VOA CONNECT
EPISODE #166
AIR DATE 03 19 2021
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Understanding Medical Marijuana
((SOT))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think if you look at the last three years, cannabis has
already revolutionized the world. I mean, we have all but the
three states now that have some form of cannabis accepted
legally by the state.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Bike Lights
((SOT))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Venice is like Bohemian capital of the United States.
Everybody is artistic.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Rethinking Choices
((SOT))
((Paula Ellman, 65, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
What would that mean to have faced a life-threatening
illness where I could have died and how I would want to
change my life. You know, I had thought that I would decide
to work less.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) CANNABIS
((TRT: 09:57))
((Topic Banner: Medical Marijuana))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Boston, Massachusetts))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 3 female; 2 male))
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan and Kimberly Carvalho))
((Courtesy: Zoom))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
How have things been going as far as your back? I
remember you had some back trouble that was getting in the
way of your work.
((Kimberly Carvalho, Patient))
I do, yeah. It's been going on for a while. Just I've worked in
the operating room for, you know, many years and..
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I went to Tufts Medical School here in Massachusetts. I
went to Boston University, Boston University School of
Medicine for a residency and family medicine. And I
practiced family medicine like your old, traditional general
practitioner or primary care doctor, here in the suburbs of
Boston. And I was faced with an onslaught
of patients. I mean, primary care doctors are in short supply
these days. And my patients that I would see, you know, are
trying everything they can to get better, as they should. And
I can only, at the time, I could only offer them the choices
that I'd learned about. And in medical school, you learn
about medicines, you learn about therapies, you learn about,
sort of, natural options but only in cursory. And patients
were telling me that they were trying cannabis and that it
was helping them.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
And I'm sitting across the table saying, "Great, I'm glad for
you. How, I don't know how to help you." I didn't know
anything at the time.
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
And this was embarrassing and it felt unprofessional. Here
I was, across the table, supposed to be the expert in
the room, and my patients were the ones teaching me what's
helping them sleep or how to, you know, deal with their
headaches. And I thought, Boy, isn't this a great
opportunity for me to learn something and be able to
help people?
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, inside this kief are tiny, little, basically, dusts of cannabis
molecules, and it's almost as if we digested an entire
pharmacy into that powder. And inside that powder, we
have all of this chemistry. These are the main cannabinoids
that most people know about, from Delta-9-THC [Delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol] or THC and CBD
[Cannabidiol]. Some people are starting to hear about the
sleep cannabinoid, CBN. But actually cannabis, as
a plant, has pages and pages and pages and pages of this
stuff. I mean, we're literally talking about an entire
pharmacy. And if you look closely, you'll find surprising
things about cannabis. Eucalyptol, for example, like
eucalyptus; or Geraniol like a geranium; or the smell
from roses; or menthol, mint, peppermint. And all of these
things actually are produced by the plant naturally. And we
can harness all of these individually.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Do you want to see it? It's pretty cool to see. This was the
kief and the wax that we just put in. And you can see there's
lots of oil and kief on the bottom, and it's a little bit hot so we
use oven mitts so I don't hurt myself. And when this is
ready, I'll be able to add terpenes, which give it extra kick
and help it penetrate the skin more deeply.
Then you could have a liquid where someone can put on
their skin or eat. And to help them is just revolutionary.
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan and Sheila Mattie))
((Sheila Mattie, Medical Cannabis User))
After going through about two years and about losing 90
pounds [40 kilos], I ended up getting an endoscopy,
colonoscopy, blood work, the whole shebang. And I was
diagnosed with Crohn's. But then, I started doing the
tincture or the oil. And I actually have a couple of friends
who make that. And so, they would send me a bottle of
the THC, a bottle of the CBD, and it did wonders. And I
never tried to do Humira. I never tried to do steroids
again. I've just solely relied on cannabis. And I'm up 50
pounds [23 kilos]. I can eat. I have an appetite. So, things
have gone back to normal GI [gastrointestinal] wise.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, you know, one of the things that is special as we're sort
of pioneering, you and I, in cannabis,
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
exploring and learning to, kind of, know where it works and
where it doesn't. Sometimes, we find pockets of illnesses
that gets remarkably better with cannabis.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So professionally, I see an industry that needs
shepherding. On both sides, I sort of feel like the Western
medical world needs to learn about cannabis. They have to
understand what's out there already. They have to
understand that
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
there is research, that the research points to much more
benefit than potential risk of evil. And they need to be
teaching their patients this reality.
