More than a decade after marijuana was legalized in Colorado, researchers say they know a lot more about the risks associated with its use.
Now, in what they’re calling a first-of-its-kind campaign, the Tea on THC aims to inform people — like the young, those who are pregnant and parents — about those risks.
And the campaign has a high profile Colorado athlete getting the word out: former Denver Bronco wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who said he struggled with cannabis addiction and later quit.
“Now we can start having a fact-based data-driven conversation about the risks of high concentration cannabis,” said Lloyd, who lives in Denver and played for seven NFL teams over 11 years, including the Broncos in 2009 through some of 2011.
At a launch event in downtown Denver Tuesday, Lloyd said he used cannabis to cope with the stress of big-time NFL life, but later discovered he was hooked.
“It was tough to find the alternative coping mechanism other than substance abuse. So I think that was the biggest takeaway,” Lloyd said. He noted he wished at the time he was more open to “going out and taking a long walk or petting some puppies or finding some cute kittens or goats or something to play with would be a healthier alternative than substance abuse.”
In a video on the group’s website, posted on YouTube, Lloyd tells his story at length, noting he’s been completely cannabis free since 2020 and has never looked back.
Researchers have learned that frequent use of high concentration cannabis products may lead to cannabis use disorder — a form of substance use disorder. It can also trigger anxiety disorders and even psychosis and schizophrenia.
Colorado School of Public Health Professor Greg Tung said cannabis products have gotten much, much stronger. “It's a fundamentally different substance. THC concentrations that users are exposed to are far beyond what was present in the past,” he said.
Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health reviewed scientific research, more than 80,000 studies, and posted their findings on their website.
“This campaign lays out what we know and what we don't to help the public make the best informed decisions possible,” Dr. Jon Samet, the former dean of the school.
Colorado was a leader in legalizing access to cannabis a decade ago, said Cathy Bradley, the dean of the school.
“It is now our responsibility to be leaders going forward and understanding the impact and effect on our kids, our society, the people we love and matter most to us today,” she said. “We're leaders in understanding and communicating about the effects of high concentration cannabis.”
As the group spoke before an audience at The University Club Tuesday, a slide show ran on a screen behind them with key themes from the study: Some get high, some get lost. If you use, baby uses.
Researchers said with a vast volume of research to digest, they felt it was important to zero in on critical risks to vulnerable populations.
“But one of the key things is the impact of high concentration products on youth and young adults and people who are pregnant because of the impact it can have on fetal development and growth,” said Annie Collier, a research-based clinical psychologist.
“The focus on youth, young adults, pregnancy and breastfeeding and other risk populations is extraordinarily important,” said Dr. Chris Urbina, a family physician, public health advocate and chair of the Scientific Review Council.
Former Bronco aims to get the message out
Lloyd tells the story of his journey with high concentration cannabis in the video on the TeaonTHC website.
Lloyd said he grew up dabbling with marijuana in high school. In college, he didn’t use it until the end of every football season, that was his rule.
When he got to the NFL, he found “cannabis was everywhere.”
When he joined the Broncos in 2009, it was a tough time. His marriage was falling apart and he had two young kids at home. “And then the stress of being on a team thinking that I was actually going to be out of the NFL and then making the team only to find out that I wasn't going to be active. The stress, it was a lot,” Lloyd said.
At the time, there was a lot of excitement around the cannabis industry, where products contained way higher THC levels than in prior decades.
He was hanging out with other single players. “We would smoke three and four different high concentration cannabis in one setting. I would travel with it everywhere. I would get it in oil and experiment with vaping, and I realized that when I was using the vape, it was really affecting my lungs,” he said.
When he tried to quit using marijuana, he picked up more alcohol and tobacco.
Once he’d retired from the NFL, his anxiety and paranoia spiked, as he tried to cope with the loss of football.
Off and on he kept using cannabis, but it was hard to quit. “The high concentration marijuana was incredibly addictive,” Lloyd said in the video.
In June 2020, with the world still very much in the midst of the pandemic, he decided it was time to stop. And he also realized giving up caffeine and alcohol were a good idea too.
He also discovered he needed to return to what had helped him thrive in the first place: exercise.
“My mantra during the pandemic was, ‘One, I need vigorous exercise to cope with all that's going on because it knocks the edge off for me.’ That's what I was looking for when I was playing in the NFL,” he said. “I needed to drink to knock the edge off or I needed to smoke some weed to get me in a better mood. My second mantra was to use the new forms of communication to reach out to friends.”
He reconnected with old friends and also discovered a third mantra: It's OK to not be OK.
“It's OK to be down in the dumps. It's OK to be worried. It's OK to be scared, but when that happens, I needed to refer back to number one. I need to start back over. And so the coping mechanisms just built from there.”
He found the treadmill would give him a runner’s high and lifting weights took the edge off.
Lloyd said his advice for anyone dealing with high concentration cannabis, is to stick to your goals.
“Always remember that once you break through to the other side of the addiction of high concentration cannabis, you'll see that there's way better highs out there,” he said.
Funding critical moving ahead
The program examining THC’s effects on the public was established by the legislature, with funding appropriated year by year. It has a $2 million budget this year, with $3 million last year.
The state is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall next year, so it’s a wait-and-see game for many programs relying on state money.
“Assuring adequate funding is really critical,” said Bradley, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. “The more, the better and the more you can do.”
Bradley said a lot money has been invested in the push to understand the effect of cannabis on public health and has given the group the resources to review the research and develop the public awareness campaign
“An investment has been made, we're ready to launch and see the benefits,” she said.
