Voted best certification center four years in a row, Tumbleweeds Health Center also produces and airs an online radio show featuring Cannabis Kid and Belle Star, every Wednesday morning from 8 to 9 a.m. Here’s what the on-air personalities of Weedsday Wednesday had to say during an interview.

How did the show get started?

Belle Star: It was seven years ago this past March when we started the show. I’ve been a fan of talk radio and funny morning commute shows on AM radio for many years. After Tumbleweeds opened its doors, I thought it would be a great idea to start a morning radio show about cannabis. I watched a lot of videos about the laws, regulations and benefits of cannabis. I started to write down the names of the major players in the industry and decided to start inviting them to be a guest on the show.

Where is the show broadcasted from?

BS: We started broadcasting the show in front of a live audience at the Health Center, but have now moved to an undisclosed location with no in-person live audience, but with many live interactions from listeners through call-ins and blogs. 

Cannabis Kid: Our guests call in as well because they’re from all over the country. It does make it more comfortable for everybody.

BS: We do have some local guests come into the studio to join us as well.

Why a show about cannabis?

CK: What we get to do as hosts of the show is hear people’s experiences. Cannabis wasn’t always able to be talked about, but it is now. Knowing that we’re able to help share these people’s success stories with other people, so that they can understand that they don’t have to live in pain. It all comes down to one thing: we need a show like this, people need it.

Where are your listeners from?

BS: We can track our listeners. We have approximately 1,200 downloads a month. We’ve had over 80,000 listeners tune into the show. We have regular guests who blog in from the Netherlands. We have people from Canada, Russia, Bangladesh, Korea and tiny little towns from all over.

Why is this important for listeners?

CK: For so long it’s been a confusing cycle, and society and the media play a huge part on how we view and use cannabis. It was illegal and against the law and people want to uphold the law. That becomes such a hard thing because it makes people feel better, but they’ve been told that they’re supposed to do that. They’re expected to continue feeling sick and in pain and not be able to use something that can make them feel better.

BS: Our listeners really appreciate the news, so we read news articles from all over the U.S. and across the world. 

CK: When we don’t have a guest on the show, we have some great discussions on how to incorporate cannabis into your day to day life. We love to share people’s stories and personal growth. We try to let the people who don’t want to smoke cannabis know that they don’t have to smoke cannabis or get high from it. There are a lot of different ways to get it into the body. Juicing is a huge way and is becoming more popular because you can use the whole plant without getting the high from it. People are able to get the acids from the plant which are beneficial for health. Adding a few leaves to a morning smoothie is a great way to get the medicine into the body without feeling the psychoactive effects. People are hungry for this information and hungry to be out of pain.

BS: We throw out recipes like how to make cannabis coffee or a little treat edible.

CK: We talk about the science of it and about each of the cannabinoids and what each one does. People need and want to know about how cannabis is becoming mainstream.

Who have you had on the show?

BS: We’ve had hundreds of guests on the show. They include people from law enforcement, undercover LEAP officers, lawyers, judges, scientists, doctors, patients, authors, quantum physicists, metaphysicians and even children who suffer from cancer and epilepsy. Doug Fine was one of the very first guests. He’s the author of a few great books on the hemp industry: Hemp Bound, Too High to Fail and First Legal Harvest.

CK: We got a chance to interview Kyle Turley.

BS: Tumbleweeds even carries Kyle’s CBD products. He’s a retired NFL player for the Saints. 

CK: He’s had his fair share of blows to the head, and has been able to move away from harmful pharmaceuticals and into natural medicine. He’s been able to take his life back with a much clearer head. He relates to many other people who’ve been looking for something for pain other than pharmaceuticals.

BS: A noteworthy guest we’ve had on in the past is Dr. Lester Grinspoon from Harvard, who was one of Carl Sagan’s best friends. Set out to research that cannabis was bad for you, but what he discovered is that it’s the exact opposite. For Grinspoon and Sagan, cannabis became a way for them to expand their minds. They had very spiritual and conscious conversations.

CK: It’s just how it makes the mind work. It’s like putting on a pair of glasses. We all walk around with a little bit of blur from what we don’t understand, but with the cannabis it changes perspective and makes things a little clearer. While you’re in pain, it’s hard to focus and makes things even blurrier. When you’re able to get out of that pain and begin to see clearer, that’s when the enhancement factors of cannabis comes into play.

Have you thought about taking the show on the road?

BS: We’ve done live shows out in the world at different events, such as the Southwest Cannabis Conference where we interviewed some people. We always say that we’re going to get an RV and hit the road.

Where do you see the industry going?

BS: As far as legislation, my opinion is that we should all be able to grow. We should all be able to own a cannabis business if that’s what we choose to do. I do see some changes happening down the road, but some of the greed in some of the dispensaries are not looking at the patient or the person as a whole, so some of the legislation that has been put forward is not really for the best interest of the patient. I don’t know if cannabis will be legalized here in Arizona in 2020. It depends on the initiative and how they write it. Legalization for recreational use will happen at some point.

You can listen to Weedsday Wednesday online at TumbleweedsHealthCenter.com/radio. All episodes are also available on iTunes.See ad, page 40.

Jeffrey Green, M.A., has taught grades K-12 as well as at the University of Arizona. Currently a freelance writer, Reiki Master and Animal Reiki Practitioner, Green enjoys educating the public on natural and holistic alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs.