Kamryn Otwell from The Green Glitch Movie

Alright, what's up everybody? We are live. Welcome to JT Books and Films, and tonight is our kickoff night with our new podcast, and it is called Beyond the Veil. And I am going to play this cool little intro for you guys, and I'm going to introduce you to— introduce you guys to my new guest that will be on here tonight. So here we go.

Welcome to Beyond the Glitch, the podcast where we expose the darkness behind the issues affecting our lives and bring truth, hope, and healing into the light. From addiction and mental health to culture, faith, and the stories people are afraid to tell, nothing is off limits. I'm Jason Tremko, and together we're going beyond the Glitch.

All right, so welcome to Beyond the Glitch. Again, I am your host, Jason Tremko. I'm the author of The Green Glitch and the creator of the film The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce. And tonight I'm very excited, I have a new guest here, and she was actually in my recent film, The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce. And her name is Cameron Otwell, formerly known as Cameron Tremko, my awesome daughter. So she is a psychology student, and she was at one point struggling with high-potency marijuana, and since then she's overcame, and now she's working to finish up her psychology degree to where she can go out and help other people who have struggled with the same things that she's struggling with. So without further ado, I am gonna bring her on the set and introduce you to her. So here we go. All right. Hey Cameron, how you doing? Good. How was it backstage back there? So I'm talking about— all right, now the spotlight's on you, huh? All right, that's good. Okay, so you're out there in sunny California right now, right? Yeah. What was the, the temperature like out there today? Yeah, burning up out there, 102. Well, it's been— when I woke up this morning, it was like 55 degrees here, so I know you're ready to Enjoy that nice cold weather again, huh? I actually had to put on a long sleeve shirt today because it was a little chilly this morning. So it is, yeah, but at least you got the sun, you got the sunshine. You like to go outside in the sun a lot, right?

No?

All right, so tell us a little bit about it, Cameron. You know, what are you trying to do? What is your goals? You know, you're going to college. Tell us a little bit about your, your major and what you're hoping to accomplish with your, uh, your future. That's cool. So, you know, what is it about helping people? You know, like, what's— why is that important to you?

Okay.

