Regina G. Barber

Tyler Jones checked the facts.

The audio engineer was Simon Laszlo Janssen.

I'm Emily Kwong.

And I'm Regina Barber.

Thank you for listening to Shorewave, the science podcast from NPR.

Most people in the U.S.

now have access to some form of legal weed.

But depending on the state, people could potentially be exposed to hidden health risks.

Science journalist Teresa Carr did a whole investigation into this.

I'm really interested at the intersection of science and society.

Teresa was reporting a story about medical marijuana use when she met Oklahoma resident Summer Parker.

a medical marijuana sales and marketing professional who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder that affects the connective tissue and often causes serious chronic pain.

And THC, we should say, is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical responsible for most of cannabis's psychological effects.

So in a feature article Teresa wrote for Undark.org, she explains that the cannabis plant is good at sucking up things from the environment.

Research has shown it could be a tool for environmental cleanup of pesticides and heavy metals.

But this special quality can also bring downsides.

Today on the show, how patchy weed regulations have failed to keep up with consumption, and how it could be harming people's health.

I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, a science podcast from NPR.

We're talking to independent health and science journalist Teresa Carr about patchy weed regulations across the U.S.

We also have our own pharmaceuticals correspondent who's reported on this topic as well, Sydney Lupkin.