The Canna Curious Podcast: Conversations on Cannabis, Wellness & Women’s Health

In this episode, Kyla sits down with Bee Mohamed for a deep, behind-the-scenes conversation on health policy, patient advocacy, and the realities of building change inside broken systems.

Bee shares her journey from working in Parliament House under the Minister for Women, to frontline advocacy work during the rise of prescription medication dependency and overdose, to entering the medicinal cannabis sector with a simple hope: access, affordability, and human rights for patients.

Together, Kyla and Bee unpack the difference between “advocacy” as branding versus advocacy as lived experience, why harm reduction conversations can be uncomfortable (but essential), and what brave leadership looks like when profit pressures collide with patient care.

This episode touches on heavy topics including female genital mutilation (FGM) and medication-related deaths  with care, context, and a strong focus on how change actually happens.

Content Note

This episode includes discussion of:

• Female genital mutilation (FGM)
• Prescription medication dependency, overdose, and death

Please take care while listening.

What We Cover

• What it’s like to witness “political will” actually create change
• The rise of prescription dependency: opioids, benzodiazepines, and polypharmacy
• Why reforms like real-time prescription monitoring matter (and what they can/can’t fix)
• How Bee entered medicinal cannabis — and what she hoped would be different
• The ongoing barriers for patients: access, affordability, stigma, and driving laws
• Why roadside drug testing debates often miss the point (presence vs impairment)
• What “patient advocacy” really looks like in practice
• The tension between values and commercial structures — and how misalignment shows up in the body
• Can harm reduction exist inside a commercial model?
• “Corporate cannabis” and the missed opportunity to build true patient education
• Grief, integrity, and the moment you realise you can’t self-compromise anymore
• Bee’s definition of brave leadership: remembering why the industry exists at all

Links & Resources 

• Bee Mohamed: @mata_gathering
• Harm Reduction Australia: Harm Reduction 
• Drive Change campaign (drug driving reform): https://www.drivechangemc.org.au/tag/drug-driving/
• SafeScript / real-time prescription monitoring (Vic): [link]

If this episode hit something in you  send it to a friend who’s tired of “just coping.”

And if you’re a clinic, brand, or organisation in this space: come talk to us. Harm reduction doesn’t have to be scary. Patient safety is not optional.

Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share your thoughts with me on Instagram: @CannaCurious (or wherever you want them to find you).

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A History of Women in Cannabis - with Melanie Wentzel

Before prohibition.
Before pharma.
Before THC percentages became a marketing strategy.

Cannabis lived in women’s hands.

In this episode of Canna Curious, Kyla is joined by healthcare strategist, bestselling author of Cannabis Queens, and women’s health advocate Melanie Wentzel to trace the history of cannabis through a female lens.

Together, they travel back through:

• Ancient China and early medical pharmacopoeias
• Ancient Egypt and recorded cannabis suppositories for period pain
• Medieval Europe and Hildegard von Bingen’s writings on hemp
• The witch trials and the destruction of women’s medical knowledge

This is a lineage story.

It’s about remembering that women were clinicians long before we were allowed degrees. That tending plants, tending bodies, and tending community were never separate practices. And that the knowledge of this plant survived — even when the women who carried it were persecuted.

If you’ve ever felt like the modern cannabis conversation is missing something  this episode explains why.

There is a golden thread running through history.

And we are still holding it.

In This Episode We Discuss

• Cannabis in ancient medical texts
• Women as early healers and apothecaries
• Suppositories and formulations used in Ancient Egypt
• Spiritual and ritual uses of cannabis across cultures
• Why high THC is a very modern obsession
• The erasure and survival of women’s plant knowledge

Resources Mentioned

• Cannabis Queens by Melanie Wentzel
• Historical references to Hildegard von Bingen
• Papyrus Ebers (Ancient Egyptian medical text)

If this episode resonated, share it with a woman who needs reminding that this story didn’t begin yesterday.

And if you’re loving these deeper dives, subscribe, rate, and leave a review - it helps more women find this conversation.

Let’s keep tracing the thread.

You can find Mel @h.i_m.e.l__

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In this episode, Kyla is joined by her friend Jess for a wide-ranging, honest conversation that starts with balance - and quickly reveals how complicated that word really is.

What does balance actually look like for women today? How do nervous systems stay regulated in a world of constant immediacy, technology, and responsibility? And where does the plant fit into that picture when used intentionally - not as an override, but as a support?

From there, the conversation turns to a topic that’s becoming increasingly relevant in Australia: gummies as medicine. As edible formats become more popular, Kyla and Jess unpack the questions that aren’t being asked loudly enough - around safety, formulation, harm reduction, and whether all “medical” formats truly support health.

