Over 100 Americans die every day from opioid overdose, that’s about 40,000 a year. What can be done to reverse the recent spike in fatalities? In San Francisco, a team of public health workers is focused on treating the most vulnerable: homeless people on the city’s streets. My latest report for the BBC explores how this special ops “Street Team” is finding and convincing people to get the latest medical treatment, wherever they are.
It’s a timely issue as next month, San Francisco voters will decide if the city’s largest businesses, many of them tech companies, should pay a special tax to help fund more homeless shelters and addiction centers like the one I visited. The debate is dividing the tech community. Marc Benioff of Salesforce says “homelessness is everyone’s problem” and backs the special tax, but others like Twitter’s Jack Dorsey say it’s “unfair.” Love it or loathe it, the ballot measure proposes more funding and action to tackle homelessness and drug addiction in our most vulnerable population. These are complex and deep rooted problems with no quick fixes, but I applaud Marc Benioff and others like him for taking a stand.
Several medical workers and a heroin addict shared their ‘dream’ solutions to homelessness and addiction in the city. Their answers may surprise you.
If I had a magic wand, I’d just flash over the Twitter building, the Google building and say: hey guys, how about some compassion for folks, some kindness? When somebody talks to you in the street, look them in they eye. Planting that little seed of compassion and kindness goes a long way and I think that’s how the larger change in our city would happen. There’s a lot of hostility, a lot of misinformation. So if I had a magic wand, I’d just like flash it and say: compassion, compassion, compassion…kindness and a safe injection site! Ana Cuevas, health worker at the Tom Waddell Health Center, SF Public Health [Pictured above]
Here’s a transcript of my full report. A shorter version aired on the BBC World Service on October 24, 2018.
Atmos: San Francisco city street sounds: bus, cars, fans, people…
Alison van Diggelen: I’m here at City Hall in the center of San Francisco. Within yards of the building’s gleaming dome, there are clusters of homeless people, huddled in doorways, sprawled on pavements, or slowly pacing the streets.
Every week, Dr Barry Zevin and his team walk the city streets to build rapport with homeless people with addiction problems and offer on-the-spot treatment. Once trust is established, they encourage patients to visit the city’s public health clinic. Today, there’s a steady stream of homeless people…
Alison van Diggelen: Inside this clinic, known as the Tom Waddell Health Center, I meet James (not his real name) a former medic in the United States army, who recently started treatment for heroin addiction.
James: Right now I got a prescription refilled, and the doctor was like: do you need a shelter bed for tonight? Are there other things I can do for you? I’m very impressed with how kind and helpful they are…going above and beyond to find what else they can do for me.
Alison van Diggelen: James, who’s 30, has been prescribed buprenorphine to help wean him off his opioid addiction. Buprenorphine is a daily pill that reduces opioid cravings and the extreme physical pain of withdrawal. Despite being an addict for over ten years, James sincerely wants to change.
James: This medication allows me to do a detox less painfully and I no longer will have intense cravings for the substance of abuse. It’s definitely more comfortable than cold turkey…
Alison van Diggelen: James has been homeless in SF for about five months, after moving from Seattle. Being on the streets compounds his challenges as he faces fear and loneliness, as well as drug dealers.
James: I moved to this city not knowing a whole lot about it, so the areas I go, I’ve only operated in them under addiction scenarios. So being on something that blocks the receptors…I’m not so prone to go back to using it and therefore I can operate in these areas where there’s a lot of environmental triggers without having to…feel the same feelings of craving, to want to use.
Alison van Diggelen: Sarah Strieff is a registered nurse with the SF Public Health’s “Street team”. They regularly walk the city streets to identify vulnerable patients in need of healthcare and detox. As they pound the pavements, how does she and her team convince homeless people like James to start treatment?
Nurse Sarah Strieff [pictured above]:There’s two ways we identify people: our own outreach and street presence; and through other agencies in the city that bring people to our attention.
