This is honey Smith walls, a 21st century cannabis showman and host of two weekly podcast productions, Canada Verum, which means cannabis truth in Latin, as well as moment of clarity, which dives a little deeper into a subject, you’ll learn how to use the cannabis plant effectively. Find your proper dose tame THC, If you need to mitigate damage from street lead, avoid contamination and save your cash.
If you’re exhausted from body aches, dangerous potential drug interactions and crippling brain fog, then stay tuned for some amazing information, you can always verify with proof by scientific data. Guests from within the cannabis industry will enlighten and expand your ideas about the validity of this plant for our society. Thank you for joining me. Let’s get to it.
Unknown 1:22
Hey, my friends, you’re gonna want to binge listen to my next guest. She’s going to be on a three part, or three episodes of of cannabis verum why because it’s Dr Leah Johnson that’s why she’s a formally trained clinical cannabis pharmacist, got her degree in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She’s the CSO of alcumus cannabis consulting, she’s a long term care and rehab pharmacist. She holds three patents for natural herbal remedies and is the head of research and development for an herbal supplement company at plushie also advises caning companies all over the United States regarding dosing and safety and interactions and and all kinds of things. Help me welcome Dr Leya to the cannabis verum show.
Unknown 2:33
That sounds like I’ve got Dr. Les on the phone. Hello, how are you. Hello dear, I am just so tickled to be here with you. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. Absolutely. I’m thrilled to chat with you again at the Black Swan, I think I’ve been talking about you, but your poor leaders have been burnin talking about you all my friends, just for the sake of our audience who may not know you, I’d love to let them know that this is Dr Leah Johnson formally trained clinical cannabis pharmacist, and I’ll just let you go ahead and sort of tell your story I’ve got all these notes and facts and figures right here in front of me but gosh it’s so much more fun listening to you. Sure. Do you want me to start with where I got my start or do you want me to start with what I do in the field will tell us about that I’m so fascinated by the field.
Unknown 3:40
Wow start there. Okay, sure. So what I do, I do a couple things in the cannabis industry. The first thing I do is I work one on one with patients through their provider so I actually work with patients and have been signed and informed consent, are you, where are you dr Leia audience. Sure. Sorry, I’m in San Jose, California, but I see patients throughout the United States, so anybody, I can see any patient in the United States, all of my consultations are all done either over the phone or virtually, because through a zoom call, and all of it is just to the reason why I do it that way is that that allows me to help a lot more patients.
Unknown 4:25
And as long as we I have an informed consent verifying that they will be working with their person you know their primary provider on the recommendations that I give them based on their medications that, you know, then we work hand in hand. So what I do with them as I haven’t signed the consent that they are okay to work, you know that they understand that they need to go through their doctor with my recommendations. And then once everything’s approved and everything is ready to go. I do a full, complete comprehensive review of the patient’s medical history, including all past ailments past history lab labs, blood work, and any current ailments any current medications, any issues in the past with any ailments or medications. And then once I do the full comprehensive review, then I actually then book, the time with my patients to do a one on one review just a recap so I can show them what I’ve found, You know, here’s some medications that might be causing this ailment. Here are some herbals that might be beneficial to treat the elements here are some ways of changing the timing of your medication to get the reaction you’re looking for without any side effects. So I really sit down with them and I go through everything, once we go through everything, then they go back to their health care provider present the recommendations and have the doctor start, if needed. If we found medications that need to be altered, going back to the primary care physician provider to change the medication to what you should be to help improve the problem so usually it’s a two fold thing it’s usually too many medications, using the wrong way, along with not having the right things on board so it’s kind of like, we’re trying to fix both problems so as a pharmacist I know which medications should be used, how they should be used. What could cause possible side effects, be that could be leading to ailments that people might not realize, oh well this drug side effect is causing this ailment. So if we change this drug we might be able to also change prevent the ailment. So I work with them on that side and then once you know the meds are in order as best as the best that we can get them, then we work, I work hand in hand with the patients, so I actually only trust, I only charge my patients that one time for that initial consultation. And then after that I just follow them for free just every single, usually it’s every couple day is like the next day and then usually every couple days and then every couple of weeks, and then every enter they’ll call you if they’re having problems or questions or Exactly, yep and they love this safe and leave them access so they can feel free, you know, they have my email and my cell phone. So they are more than welcome. I always explained like try not to