Yeah, so, you know, with all my research and everything that I'm doing here lately, you know, I've kind of like, kind of had the desire to maybe go on and, uh, you know, become a counselor myself, you know, or maybe like a social worker of some type, you know, I guess I kind of do that, you know, I'm a school teacher, you know, but I guess I kind of do that, but you know, I have a passion for helping people out too, and that's kind of why I started this podcast, so It's pretty exciting, you get to be the very first one to kick us off here, so that's exciting. Okay, so we're gonna jump in here. I got some questions I'm gonna ask you, nothing too crazy. First question I have for you is, what first opened your eyes to the impact that modern high-potency THC products can have on individuals, families, communities, you know, because, you know, there's a lot of that stuff going on. I actually had a meeting today that I participated in, and it was really cool because I was around a whole bunch of other people that work in this kind of environment, you know, and, you know, we're working really hard to raise awareness, you know, for people that are struggling with drug addiction. And, you know, in my opinion, I think a lot of drug addiction starts with marijuana. You know, the statistics show us that, you know, 44% of people that use marijuana will advance on to harder drugs. And to me, that's very concerning. You know, that's almost half. You know, we have 70% of people in the United States that are pushing to legalize marijuana, but they don't talk about, you know, the negatives of it. You know, so, you know, what opened your eyes to the impact that high-potency modern forms of marijuana are having on individuals, families, and communities. You know, you were a high school student not too long ago, so. Yeah, so, you know, during that meeting today, um, we actually had, you know, some, some people that were informing me on some stuff that I, you know, I mean, I knew about it, you know, but I didn't realize, you know, I would— I was thinking, you know, marijuana and vaping and stuff is more of like a high school thing. I mean, I understand my research that it starts in middle school, but according to the experts that I was with today, they were saying that they're actually having more issues with drugs and marijuana specifically inside of middle schools. That's very concerning to me. And, uh, you know, I think it's part of the plan, honestly. I think the marijuana industry is targeting out the individuals, um, as young as 7th and 8th graders because they know it's hooking them And despite what people think, you know, I mean, and let me ask you, why do you think people will say things like marijuana is not addictive or there's no way that kids can access that stuff? You know, why do you think, you know, people think that? Yeah, and, and I agree with that. I mean, and I think it happened so fast that people didn't catch it, and I think it was designed that way, um, you know, because for my research, you know, for, for our listeners right now, um, I researched, you know, between 2019 and 2024, there were 21.6 million— okay, we're not talking about thousands, we're talking about millions of applications from vaping companies that were sent to the FDA to try to get regulated so they could get a market order to be able to sell these products. And out of 21.6 million applications, 1 million of those applications were reviewed and only 30 products, 3-0 out of 21 million, were regulated to sell. And out of the ones, a lot of the million that they denied, they actually rejected them because they were not safe. You know, so as a result, these vaping industries, and you know, they basically flooded the market, and it happened so fast that people couldn't keep up with it. And now we have a crisis, but nobody's talking about it. You know, to me it's very concerning. You know, I've talked to a lot of kids, and for our viewers, I would challenge you, you know, and Cameron, you can validate this probably, you know, I've asked just random people, you know, if you're in Walmart, you know, and you just go up to a random kid and ask them what grade they're in, you know, like, you're 9th grade, 10th grade, just ask them, you know, if I ask you between 0 to 100%, what percentage of students in your school do some form of vaping or smoking? Most of the responses I get are 60 to 75%. Um, do you think that's pretty accurate? You would say honestly 80%? Yeah, most, you know, and I know you're just guessing, you know, but most of the kids that I interview or I just randomly ask, because I talk to people, you know, and I'll just ask somebody, I'll be like, "Hey, what school do you go to? Okay, how many people do you think in your school vape?" And usually it's between 60 to 75%. You're saying 80, that's a huge number. You know, so people are in denial. You know, a lot of people out there are saying, "Oh, there's no way." Yes, there is a way and it is happening, y'all. It's happening. So, you know, we need to start paying attention. All right. So, you know, the next question I have for you is what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about today's marijuana industry compared to marijuana from previous generations? So what kind of problems are there? You know, because you always hear the positives, you know, people, it's always the same thing, you know, it helps me with anxiety. It helps me with depression, it helps me with my pain, it helps me, you know, like medical, okay? But in my research I found more negatives than positives. So why do you think people talk more about the positives of it than they do the negatives? Okay, so what, um, so what do you think most people start for? Like, what is the reason most, you know, because, you know, again, it's a lot of kids that are starting. Why do you, why do you think they start most of the time? So, you know, what do you think led to you being addicted to it? You know, because a lot of people say, "There's no way you're addicted to marijuana." You know, we'll get into why that is in a minute, but, you know, what do you think led you to get addicted to it, and how did you know when it was a problem? Yeah, so, um, what kind of, you know, like, what kind of sicknesses were you experiencing? Yeah, now, you know, what's with my research and stuff, you know, I've researched a lot about cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. I've wrote about