Right now, it's the patients that are teaching their doctors or
patients themselves going it alone or finding people like me
who are outside of the system.
((NATS))
((Jon Napoli, Owner/Founder, Hempest and CannAssist
Consulting Group))
We sell a lot to just regular adults who want to grow their
own plants that are, maybe, gardeners and wanted to
expand their gardening into cannabis. Medical patients
usually might have a caregiver grow for them. Some might
grow themselves. Most doctors, unfortunately, are behind
the curve on the understanding of this. They don't teach you
about it in medical school.
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
((Jon Napoli, Owner/Founder, Hempest and CannAssist
Consulting Group))
So, anybody like Dr. Caplan who understands cannabis, is a
gem to have, a great resource to help educate the medical
field in general.
((NATS))
((Lee, Medical Cannabis User))
So, this is a GMO strain. It likes to stretch really hard.
The reason why I use cannabis is to give myself a better
quality of life and to mitigate and navigate all of the issues
that have arisen from not just Western medicine but from just
all the stuff with the Crohn's and colitis. I would say before it
was legalized in Massachusetts, it was always a difficult
conversation with my primary care physician. But, because
he was a good doctor, after it became legal, he would listen
to me as the reasons why I say, you know. I'm lucky. I've
always had really good medical care.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Music can be very solitary where you're playing alone and
you can play your emotions out into the instrument, but it's
also a way to play with other people in a chamber group or
an orchestra and connect. You really have to listen carefully
to what someone else is playing and match them and match
their pitch and match their rhythm. And it's a way to quiet
oneself and connect with someone else. So, actually it's
interesting. A lot of musicians become physicians. Part of
that is because we have to learn how to listen to people or
maybe we enjoy listening to other people and connecting
with them.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Welcome to my life. It's a strange, hectic mix.
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan with his daughter, son and
Erin Caplan))
Hey, can I have a hug please?
Are we going to have a big birthday for you? We already
had a little bit. So, we had cake this morning. No, we didn't
have cake?
((Caplans Daughter))
No.
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
What did we have this morning?
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, no more cake today, right?
((Caplans son))
Chocolate donut.
((NATS))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner. I'd say, in pediatrics, I
mainly encounter resistance. I think there's a lot of
knowledge out there that people don't know about. And I
think there's a lot of research about the pediatric brain and
the concerns
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
for what cannabis can do to that or the effects that it could
have on it. And it's mainly negative. I find that people don't
really study the positive effects that you could get, especially
for these kids
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
who have ADHD [Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder] or
epilepsy or other behavioral concerns. I think it just needs to
be discussed more in the pediatric community.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
One, two, ready, go.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I've built the largest cannabis library of medical, published
medical journals anywhere in the world. And I put it
on the Google drive that everybody else in the world, who
wants to read, can follow along. They can read the material
same like I'm reading. And I started to tease out, okay, what
kinds of things do we know about THC?
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
And I would write it down. And what kinds of things are we
learning about CBC [Cannabichromene]? And I would write
that down. And Im just, as I'm learning, I'm also organizing
so that I can build an infrastructure to teach people.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think if you look at the last three years, cannabis has
already revolutionized the world. I mean, we have all but the
three states now that have some form of cannabis accepted
legally by the state. And that used to be nothing. And so,
we've already come a tremendous amount.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think to go past the finish line, we're going to need doctors
to buy in.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
And in order for doctors to buy in, they need to be
educated. So, one of the things that I tried to do was
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
not confront them as a pom-pom cheerleader, that cannabis
is all great because it's not all great.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
It's a tool in a toolbox. There are many other things that
work for people. Cannabis is a tool which works,
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
but we have to help physicians understand that.
