 This is St. Tech, Hawaii. Immunity matters here. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner, and we are navigating the journey. Wow! Navigating the journey is dedicated to exploring the options and choices in life. Together, we can make these difficult conversations easier. And one difficult conversation is medical hemp. Ah, yep, hemp. Together we can explore the pros and cons of medical hemp. Together we can move these issues that our loved ones, especially our military veterans, who are suffering needlessly. So we need to talk about that. And today we are navigating the journey. The journey of discovery, the journey of life, the joy of life is in the journey. So here we go. Yes, hemp. With all of these wonderful, wonderful veterans. Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much for having us. All of which have created a business that is complimentary and alternative medicines of Oahu. And it helps countless numbers of veterans better understand their opportunity to use hemp-based medicines to treat PTSD, chronic pain, diabetes, and many other ailments and symptoms there. So let's get right to it. Absolutely. Yes, we've got a lot. Aloha. First, let's introduce. You are Theo. I'm Theo Alexander. I'm one of the co-founders of Confluent in Alternative Medicine of Oahu. And thank you for having us on the show. Now you were a veteran. What branch of the service were you in? Yes, I served right after high school. I enlisted in the military at the age of 17. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I ultimately served on the U.S.S. America, which is an aircraft carrier. It was the last conventional Kitty Hawk class carrier in the fleet, CV-66 Hurrah. I served in the Gulf War. So I served in the early 90s era. I got out of the military in 1993. But I've been dedicated to serving veterans ever since then. And now you have all these pretty letters behind your name. What does all of that mean? Just the letters, yes. I love that. You have a master's in health, what? Health Administration. Health Administration. So you know what you're talking about here, right? Yes, definitely, definitely. All right. And next to you, you are James, right? Yes, ma'am. Retired Corporal Janice Trice. 91 Whiskey Combat Medic, Healthcare Specialist. A medic in the Marine Corps. Army. Army all the way home. I stationed here at Schofield Barracks 2004. We taught first aid and combat life saver courses at the HAC Discom Division Support Command over at Schofield Barracks. We deployed to Iraq 2007. I'm sorry, 2006. And we returned 2007 to OIF-4. So you're a medic in watching all the battles and putting people back together and all that kind of stuff? Right. It's one of those things where I would want a me doing that for me in those situations. It's not that I don't necessarily enjoy seeing people hurt, but knowing that people need that kind of help, I'd rather it be me working on somebody than somebody who doesn't. Doesn't matter what they do. Okay. And down at the end here. Hello. Hello. Such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Daniel Soles. I'm the Project Developing and Service Consultant for Camel, Complinary, and Alternative Medicines of Wahoo. And I've been with the company, this specific company with these guys for about two years, and I came as a Coast Guard veteran into the company seeking the same exact medical help. And after these guys helped me, I really wanted to be a huge part of it. So I took my side and my know-how, and that's how I got to be with these guys. So in the Coast Guard, what did you do in the Coast Guard? Okay. So as anybody who's ever been enlisted in the military can tell you, when you ask them what did they do, it's like, what didn't they do? What didn't they do? Well, with that being said, the titles that were associated with my job were first, you come in as a seaman. I was a seaman on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Rush. Hoo-hah. You guys made me do that. My boat is actually decommissioned. So you can't see it at Sand Island anymore, but I was a seaman there first, and then I finally got to do what I was dreaming of doing, and moved to the aviation program at a barber's point. And I was actually there for both of the aircraft that went down out there. But I was a seaman, fireman, and then an aviation electronics technician. So let's talk about the business, and what is it that you do? Who is it for? What do you do? And what are all of these things we have lined up here? Okay. Let's start at what is it that you do? Community outreach. For the veterans you said you reach out for the veterans. Initially we started out for veterans, however we do not turn away anyone, so civilians are also welcome. I myself have an honorable discharge from a permanent disability retirement, so I have access to certain benefits for veterans. However, when I initially started Advocate for Veterans, it was to help the homeless veterans, the displaced veterans, to help them get in contact better with their benefits, ID cards, different services, things like that, because the VA was very backlogged at the time, so getting in contact with the primary care provider, it was very difficult, and there wasn't much guidance, but the productivity was minimal. Exactly. It's almost as if within doing our poverty alleviation and things like that, and for veterans and things that we were focusing on then, we found a more key problem, which is what we're here with today, that most of the veterans, almost every single one of the veterans that we were dealing with that had gone either homeless or financially in trouble, it's because their PTSD or their conditions that they got while fighting, just like we did, aren't being taken care of because of those backlogs, and