July 11, 2025 • 31 mins
#SWAMPWATCH – In South Carolina, Newsom Tests the Presidential Waters. 90-year-old man is a competitive stair climber. Guest Amber Capone, Co-Founder/CEO of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS). California veterans urge study of 'lifesaving' psychedelic therapy.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI
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(00:39):
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In twenty twenty five, we have a guest on with
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Coming up.
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(01:13):
dot com. It's time to find out what Gavin Newsom
learned when he took his run for president to South
Carolina's where we kick off swamp Watch.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheap and a liar,
and when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Here we got the real problem is that our leaders
are done.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
The other side never quits what what.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I'm not going anywhere, So that now you train the.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Squat, I can imagine what can be and be unburdened
by what has been. You know, nervans have always been
going at president.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
They're not stupid.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
A political plunder is when a politician actually tells the truth.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Have the people voted for you? When not swamp Watch,
they're all counter on.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So Gavin Newsom did what many people do when they've
got their sites set on the presidency and they want
to kind of see take the temperature of an important
state and not a state that they came from where
they made their money. Gavin Newsom made his name in California.
He's from California. He has deemed largely the California politician.
(02:19):
I mean he is out of central casting for the
California politician, from the top of his hair down to
his toes, his designer clothes. Even when he's he's reporting
two reporters on the fire lines. The guy is California,
and there's nothing wrong with that. But how does that
(02:39):
play out in places like Pennsylvania, or South Carolina or Michigan.
He went to South Carolina for a two day swing.
This is going to be an early primary state, and
he wanted to take the temperature much like we saw,
as I mentioned earlier Eric Garcetti, go to Iowa and
see how well does a California candidate play play What
(02:59):
do I need to work on, what do I need
to fix to become more moderate or more palatable for
people who are not Californians, specifically Democrats obviously, so Gavin
Newsom went to churches, he went to community centers, he
went to cafes. He sprinted across South Carolina, and they
(03:21):
wanted to see.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
If he's got a shot.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
There was a lot of fanfare, but there was also
this overriding feeling that his liberal reputation may hurt him
among Democrats who are not here in California.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
This is not a shock. We all saw this coming.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
That's why he's moved more moderate in recent months and
I would say.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Years, but it's been about a year and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Jim Hodges is the most recent Democratic mayor of South Carolina,
which happens to be a heavy Republican state, and Jim
says about Gavin he's a very articulate person. Clearly, he's
very charismatic. The larger can concerns that he has to
deal with are related to California and the feeling that
many have that is that California is not representative of
(04:08):
the rest of the country for a couple reasons.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's not just the progressive politics.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
It's the fact that California has to also get over
the fact that California thinks it's better than everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
New York shares this as well.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
California and New York come across to everybody who doesn't
live there, as they think they're better than us. We
are the real America, and I'm not going to say
that they're wrong. We are the real America. But the
people in California and New York are self important. They
think that they lead the nation. They try to They
try to put all of their beliefs onto us.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And we don't live like you do.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
We don't pay the taxes, we don't vacation like you do,
we don't make the money like you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's a completely different way of life.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
So why you could think that you'll come here from
California and New York and tell me what's what.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So it's not just the politics, it's just the over
writing feeling that a lot of parts of the country
have about anyone from California. John Drew is forty eight.
He's a real estate professional. He saw Newsom speak in
a small town of Mullins there northeastern South Carolina, and
he said, plan and simple progressive ain't going to work here.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Newsome this week.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Tried to tamp down the concerns about his states and
his reputation. He said he's happy to pick up the
phone if Trump calls. He told reporters there's one hundred
percent still room to work with the President on bipartisan issues,
despite their recent skirmishes. He said, I have positions that
(05:48):
are very consistent with my party, and I've been on
opposite side of my party and a lot of issues.
He said, you know, when I was mayor of San Francisco,
my politics hasn't changed. I was considered the conservative mayor.
That's in San Francisco, of course, anybody everybody's considered conservative
in San Francisco. You're going to the most liberal city,
(06:10):
and everyone's going to be a conservative unless you're completely
progressive cuckoo pants. That's not going to appeal When you
say I was considered conservative in San Francisco, that's not
going to appeal to anyone in South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And that's the thing. I just don't know if he
gets it.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Like you can tell him, hey, your progressiveness and who
you are and your profile and your hair do not
play out well with modern Democrats in other parts of
the country.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But I don't know if he knows how to talk
to normal people.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I don't think he knows how to talk to normal
people in California. He's a guy who goes to the
French laundry for not a special occasion. You go for
the special occasion. You're even not a normal person. You
go for not a special occasion, you go for a Tuesday.
I don't know if you know how to talk to
normal peace, let alone normal people in the middle.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
He said.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
California is the most untrumped state in America. I think
that's going to be another problem. There are moderate Democrats
that agree with some of the agenda. You're not going
to find any of them who agree with it in California.
But in South Carolina you might.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Again.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
South Carolina heavy Republican state, and Democrats there are going
to have Republican friends there, he said. And I agree
with him here talking about Democrats. We've got to be
more aggressive. We've got to get back on our toes,
not our heels.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
He said.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The Democratic Party for too long has been on the
receiving end. That's a weird turn of phrase, but he's right.
Democrats have been tepid at best when it comes to
teeth in this vicious political environment this country finds itself
in for the past ten years or so. You cannot
be the new masculinity guy and lead the Democratic Party
(08:04):
out of this hole. You've got to take the bull
by the horns and you've got to be aggressive, and that.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Is what Newsom has done. Tip it at.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Best, but at least he's saying it you know, the
whole come and get me tough guy responds to Tom
Homan's suggestion that Newsom should be arrested.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
That's what people want to hear.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I mean, even if it is tep it at best
coming from Gavin Newsom.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Kelly Gallagher. Kylie is a social worker.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
She's fifty nine and she was at a Baptist church
hearing him speak in South Carolina and she said, we
need to have about ten. Gavin Newsom's right now, and
she's right. There need to be more Democrats that have
teeth and have balls and have muscle and are showing it.
