How Touch Deprivation Is Affecting Our Mental Health
Here’s how physical distance from friends and family could be affecting you — and what you can do about it.
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5 Political Podcasts That Make The News Enjoyable
Tired of all the news? How about some more? These podcasts make the current political landscape almost enjoyable.
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We’re all familiar with the term “fake news” and have probably witnessed the speed at which these stories can circulate on social media. Fake news stories can be about almost any topic, but increasingly misinformation about illicit drugs is becoming common. But the consequences of such false information can be dangerous – even deadly.
There tends to be a high level of interest about drug use myths on social media, driven in part by curiosity, but also fear of the unknown as some new and bizarre threat is reported – but often without any evidence to back up the hysteria. Some of this interest will be amplified by algorithms used by social media platforms, which tailor content based on user search history.
However, this misinformation is also further spread by mainstream media news outlets that pick up on the popularity and publish stories repeating the false information. Misinformation on social media is also easy to access, engaging, and may be shared by friends and family, making it appear more trustworthy. And, for many people, social media is the only place they get their news.
Dangerous synthetic drugs are common subjects of misleading “fake” news spread on social media. Given their potential dangers, it’s understandable that many people are concerned. This misinformation could be harmful, especially to those who may take the drug.
One such example is the deadly drug fentanyl, an opiate that can be anywhere between 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. A myth that you can overdose even by touching a small amount of this drug spread on social media – and was even perpetuated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, which claimed that touching or inhaling airborne fentanyl could be deadly. As this warning was issued by a government department, many people took this misinformation seriously. It spread quickly and widely on social media even after the medical community agreed that overdose due to fentanyl skin contact is impossible.
Researchers tracked the spread of information about fentanyl between 2015 and 2019 by using a media analysis tool which was able to track the number of fake news articles created on and spread by social media, and could also track the number of potential views by looking at article shares. They found that erroneous information had a reach 15 times greater than correct information. Some of this included the myth about how touching the drug could be toxic. Most of this misinformation about fentanyl originated from Facebook posts created in Texas and Pennsylvania, and potentially reached 67 million people.
While fentanyl use might not be common, this sort of misinformation could have dangerous consequences. For example, a person might not help someone who has overdosed if they believe any physical contract with them – even to administer chest compressions – could cause them harm, too.
Other synthetic drugs, including Krokodyl and “spice” (a type of synthetic cannabis) have also triggered widespread misinformation. Krokodyl has been portrayed on social media as a chemical which can eat your flesh, even after only one use. Spice, on the other hand, has been described in the media as a drug that causes users to rip off their clothes as if it’s given them “superhuman” strength.
While it’s unlikely someone would take a drug knowing it causes severe damage, the idea of using something to gain extraordinary physical strength might entice potential users. In both instances, this information was wrong, but that didn’t stop them from going viral on social media.
It is often the young or naive that are victims of misinformation about some new drug or using a drug to achieve an effect. This is illustrated in a recent case when information about the antihistamine Benadryl was circulated on social media. Users reported that consuming this drug caused hallucinations and would challenge each other to take the drug, sadly at least one person died as a result.
Beyond these extreme examples, it’s also becoming routine to see misinformation on social media about drugs such as cannabis. In particular, claims being made about cannabis-based medicinal products, which suggest that everything from pain to terminal cancer can be cured. These are made despite the lack of research and evidence that support these assertions. Tragically this type of misinformation offers false hope to people who are often at a very vulnerable point in their life. These false claims are harmful in themselves, but could be really damaging if people choose to stop traditional medical intervention and use these products in the belief that their health will improve.
Misinformation about illicit drugs may also make them sound more appealing to people who aren’t risk adverse. For them the appeal is in the risk that the drug poses. Widely circulated fake news may even be the reason they try these types of drugs to begin with.
Finding ways of reducing this type of misinformation is important to prevent any dangerous consequences. Social media platforms have an important role to play in regulating information – should they choose to. Educating people in how to spot fake news, and better education for young people in schools about drugs may also prevent the further spread of such harmful misinformation.
We need to accept that there will always be interest in drugs and that false information about them will accompany that curiosity. Social media platforms have the ability to mitigate misinformation, but they may not have the will if an action threatens their commercial interests. So young people and their families are left to separate fact from fiction as they try to reduce the potential risks some drugs pose.
By Ian Hamilton, Associate Professor of Addiction., University of York and Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University in St Louis
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
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Cannabis Decontamination: What Is It And Why Is It Important?
A cannabis product may fail contaminant testing if it has unsafe levels of microbials, heavy metals or pesticides.
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Montel Wiliams is a US military veteran and TV legend most famous for his talk show The Montel Williams Show (Montel) that aired in syndication from 1991 to 2008. He’s also well-known for his medical cannabis advocacy. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, Montel has been using cannabis to combat neuropathic pain from the disease for over 20 years. During that time, he has used his celebrity and resources to raise awareness around not only the disease, but also people’s civil right to medicate with cannabis.