Alison van Diggelen: Sarah, who wears ripped jeans and a T-shirt explains how being inconspicuous, non-threatening is key to their outreach.
Sarah Strieff: It’s casual, we dress down, we don’t wear uniforms.
Alison van Diggelen:No lab coats?
Sarah Strieff: No lab coats. No! We talk to people where they’re at…We’ll go to Golden Gate Park, the Haight, Bay View…I do see a lot of people hanging out in the Tenderloin.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic serves between 10 and 20 homeless people during its daily 4-hour clinic. No appointments are necessary and you don’t need insurance. Ana Cuevas works with Sarah on the “Street Team.”
Ana Cuevas: We try to build a relationship first and check in with folks. That’s the reason why our program is so successful. Everyone who works here sees people first, then patients. Check in and ask what they need and try to deliver, not impose my own agenda on them.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic delivers a comprehensive health care treatment plan, prescriptions for detox medications and even helps patients find a roof for the night.
Starting conversations about drug use is a sensitive process, and it takes weeks, months, even years for the Street Team to build trust with people on the street and at needle exchange facilities. For that reason, I wasn’t allowed to go on their rounds with them.
Ana Cuevas:It’s not hello: what’s your social security number, what’s your medical history? No, it’s like: who are you? How can we help you? We just listen… we just go with the flow.
Alison van Diggelen: Ana Cuevas describes the process as “Motivational interviewing” which involves a lot of listening, and no judgment.
Ana Cuevas:If someone comes in and says: Hey Ana, I’ve been using a lot. I’m not going to say: you shouldn’t do that! (instead): what are your thoughts around that? What’s happened with that? And then just kinda carry that conversation like that. One of the biggest problems with health care is that there’s often not enough time to listen. That’s the root of motivational interviewing: being present, listening and then figuring out solutions together.
Alison van Diggelen: Dr Barry Zevin is the Medical Director of Street Medicine and his team treats about 500 homeless patients a year, many of whom are addicted to opioids.
Dr Barry Zevin:When we treat them with buprenorphine or methadone – long acting, continuous stimulation of these receptors in the brain, without the sudden highs and sudden withdrawals that come with a short acting drug – these longer acting medications can really change and repair what the dysfunction of the brain is and all of the physiological stress responses people have. The physiology of someone using street opioids has really gone wrong, and that causes depression, anxiety, stress, physical disease, decreases in the immune system…a whole cascade of things go wrong that can go right when we replace that with long-acting, high affinity to the opioid receptor in the brain medication.
Alison van Diggelen: The health worker, Ana Cuevas, recalls a twenty year-old woman the team was able to help and within a week she was reunited with her family and on the road to recovery.
But Dr Zevin admits such cases are outliers.
Dr Barry Zevin:We’re in era of fentanyl contaminated drugs. It’s found its way into the drugs…They’re super potent…The risk of overdose is much higher now than it was 5 years ago. I’m talking with people every day and any day they’re at risk from having an overdose or fatal overdose bc of this new trend in drug supply.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic treats a small percentage of the estimated 20,000 intravenous drug users in San Francisco, but Dr Zevin insists it has ripple effects. By targeting the most vulnerable people and achieving results, he’s convinced it inspires others to get treatment. He considers it a remarkable success that about one third of his patients are still in touch with the team and on treatment after a year.
Dr Barry Zevin: I always describe our model as effective but not very efficient.…We see them a lot. Once a week is not enough for some patients. With the level of instability, the level of things that can happen to people..If people are in a street or a park or a shelter, it’s a lot easier to bring the medical care to them, than wait in an office for them to finally make it to an appointment.
Alison van Diggelen: This SF program is just one of several similar schemes across the United States in Boston and in Texas. They’re often run in conjunction with needle exchanges and low barrier shelters, so that addicts can get the full support they need. Is the solution policy changes, more shelters and more funding? Healthcare worker, Ana Cuevas offers a more profound insight.