And she's also right in that Gavin Newsom one of
them isn't enough. He doesn't have the gravitas. He doesn't
(08:49):
have it. I don't think to carry a country of Democrats.
So anyway, all right, we'll put politics aside forever, at
least until next week.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on Demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Coming up, we have an interview with the co founder
and CEO of a Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions outfit. This
is a story that we talked about some time ago
about a Stanford observational study using a psychedelic to treat
PTSD anxiety and depression among Special Forces veterans, and after
(09:33):
just one dose, some of these veterans have realized peace.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
The voice in my head was gone, said one of them.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
After a month of treatment, there is a massive reduction
and PTSD symptoms.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So we're going to talk.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
To the expert about that, about where we can go
with that, how readily available is it, and all the
questions that we may have. Okay, So Tim Kutrowski recently
was the Crown Plaza, Ventura Beach Hotel recent afternoon. There
he's gripping the stairwell railings and he's running up the
(10:13):
steps two at a time. This is part of Tom's
training for an upcoming race and involves taking on one
hundred and ten floors worth of stairs. I remember reporting
on this one. Firefighters did it for charities years ago,
and this is an event now that takes place as
part of a competitive sport, challenges participants to race up
(10:36):
these sky scrapers, and Tom has done dozens of these
in the last fifteen years. He says, going up these stairs,
you're doing two at a time. You don't have time
to think. It's exhilarating. He is a semi retired optometrist,
lived in Ventura for a long time. Oh and by
the way, Tom is ninety. He is participating in the
(11:00):
stair climbing races at ninety, turns out regularly for events
across the country and abroad. In September he plans to
go back to Crown Plaza there in Ventura for the
annual climb. This is the nine to eleven And then
this is what I remember covering. It was probably the
inaugural one back in two thousand and two. It's a
nine to eleven memorial stair climb, and it benefits in
(11:23):
this case the Ventura Fire Honor Guard, which funds funerals
and tributes for fallen firefighters, honors those lost in the attacks.
And he says, Tom does, I'm able to donate, I'm
able to run, and that's a pretty good deal. Here's
one of the things that I like to point out
every time I see it happening.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
What's the quote, It's never too late to be what
you might have been.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Tom didn't take up stair climbing until he was seventy five.
Now he had spent decades running five k's ten K's.
He played the cross at Ohio State back in the
day all American, but over time, he said, then I
began to feel monotonous, and how Tom he craved a
new challenge, and so he spots this ad for a
seventy five story stair climb up the bank Tower downtown
(12:09):
LA and uh and there there the love was born.
He says, it's a passion to keep my heart going,
to keep my whole body going, to stay race ready.
He trains in a variety of ways, including weekly strength
classes at the YMCA and Camillo. His trainer, Tanya was
(12:33):
shocked to hear that he was ninety. He's working out
with her and somehow she finds out that, uh, he's
ninety and what your what? Tom has been attending her
barbell strength class for years. It's one of the most
physically demanding sessions offered at the WHY and his strength,
(12:54):
range of motion, upright posture stand out, especially for Anne.
There's modifications in this class, as you can imagine, he
takes none of them. She often uses him as a
positive example when encouraging others to take on new fitness challenges,
and she says, you can see the wheels going on
(13:15):
in their head as people look over at Tom like
maybe I can do this, I can do this. It's
like when I was doing a peloton ride with the
pregnant cyclist and I thought, if she's eight months pregnant
doing this, I can continue. I mean, you look across
the room and there's a ninety year old doing that.
(13:37):
The hell yes, you can continue to do it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How does he celebrate? How does Tom celebrate after a
race up those flights of stairs? He celebrates with blueberry pie.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
He's competed in stair climbs across the country New York, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, Vegas, Houston, Tokyo, Taipei.
He's count a lost count of the number of races,
and it's all it's a sense of community for him.
Douglas pace is sixty seven. He's an elite stair climber.
He met Tom at a race in twenty twelve. Since then,
(14:10):
the two do this together. They've competed dozens of climbs
side by side. Douglas at sixty seven says, Tom is,
of course one of the cream of the croc crop,
one of the wonderful people at these races.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
How cool is that? Tom? Says?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
It was because of his father's declining health and death
in midlife that he really was pushed to stay healthy.
He said, my father died when he was sixty three,
and his family all died of heart disease very early,
so I never thought I would live this long. I
doubled down on preventative health and exercise will send us
a habit, but a form of protection.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
How cool is that? Love that story?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Joe is a US Army Special Forces veteran and he
served in Afghanistan after that. For years, Joe fought a
daily battle against a voice inside his head screaming anxious, dark,
dangerous thoughts. Joe had lost multiple team members in combat.
Two decades he spent with the Green Berets, and he
(15:23):
tried everything to cure his PTSD or to try to
live with it. Talk therapy, group therapy, medication, swimming with dolphins.
I mean, if somebody said it worked, Joe would try it.
But the voice grew louder and Joe tried to take
his own life. Now he survived, but he was one
(15:43):
of the lucky ones. Many service members do not In fact,
in average, seventeen point six veterans die by suicide each
day in twenty twenty two. Is that is that stat
That's when that stat is from. That's the latest year
for data that's available. And Joe says, I couldn't be happy.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I was angry.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I was fearful all the time, white knuckling it through life,
he says, out of the blue, a buddy from counter
terrorism unit calls me and says, hey, would you be
interested in trying psychedelics? So a couple weeks later, out
of options, he says, okay. So he goes from San
Diego to Mexico to participate in his Stanford observational study
and used a psychedelic drug to treat PTSD anxiety and depression.