call you know send me an email or if it’s an urgent send me a text. If it’s not urgent, send me an email. If it’s urgent. I’ll let you know as soon as I can give you a call back to follow up to see what’s going on, but really all I do is I really work with these patients, hand in hand until they are at what they believe to be at balance when they feel that they are balanced the pain is under control. I mean, we’re never going to get perfect on anything I mean it would be a blessing to wake up in the morning and not have any pain and not have any issues that have no medications to take for it, but that’s sadly not reality. Fantasy. Exactly, so that’s why my focus is to work with, with any of my patients one on one, until they are at their, like, relaxed balance point and then at that point then we cut ties, and if new elements pop up that they need to address at a later date, you know, then, then we will do, then we would set up the the whole service again you know from that again, you know, once the initial fee is is given, everything is completely free until the patient feels they’re at homeostasis. I think we need about 10,000 of you to come to Florida, and start filling all of the dispensaries and helping all of the snowbirds who come down here and have dual teams of doctors prescribing for them. Some up there in the north where they live half the year and some down here in the south where they live half the year, and I’m here to tell you, those poor people have such a conflagration of chemicals happening, You know, they need every, every bit of expertise that you offer. And I’m just stuck. I don’t know why I’m so gobsmacked that you do this or that this is even available for people, but, but it’s because they’re so capable of you, it’s such a unicorn. That’s my biggest thing is that if you were to ask if you go to a pharmacy school and say, what, what, what are your graduates, experts have the answer would be pharmacists are medication, experts, that is what we’re here for. We’re not diagnostic expert, not that we can’t do diagnostics, but we’re not you know we are medication experts. So really helped me understand that the last time we spoke to, it’s powerful, and it’s so important because providers are more diagnosticians, their expertise is, is figuring out what’s wrong with you, and pharmacists are better at finding the right medication to fix the problem that the provider found so much since your brain is only so big How can we stop all of that.
Unknown 10:12
Exactly. So then what happens is providers a lot of times will end up just doing oh well this is what I’ve used for all other patients or this is what the American Medical Association said to us for this ailment and that’s and that’s not wrong by any means, but what I find is wrong is not incorporating a clinical pharmacist into it, to be able to say, Okay, well, the reason why the patient has high blood pressure is because their heart rate is excessive and their heart rate is excessive is beating excessively because they’re very anxious. Okay, well, why let’s let’s let’s bring this back down let’s not just throw an anti anxiety at them, let’s not just throw a right at them what they saw the problem.
Unknown 10:57
That’s what a pharmacist does we pull it back and say, Okay, well, their anxiety is triggering their, you know their heart rate and their heart rate triggering their blood pressure okay so how do we fix this. So what I would say to myself, well, two things, we either a can try going straight anti anxiety route, and see if that’s going to help them because if we calm them down, maybe it will reduce their heart rate, then reduce their blood pressure or another option is there are there is a beta blocker there’s a it’s called propranolol specific that can be used off label and approved off label to use for anxiety and the way it helps. It’s a short action. And the way it works for anxiety is actually by reducing your heart rate in a small amount of time to get rid of that anxiety. Oh, that the whole thing is, why am I going so if in a normal situation provider might say, patient has high blood pressure, what do you do for high blood pressure, first thing you do with high blood pressure you put them on an ACE inhibitor. Okay, great. We got the ace inhibitor on Okay, that didn’t do enough, I’m not going to raise the dose I’m going to put them on a calcium channel blocker. Okay well that’s not doing enough okay I’m going to add a diuretic glorifies Kathy so it’s just, you know a lot of times and so what we’re trained as pharmacists to do is you start low on one medication you slowly appraise it, and as you’re up ticking in you increase it a little bit, then you monitor, and then you keep doing that and now you’ve reached it you see that the medication is doing absolutely nothing to affect it. Don’t keep increasing the medication, remove that medication and add a different one that works in a different way. And then, you know, that seems to be working but not super well don’t add another mid slowly increase them in the use by increasing the dose a little bit if that benefited it. So, what pharmacists want to do is figure out what the underlining problem is and from and usually again we would need providers to help us with diagnostics of what the underlying problem is, and then from there we utilize meds to try to fix as many problems as possible, with the most minimal amount of medications as possible so you know that’s why a lot of times when I see patients. The first thing I have to do is fix their meds. A lot of times it’s taking them at the wrong time, that, Oh, you didn’t know, but this causes insomnia, if you take it at night you need to take it first thing in the morning, these types of things I can easily fix with a patient and they still let them know when they’re taking their meds.