Ana Cuevas:Honestly, the most challenging part is changing the way our larger community views our population. Our folks, a lot of their humanity has been taken away…
If I had a magic wand, I’d just flash over the Twitter building, the Google building and say: hey guys, how about some compassion for folks, some kindness? When somebody talks to you in the street, look them in they eye. Planting that little seed of compassion and kindness goes a long way and I think that’s how the larger change in our city would happen. There’s a lot of hostility, a lot of misinformation.
So if I had a magic wand, I’d just like flash it and say: compassion, compassion, compassion…kindness and a safe injection site!
Alison van Diggelen: This viewpoint is echoed by James, the drug addict who recently started treatment.
James:It’s a matter of empathy I think. I would ask anybody in charge of policy…people might not seem kind or deserving of help, but they’re all people who may be in different stages of grief or suffering and to realize that it takes kindness to bring it out.
Alison van Diggelen: What are his hopes for the future?
James:I’m trained as a chef, I worked as a medic in the military. There’s things in both these fields I’d like to be doing…
What makes Madonna the ultimate female bad-ass role model? On the eve of Madonna’s 60th birthday, I was invited to join the BBC’s Roger Hearing in London and Bloomberg’s Enda Curran in Hong Kong to discuss the queen of pop’s controversial life and legacy. How has she redefined what it means to be a woman in her 60’s?
“In the realms of entertainment, whether you’re an actor or a musician, as a woman you’re supposed to fade away in a dignified manner when menopause kicks in. Madonna hasn’t done that and I think that’s a great, great thing. Why should women have to make this dignified exit because no one is asking men to do that?” Fiona Sturges, Culture critic at the Guardian, Financial Times.
Here is some of our conversation: Roger Hearing: Now Alison, you’re a fan, aren’t you?
Alison van Diggelen: I am a fan. How I’d describe Madonna is: She’s the ultimate bad-ass female role model. She’s fearless, creative, unpredictable and that makes her super compelling. I also have to praise her for her Billboard Music Awards speech in 2016. This was before #MeToo and she talked out misogyny, the double standards for men and woman. She appealed to women to reach out to other strong women, to learn, to collaborate and to be inspired. That’s a message that we cannot get tired of hearing.
Roger Hearing: But what makes her a role model?She’s been pretty controversial in lots of ways that many people thought was not appropriate, and wasn’t a good role model for anyone…
Alison van Diggelen: She’s a pioneer. She doesn’t accept the norms and conventions and I think that what she’s doing as a 60 year-old is: she’s going to reinvent what we think of a 60 year-old woman. I say: good on her! She makes some crazy choices in what she wears and what she does, but she’s always pushing the envelope, making us question what is “OK”? I think that qualifies her as a role model, even if you don’t like 100% of her choices.
Have you ever considered the benefits of fasting, but feared the challenges? Here in Silicon Valley, Sumaya Kazi is the poster child for intermittent fasting, a new trend in weight control that’s popular among the tech set. Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food anywhere from sixteen hours to several days – with “normal” eating resumed in between. Enthusiasts say the health benefits extend far beyond weight loss. The BBC’s Health Check team sent Alison van Diggelen to explore the evidence.
“The effects were almost immediate for me: the weight started melting off really early on… I lost about 50 lbs over the first 7 1/2 months.” Sumaya Kazi
Here’s a transcript of my report (edited for length and clarity):
Alison van Diggelen: When 36-year old Sumaya Kazi launched her tech startup in 2010, the long hours, constant traveling and too much eating-out made her pack on the pounds. At over 200 lbs (90 kg), she tried to lose weight by exercising compulsively, trying weightloss groups, and doing weekly meal planning.
Sumaya Kazi: None of them stuck with me or showed me enough progress to stick with it. None of them felt like a lifestyle. When I found IF, it absolutely did for me.
Alison van Diggelen: For Kazi, fasting offered quick results:
Sumaya Kazi: The effects were almost immediate for me: the weight started melting off really early on, to my surprise, because I wasn’t working out at the time. I lost about 50 lbs over the first 7 1/2 months.