((Popup Banner:
U.S. Federal law bans marijuana use, including as
medicine.))
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
That was perfect. Wow! You're doing really well. I'm so
impressed, sweetie. And there's nothing to tell you to do
differently. You did it perfectly.
((Popup Banner:
93% of Americans are in favor of medical marijuana use if
prescribed by a doctor
*Quinnipiac poll))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Wow! Want to try it again?
((NATS))
((Caplans daughter))
No.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
No? You're done. Okay.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Chilled
((SOT))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
The most difficult thing is the faces. The eyes, you have to
do like some reaction. Once you satisfied, all the details are
in there, then youre done.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) ICE SCULPTOR
((TRT: 04:11))
((Topic Banner: Sculpting in Ice))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Glen Burnie, Maryland))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
I first got interested in ice sculpture when I worked in a hotel
back home. I used to work in a banquet kitchen. So, every
time we have a function, we have ice carving.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Every year, they have like ice carving competition for locals.
So, I decided to pursue ice carving.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
I was born in Paete, Laguna, known for wood carving capital
of the Philippines. In Paete, Laguna, each house are doing
some wood carving.
((NATS: Angelito Baban))
Sorry, I got small, small art shop.
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
When I was ten years old, my uncle, he asked me to try
draw and try to carve it. So, when I tried, oh, maybe I can do
this.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
This is Last Supper, originally by Leonardo da Vinci. And
this scenario is like a farm, like farmers family.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Ice Lab is ice company. Yeah, we do cocktail cube ice,
logos, something like that. So, we do a lot of festivals.
Most of the ice carvers, they, they have like, they call it the
template. They attaching to ice, the paper. But what I do is
look at the picture and transfer it to ice by using the ink pen.
The purpose of using the chainsaw, thats easy way to cut
out extra ice that you dont need it. So, when you apply the
die grinders and chisel, it is not going to be hard for you to
shape it because already cut out.
((NATS))
Im well known for chisel. Its my favorite tool. And you can
take my machine tools but the chisel just stay with me.
Yeah.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Photo Courtesy: Angelito Baban))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Every year, I went to Alaska for world champion. 2014,
thats my first world title. 2016, I got the world champion
again. So, I lose only one time. So, I have a lot, a lot of
different medals in here. Its kind of like fairy, fairy tale story.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
The most difficult thing is the faces. The eyes, you have to
do like some reaction. If not, its like a statue, nothing
meaning. Once you satisfied all the details are in there, then
youre done. In ice, you really can do anything you want.
Its kind of like magic!
((NATS/MUSIC))
((PKG)) VENICE BEACH MAGIC
((TRT: 04:00))
((Topic Banner: Parade of Lights))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Venice Beach, California))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 3 male))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
This bike has 5,000 LEDs on it and it has 36 inch [90 cm]
tires. This is Big Red. This is the parade bike and it is a
beast.
So in 2014, I moved to Los Angeles, had a girlfriend who
was a makeup artist in Kansas City and she wanted to come
out here and get into the movie industry, you know, doing
like special effects makeup and she did.
((NATS: Marcus Gladney))
I will put these in and do a little, quick little check to see if we
have power. And we do. We have power.
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Like six months of being here in Los Angeles, she realized
that she didn't want to be here anymore. So, she went back
to Kansas City, which is where we're from, Kansas City,
Missouri. She moved back and I stayed.
((NATS))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
I would hang out at the beach during the day, just trying to
figure things out. I was just like amazed at all the bicycles
with the wheel lights. And I asked somebody. I stopped him
and asked him. I say, What is this all about, you know,
where do you get the light from? And he said, It's a guy
named Sebastian, Sebastian, the Light Man.
((Sebastian, The Light Man, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
About 2014, Marcus come along. He said, now he really, he
overdid his bike. He made it spectacular and then he said,
Man, let's get a ride. I mean, lets get a bicycle ride every
Sunday.