This episode isn’t about telling you what to think. It’s about slowing down, zooming out, and asking better questions.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What “balance” actually means for women - and why juggling everything isn’t the same as being well
• The impact of technology, immediacy, and accessibility on the nervous system
• Boundaries as a form of balance (especially with phones, work, and availability)
• How intentional cannabis use can create pause, presence, and space
• Why balanced THC:CBD products can be a powerful starting point - and often an ongoing tool
• The role of hormones, perimenopause, and changing cannabinoid needs over time
• CBD flower, balanced flower, and why “stronger” isn’t always better
• The rise of gummies in the medical market - and the risks that come with lolly-like formats
• Sugar, distillate vs rosin, and how formulation matters more than people realise
• Why some people feel low or flat after certain gummies
• Child safety, packaging gaps, and real harm-reduction conversations
• Whether gummies should be considered medicine - or something else entirely
• Why anecdotal experience still matters in emerging health spaces
• The importance of asking better questions of prescribers and products

We also introduce a new recurring segment:

“What has weed taught us this month?”
A reflective check-in on lessons, friction, community dynamics, and what the plant continues to reveal  not just biologically, but culturally and personally.

💬 Join the conversation:
Kyla and Jess invite you to send through questions, experiences, or topics you’d like them to unpack in future episodes. Debate is welcome. Curiosity is encouraged.

You can find Jess @jessica.inherbloom

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In this episode of Canna Curious, Kyla is joined by her close friend Sandrine for a deeply personal and emotional conversation about their friend Alethea (Leath) — who has been incarcerated for cannabis-related charges for just over a year.

This is not a legal analysis or a political debate. It’s a human conversation about friendship, shock, grief, love, anger, and the quiet resilience required when someone you love is caught in a system most of us never expect to encounter.

Leath cannot speak freely on the podcast right now, but when she is released later this year, she will be invited on to the podcast to share her story in her own words.

Until then, this episode holds space for her, and for all the people left on the outside trying to make sense of the inside.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Who Alethea is beyond her sentence — her heart, warmth, and devotion to community
• The shock of finding out a close friend is in prison
• How little most of us understand the justice system until we’re inside it
• What contact with someone in prison actually looks like (calls, visits, letters, costs)
• The emotional toll of limited access and constant uncertainty
• The strange mix of powerlessness, guilt, and love felt by friends on the outside
• Self-censorship, stigma, and why people struggle to talk about incarceration
• The realities of prison healthcare, communication, and overcrowding
• Learning to live inside constraints you didn’t choose
• Holding hope for release, parole, and life on the other side

A note to listeners

This conversation may be emotional to listen to. We speak candidly about incarceration, systemic injustice, and the personal impact of these systems on real people. Listener discretion is advised.

We’ve been careful not to share details that could compromise Alethea or anyone else. This episode is shared with love, respect, and care.

Want to support Alethea?

If you feel called, Alethea loves receiving letters - they bring her enormous joy and help her feel connected to the outside world.

📬 Mailing details:
Alethea’s public mailing address and prisoner number are listed below 

Alethea Wallace

Numimbah Correctional Centre

Private Mail Bag 1 

Nerang QLD 4211

(Please keep letters simple: no stickers, metallic ink, or extras - plain paper and pen are best.)

If you’d like to send a message of support but aren’t sure where to start, reach out to Kyla via socials and she’ll help guide you.

You can find Sandrine @marquisedesark

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In this episode, ’m unpacking why I’ve started to push back on the idea of “responsible use” — at least the way it’s so often applied to women.

Because when we really look at it, “responsible” rarely means neutral or supportive.It usually means self-monitoring, self-correcting, and self-blaming — layered on top of bodies that are already expected to manage pain, emotion, cycles, stress, and capacity without much support.

This conversation isn’t about encouraging recklessness.
 It’s about questioning why women are so often asked to carry extra moral weight when it comes to their bodies and why cannabis has become another place where we’re expected to prove we’re doing it properly.

In this episode, I explore:

• How “responsibility” has become a gendered expectation
• Why women are taught caution while men are given permission to experiment
• The emotional cost of constant self-surveillance
• How self-monitoring disconnects us from pleasure, rest, and trust
• Where this messaging comes from — medicine, regulation, and wellness culture
• The difference between compliance and agency
• Why I’m more interested in discernment than rules

This is a quieter but firmer episode.
 Less about advice.
 More about power, agency, and what it means to be in relationship with your body without supervision.

If this episode feels uncomfortable, that’s okay.
And if it feels relieving — you’re not alone.

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Do I Need a T-Break?

Tolerance breaks are usually framed like a punishment.
Like you’ve done something wrong.
Like you need to reset, detox, or start again.

But for many women, that framing doesn’t fit real life - or real bodies.