(16:30):
It was working amongst Special Forces veterans, and after just
one dose, Joe said he experienced what he had been
desperately searching for, silence, the voice in his head gone.
He says, this saved his life. And I don't mean
it just saying that, not flippantly. He said, it legitimately
saved my life. A month after the treatment, participants in
(16:53):
the study experienced an average of eighty eight percent reduction
and PTSD symptoms. Amber Capone is the CEO and the
co founder of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions. She joins us now, Amber,
thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm very
grateful for the opportunity to share more about our work
and about Joe. And when I hear you read that
or you know, stay that about Joe, I can't believe
it because I didn't know him then. To know him
now and to know the struggle that he has come through,
it almost seems like you're describing two completely different people.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, it's remarkable when you hear these stories of what
this treatment has done, specifically Amber, because he tried so
many other options. You know, it's not like he was
living with this and just said, you know, this is
the way it's going to be and no, I don't
want to try any of that crap. I mean, he
was really trying to overcome it to no avail until
this therapy. If you could take us through how it works,
(17:52):
how you came up with this there at vets at
Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
So we actually have a very similar story. My husband
was a Navy seal and transitioned out of the military
is medically retired at thirteen years. We were the lucky
ones who survived the wars when so many of our
friends didn't. And you think that life will just pick
up where you left off prior to nine to eleven,
prior to the wars, and nothing could have been further
(18:21):
from the truth. So we experienced all the same challenges
with just the things that didn't work, lack of support
outside of the military, loss of purpose, loss of identity,
loss of community, and everything became this perfect storm. Now
(18:42):
I'm also like, I've known Marcus my whole life. Marcus
is my husband, and so he is, in my opinion,
a high achiever. He likes to check things off the list,
he likes to attain goals, and he was so frustrated
that he was trying so hard at everything he was
being told to do, primarily through vacare medications. Oh my gosh,
(19:04):
so many pharmaceuticals, talk therapy, lots of brain clinics, and
some innovative treatments as well, but nothing was working. And
so you know, as suicide prevention specialists described it to me,
as our military is trained to identify threats and remove them,
(19:25):
and when they identify themselves as a threat, then suicide
is on the table. And so I knew that my
husband was experiencing suicidal thoughts. He thought he would be
doing us a favor by no longer being a burden
to us because he felt like he was trying all
of these things and nothing was working. I had come
(19:46):
to accept that our future was not looking good and
I didn't know what to do. So a friend had
shared about this treatment in Mexico. I felt like it
was crazy, but it was this sort of hail Mary
asked the cheffer to save him and if it worked,
you know, I couldn't imagine it would work after so
many things didn't. But it did. And the very first
(20:09):
thing my husband said to me was, this is it.
This is exactly what veterans who are struggling need. And
so we just really got to work putting together a
nonprofit that would allow funds to be sent to veterans
who were willing to leave the United States to access
this therapy, and Joe was one of the veterans we
were honored and privileged enough to support.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I've never heard it put that way, and it makes
so much sense. The way you put that amber about
how when you're in the military, you're trying to remove
a threat, and when the threats yourself that's where your
mind goes.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That is huge. How does it work?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
What is the psychedelic How often do you have to
take it?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
How often?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
I mean, is this something that you apply to your
daily life back home?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Or how does it work.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
When my husband went in twenty seventeen, we had no
idea what it was or how it worked. We just
knew that it really did work. And this is why research,
research like the Stanford study is so critical, because we
need to better understand how it works. In the years since,
we have supported hundreds of veterans who have chosen this
(21:16):
same option in Mexico. Many of them go one time,
it's a one and done, but it's not always like that.
The most important thing to consider when someone pursues psychedelic
therapy is the integration period that comes after the dosing session,
and this is something that we do very well at
VETS if I do believe, where we provide one on
(21:40):
one coaching, group coaching, community support, meditation training, allowing the
veterans who come through our programs to really tup into
all resources available to them and dealing with this trauma
and then getting past it and moving on. I think
the approach that we have available to us in the
(22:01):
United States are band aids, a lot of pharmaceuticals and
things that sort of help numb the symptoms but don't
necessarily get to the root cause. Psychedelics are really effective
at getting to the root cause. Dealing with trauma that
might be repressed or uncomfortable to deal with, and doing
so with a trained professional is paramount to long term success.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Okay, can you hang on, Amber.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I have a couple more questions about how available this is,
how expensive it is, is their help from government program,
So that's great. We'll tackle all that when we come back.
We are talking with Amber Coppone. She has co founder
CEO of Veterans exploring Treatment Solutions. Treatment that's getting grave
reviews among veterans that have had PTSD have lived with it,
(22:51):
a huge reduction in PTS symptoms, depressions sometimes I mean
eighty eight percent reduction in PTSD symptoms after this treatment.
We'll get some more questions answered with Amber when we
come back.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
In the meantime, you're.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Forty coming up after Deborah's news at the top of
the hour, we'll get you caught up on everything everybody
is talking about everywhere with what is happening. If somebody
this weekend says, hey, did you hear about that, you
can say, of course, I heard about that, heard about
it on Gary and Shannon. Also what you learned this
week in that vein coming up as well, and the
(23:30):
nine news nuggets you need to know the crazy stories
it fell through the cracks of the news couch. We
bring that all to you in the massive twelve o'clock hour.
In the meantime, we're talking about psychedelic therapy that is
saving lives of veterans who experience post traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety depression.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
They're all different, by the way.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
PTSD is not just the umbrella over anxiety and depression.