Alison van Diggelen: It was a BBC television documentary about fasting that convinced her to give it a try. Research from Johns Hopkins University in animals and humans suggested that fasting could enhance brain function and might evenhelp protect against cancer, strokes and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Fasting advocates claim it can reduce weight, improve blood sugar,can “re-set” the metabolism, boosts the immunesystem andcan even slow down aging. So what was Kazi’s personal experience?
Sumaya Kazi: I no longer had issues with high blood pressure. I was pre-diabetic early on and no longer have those issues. I no longer have issues of sleep apnea. Also I have more energy, I’m more productive, I feel more focused, I feel food tastes better.
Alison van Diggelen: So what does it involve? Kazi points out that the most popular form of intermittent fasting – or IF – is called “16-8.” That’s 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of eating. Simply cutting out breakfast and eating an early dinner can accomplish that.
But Kazi prefers “alternate day” fasting. For her, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are fast days. The other days she calls “feast days.” This being Silicon Valley, she frames it in binary terms:
Sumaya Kazi:It’s almost like an on-off switch: I know when I should be eating, I know when I should be feasting. It keeps it simple for me. IF isn’t a magic pill. It works when you put it to work. It’s not a diet, it’s not about WHAT you eat, it’s about WHEN you eat. …
Alison van Diggelen: But how does it compare to other weight loss regimens? And are its claims backed up by research?
A professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently completed a fasting study with 28 obese patients and found that – like traditional diets – the 16-8 fast could offer an effective method for losing weight – but cautioned that longer-term, large-scale controlled trials are needed.
Santa Clara University Prof Heidi Lidtke, Nutritionist explains fasting for the BBC. Photo by Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues
I went to a coffee shop in a local bookstore to chat with a nutrition expert, Professor Heidi Lidtke.
Alison van Diggelen: Heidi and I assess the vast array of diet books on the bookstore walls. It’s quite overwhelming.
Heidi Lidtke: What I tell my students is: we should eat real food, mostly plants, not too much and we should enjoy what we eat.
Heidi is an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley.
Heidi Lidtke: The most exciting research has been done in yeast and it shows that cancer in yeast can be totally stopped…the yeast cells are healthy and the cancer cells die after chemo and fasting. But it’s yeast and humans are NOT yeast. I don’t know how we can translate single cell organisms (yeast) to multi cell organisms – humans.
Alison van Diggelen:So it would be a stretch to say IF can cure cancer?
Heidi Lidtke:There are a lot of studies in rats and mice…It has cured and totally reversed diabetes in rats, not humans…But it’s not totally transferable, right?
Alison van Diggelen: What about studies on humans and diabetes?
Heidi Lidtke: There have been some studies on some of precursors, sugar levels and insulin levels – those can go down in the first couple of months of IF. But all human studies have been small – 35 people….it’s hard to say 35 Turkish people are the same as 35 Americans… It’s hard to extrapolate from the research.
Alison van Diggelen:What would be required to convince scientists, to show this causal connection?
Heidi Lidtke: There would need to be multiple studies in multiple population groups…We’re in the process of doing that, but it takes time.
Alison van Diggelen: But Lidtke remains skeptical, especially about the cancer claimswhich could influence people when they’re feeling vulnerable.
Heidi Lidtke: My initial reaction? Interesting…I have concerns for some people at risk…people are forgoing scientifically validated treatment…that people are going to fast instead of getting chemo…I have concerns.
Alison van Diggelen: Lidtke also points out that fasting is not for everyone – and could be dangerous for those with eating disorders (like anorexia or bulimia). And she recommends discussing it witha doctor before trying it.
Heidi Lidtke: For someone who’s got disordered eating it just feeds into that and gives them a framework.
Alison van Diggelen: So how does IF compare to other diets?
Heidi Lidtke: The research on IF is really slim and then research comparisons are even slimmer. It’s hard to do comparisons. The diet that works is the one you stick to. If you’re able to stick and keep the weight off, then that’s the one that works.