Unknown 13:28
Other things that could be simple, like I had a patient one time that was on an extremely high dose of Trazadone for sleep. tutchone is a workhorse isn’t it. Oh yeah, Trazadone is an anti depressant that they’re using for the side effect of Ozzy masses. I am not. I am not content with the idea of utilizing something for its side effects. I feel like there are other ways of handling an ailment without saying well, you don’t have depression but let me give you an anti depressive which will affect your, your psychologic, you know you psychologically, only to help you sleep, and that’s and that’s really what I see as an issue so my patient had extreme anxiety, and she was taking this for sleep and she verified with me it does nothing for her sleep but one of the side effects of Trazadone isn’t his anxiety. Oh, oh, well, of course, then if she is not helping her it’s causing her anxiety. Why is she on this med. So one of the first things I did was get for women off that Miss then found out another one of her meds was being given at the wrong time so it’s keeping her up at night because of the fact that it should have been given in the mornings because it causes energy. And, oh, yeah, and then her third medication, which was supposed to be used for anxiety was only written to be used as an as needed basis but it was a medication that needs to build up in the system. So if you use it needed it doesn’t build up and you don’t get the effect from it. So all three meds that she had were both, causing her anxiety and not helping her invite. So, I had so the first thing I did was I went through everything I did the review I, you know, we had our child. Let her know what I believed has happened first before you know we start looking into the other, you know, whether it’s herbal supplements or cannabis or anything. And when I followed up with her after that she goes. Honestly, I think we’re good. And I go, What do you honestly after the doctor removed the medicine that wasn’t working and after he changed my meds to the right time and after I started being put on the anti anxiety at a proper schedule. I feel great. And I’m like, that’s fantastic. Awesome, well that’s so great to hear and I always say, you know, if anything changes, please let me know but you know I’m so great to hear. It’s so great to hear that, just the medication changes is all you need. So, I, I find that a lot of providers in the cannabis field. And I don’t you mean providers but I need advocates and educators in the cannabis fields. A lot of them are very focused on, you do this with this cannabis product when this happens you do this with this cannabis product when this happens, really, but that is very much no different than a doctor saying you have high blood pressure, as we’re all high blood pressure patients you do this, I explained that I don’t I don’t treat people with pharmaceuticals, the same way with the same pharmaceuticals, the same way that I don’t treat patients the same way I see it as every patient is is an entity of their own we’re all individuals. I always say even twins the identical twin siblings are going to have a different into cannabinoids and different biomes and the good thoughts and.
Unknown 16:39
And that’s why we can’t treat and that’s why the the way of practice we’re treating every patient like every other patient is terrible. It’s not going to fix the problems and that’s why people are ending up with way more medications than they need medications that aren’t even doing anything but stayed on their regimen for forever because so don’t do anything with it, how do we change the system to include the pharmacist with the, with the practitioner, so that they, you know, they can better serve the patient, because is it is you’re so separated, Aren’t you.