They all come with their unique set of problems and
there have been huge success stories coming out of using psychedelics.
This was a Stanford observational study that we talked about
using a psychedelic to treat these things.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The name Amber, we're talking to Amber Capone.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
She's the co founder and CEO of Veterans exploring treatment VETS,
and is how do I pronounce this the name of
the psychedelic I begin iboo.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Gain, Yeah, perfect, you got it?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Great, So I began.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
After a month of the treatment, participants experienced an average
or on average, eighty eight percent reduction in PTSD, eighty
seven percent reduction in depression, eighty one percent reduction in
anxiety symptoms amber. How available is this for veterans who
have tried other options, or even who have not and
(24:52):
want to give this a go.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
It's not available. It's not available in the United States,
where it's considered a schedule on substance, which means it
has no medical value and a high potential for abuse.
It's absolutely misscheduled in my opinion, because there is such
extreme medical value, multifaceted medical value, and then it's primary
utilization until just recently, has been to treat addiction. So
(25:19):
I think it's fundamentally misunderstood and mischeduled. But it is
illegal here. So this is why VETS is in existence.
Because when my husband went through this kind of rogue
treatment in twenty seventeen, someone had paid for that, and
because we were struggling so much at the time, we
would have never been able to come out of pocket
(25:39):
that thousands of dollars that it takes to get out
of the country and pay for this experience. So VETS
provides that subsidies to veterans that are coming through our
program and unfortunately they have to travel abroad.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
What is the demand like, as it so strong that
you're having to pick and choose?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yeah, oh yeah, it's horrible because absolutely every application that
we receive and review is worthy of this opportunity, and
yet we are constricted because we're using you know, donor dollars.
We are constricted to how many grants we can provide
every year, which is roughly two hundred to two hundred
(26:21):
and fifty. It's a lot of money. It takes a
lot of work to be able to do just that.
But I think we received that many applications in like
January alone. So the more that we talk about this,
the more the veterans share about this, because you know,
it is a community that is very trusting and takes
care of one another, and so when someone has this
(26:43):
experience they share with their friends. It creates a demand
that we simply can't meet. The only way to do
it is to get ahead of it. Through policy work,
which VETS is also engaged in.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I was going to ask, how do we get this
psychedelic off the schedule? Is it a matter of of
a number of federally approved clinical trials, studies government sanctioned
research on this How does that happen?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yes, So we actually just worked on a bill in
Texas which appropriated fifty million dollars from the state budget
to match a drug developer fifty million dollars to launch
FDA clinical trials on IBA game. So it's happening. These
substances can be researched here in the United States, but
(27:30):
some of the roadblocks and barriers to doing so add
significant delays to the research process. Because they're schedule one,
it makes it even more complicated and time consuming to
start this research. So the story of Joe and how
we're connected for this segment comes around a bill that
(27:53):
we are supporting in California which reduces the lag times
on research. Because every day, you know, we lose roughly
twenty veterans the suicide like you had highlighted in your opening,
some reports suggest that it could be more than double that.
So time is of the essence and every day counts.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
I see that you have a Is it a documentary
that's coming out on Netflix in Waves and War?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. We just announced recently
that Netflix has picked up the film and it will
begin streaming on November third of this year.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
And what is it about?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
So the film follows and it starts, you know, with
our story and my husband's immediate inclination to help his friends,
and the film highlights two of his friends who are
going through the experience. These are men that have served
together on the battlefield. In one case, in one of
(28:59):
the main characters, if you will, had his life saved
by another one of the main characters on the battlefield,
and now they're going into this new battle together to
find peace and meaning and hope after their service. And
so it highlights the work of Bets, the origin story,
the Stanford study, and the implications for how this film
(29:21):
could be leveraged in other ways like it was in
Texas to get Lomickers to better understand that the stigma
associated with psychedelics needs to change. We're not talking about
using these substances to numb out. We're talking about using
them to lean in and do really hard work so
(29:41):
that someone is allowed to actually thrive in life and
not merely survive.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, I mean if you can even if well, I
won't go into that, but the benefits far outweigh any
sort of concerns about these productive members society. They're not
into taking drugs and you know, like you said, numbing
out or what have you. But even if there was
(30:08):
a small chance of that happening, you're saving so many
lives with this.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Wouldn't you just want to take that risk?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I mean I would, all right, So if people wanted
to donate, I'm assuming that donations to VETS will help
you achieve your legislative agenda in terms of getting this
off that Schedule one drug classification.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Absolutely. Yes. The work of VETS is multifaceted. We're providing
grants to veterans every day. We're also sponsoring research in
the United States like to Stanford Study, and we're advocating
for real policy change at the state and federal levels
of government. Everything is fueled by donations to our mission.
Our website is vet solutions dot org, and everything about
(30:52):
the organization, including the documentary, can be found on the website.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Okay, vet solutions dot org, g vet solutions dot org.
That is a stellar way to spend your money. All right,
Amber Capone, thank you so much for what you're doing.
Really appreciate your time today and your time every day
for this effort.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Thank you so much for highlighting this critical issue. I
appreciate it, all right.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And you can check out Amber and her husband's story
by the way, in Waves and War. That'll be on
Netflix coming up this fall. All right, when we come back,
we will talk trending. Everybody. Everyone is talking about everybody everyone.
You know what I'm talking about. It's what's happening on
Gary and Shannon.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
You've been listening to the Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI
AM six forty the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
on the iHeartRadio app. Coming up in about an hour.
What you learned this week on the Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let us know.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Use the talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. You
just give it a little tap there if you're listening
on the app and let us know what did you learn.
