Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Sleep disorders affect millions of people. Problems include everything from insomnia to much stranger conditions - like sleepwalking. Hosts Alok Patel, MD and Sheena Williams, RN explain what the brain is supposed to be doing as it guides us into healthy sleep, and break down the various things that can happen when the process goes awry.
🩺🥼 Vitals is a series that’s taking a new approach to health and medicine. Hosts Alok Patel, MD, and Sheena Williams RN are going beyond the headlines to answer your questions on the latest health topics. No judgment, no taboos. Just 100% science-based information. Whether you want to improve your wellness or just want to tackle questions you’re too embarrassed to ask, we’re here for you.
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Find our experts and hosts:
:: Dr. Alok Patel ::
Website: alokpatelmd.com
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
Instagram: @alokpatelmd
:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
Instagram: @keepingitkinky
Sleep disorders affect millions of people. Problems include everything from insomnia to much stranger conditions - like sleepwalking. Hosts Alok Patel, MD and Sheena Williams, RN explain what the brain is supposed to be doing as it guides us into healthy sleep, and break down the various things that can happen when the process goes awry.
🩺🥼 Vitals is a series that’s taking a new approach to health and medicine. Hosts Alok Patel, MD, and Sheena Williams RN are going beyond the headlines to answer your questions on the latest health topics. No judgment, no taboos. Just 100% science-based information. Whether you want to improve your wellness or just want to tackle questions you’re too embarrassed to ask, we’re here for you.
Please SUBSCRIBE! â–şâ–ş bit.ly/pbsvitals
Let’s Connect:
IG: instagram.com/pbsvitals
Twitter: twitter.com/pbsvitals
Facebook: facebook.com/pbsvitals
Find our experts and hosts:
:: Dr. Alok Patel ::
Website: alokpatelmd.com
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
Instagram: @alokpatelmd
:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
Instagram: @keepingitkinky

![How Smoking Weed Affects Your Health
Cannabis is used by Americans across the country to treat all manner of health conditions, with the science backing up these health claims. But beyond the relief and euphoria that cannabis can offer, theres pushback to the legalization trend: experts say theres increasing evidence of long-term harms. VITALS host Sheena Williams debunks five surprising health-related myths about cannabis use with the help of cannabis specialist Dr. Peter Grinspoon.
Don’t forget to check out Hungry Planet, a new series from PBS Terra that explores how scientists and communities are working to keep food on our plates for generations to come. https://youtu.be/bDifJdzFQUQ?si=jlE1HcRPTLcxK2FD
Please SUBSCRIBE! â–şâ–ş https://bit.ly/pbsvitals
Let’s Connect:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/pbsvitals/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pbsvitals
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pbsvitals
Find our experts and hosts:
:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
Instagram: @keepingitkinky
:: Alok Patel, MD ::
Website: http://alokpatelmd.com/
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
Instagram: @alokpatelmd
:: Peter Grinspoon, MD ::
Peter Grinspoon, an American born physician, is an internist and medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School
Website: http://alokpatelmd.com/
Twitter: @peter_grinspoon
Instagram: @peter_grinspoon
All Of Us Research ProgramThe All of Us Research Program will provide a national research resource to inform thousands of research questions, covering a wide variety of health conditions. It has the goal of surveying the health data of over 1 million participants.
- https://allofus.nih.gov/
- https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2023/02/23/18/53/Frequent-Marijuana-Use-Linked-to-Heart-Disease#:~:text=After%20adjusting%20for%20age%2C%20sex,in%20the%20risk%20of%20CAD.
Marijuana Use Disorder
While one study estimated that approximately 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana use disorder, another study estimated that people who use cannabis have only a 10% likelihood of becoming “addicted.” The measurement and classification of cannabis use disorder as an addiction is controversial: as Dr. Grinspoon explains, “[cannabis] does help people. It helps people with anxiety, with pain, with sleep, with boredom, with loneliness…And its not a simple thing to disentangle—you cant just write off a third of patients.”
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538131/
- https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/addiction.html#:~:text=Some%20people%20who%20use%20marijuana,marijuana%20have%20marijuana%20use%20disorder
- https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/01/04/samhsa-announces-national-survey-drug-use-health-results-detailing-mental-illness-substance-use-levels-2021.html
- https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/available-treatments-marijuana-use-disorders
Cannabis Use and Schizophrenia
Using Danish health records for over six million individuals, one study found that as many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21 to 30 could have been prevented had they avoided cannabis use disorder. The study author, however, flagged that Denmark does not have as much diversity as the US and that genetics do play a role in schizophrenia risk. Again, a correlation isn’t enough to imply causation, but the study findings may warrant caution.
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/association-between-cannabis-use-disorder-and-schizophrenia-stronger-in-young-males-than-in-females/E1F8F0E09C6541CB8529A326C3641A68
- https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/heavy-marijuana-use-increases-schizophrenia-in-men-study-finds/
Marijuana, Race, and Policy
- https://www.brookings.edu/articles/marijuanas-racist-history-shows-the-need-for-comprehensive-drug-reform/
- https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/a-tale-of-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-in-the-era-of-marijuana-reform
Other studies and data mentioned
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998228/#:~:text=Other%20reported%20therapeutic%20benefits%20included,relief%20from%20depression%20(7%25).
- https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M21-4520
- https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/Abstract/2020/01000/The_role_of_cannabis_in_treating_anxiety an.2.aspx
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000883
- https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/brain-health.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9067069/
00:00 Intro
02:03 Myth #1: Marijuana is natural, healthy
05:02 Myth #2: Marijuana isnt addictive
07:03 Myth #3: Cannabis is safe for the brain
07:56 Myth #4: Weed can replace prescription sleep aid
09:22 Myth #5: Weed can cure anxiety/depression
11:03 Weed, Policy, & Race
12:20 Outro/Sheenas Story How Smoking Weed Affects Your Health](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9Yh7GBJo6Q/mqdefault.jpg)