Unknown 17:24
So, I always say to patient like I mean that’s, and that’s what I’m here for. I mean, I can, I mean I review patients that do want to use cannabis therapy I use I review with I consult with patients that do not want to use cannabis therapy, but want to use other herbal like traditional Chinese medicines such as ginseng and ginkgo biloba and panic, and you’ve already got patents on your own products, don’t you. Well, so they’re not my product, I was the Chief Research and Development scientist for an herbal supplement lab back in Connecticut, So while I think I I formulated a few products with using natural, natural products for Cocoa for skincare because the cacao plant actually is very very good for skincare When ingested, and also for natural energy was a mix between ribose which is a five membered sugar, and those five membered sugar, no no no no no ribose so there’s ribose and there’s ribose. So Raven is an herb actually it’s also known as red tea.
Unknown 18:39
And then there’s ribose so ribose is our IBO FB and that is the five membered sugar, and rebozos, which is our, I believe it’s the well our Oh, Yeah, I think our OIB us possibly or be oh so that one is a red t. So it’s instead of green tea or white tea or long tea. It’s called red tea.
Unknown 19:07
So it’s, it’s an actual Chinese are but there, but the two things are different, they just sound very very simple. Tell me how a beautiful young thing like you get so hooked on chemistry and all that, juju, how did that happen. Um, good question. Um, when folks in the business. Oh, no no no no no NO My father actually is a plumber, and my mother is worked with computer, it was a pro computer programmer for many years and then is now a real estate agent so no real, it really actually was, I hate to say how I got here but it’s a little depressing but it was it was it was honestly being told I wasn’t smart enough.
Unknown 19:52
He was my whole childhood being told, you know you’re not smart and, you know, you know, we’ll be happy, not and not I’m not saying my parents but like you got that message somehow. Yeah, yep. And I was and I was told from my teachers from other students are stupid. You don’t know anything I was did really poorly on tests found out later on that I just had ADHD, I was like, you know, not couldn’t focus on anything if I liked it, but that’s really what it came down to is to find out that the max of people, you know when even when I went in for what I want to be able to do with my life, you know, when you take when you go to your guidance counselor and they do in like an analysis, and you know the answer was, oh, you know, I said I want to be a healthcare provider I want to be a doctor and and and I wanted to be a doctor for, I hate to say this, almost for no better reason than proving that people were wrong and that I was smart and then I was able to do it. And even the, you know my guidance counselor was like okay well based on your grades we don’t really know if that’s like extra work for you and.
Unknown 20:57
And then, and you know it was just really, you know.
Unknown 21:01
Yeah, oh very depressing not much support. And then, you know, I applied to six schools I got into every one of my program, listen to you I applied to, and so this was my way of saying it doesn’t matter what people tell you you can do forget people who cares if people tell you you’re unattractive who cares if people tell you you’re not my god you’re beautiful. How could you ever listen to anybody say you’re attractive honey. It’s just, well, I’m also from the north east New England area of the US originally and things are not as pretty much if you’re not as stiff if you’ve got any sort of courage or anything you’re not all that.
Unknown 21:46
Yeah, that’s, and that’s just. Sadly, and that’s why I live in California I like the positivity and friendliness and the various time I moved out here somebody walked up to me and looked at my shoes and said oh my god I love your shoes, and then walked away I literally stood there, looking both ways like my purse here. Do I have everything, because you know we were told you don’t talk to strangers. So obviously the stranger was obviously you needed to talk to me because they were doing something suspicious. And then you learn after you know, being in Cal in Northern California for a while. People are just being nice. They’re just, they’re nice looks like exactly there’s no such thing as don’t talk to strangers that soy, Yeah, I’m from Oklahoma I talked to everybody used to jab me you know with his elbow in the ribs for saying hey to strangers on the baby.