((NATS: Marcus Gladney))
I'm the Pied Piper of Venice, Sunday to Sunset. World
famous Venice Electric Light Parade.
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
I would ride around at sunset, pulling a speaker, playing
music. And I was kind of like the Pied Piper. People would
just fall in behind me. I needed a specific day and I said,
You know what? The best day is Sunday. So then, I
coined it Sundays at Sunset: Venice Electric Light Parade.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Here we are now today, you know. It started off with like
two, three people, four people. The largest ride that we've
had so far was like close to almost 400 people.
((Terry, Participant, Venice Electric Light Parade))
I wanted to do something big and better. I drew it on paper.
All my friends thought I was crazy for two years. I took it to
my buddy I build Harley's with, because he knows the metal
and welding and we did it in one weekend. And it works,
which is amazing, because every tire, it turns off the back
tire and I wanted the illusion that it touches.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Venice is like Bohemian capital of the United States.
Everybody is artistic. There's no right and there's no wrong
in Venice. You can either be barefoot and homeless or you
can be upper echelon and live in a six-million-dollar house
as everybody coincides together and we all mesh and we all
mix and it's magical.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Austin, Participant, Venice Electric Light Parade))
Actually, I came here on a trip about two years ago and I
stayed right in Venice basically and I saw it go by and I was
like one day, I want to live here and I want to do that. And
now I do it. It's crazy. We've got shoes, pants, jacket,
glasses, this thing and just some more light snow, some
gloves. We literally, my goal is to like to cover every inch of
myself in LEDs.
((NATS/MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Life Changes
((SOT))
((Paula Ellman, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
You know, I had thought that I would decide to work less.
But I feel like Ive brought kind of a renewed vigor back to my
work. I get so much pleasure from both my professional
affiliations and from my practice with my patients.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) CONNECT WITH -- PAULA ELLMAN
((TRT: 03:07))
((Banner: Connect With Paula Ellman))
((Reporter/Camera: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Locator: Rockville, Maryland))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Paula Ellman, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
Im Paula Ellman. I am a mother of three children, a new
grandmother and I am a clinical psychologist and a
psychoanalyst. I do depth, long-term work with people who
are looking to make significant changes in their lives due to
ongoing unhappiness.
So, you know, one of the interesting things in my life has
been, you know, oftentimes when you get to be my age,
things begin to slow down in peoples lives. Theyre facing
retirements, their retirements and decisions about how to
spend their leisure time. For me, its been quite the
opposite. You know, its a time of my life where I have, Im
not only practicing, but involved with a lot of committee work
and study and presenting work thats been very exciting and
enlivening for me.
In the midst of my work and my professional work and my
family, one of the unexpected things that arose a few years
ago and I think these things can come out of the blue as this
did, was that I was suddenly, after a full day of work, I had
not been feeling well. I had gone in to get a throat culture,
some blood work, went in to get my blood work results and
was informed by my internist that I had leukemia.
And that began six months of needing to, kind of, leave the
world behind. But it was successful, and I often had been
thinking about during the process what would that mean to
have faced a life-threatening illness where I could have died
and how I would want to change my life. You know, I had
thought that I would decide to work less. I am working one
day less. I do take off Fridays. But I feel like Ive brought
kind of a renewed vigor back to my work and to affiliating
with colleagues and, you know, I think I have not pulled back
from work. I think I get so much pleasure from both my
professional affiliations and from my practice with my
patients.
I think with facing a life-threatening illness I think, it has
entered me in a way of realizing the impermanence of time.
That our time here is limited and that we never know when it
might be stolen and that theres a lot of pleasure in life for
us, while were here.
((NATS))
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogans bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
Those terrorists deserved to be beaten
They should not be protesting our president
They got what they asked for
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
BREAKTHREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
EPISODE #166
AIR DATE 03 19 2021
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Understanding Medical Marijuana
((SOT))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think if you look at the last three years, cannabis has
already revolutionized the world. I mean, we have all but the
three states now that have some form of cannabis accepted
legally by the state.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Bike Lights
((SOT))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Venice is like Bohemian capital of the United States.
