This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, hey, how we doing, everybody? As somebody who's had anxiety since sentience, I am both intrigued by and very scared of cannabis. As you'll hear me say in this interview, my first panic attacks ever were when smoking weed as a teenager. And yet, there appears to be some evidence that there are cannabis

products that can really help with anxiety. So I was really excited when my team suggested

today's guest, Dr. Riley Kirk, who is sometimes described as a radical scientist because

she not only studies cannabis, but also uses it herself. This interview is kind of an everything

you wanted to know about cannabis,

but we're afraid to ask type deal. We're going to dive into the science of whether it helps with

chronic pain, sleep, inflammation, seizures, productivity, creativity, and of course, anxiety.

We're going to talk about the risks of addiction and schizophrenia and panic. We're also going to

talk about how exactly cannabis works in your body, which is fascinating.

Before we dive in, just a little bit more on my guest.

Dr. Kirk earned her PhD in pharmaceutical sciences with a focus on natural product chemistry.

And she's written a new book.

It's called Reefer Wellness, a takeoff on the movie I used to watch when I was a teenager,

Reifer Madness. Today's episode, I should say, comes with a custom guided meditation guided by my

friend and favorite Canadian weirdo, Jeff Warren. Suffice it to say, this meditation is sobriety

optional. It's called Not Your Grandma's Body Scan. You should check that out.

You can access all of our guided meditations if you sign up over at Dan Harris.com.

Membership also gets you access to our weekly live meditation and Q&A sessions, which we do every Tuesday at 4 Eastern.

Jeff and I will be live tomorrow, Tuesday, December 9th.

Okay, we'll get started with Dr. Riley Kirk, the radical scientist, right after this.

I chose function because it's the only health platform that gives me data most people never get

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