Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1470128
cannabissciencetech.com june 2022 | Psychedelics: New Frontiers in Alternative Medicine 27 research / feature Then, of course, the pandemic hit, and at that time, I was like, "Well, you know what? I could die tomorrow." I'm just being completely honest with everyone. As epidemiologists, we were the front-line counters of who had COVID-19 and all the ways that we can prevent it. And in my mind, I was think- ing, "Hello, cannabis." When we started to see all these mental health outcomes, I also started paying attention to what psychedelics could do. So, it was during that study, the COVID Cannabis Health Study, that we started asking questions about psychedelics for the first time in a structured way. I've been studying it non-structured through, you know, pa- tient conversations and qualitative in- terviews, but this was the first time that we standardized the way that we col- lected the data. Q: What were patients saying when you when you started seeing those results? What kind of reports were coming in? A: Dr. Vidot: Well, it's funny because some of the patients that were part of some of my other studies said "Dr. Vidot, I'm glad you're finally asking this question." And I said, "Oh, well, you should have told me." But some of the accounts that we were getting was that psychedelics were helping them cope with the uncertainty of the pandemic and giving them opportunities to be more within themselves. Some of the data (which I presented at Cannabis Science Confer- ence West hot off the press) actual hardcore data that's being analyzed as we speak by our analysts of what psilocybin in conjunction with cannabis actually did when it came to generalized anxiety disorder and also depression. I can tell you now that preliminary results are showing that those who consumed both cannabis and psilocybin had lower prevalence of major depressive disorder based on their self-reported measures. Q: Did those patients report on how much they were taking of both or either one? A: Dr. Vidot: Unfortunately, for the psychedelics, we did not get the dose or even the frequency. We just know, yes or no, within the past 30 days or past year. With the cannabis, we do know the number of days and the amount or dose. We also have informa- tion about the cannabinoids that were consumed. So, in the next study, we're going to be a lot more strategic about how we ask those questions. Q: As you mentioned before, at this year's Cannabis Science Conference West your talk was titled "Co-Use of Cannabis and Psilocybin to Manage Mental Health Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Results from the International COVID-19 Cannabis Health Study." Can you share a little bit more of Q: what inspired you to present on this topic and what were you most excited to share with attendees? A: Dr. Vidot: Yes. Well, what inspired me to talk about this was when I was at the Cannabis Science Conference East in the fall of 2021, when I gave a presentation there. It was actually my first time being live at a conference after COVID-19. That energy of all the scientists, all of us together, and really we built a family at thatconference—that inspired me. Now, I don't even see myself not going to that conference anymore because I just get so excited. I think it was there that I saw that Josh Crossney, who's the founder and now Director of Cannabis Events at MJH Life Sciences, had the sign saying "Coming soon, psychedelics and cannabis." I was like, "Oh wow." So, now my research has a space to be shared because before I didn't. You hear a lot about cannabis research, you hear a lot about psyche- delics, especially now. Everyone wants to talk about psychedelics suddenly, right? Who's talking about the co-use,