since PTSD was one of the strongest things, and all of us had solved our problem this way, we figured it'd be better as opposed to start with the poverty alleviation, fix the problem at the source, and start helping with the total wellness, and that's what each of us do with helping get veterans who need it, not only their access, but just like you said, their know-how, and their knowledge, and the ability to help spread it, because it can't just be up to us, it's got to be the people we help helping other people as well, we need it this way. So when you have all of these medicines, well, so let's talk about how do you reach the veterans, how do you all know each other, but is there a hotline, is there a web page, how do you reach them? We do have a phone number, and the number is 808-538-3338, but as far as community outreach more so, we pass out toiletries and soaps, we pass out food and plates, Isla Park, the Kaka-Ako area, Chinatown a lot, because that's our immediate area. And in those dealings, those are the times we make the veteran contacts a lot. For those who didn't ring the number, or those who didn't have the computer to send the email, the hands-on is what also reaches them as well. So tell us about these items here. What are these? So what we have here are hemp-based CBD, TAC-free products, which means that they are not psychoactive, they don't cause any type of psychosis. TAC is the only molecule in the plant that has alteration with psychological components. So what we do is we utilize the hemp product as a medicinal, as opposed to TAC, because if we know TAC is a Schedule 1 controlled substance and for most people they cannot have a Schedule 1 controlled substance in their urinalysis if you have a job or whatnot. So we will often promote the products that don't have TAC in them so they can use some medicinal property as well and gain the holistic value of how hemp or cannabis helps with our body. Okay, tell us about hemp. Now, the difference in this hemp and the... Cannabis? No, not... well, yes, cannabis, but industrial hemp. Okay, so the industrial hemp component is more something that is used in the textile. We can wear hemp fabric. We can utilize the hemp seed that you grow from the industrial hemp. You can buy that in whole foods in other areas down to earth. It's high sense of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, but with the... So if you buy the seed, what do you put it on your cereal or something? You can put it on your cereal. You can put it on ice cream. You can put it on just about anything. The choices are kind of unlimited. It's a nutty flavor, so it's really delicious. Which is why you see so many products here, too. Yes, so many different things. It's a delicious additive, nutritional. Yeah, so this is the hemp. Yes. And it comes in this various... Numerous varieties. These are the capsules that you're holding. They're 50 milligram capsules. The average daily intake for hemp is recommended as 25 milligrams. So what we try to do with the veterans, when you was asking about the veterans and how we help, we try to designate within their individual diagnosis what would be better for them as far as the doses regulation. Much like when you go to a pharmacist or to the physician, they will prescribe medications. But with us, we have recommendation for the TAC market. But for the hemp market, you can go get these over the counter. But 25 milligrams a day helps with homeostasis, with diabetes. It helps to balance the blood sugar and the blood pressure and things like that. The product you're holding right now is a hemp beard oil. So it helps with the follicles as far as most men when they shave. Yeah. Right, right. I usually do. I didn't want to put too much on today, so I wasn't too shiny in case. So tell me about... Your beard looks green. I appreciate it. It actually helps because, you know, Dr. People, our hair tends to be more coarse. And that actually makes it a lot softer and a lot easier. It helps keeps it clean also. Yeah. And the skin underneath it, because a difference is in military. A lot of us in military get shaving profiles. Shaving chips. Right? You shave to get razor bumps. So you don't have to shave anymore. It helps to soften the skin as well as to soften the actual hair themselves. So the hairs don't have to try to force themselves through causing the bumps. And this is... That's actually a tattoo salve. So for people who like to get tatted, I haven't reached that realm yet, but for people who like to get tatted, this will give them new skin. As you know that when people get tatted, they have to have an ointment on it, an antimicrobial ointment, so that it doesn't get infected. Well, this one's a very, very powerful ointment. Once you put it on, like I said, new skin in like three days, which cuts down the infection rate, and also helps the tattoo to set as far as the ink. So it's a very good product. I know nothing about it. Well, if only for those of us that don't understand Theo's fluent Greek in the medical profession, for those of us who don't know the non-psychoactive and things like that, because when I first got into it, I needed layman's term help. And basically what's been said here, is that these products are from exactly what you think they're from, but these don't get you what we call high. That's what non-psychoactive means. These products give you the same benefits as far as pain relief, anxiety relief, depression relief. It's the same super drug, if you will, that it is in its full form, but without the psychoactive properties. And again, as he said, this is over-the-counter. You can get most of these products right now in old foods or online, but basically legal, you won't get in trouble with your job, which