it, you know, I learned a lot from you about it and You know, some people will still challenge you. You know, they'll try to say that's not a real thing. You know, one of my close friends actually told me when he read my book, he got to that part of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, CHS for short, for our viewers, and he basically said it didn't make sense to him. He was like, that doesn't sound right. But then when he started researching, he realized it was a thing because it's not the same drug anymore. You know, people that used to smoke 1 to 3% back in the '60s, '70s, '80s, you know, maybe 10%, 15% in the '90s, you know, they could just quit cold turkey most of the time, right? Didn't come with sickness or illness or anything. But now modern cannabis is high potency, you know, 60, 70, 80, 90% strength. So it's having a different effect on your body. You know, some people say, well, marijuana makes you fat. It doesn't make you lose weight. Okay, but with CHS, it does make you lose weight, right? You know, why is that? Yeah, yeah. So what do you think was the switch? You know, like what led to the switch, you know, from like getting the munchies or whatever to now you're losing weight? Yeah, that's right. And I think, you know, it, it does affect everybody different, you know, so You gotta, you gotta take it serious, you know, because a lot of people, they just worry about them. They just worry about themselves, you know. It doesn't make me this way, so I don't want to talk about what it does to everybody else, right? Is that, is that a good way to think? Yeah, yeah. And You know, there's a lot of other things that people can turn to, in my opinion, right? Okay, but anyway, let's look at this next question here. You know, what first, well, let's see. What, I was about to read the same question. All right, so what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about today's marijuana industry compared to marijuana from previous generations? Biggest misconception. Yeah, I mean, you know, yeah, you know, it's definitely not the same thing. And that's, you know, I think it's important that we make sure the narrative is talked about correctly because you have a big generational gap, you know. People that are celebrating, the 70% of people that are celebrating legalization, they're probably talking about the marijuana that they smoked when they were a kid, you know. They're growing the stuff, they're smoking the true plant, the real plant, 1 to 3% strength. But now you got kids hitting 70, 80, 90%. It's not the same thing and it's gonna affect everybody different. So, you know, when you talk about marijuana, you can't talk about it like it's all created equal, like it's all the same thing, right? Now, when you were in school, you know, what do you— what, you know, THC strength do you think the average high school student has access to? Yeah, so, you know, a lot of people, again, they're in denial about it. Like, they don't think, you know, they'll fight somebody. Like, I was on our Facebook group out here, you know, because I'm on a lot of Facebook groups and stuff, and in our hometown here, and, you know, somebody posted something about this shop is selling to miners and this, this and that, and a whole bunch of people were like, no way, there's no way they're doing that. And then like 5 comments later, there was like 3 other people that were like, yes way, they are doing that because they sold it to me when I was a miner, you know. And like they're admitting to it, but then people are still like, no way. It's like they're just really in denial, you know. And my thing is It is happening, you know, so, you know, we got to start being honest that it's a problem, right? Because if kids at young ages are getting hooked and such a large percentage of them are using, what is the future of our drug problem in America looking like? What do you think? Why do you think it's getting more legalized? You know, I, I'm— I try to use common sense, you know what I'm saying? I look at all the negatives. You have kids, a large population of kids, getting addicted to this. They're struggling in school. In a lot of cases, it's making their mental health worse because they're getting put on antidepressant medication. Their parents have no clue that they're smoking marijuana. And the side effects of using marijuana, and a high-potency marijuana more importantly, with cannabis, it's actually making conditions even worse, right? So, what— with all that going on, why do you think 70% of people are pushing to legalize? Or maybe they just don't care about the issues. Yeah, and I think, you know, they're the marijuana industry is trying to secretly come in and make it where nobody questions it anymore, just like alcohol. You know, I had somebody the other day get all attitudey with me. They were like, "Why don't you worry about alcohol versus marijuana? You know, it kills more people than marijuana." I'm like, "Yeah, it does. It does. You're 100% right, dude." You know, and that's why we should be talking about marijuana, right? Because if alcohol is known to cause 7 types of cancer, It is killing more people and it doesn't stop them. They're still drinking it, you know, but they don't question it. They don't talk about it anymore because the narrative is no longer there, you know. And if we're not careful, the marijuana industry is going to sneak in and do the same thing. And eventually we're just not going to talk about it anymore. Right. But now it's at the expense of, of kids. So, yeah, I mean, you know, if you're a viewer out there, I would encourage you to, to do your research on it. You know, it's not that we're trying to come down on you and tell you not to not to smoke marijuana for medical reasons or whatever your reasons are. We're not trying to make you feel bad or demonize you, but we need to be honest about it because it is affecting people. It's causing a major problem, right? Would you, would you agree with that, Cameron? Okay. Do you think it affects— how do you think it affects kids in school? Like, how does it affect them? And that's— the story changes once they, once they get clean too, because all the ones I know that got clean, they'll come back and say, oh, now, now I'm actually really making good grades, you know, like I'm more motivated. Right. So they, yeah, so they, they know, they know the reality, you know, it's just, uh, do we want to be honest about it?