Alison van Diggelen: Lidtke emphasizes that there’s no diet that works for everyone and scientific research is limited, but she does single out the “DASH” diet which has been studied by the National Institutes of Health and is recommended by the US Dept of Agriculture in its nutrition guidelines. It’s rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods; and limited in sweetened foods and drinks, red meat, and fatsand has been proven to reduce blood pressure and hypertension, even without weight loss.
So, after hearing all the caveats, foranyone still keen to try fasting, Sumaya Kazi has three top tips….
Sumaya Kazi:
Look at IF as an experiment – It’s really better to approach it as something that you’re trying on for size…Feel free to experiment with the different schedules.
Give it some time. The first couple of days, you’ll likely be hangry, mad about starting. It’s about getting into the habit. Give it a fighting chance, push through and understand why you’re feeling what you’re feeling. After 2 weeks it’s going to start feeling like something you can actually do.
Sparkling water will be your best friend…carbonated water can help you feel full on fast days.
Alison van Diggelen: A small study in the US recently showed that fasting caused some people to experience lower blood pressure and improvements in processing sugar. But downsides like headaches, drowsiness and increased thirst were also reported. The bottom line is this: Despite Sumaya Kazi’s impressive transformation, to say that intermittent fasting is an enduring answer for everyone’s weight loss and general health: larger, longer-term studies are needed.
This week’s report addresses gun violence in the United States. Many of us have been inspired by the fearless survivors of the Florida High School shooting on Valentine’s Day. Powerful speeches by teenagers, Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg have changed the conversation and I applaud them and the March For Our Lives Movement for their bravery and tenacity in their mission to reduce gun violence through sensible gun policies.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in DC, and hundreds of cities in the United States and around the world. Here are voices from the March for Our Lives in San Jose, California and a clip from my BBC report which aired on Business Matters on March 27th.
I’m here because I don’t want to be afraid to go to school. I don’t want to say ‘I love you’ to my mom, ‘I hope I see you after school.’ Ashley Wilson, 15-year-old high school student who took part in the March for Our Lives in Silicon Valley, California on March 24, 2018. (photographed above by Shannon McElyea)
Listen to the Fresh Dialogues podcast on iTunes or below:
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Here are some highlights from the podcast
First, I spoke with MacKenzie Mossing a 24 year-old resident of Silicon Valley, California.
Mackenzie Mossing: I’m here because I think our system is really broken when kids have to fear going to school, when I have to fear going to music concerts, when you can buy an AR 15 before you can buy a beer.
Alison van Diggelen: Do you have a message for the NRA Leadership?
Mackenzie Mossing: Why is your right to own a gun bigger than my right to live?
Alison van Diggelen: Do you have a message for Emma Gonzalez?
Mackenzie Mossing: You are a true inspiration. Keep doing what you’re doing. We need more people like you to invoke change in the world.
Ashley Wilson: Enough is enough. School shootings should not happen…I’d like to see much less school shootings, shootings in general….(and) gun control.
Alison van Diggelen: What role do you feel businesses should play in this? Companies likeDelta Airlines and several banks have stopped their incentives for NRA members. Do you agree with that and what more can companies do?
Ashley Wilson: I completely agree with that and I think more companies should join in.
Alison van Diggelen: Do you have a message for teens in Florida who’re taking to the streets in DC today?
Ashley Wilson: Know that the rest of the nation is with you, the rest of the world…We stand with you.
Alison van Diggelen: I asked 18 year-old Jacob Seichrist, a graduate of Branham High School in San Jose, and marketing manager, Chris Mossing, about the role of businesses in changing gun control policies.
Jacob Seichrist: I’m hoping these movements are getting out there to parts of America that are on the fence. They can see how important this is…we’ve had so many shootings already this year, it’s crazy to me.