Everybody is artistic.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Rethinking Choices
((SOT))
((Paula Ellman, 65, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
What would that mean to have faced a life-threatening
illness where I could have died and how I would want to
change my life. You know, I had thought that I would decide
to work less.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) CANNABIS
((TRT: 09:57))
((Topic Banner: Medical Marijuana))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Boston, Massachusetts))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 3 female; 2 male))
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan and Kimberly Carvalho))
((Courtesy: Zoom))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
How have things been going as far as your back? I
remember you had some back trouble that was getting in the
way of your work.
((Kimberly Carvalho, Patient))
I do, yeah. It's been going on for a while. Just I've worked in
the operating room for, you know, many years and..
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I went to Tufts Medical School here in Massachusetts. I
went to Boston University, Boston University School of
Medicine for a residency and family medicine. And I
practiced family medicine like your old, traditional general
practitioner or primary care doctor, here in the suburbs of
Boston. And I was faced with an onslaught
of patients. I mean, primary care doctors are in short supply
these days. And my patients that I would see, you know, are
trying everything they can to get better, as they should. And
I can only, at the time, I could only offer them the choices
that I'd learned about. And in medical school, you learn
about medicines, you learn about therapies, you learn about,
sort of, natural options but only in cursory. And patients
were telling me that they were trying cannabis and that it
was helping them.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
And I'm sitting across the table saying, "Great, I'm glad for
you. How, I don't know how to help you." I didn't know
anything at the time.
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
And this was embarrassing and it felt unprofessional. Here
I was, across the table, supposed to be the expert in
the room, and my patients were the ones teaching me what's
helping them sleep or how to, you know, deal with their
headaches. And I thought, Boy, isn't this a great
opportunity for me to learn something and be able to
help people?
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, inside this kief are tiny, little, basically, dusts of cannabis
molecules, and it's almost as if we digested an entire
pharmacy into that powder. And inside that powder, we
have all of this chemistry. These are the main cannabinoids
that most people know about, from Delta-9-THC [Delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol] or THC and CBD
[Cannabidiol]. Some people are starting to hear about the
sleep cannabinoid, CBN. But actually cannabis, as
a plant, has pages and pages and pages and pages of this
stuff. I mean, we're literally talking about an entire
pharmacy. And if you look closely, you'll find surprising
things about cannabis. Eucalyptol, for example, like
eucalyptus; or Geraniol like a geranium; or the smell
from roses; or menthol, mint, peppermint. And all of these
things actually are produced by the plant naturally. And we
can harness all of these individually.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Do you want to see it? It's pretty cool to see. This was the
kief and the wax that we just put in. And you can see there's
lots of oil and kief on the bottom, and it's a little bit hot so we
use oven mitts so I don't hurt myself. And when this is
ready, I'll be able to add terpenes, which give it extra kick
and help it penetrate the skin more deeply.
Then you could have a liquid where someone can put on
their skin or eat. And to help them is just revolutionary.
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan and Sheila Mattie))
((Sheila Mattie, Medical Cannabis User))
After going through about two years and about losing 90
pounds [40 kilos], I ended up getting an endoscopy,
colonoscopy, blood work, the whole shebang. And I was
diagnosed with Crohn's. But then, I started doing the
tincture or the oil. And I actually have a couple of friends
who make that. And so, they would send me a bottle of
the THC, a bottle of the CBD, and it did wonders. And I
never tried to do Humira. I never tried to do steroids
again. I've just solely relied on cannabis. And I'm up 50
pounds [23 kilos]. I can eat. I have an appetite. So, things
have gone back to normal GI [gastrointestinal] wise.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, you know, one of the things that is special as we're sort
of pioneering, you and I, in cannabis,
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
exploring and learning to, kind of, know where it works and
where it doesn't. Sometimes, we find pockets of illnesses
that gets remarkably better with cannabis.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So professionally, I see an industry that needs
shepherding. On both sides, I sort of feel like the Western
medical world needs to learn about cannabis. They have to
understand what's out there already. They have to
understand that
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
there is research, that the research points to much more
benefit than potential risk of evil. And they need to be
teaching their patients this reality.