In this episode, Kyla takes a slower, more body-led look at tolerance breaks and what they’re actually for. This isn’t about abstinence or discipline. It’s about understanding when a break is helpful, when it’s not, and how to approach it without destabilising your nervous system — especially if you’re navigating perimenopause, pain, sleep disruption, anxiety, or chronic stress.

In this episode, we cover:

• What cannabis tolerance actually is (and what it isn’t)
• Why tolerance isn’t failure — it’s feedback from the body
• Signs your system may be asking for space
• How pain, trauma, and nervous system load change the T-break conversation
• Why stopping THC suddenly can feel awful for some people
• Different ways to take a tolerance break — from full breaks to gentler resets
• Whether CBD has a place during a T-break (and when it helps vs. when it doesn’t)
• What a successful T-break actually looks like — beyond white-knuckling

This episode draws on both clinical research and lived experience to offer a more compassionate, realistic approach to tolerance one that prioritises regulation, safety, and relationship over rigid rules.

A gentle resource 

If this episode sparked the thought “I know I need a break, but I don’t know how to do it without falling apart”, Kyla has created a 21-day tolerance break guide you can download it here

Support the show

If you’d like to support the podcast, you can buy Kyla a coffee here No pressure - it simply helps keep these conversations going.

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Women, Hormones & Cannabis: Why Your Body Changes How the Plant Feels.

In this episode, we explore why so many women notice that cannabis feels different depending on where they are in their cycle, throughout perimenopause, or during periods of stress and hormonal change.

We unpack what’s actually happening in the body, why this experience is common (and normal), and how women can work with their changing physiology instead of blaming themselves or assuming something has gone wrong.

This episode builds on last week’s conversation about the endocannabinoid system and brings the focus specifically to women, hormones, and lived experience.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why cannabis can work beautifully one month and feel overwhelming the next
• How the endocannabinoid system interacts with estrogen and progesterone
• Why midlife women notice these changes more clearly
• The difference between microdosing as restriction versus microdosing as body literacy
• Why timing and nervous system state matter more than strain names
• Practical ways women can adjust their approach during hormonally sensitive times

Key ideas discussed

• The endocannabinoid system plays a central role in regulating mood, pain, sleep, inflammation, and stress
• Estrogen has been shown to influence cannabinoid receptor sensitivity, particularly CB1 receptors
• Hormonal fluctuation, rather than hormone loss, is a major factor in why experiences change during perimenopause
• Women often experience stronger subjective effects from THC at lower doses compared to men
• Cannabis tends to amplify the existing state of the nervous system rather than override it
• Learning to work with context, timing, and subtle dosing can make cannabis feel more supportive and less destabilising

Support the show
Canna Curious is produced independently. If you’d like to support the podcast, you can Buy me a coffee

Share this episode
If this conversation might help someone you love — a friend, a partner, a patient  feel free to pass it on.

Thank you for listening, and for being part of this community.

Research and further reading

Cannabis, estrogen, and the endocannabinoid system

The Endocannabinoid System and Sex Steroid Hormone Signalling
 A comprehensive review exploring how estrogen and progesterone interact with endocannabinoid signalling pathways.
 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3863507/

Sex Differences and the Endocannabinoid System
 A review outlining biological sex differences in cannabinoid metabolism, receptor expression, and subjective effects.
 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8216879/

Estradiol Regulation of Endocannabinoid Signalling
 Research examining how estradiol affects endocannabinoid tone and cannabinoid-related behaviours.
 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5028287/

Anandamide and Estrogen Correlations
 Overview of how endocannabinoid levels, particularly anandamide, fluctuate alongside estradiol during the menstrual cycle.
 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9422771/

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In this episode of the Canna Curious Podcast, Kyla slows things right down and returns to the foundations.

Before conversations about strain names, dosing, or delivery methods  before stigma, shame, or opinion  this episode asks a simpler question:

What is actually happening inside your body when you take cannabis?

This episode is for patients.

For women who turn to this plant not to escape their lives - but to cope with pain, stress, hormonal change, burnout, grief, or nervous system overload.

At the centre of this conversation is the endocannabinoid system (ECS)  a regulatory system that exists in all of us, whether we ever take cannabis or not.