is a big hang-up and things like that. And these are the things that, not only do people need to hear, but these are the things we properly educate about, because that fear is what leads people away from medicine that could help them a lot, and back into the hands of things that you need more, so counseling and things like that. Okay, now we, I have to go to a break, and then when we come back, and we want to go through the rest of these, and I want to talk about the opioid addiction and how this can help. Okay? We'll be right back. Search DiveHeart.org and imagine the possibilities in your life. We're back. And with all of these wonderful young men who are telling us all about hemp and how they help the veterans, and the big thing that everybody's talking about is opioid addictions. And I know I know Uncle Sam writes prescriptions and says, here, take this and then you're gone. Right? I know that. That's part of the way Uncle Sam does this. And so, now they're addicted. Tell me. How does this help? What do you do? How do you? I know nothing. So tell me all about this. Adjective one of those is first, and then you deal. Are they addicted to the opium or the relief? To the opium. It's where it is in the brain. It's actually both. You never talk about that. They don't. Let's just touch that first. I mean, on JT, I'm sorry. Okay. A lot of the patients that I've seen personally, the opioid addiction is strong. They're getting cured from the pain and they get used to it. It's like a crutch. And it helps easy and then it becomes easier to use the opioid. To prescribe it and continue the prescription. So there are some patients that you do find that are seeking drugs to seek the high end of the fill-up. But then there are patients that find ill and alleviate pain because the opioids and the morphine they don't work and they don't like that it makes them sick or nauseous or can't get out of bed or can't take care of their kids or walk around the house. The things that really matter in their life is almost as if not only is the illness debilitating them but the medication is hindrance to the healing. So where cannabis helps with a lot of those patients is to wean them off of the opioids and the methadones and by substituting or in tandem or compliment with the CBD at the same time because you can also use the CBD when you are exercising. The south you would rub if you had psoriasis but also if the pain because it's so deep set in there you know pitting edema when you have things like gout and you cannot stand things like the I'm sorry the salve the capsules and the tincture because it's sublingual so it's easy and the water that's the one that goes under your tongue sublingual formula and the reason why I say the water additive is because if you went to the hospital as a medic I would suggest the CBD I'm sorry IV so since you cannot the water additive for a sports strength additive since you're exercising so heavily in trying to re-nourish your muscles and your endocannabinoid system you get the relief that you're supposed to from these medicines that have the opiates in them you get the relief without the addiction and the dependency that they want so you become the repeat customer you get all those things from these and you don't have to have counseling afterwards you don't have to have a dependency you don't have that feeling in the middle of the night that you have to wake up because you need it it's a it it gives you the freedom of having being free from your pain and keeps the freedom of choosing whether or not you want to take medicine or want to go somewhere as well I saw a man on YouTube and he said he puts three drops in his atomizer he has a COPD and he said once he started that the lungs opened up absolutely and I thought wow that's incredible yes I mean one of the things that we have a challenge with is because we don't want to make any medical claims because the FDA does not recollect these products and so we have to be careful with what we say how it helps the body but we do see the results in the research Dr. Sue Sisley who is lead researchers if not the only researchers that who is that if not the only researcher that has been successful that studying PTSD as it relates to veterans and how we use cannabis to treat our PTSD she's doing a TAC based study but with us we would like to focus more on the CBD because it has the same value as far as giving relief to the patient who may be seeking this here in this state we have qualified medical conditions for that but as I said this is over the counter products this is something you can Google one good site that people can look at is CBDproject.com that way you can get a good variation of the studies that are out there and also with how it can help you maybe you know you might find some really good information as far as what this medicine can do for you or you can give us a call we will definitely be happy to take that off now on Friday we do with a camera we're live on the street and this Friday we are going to a medical marijuana lab medical cannabis lab yes analysis lab yes yes we're very happy that they're open great good job guys we are going to go visit and see what is going on in the lab yes and what not yesterday's paper the advertiser I was disappointed in the headline that said pop was going to be and then so it gave it the sense that this is a street drug and I thought that was it's continuing the statement and you know but even though they're contributing to the statement there's a culture of medical marijuana that's been here forever way before a reef of madness every surface so sometimes it's a challenging thing to accept some of the non-medical terminology when you're talking about a medical benefit but you know we still have