These Pharmacy Doctors Are Bringing Cannabis Education To People On TikTok

Pharmaceutical scientists Dr. Riley Kirk and Dr. Miyabe Shields use social media to help followers understand the pharmacology of cannabis. In the meantime, they are also collecting data about their experiences, Forbes reported.

When Dr. Miyabe Shields decided to make a cannabis and mental health video on TikTok, she was surprised by how engaged people were on the topic. Plus, Shields realized she wasn't the only cannabis scientist creating social media content.

"I scrolled through the app for the first time, and the second thing that came to mind was Riley with a video on GPCR signaling," Shields said. “She was explaining the molecular mechanism of how the [g-protein-coupled] receptor works. I've never seen anyone explain this better than in this 30 second TikTok. '"

"I started making videos about the pharmacology of cannabis and how it works in the body, and I didn't think anyone would care," Kirk said. A sensational scientific team

Also, when they decided to create educational cannabis content on TikTok, Shields was living in Boston and Kirk was completing graduate school and working as a teaching assistant at the cannabis program at the University of Rhode Island.< /p>

"We're like the two halves of the core components of drug discovery: the molecules are Riley and I'm the target in the body," Shields said of their specialization in drug discovery. drug discovery, which involves identifying molecules and targets in the body.

"We have this view that we share about drug discovery, drug use and lifestyle that is not reflected in other scientists, but is reflected in the general public," Shields added. "We are considered radical scientists, especially because we are open about our cannabis use."

"Together we generate educational content and engage with a specific population of nerdy cannabis users who want to understand the science," Kirk added.

In addition, they have authored academic papers and recently published a chapter in a textbook on the pharmaceutical applications of hemp.

According to their cannabis edibles consumption data, they found in their audience that some users "couldn't smell the cannabis edibles".

The team decided to create a TikTok asking their followers if they could smell edibles and found that "out of nearly 25,000 respondents, about 21% said that 'they were not affected by it'.< /p>

In another video, they asked their followers how old they were when they first used cannabis. “While there is scientific data on age, existing datasets are often skewed at 16 or 17 because people fear that answering the truth will have consequences. Out of nearly 23,000 respondents. ..