Jacob Seichrist: I think that that’s important. These brands and companies are making their statements, picking the side they want to support. Sometimes that’s going to be the way to convince people who’re on that fence…when they see that the companies that they use are on that side. It’s not just some vocal minority, it’s really real and a powerful thing. When companies do it, for some people, it’ll be a trigger of: “Wow, this is a real thing, this is something important…maybe it’s something I should look into…”
If I were a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of a large brand, I’d be paying a lot of attention to what’s happening today in the streets of the United States. Millennials are looking for brands to be on the right side of social issues, whether it’s clean food, environmental policies or in this case: gun control.Chris Mossing, Silicon Valley marketing manager
My live report on the BBC World Service was cut due to breaking world news, but in the last five minutes of the program, I highlighted the March For Our Lives and what it could mean for businesses and brands.
I hope you enjoy this week’s podcast. Please share your comments here or on Facebook and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.
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What do Amal Clooney and Rick Steves have to say about gun violence in the United States?
Amal Clooney, Emma Gonzales, Rick Steves. These are just a few of the influential people who’re standing up to gun violence since the Florida high school massacre on February 14th. Amal Clooney addressed an audience of 6500 women at the Watermark Conference for Women in Silicon Valley just a few days after the mass shooting. Here’s what she said about outspoken high school students, like Emma Gonzalez:
“I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!”
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast brings together my recent interviews on this topic from the BBC, the Commonwealth Club and the Watermark Conference for Women. It seeks to answer the following questions:
Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea.
Listen to the Fresh Dialogues podcast here or play it below:
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1. Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
Emma Gonzales was one of the dozens of students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida who survived the massacre of 17 of their friends on February 14th. While most of us would have been terrorized and cowed by the horrific gun violence, just three days later, Emma Gonzales took to the podium at a Florida rally, where she directed her anger at President Trump and other politicians for accepting donations from the National Rifle Association. If you haven’t yet watched her passionate and articulate speech, I recommend you watch right now. She’s got over 1 million followers on Twitter and is using that as a platform to share information about the upcoming March for Our Lives on March 24th.
Emma Gonzalez: “Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see…They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS!”
2. Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
AmalClooney was a keynote speaker at the Watermark Conference for Women on February 23rd. She was interviewed onstage by NPR’s Kelly McEvers, who asked her why she and George Clooney just committed $500,000 to the #NeverAgain movement to end gun violence. Here’s what she said:
Amal Clooney: “I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…at 16 years old… To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. As someone who didn’t grow up in the US, I’ve always thought of it as this great country providing an example to others. The idea that children are scared to go to school, that bullet proof backpacks are sold out, and they have to go through live shooter drills and the solution now is to start arming teachers!”
“I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!” (applause)
She added that her children are very likely to go to school here in the United States and so that’s why this is very personal for her. One day the wee Clooneys’ lives may depend on real change happening and a reduction in the proliferation of guns in this country.
I asked Kelly McEvers – from her front row perspective as NPR host – why these Florida teens are making such a big impact. Here’s what she said:
Kelly McEvers: “This time something has snapped…Instagram is the difference (and Twitter). They’re trolling the trolls as no one has ever done…We in the mainstream media are listening, because these kids, they get a survivor’s pass – they sheltered in a cupboard for four hours…People are desperate for something to happen. For a long time elected officials have been able to take money from people…No one’s tried to call them on it. And now they are. So, are businesses going to rethink who they do business with? Are politicians going to rethink who they take money from? That’s the bigger thing that could come out of this. Not just policy.”
Kelly hosts an NPR podcast called Embedded and says she’d like to be embedded with the young students like Emma Gonzalez to watch this new movement taking root.
3. What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea
On February 17th, a few hours after Gonzales addressed the nation, I interviewed America’s beloved travel guru and PBS personality, Rick Steves at the Commonwealth Club of California. He leads a multi-million dollar travel business and yet he was willing to risk alienating some of his fans (and impacting his business) by speaking freely and forcefully against the NRA. Here’s a link to the full interview podcast. Listen @58:42 when I ask him about Europe’s sensible gun laws and Emma Gonzales’s speech.