I know it's a tall order, but you know, just
come up with something. Maybe it's the fact that Michael
Monks makes candy. Huh, that's something we learned. I'm also
coming up, we have ghosting. Ghosting used to be this
(00:39):
dirty word in the world of dating. Well now it
seems like it is inevitable in the world of dating.
In twenty twenty five, we have a guest on with
a ghosting dilemma.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Coming up.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
The Dodgers take on the Giants to night in San Francisco,
first pitch at seven fifteen. Listen to all Dodger games
on AM five seventy LA Sports. Stream all Dodger games
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LA Sports brought to you by Navia High efficiency, water heaters, boilers,
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(01:13):
dot com. It's time to find out what Gavin Newsom
learned when he took his run for president to South
Carolina's where we kick off swamp Watch.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheap and a liar,
and when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Here we got the real problem is that our leaders
are done.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
The other side never quits what what.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I'm not going anywhere, So that now you train the.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Squat, I can imagine what can be and be unburdened
by what has been. You know, nervans have always been
going at president.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
They're not stupid.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
A political plunder is when a politician actually tells the truth.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Have the people voted for you? When not swamp Watch,
they're all counter on.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So Gavin Newsom did what many people do when they've
got their sites set on the presidency and they want
to kind of see take the temperature of an important
state and not a state that they came from where
they made their money. Gavin Newsom made his name in California.
He's from California. He has deemed largely the California politician.
(02:19):
I mean he is out of central casting for the
California politician, from the top of his hair down to
his toes, his designer clothes. Even when he's he's reporting
two reporters on the fire lines. The guy is California,
and there's nothing wrong with that. But how does that
(02:39):
play out in places like Pennsylvania, or South Carolina or Michigan.
He went to South Carolina for a two day swing.
This is going to be an early primary state, and
he wanted to take the temperature much like we saw,
as I mentioned earlier Eric Garcetti, go to Iowa and
see how well does a California candidate play play What
(02:59):
do I need to work on, what do I need
to fix to become more moderate or more palatable for
people who are not Californians, specifically Democrats obviously, so Gavin
Newsom went to churches, he went to community centers, he
went to cafes. He sprinted across South Carolina, and they
(03:21):
wanted to see.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
If he's got a shot.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
There was a lot of fanfare, but there was also
this overriding feeling that his liberal reputation may hurt him
among Democrats who are not here in California.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
This is not a shock. We all saw this coming.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
That's why he's moved more moderate in recent months and
I would say.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Years, but it's been about a year and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Jim Hodges is the most recent Democratic mayor of South Carolina,
which happens to be a heavy Republican state, and Jim
says about Gavin he's a very articulate person. Clearly, he's
very charismatic. The larger can concerns that he has to
deal with are related to California and the feeling that
many have that is that California is not representative of
(04:08):
the rest of the country for a couple reasons.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's not just the progressive politics.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
It's the fact that California has to also get over
the fact that California thinks it's better than everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
New York shares this as well.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
California and New York come across to everybody who doesn't
live there, as they think they're better than us. We
are the real America, and I'm not going to say
that they're wrong. We are the real America. But the
people in California and New York are self important. They
think that they lead the nation. They try to They
try to put all of their beliefs onto us.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And we don't live like you do.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
We don't pay the taxes, we don't vacation like you do,
we don't make the money like you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's a completely different way of life.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
So why you could think that you'll come here from
California and New York and tell me what's what.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So it's not just the politics, it's just the over
writing feeling that a lot of parts of the country
have about anyone from California. John Drew is forty eight.
He's a real estate professional. He saw Newsom speak in
a small town of Mullins there northeastern South Carolina, and
he said, plan and simple progressive ain't going to work here.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Newsome this week.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Tried to tamp down the concerns about his states and
his reputation. He said he's happy to pick up the
phone if Trump calls. He told reporters there's one hundred
percent still room to work with the President on bipartisan issues,
despite their recent skirmishes. He said, I have positions that
(05:48):
are very consistent with my party, and I've been on
opposite side of my party and a lot of issues.
He said, you know, when I was mayor of San Francisco,
my politics hasn't changed. I was considered the conservative mayor.
That's in San Francisco, of course, anybody everybody's considered conservative
in San Francisco. You're going to the most liberal city,
(06:10):
and everyone's going to be a conservative unless you're completely
progressive cuckoo pants. That's not going to appeal When you
say I was considered conservative in San Francisco, that's not
going to appeal to anyone in South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And that's the thing. I just don't know if he
gets it.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Like you can tell him, hey, your progressiveness and who
you are and your profile and your hair do not
play out well with modern Democrats in other parts of
the country.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But I don't know if he knows how to talk
to normal people.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I don't think he knows how to talk to normal
people in California. He's a guy who goes to the
French laundry for not a special occasion. You go for
the special occasion. You're even not a normal person. You
go for not a special occasion, you go for a Tuesday.
I don't know if you know how to talk to
normal peace, let alone normal people in the middle.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
He said.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
California is the most untrumped state in America. I think
that's going to be another problem. There are moderate Democrats
that agree with some of the agenda. You're not going
to find any of them who agree with it in California.
But in South Carolina you might.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Again.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
South Carolina heavy Republican state, and Democrats there are going
to have Republican friends there, he said. And I agree
with him here talking about Democrats. We've got to be
more aggressive. We've got to get back on our toes,
not our heels.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
He said.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The Democratic Party for too long has been on the
receiving end. That's a weird turn of phrase, but he's right.