Right now, it's the patients that are teaching their doctors or
patients themselves going it alone or finding people like me
who are outside of the system.
((NATS))
((Jon Napoli, Owner/Founder, Hempest and CannAssist
Consulting Group))
We sell a lot to just regular adults who want to grow their
own plants that are, maybe, gardeners and wanted to
expand their gardening into cannabis. Medical patients
usually might have a caregiver grow for them. Some might
grow themselves. Most doctors, unfortunately, are behind
the curve on the understanding of this. They don't teach you
about it in medical school.
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
((Jon Napoli, Owner/Founder, Hempest and CannAssist
Consulting Group))
So, anybody like Dr. Caplan who understands cannabis, is a
gem to have, a great resource to help educate the medical
field in general.
((NATS))
((Lee, Medical Cannabis User))
So, this is a GMO strain. It likes to stretch really hard.
The reason why I use cannabis is to give myself a better
quality of life and to mitigate and navigate all of the issues
that have arisen from not just Western medicine but from just
all the stuff with the Crohn's and colitis. I would say before it
was legalized in Massachusetts, it was always a difficult
conversation with my primary care physician. But, because
he was a good doctor, after it became legal, he would listen
to me as the reasons why I say, you know. I'm lucky. I've
always had really good medical care.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Music can be very solitary where you're playing alone and
you can play your emotions out into the instrument, but it's
also a way to play with other people in a chamber group or
an orchestra and connect. You really have to listen carefully
to what someone else is playing and match them and match
their pitch and match their rhythm. And it's a way to quiet
oneself and connect with someone else. So, actually it's
interesting. A lot of musicians become physicians. Part of
that is because we have to learn how to listen to people or
maybe we enjoy listening to other people and connecting
with them.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Welcome to my life. It's a strange, hectic mix.
((NATS: Dr Benjamin Caplan with his daughter, son and
Erin Caplan))
Hey, can I have a hug please?
Are we going to have a big birthday for you? We already
had a little bit. So, we had cake this morning. No, we didn't
have cake?
((Caplans Daughter))
No.
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
What did we have this morning?
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
So, no more cake today, right?
((Caplans son))
Chocolate donut.
((NATS))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner. I'd say, in pediatrics, I
mainly encounter resistance. I think there's a lot of
knowledge out there that people don't know about. And I
think there's a lot of research about the pediatric brain and
the concerns
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
for what cannabis can do to that or the effects that it could
have on it. And it's mainly negative. I find that people don't
really study the positive effects that you could get, especially
for these kids
((Photo Courtesy: Dr Benjamin Caplan))
((Erin Caplan, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner))
who have ADHD [Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder] or
epilepsy or other behavioral concerns. I think it just needs to
be discussed more in the pediatric community.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
One, two, ready, go.
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I've built the largest cannabis library of medical, published
medical journals anywhere in the world. And I put it
on the Google drive that everybody else in the world, who
wants to read, can follow along. They can read the material
same like I'm reading. And I started to tease out, okay, what
kinds of things do we know about THC?
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
And I would write it down. And what kinds of things are we
learning about CBC [Cannabichromene]? And I would write
that down. And Im just, as I'm learning, I'm also organizing
so that I can build an infrastructure to teach people.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think if you look at the last three years, cannabis has
already revolutionized the world. I mean, we have all but the
three states now that have some form of cannabis accepted
legally by the state. And that used to be nothing. And so,
we've already come a tremendous amount.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
I think to go past the finish line, we're going to need doctors
to buy in.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
And in order for doctors to buy in, they need to be
educated. So, one of the things that I tried to do was
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
not confront them as a pom-pom cheerleader, that cannabis
is all great because it's not all great.
((Video Courtesy: Dr. Benjamin Caplan/CED Clinic))
It's a tool in a toolbox. There are many other things that
work for people. Cannabis is a tool which works,
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
but we have to help physicians understand that.