Rick Steves: “I would like us to have Europe’s standards when it comes to guns…The American people need to step up and vote….We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA and elect people who proudly don’t.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods was one of the first companies to take a stand against the NRA. The CEO comments echo what Rick Steves told me:
“We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA.”
I discussed all this live on the BBC World Service on Monday. The BBC’s Fergus Nicoll asked me to share highlights of my Rick Steves interview in the context of America’s upcoming midterm elections. You can listen to the full discussion at the BBC World Service, starting at 12:58 in the podcast.
This year, California became the 6th state in the U.S. to make it legal to sell marijuana for recreational use. The BBC World Service asked me to explore an all-female startup that’s hoping to become a global power house for “high tea.” Amanda Jones and Jen Chapin, the Kikoko cofounders say that their marijuana-infused teas can help with sleep, pain, mood and even sex. I interviewed an enthusiastic fan at a Silicon Valley high tea party who raved about her spectacular orgasms! But is it addictive and what are the risks? My report aired today on the BBC’s Health Check.
Here’s a transcript of my report (edited for length and clarity):
BBC Health Check Host, Claudia Hammond: On New Year’s Day, California became the 6th state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use. With an estimated potential market of $7Bn, it’s big business and queues soon formed outside dispensaries, with people keen to buy not just marijuana in tobacco and oils, but in brownies and even gummy bears. Now you can go to a “high tea” where the tea bags contain more than just tea leaves. So we sent reporter Alison van Diggelen along to ask what impact marijuana can have on our health?
Alison van Diggelen: Here in an affluent suburb of Silicon Valley, women in fancy hats are enjoying a little tea party. The product – Kikoko – offers you “high” tea: tea bags with microdoses of marijuana that can give you a buzz and more. Here’s Amanda Jones, one of the cofounders of Kikoko….
Amanda Jones: This is not your mother’s Earl Grey tea…however it’s good for your mother. My mother does it almost every day, she’s 82. What we offer is a cannabis infused herbal tea, very low dose… “Ritz with a twist” is what we call it. It’s very refined, all organic, top-shelf herbs, blended for the particular ailments we’re trying to treat.
Alison van Diggelen: Amanda, and her all-female team, say their tea blends can help with: sleep, pain, mood and even sex….The teas have between 3 and 10 mg of THC. THC – or Tetra-hydro-cannabinol – is what gets people high. At elevated doses it’s also been linked to anxiety and an increased risk of mental health problems. The other key substance in marijuana is Cannabidiol, or CBD – sometimes recommended to help with pain or inflammation. A small trial recently conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry in London found this substance acts as an anti-psychotic and might counteract some of the negative effects of THC.
Several Kikoko clients enthused about the tea’s healing powers – including Tara Kaplinski, a lawyer who started drinking the tea for pain relief and to get a good night’s sleep…
Tara Kaplinski: I was taking a lot of ibuprofen for a wrist injury and I started to get pain in my solar plexus…so I went to the doctor and they said you can’t take Aleve (Naproxen)…you can’t take ibuprofen. So if you can’t take anything, then this is perfect. It does do the job, at least for me. It’s like a superfood…the health benefits are amazing…it’s better than having a beer, you’re not going to gain weight from it, be hungover in the morning…You’re not going to get frustrated with your children. I think it’s a healthier alternative.
Alison van Diggelen: Tracy O’Reilly – not her real name – is also a fan, but for quite different reasons. She’s a 55 year-old pharmacologist with expertise in toxicology.
Tracy O’Reilly: I took this “sensuali-tea” and it absolutely changed my life… I really had tremendous orgasms and I just felt wonderful afterwards and it lingered; giving me a pleasure that I didn’t think was possible post-menopause…
Alison van Diggelen: With the same partner?
Tracy O’Reilly: Yes! With the same partner. [laughter] Even the next day, I’ll feel very much like a woman who’s quite happy, put it that way…
Alison van Diggelen: Any negative effects at all for you?