Unknown 22:40
It’s so welcoming. It’s so loving to be able to freely like and think about it. Well, I was like okay well would I rather live in an area where people don’t say anything to me. Or they say something mean, or I’ve got some random people walking up to me, telling me something positive that makes my day. Like, I would leaps and bounds take that so, you know, honestly, I love it out here and, but really the reason I sciency the science II well way was because I knew that science wasn’t difficult for me out of English was difficult for me because, you know, the reading I’ll bet, reading and having exactly you know and I had I think I had like a, an undiagnosed but like a slight bit of Dyslexia as well, that you know because we’re, you know resolved over time but like or controlled but it’s just kind of one of those things where I be, I am where I am today because I was so sick of people telling me this in like pretty much categorizing, you are only going to be this good, you will only get my little hero girl, I am. Wow, I’m proud of you and I’m, and you’ve got your marching panties on, and you’re talking to the young girls who need to hear this. They need to hear it. Our girls are so, you know, put down, and they take it to heart, just like you did as a you know a little girl. And that’s why we encourage people like please like, you know it, like the sciences are not scary focus on what you’re good at, so if you are a female, and you believe that your focus and your guide and what you do best is math or science and stick with math or science who cares what anybody else has a problem with people think to you too much about what others think and not enough about what makes me happy. And that how can I serve. Exactly and that’s why I got into this because I know what makes me happy helping others, helping others, educate them on medicine, and be a healthier, happier person is what I want to do, so I’m like well how do I do that I’m like well, I’m going to go to pharmacy school I’m going to get these meds no and I’m going to help patients understand their meds and work with their menu, and then you know, when Can’t you know when starting to work with my long term care patients my hospice patients with FDA approved cannabis medications which is Marinol and Epidiolex yeah you kind of have no choice when you’re working way better. Oh, but it was great, though, because I could see so much better than I’m like, Oh wow, like, you know, I thought it was helping people, just being able to lightly have conversations with them now as a clinician, actually getting in there and actually working with patients and getting them on better therapies like I am working with them hands on to get to space and tsunami ask you this dear Dr Leia. Have you written the course yet for the other, pharmacists, coming out of med school to study cannabis and do what you’re doing, to be the liaison between because what I’m seeing and hearing is that those doctors who are still propagandized against cannabis, they would listen to you. They’re not going to listen to me, you know, that they would listen to you. So, um, my favorite challenge actually is talking like the more hateful that not hateful, the more
Unknown 26:18
cannabis, they’re actually the ones I like to speak to more every time. And what I thought. So, based on your based on the first question, the answer is no and that’s only because I believe there’s a lot of great courses out there and I feel like the issue is not that more courses are needed, it’s that people need to take the courses. So, so I there actually is a course specifically for the International Society of cannabis pharmacists that they offer every year, where they have fantastic, fantastic.
Unknown 26:51
I don’t wanna say teachers but like instructors for each one of these courses, and they have people like Dr. Dr. Dustin Souillac who is a student. I’m a healer, I’m a I’m a healer. Awesome. Yes.
Unknown 27:06
He is amazing. He was one of our instructors he went over the basics of the endocannabinoid system as well as elderly care, so I really connected with that because I was doing elderly care for, for cannabis, and then Dr. Bonnie Goldstein is another one of our instructors, and she is also she now mind you I don’t know P I don’t work with p as much as I work with older adults and elderly, and to hear the breakthroughs this this wonderful doctor has done with her patients. The fact that she is able to pretty much awaken. These poor children with or these children with autism who haven’t been able to talk or walk or, you know do much of anything, and now they’re, they’re reading, they’re actually writing they’re having some communication ability and it’s like, amazing what the plant can do and so, you know, to have her as an instructor of Dustin Sulak we’ve got about 10 or 12. Other absolutely phenomenal instructors. So I, so for me, I encourage everybody and you do get pharmacists, continuing to educate education credit for it as well so that’s their, their URL is cannabis pharmacists.org Isn’t it for International Society of cannabis pharmacy. No, it’s, it’s no it would be I believe it’s the, I believe it’s the, I believe it’s, I asked, IEP H cph.org Right, yeah, I believe that. Correct. Let me just check, but I just want our audience to know where they can go to look that up. You know if they’re already sort of along the path.