Right.

Um, all right. So, you know, we're about halfway through here. So I talked about, um, you being in the green glitch. Um, so I'm going to show our viewers the documentary trailer real quick. So let me put that up and then we'll come right back to the questions here. Okay, so here we go. I'll play this for our viewers. If this isn't the marijuana of the '60s and '70s, then why are we still treating it like it is?

This isn't the marijuana you remember. For decades, marijuana carried a reputation: natural, harmless, even peaceful. But somewhere along the way, it changed. Stronger, faster, engineered, What if what we're calling marijuana today isn't marijuana at all? In the 1960s and '70s, marijuana averaged between 1 and 3% THC. Today, concentrates and cartridges can reach 90%. This isn't evolution, it's engineering.

People think it's going to be a solution when it's going to be the problem, and a lot of people will never realize that it's problem.

I was in 7th grade when somebody offered me a vape.

70% of the population encourages the legalization of marijuana. Why would kids have anything to worry about?

If you were like me, I didn't like doing anything other than marijuana. All I wanted to do— like, my parents would go do something fun, they would go get breakfast, and I wanted to stay home so I could hide in my room and smoke. Like, that's what I wanted to do.

26.6 million applications, 1.2 million reviewed, 30 approved. And that's not a system saying everything is fine. That's a system quietly telling us something is very wrong. In reality, the signs of cannabis addiction are all around us. They're not hidden in dark alleys or dramatic breakdowns. They're woven into everyday conversations, routines, and excuses. All we have to do is slow down, listen, and ask the right questions.

If 70% of people in the United States considered this reality, we might actually be able to stop a child from becoming addicted to marijuana. There we go. So that was the trailer for the film. I would encourage you to check that out. I'll share it in the, uh, the chat box there, the links. You guys can go check it out if you haven't seen it yet. Um, so Cameron, you know, tell us a little bit about, you know, why you said what you said there. That is sad. And, you know, 60%, you know, the stats, like I said, there's a lot of them. The actual stats are 60% of parents right now don't know that their kids are using. So that's sad, you know. So I think this book and film will help people and parents kind of understand that bigger picture, you know. So how do you think, how do you think parents can help, help kids, you know, nowadays that are struggling with it?

Yeah.

Yeah, because with you, you know, I remember, you know, when you first started, you know, we found out, you know, I was, I was mad. It's like, you're grounded, I'm gonna punish you. But then when I saw like how sick you actually were, you know, yeah, I was like, man, this is like a lot more going on, you know. So then it makes me wonder, you know, and I did the research on it, like how many other kids are dealing with that, you know. And that's one thing I'm trying to encourage administrators, you know, if you're a teacher out there, an administrator, you know, I think what we're doing is not working. I don't think we can just continue to punish people, you know, without offering them a solution, you know, because in my opinion, and you could tell me what you think, Cameron, I think a lot of young people are highly addicted to marijuana or vaping or smoking. Um, and they probably have been for a long time. And by the time anybody finds out about it, it's too late, you know, because they can't tell the doctor, they can't tell their parents because they don't want to get in trouble, they can't tell the administration at the school because they don't want to get in trouble. So as a result, that person just suffers quietly with an addiction that's slowly eating them, eating at them and holding them back in school and their motivation and everything else, you know. So what do you think about that? Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. Um, you know, now what, what if, you know, if you could go back in time knowing what you know now, what would, what would you tell your future or your, your future self if you could go back in time? Yeah. And, you know, most of the, most of the kids that I've talked to or interviewed, they'll kind of say the same thing. You know, it's like once they stopped, all those things came back that they like to do, that they enjoy spending time with family. You know, they just felt happier. You know, they were making better grades. It's like, it's such a, it's such a delusion, you know, like or an illusion, I guess I should say, you know, that people are dealing with. So, okay, so next question here. All right, in your experience, how has increased marijuana use affected youth mental health addiction or recovery efforts? Yep. So, in your experience, how has increased marijuana use affected youth mental health, addiction, or recovery efforts? Yeah, so, you know, I was reading, you know, a lot of people get a dopamine overload, you know. So basically, like, you feel like, you feel like you got super anxiety, like you kind of freak out a little bit, you know, or you're gonna be super calm one minute and then like freaking out the next, you know. Is that kind of like what you were dealing with? Yeah, yeah. And you know, what, what percentage of THC did you start with? And dabs. And yeah, those are— yeah, those are, uh, those are probably not good for you, huh? Yeah, but you know, unfortunately, I think that's what most of the kids are having access to, right? Because you can't just walk into a dispensary and get a true marijuana plant, right?

