Episode 36 - Two Important Questions: How much is too much...and what are the real risks of using while pregnant?
Dr. Stacey Kerr, family physician and advisor to Hawaiian Ethos, weighs in.
For too long advocates, myself included, brushed aside these persistent questions—most people were too busy fighting the lies and disinformation of prohibition to properly address them. But if this industry is going to go forward responsibly, they must be addressed.
The typical answer is “We need more research.” And while that’s true, let’s not forget that the plant has been used (and overused!) for over 5,000 years, so in a very real way it is among the most tested medicine around. What do clinicians who have been administering it know about overuse and or the risk of using while pregnant? What have their patients told or shown them? And. at what point is using all the time a “disorder” or a balm for conditions such as anxiety, pain and social insecurity?
Dr. Stacey Kerr, is a retired family physician in California and the Medical Advisor to Hawaiian Ethos, medical cannabis on Hawaii Island. She has been practicing medicine for over 40 years and in that time delivered hundreds babies, treated moms and reviewed the vast body of literature to answer these questions. Our interview is frank and honest, and one that I hope will spark an ongoing conversation among the leaders in this industry, especially as cannabis continues to be commoditized and sold like cigarettes. Remember, the ancients once considered tobacco a sacred herb that was used on special occasions before the likes of Marlboro started rolling it up, boxing it and addicting us to it. Let's not make the same dirty business out of cannabis.