Democrats have been tepid at best when it comes to
teeth in this vicious political environment this country finds itself
in for the past ten years or so. You cannot
be the new masculinity guy and lead the Democratic Party
(08:04):
out of this hole. You've got to take the bull
by the horns and you've got to be aggressive, and that.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Is what Newsom has done. Tip it at.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Best, but at least he's saying it you know, the
whole come and get me tough guy responds to Tom
Homan's suggestion that Newsom should be arrested.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
That's what people want to hear.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I mean, even if it is tep it at best
coming from Gavin Newsom.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Kelly Gallagher. Kylie is a social worker.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
She's fifty nine and she was at a Baptist church
hearing him speak in South Carolina and she said, we
need to have about ten. Gavin Newsom's right now, and
she's right. There need to be more Democrats that have
teeth and have balls and have muscle and are showing it.
And she's also right in that Gavin Newsom one of
them isn't enough. He doesn't have the gravitas. He doesn't
(08:49):
have it. I don't think to carry a country of Democrats.
So anyway, all right, we'll put politics aside forever, at
least until next week.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on Demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Coming up, we have an interview with the co founder
and CEO of a Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions outfit. This
is a story that we talked about some time ago
about a Stanford observational study using a psychedelic to treat
PTSD anxiety and depression among Special Forces veterans, and after
(09:33):
just one dose, some of these veterans have realized peace.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
The voice in my head was gone, said one of them.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
After a month of treatment, there is a massive reduction
and PTSD symptoms.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So we're going to talk.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
To the expert about that, about where we can go
with that, how readily available is it, and all the
questions that we may have. Okay, So Tim Kutrowski recently
was the Crown Plaza, Ventura Beach Hotel recent afternoon. There
he's gripping the stairwell railings and he's running up the
(10:13):
steps two at a time. This is part of Tom's
training for an upcoming race and involves taking on one
hundred and ten floors worth of stairs. I remember reporting
on this one. Firefighters did it for charities years ago,
and this is an event now that takes place as
part of a competitive sport, challenges participants to race up
(10:36):
these sky scrapers, and Tom has done dozens of these
in the last fifteen years. He says, going up these stairs,
you're doing two at a time. You don't have time
to think. It's exhilarating. He is a semi retired optometrist,
lived in Ventura for a long time. Oh and by
the way, Tom is ninety. He is participating in the
(11:00):
stair climbing races at ninety, turns out regularly for events
across the country and abroad. In September he plans to
go back to Crown Plaza there in Ventura for the
annual climb. This is the nine to eleven And then
this is what I remember covering. It was probably the
inaugural one back in two thousand and two. It's a
nine to eleven memorial stair climb, and it benefits in
(11:23):
this case the Ventura Fire Honor Guard, which funds funerals
and tributes for fallen firefighters, honors those lost in the attacks.
And he says, Tom does, I'm able to donate, I'm
able to run, and that's a pretty good deal. Here's
one of the things that I like to point out
every time I see it happening.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
What's the quote, It's never too late to be what
you might have been.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Tom didn't take up stair climbing until he was seventy five.
Now he had spent decades running five k's ten K's.
He played the cross at Ohio State back in the
day all American, but over time, he said, then I
began to feel monotonous, and how Tom he craved a
new challenge, and so he spots this ad for a
seventy five story stair climb up the bank Tower downtown
(12:09):
LA and uh and there there the love was born.
He says, it's a passion to keep my heart going,
to keep my whole body going, to stay race ready.
He trains in a variety of ways, including weekly strength
classes at the YMCA and Camillo. His trainer, Tanya was
(12:33):
shocked to hear that he was ninety. He's working out
with her and somehow she finds out that, uh, he's
ninety and what your what? Tom has been attending her
barbell strength class for years. It's one of the most
physically demanding sessions offered at the WHY and his strength,
(12:54):
range of motion, upright posture stand out, especially for Anne.
There's modifications in this class, as you can imagine, he
takes none of them. She often uses him as a
positive example when encouraging others to take on new fitness challenges,
and she says, you can see the wheels going on
(13:15):
in their head as people look over at Tom like
maybe I can do this, I can do this. It's
like when I was doing a peloton ride with the
pregnant cyclist and I thought, if she's eight months pregnant
doing this, I can continue. I mean, you look across
the room and there's a ninety year old doing that.
(13:37):
The hell yes, you can continue to do it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
How does he celebrate? How does Tom celebrate after a
race up those flights of stairs? He celebrates with blueberry pie.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
He's competed in stair climbs across the country New York, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, Vegas, Houston, Tokyo, Taipei.
He's count a lost count of the number of races,
and it's all it's a sense of community for him.
Douglas pace is sixty seven. He's an elite stair climber.
He met Tom at a race in twenty twelve. Since then,
(14:10):
the two do this together. They've competed dozens of climbs
side by side. Douglas at sixty seven says, Tom is,
of course one of the cream of the croc crop,
one of the wonderful people at these races.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
How cool is that? Tom? Says?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
It was because of his father's declining health and death
in midlife that he really was pushed to stay healthy.
He said, my father died when he was sixty three,
and his family all died of heart disease very early,
so I never thought I would live this long. I
doubled down on preventative health and exercise will send us
a habit, but a form of protection.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
How cool is that? Love that story?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Joe is a US Army Special Forces veteran and he
served in Afghanistan after that. For years, Joe fought a
daily battle against a voice inside his head screaming anxious, dark,
dangerous thoughts. Joe had lost multiple team members in combat.
Two decades he spent with the Green Berets, and he
(15:23):
tried everything to cure his PTSD or to try to
live with it. Talk therapy, group therapy, medication, swimming with dolphins.
I mean, if somebody said it worked, Joe would try it.