“Whether it be adult use or medical, I think everybody who gravitates to cannabis, even if they won’t admit it themselves, has an underlying medical reason for gravitating towards [it] instead of alcohol and everything else,” he said during our recent Zoom interview.
Since retiring from Montel, Williams has been busy as ever. He currently hosts a show called Military Makeover with Montel, where he goes to the homes of deserving veterans and uses community outreach for home makeovers from the ground up, airing every Friday morning on Lifetime. He also hosts a second show called Military Makeover: Operation Career, in which companies who hire veterans are featured. In addition to television, he hosts two podcasts: Let’s Be Blunt with Montel available on iHeartradio (or wherever you get your podcasts) and Free Thinking.
If you Google Williams, you’ll find stories of him being arrested for weed, but those stories are simply not true. “I was never really arrested. In Detroit, I was written a summons in the airport and let go. Two days later, the judge threw the entire thing out with prejudice. Same thing happened in Wisconsin. I was detained at the airport, let go three days later, then the judge threw it all out with prejudice. I was detained at the airport in Germany by Interpol, and on the spot, let go, and given back my cannabis to take with me on my trip. [I was] asked, ‘Please don’t smoke this in the airport.’ So I have been detained; I’d rather talk about it that way rather than saying ‘officially arrested,’ because I really was not.”
Asked how he escaped Germany without issue, Williams said, “The Interpol was like, ‘We just passed a law [in Germany] that makes cannabis legal in January. Please, I’m so sorry, I know who you are, I know what your advocacy is, I see you have a card and a doctor’s permit, but we have not passed the law yet. You’re not in Germany yet, you’re in the airport, it’s an international space. So please do not consume this here.’ Would that have happened to me had I not been Montel? I’m not sure; literally one of the officers had Googled my name standing right there in front of me.”
In knowing the power of celebrity, Williams has been trying to use his resources in all areas of restorative justice. Most recently, in the case for Michigan’s Michael Thompson, who has served over 20 years in prison for selling weed to a police informant.
“The Last Prisoner Project reached out to me and made me aware of Michael’s situation when they found out that Michael tested positive for [COVID-19]. When I started looking into his case, it felt so ignorant that in a state where there are people now making money off of cannabis, how the heck can you keep a person in prison for doing less than the people who are doing it legally now? When you say you have to pay the price for what you’ve done, he’s paid the price tenfold. He’s been in prison for 20 years now. And then you have [Governor Gretchen Whitmer] that says she supports restorative justice, but does nothing to to prompt the parole board to do what they should’ve done months ago.”
Unfortunately, Michael is still locked up, and it looks like his case won’t even be looked at again for months.
Being such a long time cannabis consumer and advocate, it was only right that, in addition to his professional and social work, we discuss some of his favorite smokeables. Here are the four weed products that Montel Williams can’t live without.
Asked about his consumption habits, Williams said, “I try to get at least 500 milligrams of CBD in my body per day, and I’ve noticed that my THC consumption has gone down. I haven’t needed it as much to deal with some of my ongoing struggle with MS, though I continue to use it on a day-to-day basis.”
He prefers his own CBD products, which are available at montelwilliams.com.
“I want to always have a vape pen on call, just in case something is about to happen and I need to take it down a notch. That’ll be part of my regimen until the day I’m no longer here.”
Williams loves a good hit of kief — he uses his pipe at least once a week. “I stopped consuming flower almost 20 years ago. I like the cleanliness of kief because it doesn’t have some of the other deleterious parts of the plant mixed into it. You’re guaranteed no stems, no sticks, no seeds. But at the same time, kief is probably the area of the plant that holds the most trichomes.”
When asked about his favorite strains, Williams answered, “I was, and still am a GSC (formerly known as Girl Scout Cookies) and Blue Dream kief fan with the two of them mixed together. I do believe that cultivars have different ratios of cannabinoids and terpenes, and when you start mixing them together, you can find the combination that works for you.”
Image courtesy of Montel Williams. Graphic by David Lozada/Weedmaps.
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Nearly four years after Maine legalized recreational cannabis, residents may now actually start purchasing.
Learn the basics on psychedelics—what they are, how they work, what benefits they can provide, and the history of their usage. See also which cities have already decriminalized them and who has them on the Nov. 2020 ballot.
The post What are psychedelics? appeared first on Leafly.
Top 5 Fresh Toast Stories Of The Week: Oct. 9, 2020
ICYMI: Here are the headlines making news this week on The Fresh Toast.
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Maine Begins Recreational Cannabis Sales Today
Maine’s ballot initiative measure to legalize marijuana for adults and establish a regulated marijuana market passed back in November 2016, along with three other states
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Kate Middleton Pregnant? 5 Signs She Might Be
Here we go again! Royals fans think Kate Middleton might be pregnant with her fourth child. Here’s why.
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