Yep.

Yeah, and there's actually been cases of, you know, they're starting to find like meth inside of these things, um, you know, so it's like, man, you know, have to start paying attention on this stuff because if 60% of parents don't know their kids are using, you know, what are you, what are you going to do when you, you get a phone call that your kid is passed out in the hallway at school you know, because he was laced by a vape that had methamphetamines or fentanyl in it or something, you know what I'm saying? Like, that kind of stuff is happening. Well, let me ask you this then, you know, because like we were talking about that today at my meeting, you know, why, why do you think kids are like so willing to just take whatever somebody offers to them? Like, you literally just pass them around, you know what I'm saying? Like, why, why, why are y'all so brave and willing to do that? You know, like, why are, you know, middle schoolers and high schoolers, you know, because you know their parents are telling them not to do it. Because it's dangerous, right? And you just gave us an example, you know, so why, you know, why are we doing that? So why do you think, you know, I was reading something, you know, medical marijuana users, you know, right now they're saying like almost over half of medical marijuana users are meeting the medical criteria, the medical definition for cannabis use disorder. Why do you think that's happening? Yeah, almost half of medical marijuana users are meeting the medical definitions or the medical criteria for cannabis use disorder. So almost half of users are abusing— basically half of medical users are abusing medical marijuana. Why is that? Yeah. And the, you know, the— why do you think the people that do use don't want to have the discussion about the negatives? I think I might already ask that. Yeah, okay, so we're almost done here. All right, so in your experience, um, what warning signs should parents, teachers, pastors, community leaders be paying closer attention to when it comes to cannabis use amongst young people? Yep, kind of withdrawal, right? Like withdrawing. Yeah, that's a classic symptom. I agree with that.

Mm-hmm.