In this episode, Kyla explores:

• What the endocannabinoid system is - and why it’s not a “weed system,” but a core biological regulator
• How the ECS was identified in the 1990s through cannabinoid research by scientists including Ally Howlett and Raphael Mechoulam
• The three key components of the ECS: receptors, endocannabinoids, and enzymes
• The roles of CB1 and CB2 receptors, and how THC and CBD interact with them differently
• Why your body makes its own cannabinoids — and even passes them through breast milk
• Why relief from cannabis looks different for everyone, and why variability is expected - not failure
• How hormones, stress, nervous system state, and life stage (including perimenopause) influence response
• The difference between regulation and escape, and why many women use cannabis to stay present  not numb
• Why dosing can feel unpredictable, and why curiosity works better than rigid rules
• How one-size-fits-all advice often creates shame and what a body-literate approach offers instead

Support the show
Canna Curious is produced independently. If you’d like to support the podcast, you can Buy me a coffee

Resources & Further Reading

Understanding the Endocannabinoid System

These sources support the explanation of the endocannabinoid system as a regulatory system involved in balance, pain, mood, sleep, inflammation, and stress:

• Di Marzo V, Piscitelli F. (2015). The endocannabinoid system and its modulation by phytocannabinoids.Neurotherapeutics, 12(4), 692–698.
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13311-015-0376-6
• Lu HC, Mackie K. (2016). An introduction to the endogenous cannabinoid system. Biological Psychiatry, 79(7), 516–525.
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322315002127
• Pertwee RG. (2015). Endocannabinoids and their pharmacological actions. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, 231, 1–37.
  https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-20825-1_1

Individual Variability, Dosing & Patient-Centred Care

Referenced when discussing why cannabis affects people differently and why rigid dosing models often fail patients:

• Huestis M. (2007). Human cannabinoid pharmacokinetics. Chemical Biodiversity, 4(8), 1770–1804.
  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cbdv.200790152
• MacCallum CA, Russo EB. (2018). Practical considerations in medical cannabis administration. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 49, 12–19.
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0953620518300470
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017).
   The Heal

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As the year draws to a close, Kyla pauses - not to summarise, but to sit inside what this season of listening has actually revealed.

Recorded from Melbourne, in a softer and more honest state than usual, this solo episode reflects on thirty-three conversations about women’s health, relief, regulation, and the quiet ways women learn to manage their bodies inside imperfect systems.

At the centre of the episode is a question Kyla has been carrying since the very beginning of the podcast:

What actually happens when women stop whispering about medicine?

This is not an episode about trends, tips, or solutions.

It’s about:

• why women whisper in the first place
• how shame still shapes the way relief is accessed and talked about
• what Kyla has noticed listening to women across diagnoses, ages, and lives

Throughout the episode, Kyla speaks candidly about:

• whispering as a learned survival strategy
• and the steadiness she witnessed when women were given language, curiosity, and trust

Rather than positioning the plant as a fix, this episode explores what cannabis use revealed:
 the gaps in care, the lack of education, and the unmet needs women have been navigating for years.

This conversation is for anyone who has:

• softened their language to be taken seriously
• questioned whether their relief was “allowed”
• carried shame alongside something that helped
• or felt like they had to work it out on their own

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What does a good medicinal cannabis clinic actually look like in Australia - and how do you spot the ones that should make you pause?

This episode was sparked by a moment many of us have had lately: seeing cannabis clinic advertising out in the wild that feels… off. 

Kyla shares a story about walking down the street with her 11-year-old when they spotted a very obvious (and very questionable) clinic poster - which opened a bigger conversation about regulation, ethics, patient care, and how clinics should actually be operating.

Together, Kyla and Jess unpack what’s going wrong in the current clinic landscape, why patients are feeling frustrated and disempowered, and what you are absolutely allowed to ask for as a patient.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why medicinal cannabis clinics are not allowed to advertise the way many currently are - and why that matters for stigma, regulation, and long-term access
• The biggest red flags to watch for when choosing a clinic
• What patient-centred care actually looks like (and what it doesn’t)
• Vertical integration, profit margins, and why some clinics push certain products
• Your legal right to access your own scripts and choose your pharmacy
• Why informed patients should be welcomed — not shut down — for doing their research
• The growing frustration around discontinued products and limited prescribing
• Why minor cannabinoids like CBG and THCV deserve more attention (especially for women)
• How the system is heading toward a collision — and what needs to change next

Clinics Kyla trusts and recommends:

PlantMed with Dr John Teh - a genuinely integrative, whole-person approach https://plantmed.net.au/

Mode Health with Dr Matty Moore - collaborative care, tele-health, and strong clinical ethics https://www.modehealthcare.com.au/

Kyla recommends these clinics based on her personal experience as a patient. There is no paid partnership or financial incentive involved.

Key takeaways:

• You are allowed to ask questions - and a good clinic expects you to
• You should never feel rushed, dismissed, or funnelled into one product pathway
• If something feels off, it probably is
• The future of cannabis care isn’t stronger  it’s smarter, more nuanced, and more patient-led

This episode is for patients, parents, clinicians, and anyone trying to navigate medicinal cannabis in Australia without getting burned along the way.

Resources mentioned:

TGA advertising guidelines for medicinal cannabis
APRA regulations around prescribing and promotion

You can find jess @thegreenroom.hq

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