Heidi had a great opportunity to speak on Dr. Phil!
Some viewers of Dr. Phil may want to hear more about what I said on the episode about marijuana legalization. Thank you for checking in! I am so grateful to Dr. Phil and the show’s producers for the privilege of being in the studio audience of this show. This post is for you.
In this post, I discuss who I am and provide links to blog posts and links to research on this website to delve deeper into the comments I made on the show.
Who I am. And what is A Night In Jail?
I co-wrote the first fictional story illustrating the negative mental health effects of THC. It’s a Young Adult cautionary tale called A Night In Jail. I wrote it with my brother. It is inspired by his true life as a homeless drug addict with schizophrenia who went to jail eighteen times. We wrote it as a book, adapted it as a play, and produced an audiobook and a teen-led short film. Additionally, I am proud to provide a free Educational Toolkit with over 100 references showing the data between THC and mental illness. I am indebted to Dr. Christine Miller, my Science Advisor, for guiding me and co-writing this easy-to-read document.
Our goal has always been to prevent some future homelessness by preventing some mental illness and addiction. Many haven’t heard THC increases the risk for mental illness. Some believe THC products aren’t addictive. The data shows otherwise and my brother’s true life tragically illustrates it. With A Night In Jail, we aim to interest youth with Drama and Storytelling because we, as humans, like stories. We remember stories and our fictional story supports the science. We have done several events with screenings of the short film and a staged reading of the play. Both had expert panels following.
The comments I made on Dr. Phil:
-Regretting my vote for legalization:
See this videotaped and written interview with Fox.com for a 3 min video and written interview on my thoughts. The author of the article provides links supporting the statements below.
Here’s an overview:
More young people are using it.
Youth use increases the risk of mental illness.
The increased use of THC has climbed alongside the increase in homelessness in California.
Legal marijuana has contributed to the environmental demise of California. We are in a historic drought and the industry uses exorbitant amounts of water.
-THC can cause psychosis and schizophrenia:
In addition to A Night In Jail’s Educational Toolkit, please see this Research page on our site. Data is shown in videos, articles, and studies.
– I volunteered for California’s SB 1097, a bill to add mental health risks to warning labels on THC products. There is as much data linking THC to mental illness as there was linking tobacco to lung cancer in the ’60s. The public must be warned. These topics are covered in this blog post I wrote about how warning labels will do more than tell people about the mental health consequences of use, they will help prevent some future homelessness. Warning labels are a basic necessity. Everyone should understand the risks of use. What medicine does not list its side effects? I am deeply saddened to report that, after filming of the Dr. Phil episode, SB 1097 bill was pulled from the California Legislature due to pressure from the industry.