((Popup Banner:
U.S. Federal law bans marijuana use, including as
medicine.))
((NATS))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
That was perfect. Wow! You're doing really well. I'm so
impressed, sweetie. And there's nothing to tell you to do
differently. You did it perfectly.
((Popup Banner:
93% of Americans are in favor of medical marijuana use if
prescribed by a doctor
*Quinnipiac poll))
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
Wow! Want to try it again?
((NATS))
((Caplans daughter))
No.
((Dr Benjamin Caplan, MD; Chief Medical Officer, CED
Clinic))
No? You're done. Okay.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Chilled
((SOT))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
The most difficult thing is the faces. The eyes, you have to
do like some reaction. Once you satisfied, all the details are
in there, then youre done.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) ICE SCULPTOR
((TRT: 04:11))
((Topic Banner: Sculpting in Ice))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Glen Burnie, Maryland))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
I first got interested in ice sculpture when I worked in a hotel
back home. I used to work in a banquet kitchen. So, every
time we have a function, we have ice carving.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Every year, they have like ice carving competition for locals.
So, I decided to pursue ice carving.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
I was born in Paete, Laguna, known for wood carving capital
of the Philippines. In Paete, Laguna, each house are doing
some wood carving.
((NATS: Angelito Baban))
Sorry, I got small, small art shop.
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
When I was ten years old, my uncle, he asked me to try
draw and try to carve it. So, when I tried, oh, maybe I can do
this.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
This is Last Supper, originally by Leonardo da Vinci. And
this scenario is like a farm, like farmers family.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Ice Lab is ice company. Yeah, we do cocktail cube ice,
logos, something like that. So, we do a lot of festivals.
Most of the ice carvers, they, they have like, they call it the
template. They attaching to ice, the paper. But what I do is
look at the picture and transfer it to ice by using the ink pen.
The purpose of using the chainsaw, thats easy way to cut
out extra ice that you dont need it. So, when you apply the
die grinders and chisel, it is not going to be hard for you to
shape it because already cut out.
((NATS))
Im well known for chisel. Its my favorite tool. And you can
take my machine tools but the chisel just stay with me.
Yeah.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Photo Courtesy: Angelito Baban))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
Every year, I went to Alaska for world champion. 2014,
thats my first world title. 2016, I got the world champion
again. So, I lose only one time. So, I have a lot, a lot of
different medals in here. Its kind of like fairy, fairy tale story.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Angelito Baban, Ice Sculptor, Ice Lab))
The most difficult thing is the faces. The eyes, you have to
do like some reaction. If not, its like a statue, nothing
meaning. Once you satisfied all the details are in there, then
youre done. In ice, you really can do anything you want.
Its kind of like magic!
((NATS/MUSIC))
((PKG)) VENICE BEACH MAGIC
((TRT: 04:00))
((Topic Banner: Parade of Lights))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Venice Beach, California))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 3 male))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
This bike has 5,000 LEDs on it and it has 36 inch [90 cm]
tires. This is Big Red. This is the parade bike and it is a
beast.
So in 2014, I moved to Los Angeles, had a girlfriend who
was a makeup artist in Kansas City and she wanted to come
out here and get into the movie industry, you know, doing
like special effects makeup and she did.
((NATS: Marcus Gladney))
I will put these in and do a little, quick little check to see if we
have power. And we do. We have power.
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Like six months of being here in Los Angeles, she realized
that she didn't want to be here anymore. So, she went back
to Kansas City, which is where we're from, Kansas City,
Missouri. She moved back and I stayed.
((NATS))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
I would hang out at the beach during the day, just trying to
figure things out. I was just like amazed at all the bicycles
with the wheel lights. And I asked somebody. I stopped him
and asked him. I say, What is this all about, you know,
where do you get the light from? And he said, It's a guy
named Sebastian, Sebastian, the Light Man.
((Sebastian, The Light Man, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
About 2014, Marcus come along. He said, now he really, he
overdid his bike. He made it spectacular and then he said,
Man, let's get a ride. I mean, lets get a bicycle ride every
Sunday.