Tracy O’Reilly: I limit my driving…I drink it at night and I don’t drive. It’s not a good idea especially if you’re new. I had never tried marijuana, but when I found out about this low dose tea and there’s so much science behind it…There’s been tons of clinical trials done. I was against cannabis when it was not legal, but now it’s legal I think it’s going to benefit a lot of people and probably save us some healthcare dollars…
Alison van Diggelen: Beyond California, 28 other states already allow the medical use of marijuana. Some surveys show that opioid use and mainstream medicine prescriptions have fallen in those states, as Americans seek more affordable alternatives for their ailments. But do medical researchers have conclusive evidence of its efficacy? I met with Professor Westley Clark, an expert in psychotic substances and behavioral health at Santa Clara University.
Professor Westley Clark: We know it does produce analgesia, pain relief…Do we have enough science to say 80% of people will have this result? We don’t! We need more evidence. Remember, that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, scientists have to go through extra hoops because it’s “illegal.”
Alison van Diggelen: He means it’s illegal at the Federal level and consequently, that that has been a huge barrier for researchers. So just how safe is it? And what about addiction and overdosing?
Professor Westley Clark: Marijuana can be addictive. It has low addiction potential, there are people who develop dependent syndrome, people who take it daily. It’s a small number. Can someone say marijuana is absolutely safe? No one’s going to say that, if they’re being honest. Is it safe for most people most of the time? Yes. There’s no credible evidence that you can overdose on marijuana.
Alison van Diggelen: As for other risks, Professor Clark reminds us that tea – and other marijuana edibles – avoid the impact that smoking a joint or vaping has on the heart and lungs. But he cautions…
Professor Westley Clark: Be wary of something that’s being marketed as “good for all that ails you.” Usually it isn’t… It’s a psychoactive substance, with psychoactive properties…you need to be careful. If you have an adverse reaction, you need to stop, and put yourself in a safe place or go you may need to go to an emergency room.
Alison van Diggelen: What’s his advice to those concerned about it triggering psychosis?
Professor Westley Clark: Some people might have a psychotic experience: paranoia, delusions. But when the effect of the marijuana wears off, it’s gone. There are people more vulnerable – it’s a minority of people – particularly people younger, under 18, they may be more predisposed, they’re more vulnerable. Their psychotic state may be longer in duration and the marijuana might help precipitate their first episode of psychosis. It doesn’t happen to most people. The younger you are, the more vulnerable you are…(or) if the THC content is much higher than you’re used to…If you have a family history of psychosis or severe trauma you might be more vulnerable.
Alison van Diggelen: What about people with bipolar, depression or who’re schizophrenic already?
Professor Westley Clark: They really should not use marijuana.
Alison van Diggelen: Professor Clark points out that 24 Million Americans currently use marijuana on a regular basis and many people want it legalized, just like other popular psychoactive substances like alcohol or tobacco.
Professor Westley Clark: We need more research and less mythology and less hysteria so we can educate the public with good science. We don’t need to continue to perpetuate “reefer madness”, and create upheaval in society where we’re incarcerating large groups of people based on fictions and myths.
Alison van Diggelen: What’s your advice to ladies considering high tea?
Professor Westley Clark: If they’re adults and have no history of severe psychological problems, that’s up to them. The route of administration will probably allow them to have a more positive experience, because it’s slow… If you take too much, say you drink all the teapot, you may have adverse consequences.
Alison van Diggelen: Would you try it yourself?
Professor Westley Clark: Nah…I’m a little old for that…[laughter]
Fade out Atmos…Tea pouring, laughter at the party.
James: Right now I got a prescription refilled, and the doctor was like: do you need a shelter bed for tonight? Are there other things I can do for you? I’m very impressed with how kind and helpful they are…going above and beyond to find what else they can do for me.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic delivers a comprehensive health care treatment plan, prescriptions for detox medications and even helps patients find a roof for the night.
Several Kikoko clients enthused about the tea’s healing powers – including Tara Kaplinski, a lawyer who started drinking the tea for pain relief and to get a good night’s sleep…