Yep, I agree with that. All right, so, you know, parents, pay attention. Okay, if you could leave our audience with one message about making informed decisions regarding marijuana use, What would it be? Yeah, I agree. Okay, um, and what gives you hope that our communities can address these challenges and better support young people moving forward? Yeah, and that's a whole nother topic because the law is the law, right? Like, I've been reading, you know, yes, some states have legalized, but it's still illegal in all 50 states to consume cannabis while you are driving, right? So You know, yeah, people are gonna do it, you know, but my thing is you can't get mad at your kids when they get into trouble when you've literally been breaking the law with them in the car driving them to school, right? I've literally smelled marijuana in the school, the elementary school, you know, drop-off, right? I'm like, what example are you setting here? You know what I'm saying? Basically, you're telling the kids it's okay to break the law. That's what you're telling them. You know, so that's a tough pill to swallow. Nobody likes that, but it's true, right? And the only way you're gonna fix problems is to be truthful. So, you know, I would tell people, don't be scared of truth, okay? Live by the truth, have integrity, teach your kids to have integrity, because when you do, they're more likely to, you know, keep their head on straight, right?, right? And not do the wrong things, you know? So, you know, now you're in college making straight A's now, right? That's awesome. Congratulations on that. So, you know, I look forward to seeing you go off into your career field and hopefully you can help out a lot of people. And, you know, what message would you give our school administrators that are listening to this? What would you tell them? What advice would you tell them? Because, you know, I believe, and tell me if I'm wrong, that most addiction starts in school. I really believe that, you know, because 5% of student smokers will say they— well, only 5% of smokers that start as a juvenile think that they will continue after high school. Okay, but the reality is 75% continue after high school, well into their adult years. Some people all the way till the day die. So, you know, I believe most addiction starts in school. So, you know, I don't know what you think about that, but what, what advice would you give our administrators, maybe our law enforcement officers that are out there, um, you know, county sheriffs, politicians? What advice would you give them? Yeah. Um, and what do you, what do you think some steps are that they could do? You know, let's say law enforcement, you know, like, well, I'm gonna have a, uh, a county sheriff on here pretty soon to kind of talk about this from the law enforcement perspective, you know. But if he was on here right now, what would you tell him? You know, what, what advice would you tell the county sheriff to look for in their county. I know, tough questions. Probation or community service or something like that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Now I think at some point, you know, okay, yeah, you got to bring the hammer down, um, you know, but I think, you know, right now it's like it's either too extreme, like it's either too hard, you know, lock them up, put them in jail for life, or we just let them go and then we don't do anything to help Right? So like, we gotta figure out something, you know? That's where your job comes in. That's what you get to do. So that's cool. So it'll be fun. You know, I definitely wanna have you back on here once you finish your bachelor's degree. Tell us how that's going. And then you're about to have a baby. Yeah. So, yep. Get to see my grandbaby. So, Um, you know, hopefully you'll do some good work. Gotta keep that baby safe too, right? Yeah, that's right. So, um, I think that's about it. So once we, uh, finish here, Cameron, uh, don't close out your screen until you see up at the top there, it's got that little uploading thing. It's like 80. Yeah, it's at like 84%. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, wait till it gets to 100 before you close it out so that way we don't lose everything. Okay. Any last words you want to tell our viewers?

Beans.

Yeah, and, uh, I appreciate you, uh, you being honest on here and talking about stuff that no one else wants to talk about. That's what we do on here, so that's what we're going to continue to do on here, all right? Because light always outshines darkness. All right. And if I can save or help save one kid from being addicted, then that's what I want to do. If I have to have tough conversations to do that, then that's what I'm going to do. And, uh, I know it takes courage for you to be on here as well. Um, you know, and if you're watching and maybe this resonated with you and you want to share your story of addiction, okay, reach out to me. I would love to have you on here. I would love to hear your story and let you bring some light to this world. So thanks for tuning in, guys. I'm gonna show you guys one more trailer that I have for my new film, and this one kind of takes addiction into an adult perspective, okay? Starring me, myself, and I. All right, so I'm gonna put that on real quick, and then we'll go ahead and end this thing. This is called "Through the Veil." It kind of shows the way addiction takes hold over time in the lives of an adult.

As dawn breaks, the cycle begins again. The alarm sounds. He rises, drives the same winding road, sits at the same desk, speaks the same hollow words. To the world, he appears functional, but inside, he is unraveling. Every mile is haunted by memories of what he threw away. Every quiet moment echoes with the voices he no longer hears. The laughter of his children, the love of his wife, the faith he abandoned when the darkness seemed easier to embrace. There are forces that have been with him all along. And tonight, the veil will be lifted, and what has been stalking him in the darkness will finally step forward to claim what remains of his soul.

He was victorious over death, hell, and the grave. We are made to be victorious. You are victorious in Christ. With Christ in our life, we are victorious in life and in death.

Hallelujah!

We are the Lord's.

So that is— so that is Through the Veil, and I'm excited, guys. That's gonna be going through the film festival circuits as well, so stay tuned, guys. JT Books and Films, we got a lot coming at you. Maybe we'll talk about spiritual warfare sometime here soon too. So, but again, Cameron, you are awesome, and yeah, we love you, and thanks for tuning in all the way from California. Stay— stay— yeah, thank you. I know you were, you were busy and busy being pregnant and stuff, so you know, you didn't want to— you don't want to you know, take too much time out of your busy day. But no, we do appreciate it, and we'll see you soon, buddy. Alright, have a good night.