Daniel Priestley

And I'm watching this going, the science is actually really clear. Marijuana is bad for the brain. I published a study on 1,000 marijuana users. Every area of their brain is lower in activity. And just today, a study came out in the Journal of the American Medical Association on 1,027 marijuana users. It decreased activity in the hippocampus that affected their memory centers.

If you're a teenager and you use marijuana, in your 20s you have a higher incidence of anxiety, depression, and suicide. This is not innocuous. And we've been advertised this load of crap, which is, oh, it's just good medicine. And for some people it is helpful. But let's not say it's innocuous because that's a lie.

If you're a teenager and you use marijuana, in your 20s you have a higher incidence of anxiety, depression, and suicide. This is not innocuous. And we've been advertised this load of crap, which is, oh, it's just good medicine. And for some people it is helpful. But let's not say it's innocuous because that's a lie.

And we are now—so many states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, including here in California. And the mental health crisis is not better. If anything, it's dramatically worse.

And we are now—so many states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, including here in California. And the mental health crisis is not better. If anything, it's dramatically worse.

Well, please don't put people who use marijuana in jail. Like, that's just a bad use of money. That's not smart. But the problem becomes we're not educating kids on the potential damage to brain development, which nobody really argues about. Nobody reputable I know of is going, yeah, give it to teenagers and let them smoke all they want. No, it's just dumb.

Well, please don't put people who use marijuana in jail. Like, that's just a bad use of money. That's not smart. But the problem becomes we're not educating kids on the potential damage to brain development, which nobody really argues about. Nobody reputable I know of is going, yeah, give it to teenagers and let them smoke all they want. No, it's just dumb.

So it's a bigger question, and I think the answer— I have a high school course. It's called Brain Thrive by 25. And we actually studied it in 16 schools. Decreases drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. Decreases depression and improves self-esteem. Why? We teach kids to love and care for their brain. You got your brain scanned, and now you love your brain better. You want it to be better.

So it's a bigger question, and I think the answer— I have a high school course. It's called Brain Thrive by 25. And we actually studied it in 16 schools. Decreases drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. Decreases depression and improves self-esteem. Why? We teach kids to love and care for their brain. You got your brain scanned, and now you love your brain better. You want it to be better.

That's the answer. It's not scanning everybody. It's educating everybody. Your brain controls everything you do. And when it works right, you work right. And when it doesn't, you don't. So let's love it and let's learn together how to optimize it. But the big innovation, Stephen, for 2025 in psychiatry are marijuana, psilocybin, and ketamine. The street drugs of the 60s are coming back.

That's the answer. It's not scanning everybody. It's educating everybody. Your brain controls everything you do. And when it works right, you work right. And when it doesn't, you don't. So let's love it and let's learn together how to optimize it. But the big innovation, Stephen, for 2025 in psychiatry are marijuana, psilocybin, and ketamine. The street drugs of the 60s are coming back.

And I'm like, I feel like I'm living in this insane world where we're not talking about you should eat better. and exercise and learn not to believe every stupid thing you think. And meditation could calm your mind probably more effectively than alcohol or marijuana. And it's not hard to learn. What's wrong with psilocybin magic mushrooms?

And I'm like, I feel like I'm living in this insane world where we're not talking about you should eat better. and exercise and learn not to believe every stupid thing you think. And meditation could calm your mind probably more effectively than alcohol or marijuana. And it's not hard to learn. What's wrong with psilocybin magic mushrooms?

Yeah, everybody's so excited about microdosing and it's a treatment for depression. And I think I've seen this story before. So in the early 80s, benzos, you know, like Xanax and Klonopin and Ativan, they were mommy's little helper. And this will really help your anxiety. The problem is they make your brain look older than you are, and they're addictive as hell. Then there was alcohol.

Yeah, everybody's so excited about microdosing and it's a treatment for depression. And I think I've seen this story before. So in the early 80s, benzos, you know, like Xanax and Klonopin and Ativan, they were mommy's little helper. And this will really help your anxiety. The problem is they make your brain look older than you are, and they're addictive as hell. Then there was alcohol.

It was a health food. Marijuana is innocuous. Pain is the fifth vital sign, which led to the opiate epidemic. And now we're into mushrooms. Psilocybin-associated psychosis has gone up 300% in the last couple of years. That not for everybody, but for some vulnerable people, and we don't know who they are, it can flip them into a psychotic episode. I'm like, we need to be careful.

It was a health food. Marijuana is innocuous. Pain is the fifth vital sign, which led to the opiate epidemic. And now we're into mushrooms. Psilocybin-associated psychosis has gone up 300% in the last couple of years. That not for everybody, but for some vulnerable people, and we don't know who they are, it can flip them into a psychotic episode. I'm like, we need to be careful.

We need to be thoughtful.

We need to be thoughtful.

I think just now.