But the voice grew louder and Joe tried to take
his own life. Now he survived, but he was one
(15:43):
of the lucky ones. Many service members do not In fact,
in average, seventeen point six veterans die by suicide each
day in twenty twenty two. Is that is that stat
That's when that stat is from. That's the latest year
for data that's available. And Joe says, I couldn't be happy.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I was angry.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I was fearful all the time, white knuckling it through life,
he says, out of the blue, a buddy from counter
terrorism unit calls me and says, hey, would you be
interested in trying psychedelics? So a couple weeks later, out
of options, he says, okay. So he goes from San
Diego to Mexico to participate in his Stanford observational study
and used a psychedelic drug to treat PTSD anxiety and depression.
(16:30):
It was working amongst Special Forces veterans, and after just
one dose, Joe said he experienced what he had been
desperately searching for, silence, the voice in his head gone.
He says, this saved his life. And I don't mean
it just saying that, not flippantly. He said, it legitimately
saved my life. A month after the treatment, participants in
(16:53):
the study experienced an average of eighty eight percent reduction
and PTSD symptoms. Amber Capone is the CEO and the
co founder of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions. She joins us now, Amber,
thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm very
grateful for the opportunity to share more about our work
and about Joe. And when I hear you read that
or you know, stay that about Joe, I can't believe
it because I didn't know him then. To know him
now and to know the struggle that he has come through,
it almost seems like you're describing two completely different people.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, it's remarkable when you hear these stories of what
this treatment has done, specifically Amber, because he tried so
many other options. You know, it's not like he was
living with this and just said, you know, this is
the way it's going to be and no, I don't
want to try any of that crap. I mean, he
was really trying to overcome it to no avail until
this therapy. If you could take us through how it works,
(17:52):
how you came up with this there at vets at
Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
So we actually have a very similar story. My husband
was a Navy seal and transitioned out of the military
is medically retired at thirteen years. We were the lucky
ones who survived the wars when so many of our
friends didn't. And you think that life will just pick
up where you left off prior to nine to eleven,
prior to the wars, and nothing could have been further
(18:21):
from the truth. So we experienced all the same challenges
with just the things that didn't work, lack of support
outside of the military, loss of purpose, loss of identity,
loss of community, and everything became this perfect storm. Now
(18:42):
I'm also like, I've known Marcus my whole life. Marcus
is my husband, and so he is, in my opinion,
a high achiever. He likes to check things off the list,
he likes to attain goals, and he was so frustrated
that he was trying so hard at everything he was
being told to do, primarily through vacare medications. Oh my gosh,
(19:04):
so many pharmaceuticals, talk therapy, lots of brain clinics, and
some innovative treatments as well, but nothing was working. And
so you know, as suicide prevention specialists described it to me,
as our military is trained to identify threats and remove them,
(19:25):
and when they identify themselves as a threat, then suicide
is on the table. And so I knew that my
husband was experiencing suicidal thoughts. He thought he would be
doing us a favor by no longer being a burden
to us because he felt like he was trying all
of these things and nothing was working. I had come
(19:46):
to accept that our future was not looking good and
I didn't know what to do. So a friend had
shared about this treatment in Mexico. I felt like it
was crazy, but it was this sort of hail Mary
asked the cheffer to save him and if it worked,
you know, I couldn't imagine it would work after so
many things didn't. But it did. And the very first
(20:09):
thing my husband said to me was, this is it.
This is exactly what veterans who are struggling need. And
so we just really got to work putting together a
nonprofit that would allow funds to be sent to veterans
who were willing to leave the United States to access
this therapy, and Joe was one of the veterans we
were honored and privileged enough to support.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I've never heard it put that way, and it makes
so much sense. The way you put that amber about
how when you're in the military, you're trying to remove
a threat, and when the threats yourself that's where your
mind goes.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That is huge. How does it work?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
What is the psychedelic How often do you have to
take it?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
How often?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
I mean, is this something that you apply to your
daily life back home?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Or how does it work.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
When my husband went in twenty seventeen, we had no
idea what it was or how it worked. We just
knew that it really did work. And this is why research,
research like the Stanford study is so critical, because we
need to better understand how it works. In the years since,
we have supported hundreds of veterans who have chosen this
(21:16):
same option in Mexico. Many of them go one time,
it's a one and done, but it's not always like that.
The most important thing to consider when someone pursues psychedelic
therapy is the integration period that comes after the dosing session,
and this is something that we do very well at
VETS if I do believe, where we provide one on
(21:40):
one coaching, group coaching, community support, meditation training, allowing the
veterans who come through our programs to really tup into
all resources available to them and dealing with this trauma
and then getting past it and moving on. I think
the approach that we have available to us in the
(22:01):
United States are band aids, a lot of pharmaceuticals and
things that sort of help numb the symptoms but don't
necessarily get to the root cause. Psychedelics are really effective
at getting to the root cause. Dealing with trauma that
might be repressed or uncomfortable to deal with, and doing
so with a trained professional is paramount to long term success.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Okay, can you hang on, Amber.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I have a couple more questions about how available this is,
how expensive it is, is their help from government program,
So that's great. We'll tackle all that when we come back.
We are talking with Amber Coppone. She has co founder
CEO of Veterans exploring Treatment Solutions. Treatment that's getting grave
reviews among veterans that have had PTSD have lived with it,
(22:51):
a huge reduction in PTS symptoms, depressions sometimes I mean
eighty eight percent reduction in PTSD symptoms after this treatment.
We'll get some more questions answered with Amber when we
come back.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
In the meantime, you're.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Forty coming up after Deborah's news at the top of
the hour, we'll get you caught up on everything everybody
is talking about everywhere with what is happening. If somebody
this weekend says, hey, did you hear about that, you
can say, of course, I heard about that, heard about
it on Gary and Shannon. Also what you learned this
week in that vein coming up as well, and the
(23:30):
nine news nuggets you need to know the crazy stories
it fell through the cracks of the news couch. We
bring that all to you in the massive twelve o'clock hour.