((NATS: Marcus Gladney))
I'm the Pied Piper of Venice, Sunday to Sunset. World
famous Venice Electric Light Parade.
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
I would ride around at sunset, pulling a speaker, playing
music. And I was kind of like the Pied Piper. People would
just fall in behind me. I needed a specific day and I said,
You know what? The best day is Sunday. So then, I
coined it Sundays at Sunset: Venice Electric Light Parade.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Here we are now today, you know. It started off with like
two, three people, four people. The largest ride that we've
had so far was like close to almost 400 people.
((Terry, Participant, Venice Electric Light Parade))
I wanted to do something big and better. I drew it on paper.
All my friends thought I was crazy for two years. I took it to
my buddy I build Harley's with, because he knows the metal
and welding and we did it in one weekend. And it works,
which is amazing, because every tire, it turns off the back
tire and I wanted the illusion that it touches.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Marcus Gladney, Creator, Venice Electric Light
Parade))
Venice is like Bohemian capital of the United States.
Everybody is artistic. There's no right and there's no wrong
in Venice. You can either be barefoot and homeless or you
can be upper echelon and live in a six-million-dollar house
as everybody coincides together and we all mesh and we all
mix and it's magical.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Austin, Participant, Venice Electric Light Parade))
Actually, I came here on a trip about two years ago and I
stayed right in Venice basically and I saw it go by and I was
like one day, I want to live here and I want to do that. And
now I do it. It's crazy. We've got shoes, pants, jacket,
glasses, this thing and just some more light snow, some
gloves. We literally, my goal is to like to cover every inch of
myself in LEDs.
((NATS/MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Life Changes
((SOT))
((Paula Ellman, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
You know, I had thought that I would decide to work less.
But I feel like Ive brought kind of a renewed vigor back to my
work. I get so much pleasure from both my professional
affiliations and from my practice with my patients.
BREAK TWO
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BLOCK C
((PKG)) CONNECT WITH -- PAULA ELLMAN
((TRT: 03:07))
((Banner: Connect With Paula Ellman))
((Reporter/Camera: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Locator: Rockville, Maryland))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Paula Ellman, Clinical Psychologist and
Psychoanalyst))
Im Paula Ellman. I am a mother of three children, a new
grandmother and I am a clinical psychologist and a
psychoanalyst. I do depth, long-term work with people who
are looking to make significant changes in their lives due to
ongoing unhappiness.
So, you know, one of the interesting things in my life has
been, you know, oftentimes when you get to be my age,
things begin to slow down in peoples lives. Theyre facing
retirements, their retirements and decisions about how to
spend their leisure time. For me, its been quite the
opposite. You know, its a time of my life where I have, Im
not only practicing, but involved with a lot of committee work
and study and presenting work thats been very exciting and
enlivening for me.
In the midst of my work and my professional work and my
family, one of the unexpected things that arose a few years
ago and I think these things can come out of the blue as this
did, was that I was suddenly, after a full day of work, I had
not been feeling well. I had gone in to get a throat culture,
some blood work, went in to get my blood work results and
was informed by my internist that I had leukemia.
And that began six months of needing to, kind of, leave the
world behind. But it was successful, and I often had been
thinking about during the process what would that mean to
have faced a life-threatening illness where I could have died
and how I would want to change my life. You know, I had
thought that I would decide to work less. I am working one
day less. I do take off Fridays. But I feel like Ive brought
kind of a renewed vigor back to my work and to affiliating
with colleagues and, you know, I think I have not pulled back
from work. I think I get so much pleasure from both my
professional affiliations and from my practice with my
patients.
I think with facing a life-threatening illness I think, it has
entered me in a way of realizing the impermanence of time.
That our time here is limited and that we never know when it
might be stolen and that theres a lot of pleasure in life for
us, while were here.
((NATS))
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogans bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
Those terrorists deserved to be beaten
They should not be protesting our president
They got what they asked for
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
BREAKTHREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
