be wearing more blazers and more oversized suits. Like that’s a vibe. Oh my God, it’s so Running Point was so good. Have you finished it? Yes. Okay, good. All right. Yeah, so, so yeah, the ending. It’s okay. We won’t, no spoilers here, but like, oh my God, it’s, it’s a good ending.

[00:20:18] We’re ready for season two already.

[00:20:20] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s a great one. If you just need something to low stakes drama, that’s, that’s what I’m looking for these days.

[00:20:28] Nicole Brown: And I’ll, yeah. I’ll give one more serotonin boost to my favorite author of the Moment, which is Dolly Alderton. I’m on my third book of hers now.

[00:20:38] She’s kinda like British, Nora Efron. For anyone out there who’s not familiar, I started with. Good material. I read Ghost, now I’m reading her like memoirs and letters where then you realize that a lot of her characters are like based on people in her life and like her real experiences in London, and it’s just such a [00:21:00] delight.

[00:21:00] Over the weekend I was sitting at my little like cafe with a glass of rose, like reading this book and I feel like this is like the ultimate move for all women out there where it’s like I’m reading my book and a woman who is like there with a bunch of friends comes up to me and she was just like, I just wanna say I’ve read this book and I love it and I love everything that’s happening right now.

[00:21:19] The fact that you’re drinking a glass of wine and reading this book, she’s like. Yes, I keep doing it. I was like, okay, I’ll have another glass now. That’s what that means. Like, oh, and she’s like, oh, I’m so happy to see someone else reading Dolly Alderton. I was like, amazing. I just discovered her. So if anyone needs something, light, fun, girly, go for Dolly, any of them.

[00:21:40] They’ve been all been great.

[00:21:42] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah, I’m about three quarters of the way through good material. Oh, which is actually written in the voice of a man. Yes. For most of the book. But it’s perfect. Low six drama. I was explaining it to my husband, I was like, it’s fun. I wanna keep reading it. And I’m not sure I care that much.

[00:21:57] Yes. And not in a bad way at all. I just needed something [00:22:00] where I wanna keep reading it and if this guy stays in my head or he leaves, I’m gonna be fine either way. But it’s really distracting and. And fun and well written. And what I’ve discovered so far about her book is I really do feel like I’ve entered the head of someone who I have never met before and don’t know.

[00:22:19] And that’s one of my favorite, favorite things about reading.

[00:22:24] Nicole Brown: Oh, me too. No, the, yeah. And Andy’s the character’s name right. You’re lucky. I, I feel like I haven’t dated an Andy, but I feel like I know some Andy. He feels like someone I, I am familiar with, but also she builds the character so well. You’re like, this feels like a real person that I like, have interacted with.

[00:22:41] So, so again. Oh my God. And when you get to the Jen’s part, you’ll get there very soon. You’re almost there. It’s the best.

[00:22:48] Ellen Scanlon: I spent my twenties working on Wall Street, so I mostly knew very, very corporate people and people that remind me more of, um, the character Saxon on the [00:23:00] White Lotus. White Lotus, yes.

[00:23:02] Than the Andes of the world. I know a

[00:23:04] Nicole Brown: few Saxons as well. Not to worry.

[00:23:09] Ellen Scanlon: I live in San Francisco. I love going to art museums. It’s one of my favorite treats. And there is a new exhibit at SF MOA that opens up in April about Ruth Asawa, who is one of my favorite artists. She’s San Francisco based. She was an incredible person. And so I’m super, super excited to get to the uh, Ruth Asawa exhibit soon.

[00:23:30] Nicole Brown: Amazing. Oh my God. I love SF MOMA too. I know. I need to get outta San Francisco. We’re gonna make that happen. That’s like on my my 2025 Vision Board.

[00:23:42] Ellen Scanlon: For lots more information and past episodes, visit do the pot.com, and that’s also where you can sign up for my substack newsletter. If you like how to do the pot, please rate and review us on the podcast platform that you use for listening. It really helps more people find the show. [00:24:00] Thank you to our producer Nick Patri.

[00:24:04] I’m Ellen Scanlan and stay tuned for more of how to do the pot

[00:24:13] support for How to Do the Pot comes from Pot Lee. Are you having trouble sleeping? Pot Lee’s dream. Goodnight shoes. Make it easy to relax. Fall asleep naturally, and wake up Feeling great. No. Next day. Grogginess Pot Lee is a women-led brand that knows a good night’s sleep, changes everything. Visit get pot li.com.

[00:24:37] That’s G-E-T-P-O-T-L-I, and use promo code. Do the pot for 20% off your order.