Unknown 28:55
Looking for more information, to follow in your footsteps. Absolutely and I’m you know I’m happy if anybody wants, you know, if anybody would say you know the the courses are great but I really would like one on one training with, I apologize, you’re right, so if you do the inner eye is cph.org. You will refer you to cannabis pharmacists dot works so yep so cannabis pharmacist or cannabis, pharmacist.org is fine, it’s a single pharmacist, not to not easy for you to say. Yeah, no. So, but it’s, I mean it’s a great program we’re always looking for more members. We’re really trying to encourage especially pharmacists that already has dispensary’s, but we all encourage all pharmacists because the way I see it and the way that this is the International Society of cannabis pharmacists these it is. It’s a met, whether you’re using it to relax after a day or whether you’re using it to treat your anxiety, you’re using it on a medicinal basis, and current better at pharmacists are the only people who can federally dispense medication. So my biggest thing is.
Unknown 30:13
Yep. So, and that’s why in many, not in a few states they do have a pharmacist at the dispensary in it, and it is mandatory and mandated like New York and New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and I think Massachusetts all required to have a licensed pharmacist at the dispensary at all times.
Unknown 30:33
And I believe that that is how it should be because how else you know who’s going to follow this patient’s cannabis therapy. It should be It can’t just be a provider who says yes I’m all about people using cannabis but I don’t know anything about it. And since pharmacists are the drug and medication experts, it’s their job. Really it’s our job to educate patients on medicine, which is why the dispensaries with pharmacists in it I think are the best and I think are the model that all other states should follow and the fact that are in the state of California, we do not do that, is very disappointing to me and I’ve spoken to many pharmacists out here and there is literally I believe there’s, I believe only one pharmacist run dispensary in the entire state of California. And I, it is pitiful is gorgeous. The facility is stunning. It looks like a Wellness Center. It doesn’t look like a rundown grungy, like location where people are like, doing sketchy things in the background and harbourside.
Unknown 31:41
No, no I’m not talking about anybody in specific, but there are many, like most like for example, most of the San Jose dispensaries, they’re all in an industrial area so they’re already in a rundown area except the only location they’re allowed to be in a lot of the places in Florida tried to do to the municipalities would put the dispensary in the dilapidated area of town and the industrial area so here comes these old fart, you know, a patient’s in walkers with, you know Canelas in their noses, dragging their air along behind them. Parking out in some, you know, gross, old gravel a parking lot or dirt parking lot and trying to hobble across the street into the dispensary.
Unknown 32:41
Hey, my friends, I just wanted to remind you that we got two more shows with Dr Leah, but if you want to get in touch with her now. Send her an email to Dr. Dot layer that’s d r dot L E A. H at alkemist, cannabis consulting.com Let me say one more time. Doctor dot Leya at alkemist cannabis consulting.com.
Unknown 33:20
She also said you could text her number. I just find that amazing that she’s willing to put her personal cell phone number out over the, you know, the, the inter web for everybody. It’s amazing. So here it is, get your pencil out. It’s Area code 408-418-8802 She said it’s best to email her if it’s not an emergency, but you can always text her, she said, Don’t be shy. And so she’s happy to help you in any way that she can, as a cannabis pharmacist, and don’t be and not even just as a cannabis pharmacist. Don’t be shy. She said she can help you with it whatever your chemical needs are to understand. so stay tuned for for the next cannibal verum show. She is just amazing to listen to
Host: Honey 26:57
You’ve been listening to another Cannaba Verum podcast with 21st century cannabis shaman Honey Smith Walls, about the importance of using safe hemp and marijuana products. Unless otherwise proven by a reputable third party lab test, please be advised that all street weed is contaminated. It may do grave harm to a patient with a delicate immune system. I challenge you to check the veracity of my statements in each episode by checking the medical citations posted on my blog at Cannaba Verum.com.
That’s C A N N A B A V E R U M.com
- plant specifically grows, the acid form, the THCa – https://academic.oup.com/pcp/article/46/9/1578/1812749
- all street weed is contaminated: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5022003/
- Handbook of Cannabis for Clinicians, Practices and Principles by Dr. Dustin Sulak – https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Cannabis-Clinicians-Principles-Practice/dp/0393714187 and healer.com
- Certificate of Analysis (COA) https://www.pharmtech.com/view/certificates-analysis-don-t-trust-verify
