In my TEDx talk preparation, I found out there are common themes across all TEDx talks. Research, validation, and accountability. The questions that are rolling in after my talk are fantastic helping the national community open the dialogue about cannabis and the use for pain as a substitute for opioids.

The National Institutes of Health had a research study that showed 24% of the states that legalize cannabis see a 24% drop in opioid overdose deaths within the first year. That is significant.

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Automated transcript and may be edited for grammar only.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:04] Welcome to Wellness Insights with me. Dr. Chalmers, what statistical evidence do I have regarding the impact of cannabis legalization? There’s an NIH study.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:13] By the way, real quick, for those of you who don’t understand, you don’t get to just say whatever you want to in a TED Talk. When you do a TED talk, every single thing you say, if you don’t have solid research to back it up, they will kick your talk out. You don’t get to publish it.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:25] So, for every TED talk that’s published, the research has been looked at, reviewed, and proven to be functional and accurate. That’s the deal. So there was a research study that showed 24% of the states that legalize cannabis see a 24% drop in opioid overdose deaths within the first year. That is significant. And, you know, that was from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:45] And again, remember, if we think there is any bias, they’re biased against cannabis, not for it. So that 24% number might be higher, but it’s pretty solid. So, yeah, but here’s the thing. People who know now that the doctors are starting to know, and people are starting to know people choose cannabis over opioids every time we can. So I mean, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out as a doctor, am I going to give you something that was going to kill you and make you addicted to it and make me a terrible, horrible human being?

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:01:04] We’re going to give you access to something that’s not going to kill you and not going to make you addicted to something. Of course, the doctors

are going to choose cannabis if they can. That’s the thing. So it doesn’t make any sense that the numbers wouldn’t get better because if doctors have access to things that are going to make our patients healthy and function, that’s the one we’re going to choose. So of course, the numbers are going to come down tremendously.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:01:25] All right. What societal impact does the decrease in opioid prescriptions due to cannabis legalization highlight? Okay, here’s the thing. If we can decrease the number of prescriptions written, we will decrease addiction. We’re going to decrease the debt. So what ends up looking like if a doctor has the other option, this is the amount of prescriptions written is really a how do the doctors use this? That’s what this question is. So if you have a million prescriptions for four drug X, it’s killing people and horrible, terrible. But there are no options. Guess what? Next year, you’re probably going to have a million prescriptions for drug X, but if all of a sudden something comes along and you’re like, Hey, look, this is now legal, it is super safe, It will take care of the pain, just like Drug Act, but it won’t kill anybody.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:02:10] The doctors are going to write whatever is not drug X. Well, this patient. Yes, well, it keeps them from dying. Yes. This is my new first choice, and that’s where we need to go. This should really highlight that the doctors want cannabis. The doctors are using cannabis instead of opioids. The doctors are supposed to know what they’re doing when choosing cannabis. Now, one of the things I will tell you, the only thing I didn’t like about the painkiller deal is that the light it puts on some of the medical doctors in, which you have to understand is that all doctors want to help people. That’s why they got into what they’re doing. We didn’t have anything to help them with.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:02:38] Yeah, pain sucks and is pain terrible. For a while we all thought, Hey, this is great, this is working. And then they found out that it wasn’t. So that’s the only downside. But as soon as docs have an option that’s better, they’ll use it. That’s why I’m trying to highlight the fact that people died last year when they had cannabis instead of opioids. It’s a greater choice. It’s the better choice. The doctors know it. They’re going to use it.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:03:01] The more people find out about cannabis, the more we change the perceptions of the 40 years of telling people how bad it was. And now we give them the real information. I think you’re going to see this get even more even better. What significant change do I believe is necessary regarding our cultural view of cannabis? We need to talk about the sick more. We need to have the real information out. We need to have experts like, I will go talk to anybody on any podcast. I will debate anybody that wants to know.

Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:03:24] Let’s sit down and talk about this. Let’s talk about it. We’ve been telling the government’s been telling us for since I was a kid, since the late seventies, in the eighties, that cannabis is the worst possible thing in the world. It’s a gateway drug. You know, you’re going to smoke one joint and you’re going to be crazy or you smoke one joint that is straight to crack, which is never panned out in any real research. I know a lot of people who were like, I used to do coke, but I really like cannabis. I quit doing coke and now I do cannabis. I quit drinking alcohol because of cannabis.

[00:03:50] So I mean, we need to talk about this. We, if we are per culture, can have another conversation about it, a real honest conversation. That’s what’s important. If you guys have any questions, hit us up questions at Chalmers wellness dot com. Thanks.

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Dr. Matt Chalmers

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