to realize that we are patients and we're not getting the amount of advocacy we need from our government or from the hospitals some of the physicians they are knowledgeable about CBD and THC and they're being regulated not to be able to speak with the patient about it well you know the way you know this that the medical schools are underwritten by the pharmaceutical companies and so they're not going to let you talk about something that's not pharmaceutical yes and that's totally understandable but I do challenge the medical community to realize that this is called medical cannabis and because people are finding relief well they need to find somewhere to get their terminology and find a way to relate to these patients we need them as advocates we need them so I'm just so thrilled with what you're doing for the veterans do you other than your outreach your physical being there and visiting with them is there another way you reach them yes I mean we our website is private it's password protected sorry the reason the website is password protected is not only to protect the patients but to continue to protect us because we do understand that the stigma with the THC being a schedule one we don't need anyone to feel like they're in danger of communicating with us and as well as us being able to communicate with other people that's where I was going with this to protect them it's all about taking care of the patient and so they don't have a bad P test right? that's a big one absolutely these exact concerns for their job it's about exactly what you said conveying these securities showing them that not only when you deal with us when you're getting the relief that you want mentally and physically and things like that but also like as far as your wellness for it doesn't make any sense to give you a medicine that makes you feel like you're going to lose your job creating new stress does not medicate anybody that's not going to help anybody it's about clarifying that these things are in not only within your rights but you need them and you shouldn't feel ashamed for medicating so how do they pay you? well we don't necessarily get paid we volunteer our services we're really pushing the idea of veterans helping veterans to overcome some of the stigma right now we are because we're pushing to go to a more public approach for what we do for veterans usually we get direct line of referrals from physicians or psychologists to deal with certain veterans who may be classified as at risk so they know where you are? usually we get direct line of referrals from the medical community but to reach out we're starting our public outreach campaign at this point in time so for us to be able to do that we are going to start opening up the website opportunities for people to take their assessments or contact the website and give us their information so we can follow up with them much like any other clinic would do with you but our approach at this point is to do other things the name Confirmative Alternative Medicines of O'ahu came out of the situation of having recreational therapy opportunities here in Hawaii because we have a beautiful 365 day opportunity to go out and play in Hawaii so we want to get the veteran outside of that stigma of medical services just dealing directly with the clinician and now to do something fun like equine therapy, aqua therapy and things like the music therapy just get your medicine and go home you can be social again you can go out and do the things that you could before you served your country again it's about that now the people that you have served or are serving do they know each other do you have a way of connecting them with each other at times they know each other it's the same way sometimes we know each other but for the most part they haven't had the opportunity to group together but there has been discussions recently just like the laboratory discussions about us being able to finally since we're going public and starting our campaign putting together a support group as well for exactly what you just described so that the loneliness and the shun doesn't feel that way anymore knowing that there's more people that are trying to get the same help that you are makes it feel better to reach out so yes we will be offering that support because I belong to lots of Facebook groups that are closed not everybody can go not everybody can see and so you're protected and I'm just wondering if you had this opportunity and since most people are on Facebook I'm too old to do it regularly but every course I take every course I take every paid course has a Facebook where we the students talk to each other we're very adamant as individuals about reaching out to our fellow veterans but again not that we're launching our public campaign Camo as a company will reach out to veterans more but as Theo said the referral base has been giving us as you can imagine with the VA being as backed up as it is the referral basis has been giving us plenty of patients and now that we can handle more we're going to have the means to be able to and we're going to have facilities to send them to now we're expanding our outreach as well to be able to extend this mission extend this mission the way we wanted to all along okay one more time tell us your contact telephone number and a web page or whatever so the Facebook page is complimentary and alternative medicines of Oahu not and no ampersand the email is 808 camo at gmail.com the website is www.808camo.org and is password protected so call us contact us and we can get you that password so you can access the website great well it's been a real pleasure being with you and do come back and tell us the progress and if there's anything else we can do let us know thank you