In the meantime, we're talking about psychedelic therapy that is
saving lives of veterans who experience post traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety depression.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
They're all different, by the way.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
PTSD is not just the umbrella over anxiety and depression.
They all come with their unique set of problems and
there have been huge success stories coming out of using psychedelics.
This was a Stanford observational study that we talked about
using a psychedelic to treat these things.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The name Amber, we're talking to Amber Capone.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
She's the co founder and CEO of Veterans exploring treatment VETS,
and is how do I pronounce this the name of
the psychedelic I begin iboo.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Gain, Yeah, perfect, you got it?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Great, So I began.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
After a month of the treatment, participants experienced an average
or on average, eighty eight percent reduction in PTSD, eighty
seven percent reduction in depression, eighty one percent reduction in
anxiety symptoms amber. How available is this for veterans who
have tried other options, or even who have not and
(24:52):
want to give this a go.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
It's not available. It's not available in the United States,
where it's considered a schedule on substance, which means it
has no medical value and a high potential for abuse.
It's absolutely misscheduled in my opinion, because there is such
extreme medical value, multifaceted medical value, and then it's primary
utilization until just recently, has been to treat addiction. So
(25:19):
I think it's fundamentally misunderstood and mischeduled. But it is
illegal here. So this is why VETS is in existence.
Because when my husband went through this kind of rogue
treatment in twenty seventeen, someone had paid for that, and
because we were struggling so much at the time, we
would have never been able to come out of pocket
(25:39):
that thousands of dollars that it takes to get out
of the country and pay for this experience. So VETS
provides that subsidies to veterans that are coming through our
program and unfortunately they have to travel abroad.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
What is the demand like, as it so strong that
you're having to pick and choose?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yeah, oh yeah, it's horrible because absolutely every application that
we receive and review is worthy of this opportunity, and
yet we are constricted because we're using you know, donor dollars.
We are constricted to how many grants we can provide
every year, which is roughly two hundred to two hundred
(26:21):
and fifty. It's a lot of money. It takes a
lot of work to be able to do just that.
But I think we received that many applications in like
January alone. So the more that we talk about this,
the more the veterans share about this, because you know,
it is a community that is very trusting and takes
care of one another, and so when someone has this
(26:43):
experience they share with their friends. It creates a demand
that we simply can't meet. The only way to do
it is to get ahead of it. Through policy work,
which VETS is also engaged in.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I was going to ask, how do we get this
psychedelic off the schedule? Is it a matter of of
a number of federally approved clinical trials, studies government sanctioned
research on this How does that happen?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yes, So we actually just worked on a bill in
Texas which appropriated fifty million dollars from the state budget
to match a drug developer fifty million dollars to launch
FDA clinical trials on IBA game. So it's happening. These
substances can be researched here in the United States, but
(27:30):
some of the roadblocks and barriers to doing so add
significant delays to the research process. Because they're schedule one,
it makes it even more complicated and time consuming to
start this research. So the story of Joe and how
we're connected for this segment comes around a bill that
(27:53):
we are supporting in California which reduces the lag times
on research. Because every day, you know, we lose roughly
twenty veterans the suicide like you had highlighted in your opening,
some reports suggest that it could be more than double that.
So time is of the essence and every day counts.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
I see that you have a Is it a documentary
that's coming out on Netflix in Waves and War?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. We just announced recently
that Netflix has picked up the film and it will
begin streaming on November third of this year.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
And what is it about?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
So the film follows and it starts, you know, with
our story and my husband's immediate inclination to help his friends,
and the film highlights two of his friends who are
going through the experience. These are men that have served
together on the battlefield. In one case, in one of
(28:59):
the main characters, if you will, had his life saved
by another one of the main characters on the battlefield,
and now they're going into this new battle together to
find peace and meaning and hope after their service. And
so it highlights the work of Bets, the origin story,
the Stanford study, and the implications for how this film
(29:21):
could be leveraged in other ways like it was in
Texas to get Lomickers to better understand that the stigma
associated with psychedelics needs to change. We're not talking about
using these substances to numb out. We're talking about using
them to lean in and do really hard work so
(29:41):
that someone is allowed to actually thrive in life and
not merely survive.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, I mean if you can even if well, I
won't go into that, but the benefits far outweigh any
sort of concerns about these productive members society. They're not
into taking drugs and you know, like you said, numbing
out or what have you. But even if there was
(30:08):
a small chance of that happening, you're saving so many
lives with this.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Wouldn't you just want to take that risk?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I mean I would, all right, So if people wanted
to donate, I'm assuming that donations to VETS will help
you achieve your legislative agenda in terms of getting this
off that Schedule one drug classification.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Absolutely. Yes. The work of VETS is multifaceted. We're providing
grants to veterans every day. We're also sponsoring research in
the United States like to Stanford Study, and we're advocating
for real policy change at the state and federal levels
of government. Everything is fueled by donations to our mission.
Our website is vet solutions dot org, and everything about
(30:52):
the organization, including the documentary, can be found on the website.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Okay, vet solutions dot org, g vet solutions dot org.
That is a stellar way to spend your money. All right,
Amber Capone, thank you so much for what you're doing.
Really appreciate your time today and your time every day
for this effort.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Thank you so much for highlighting this critical issue. I
appreciate it, all right.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And you can check out Amber and her husband's story
by the way, in Waves and War. That'll be on
Netflix coming up this fall. All right, when we come back,
we will talk trending. Everybody. Everyone is talking about everybody everyone.
You know what I'm talking about. It's what's happening on
Gary and Shannon.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
You've been listening to the Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Gary and Shannon News
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