WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.360 Welcome. This is Marcia for RADIOI, and today I will 2 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.839 be reading National Geographic magazine dated September twenty twenty five, 3 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:12.759 which is donated by the publisher as a reminder. RADIOI 4 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:15.759 is a reading service intended for people who are blind 5 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:18.839 or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read 6 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:22.719 printed material. Please join me now for the continuation of 7 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:27.440 the article I began last time, entitled will Mexico's Train 8 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:32.439 of the Future Leave its past behind? By Michael Finkel. 9 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:37.240 This train is a wonderful gift, says Anna Danielli, who 10 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.719 traveled across Mexico from her home in Guadalajara to experience trend. Maya, 11 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:47.600 I feel like I'm royalty, like Lady Diana. I'm bursting 12 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:52.079 with pride to be Mexican, says Norma villa Real, who 13 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.119 drove more than a thousand miles from Monterey in the 14 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.799 north with her ninety year old mother Concepcion, to ride 15 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.560 the train. High school teacher, and I can't wait to 16 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:05.799 tell my students about this. As for environmental concerns, Etienne 17 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:09.040 ads many trees were indeed removed to make the train. 18 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.439 The protesters were right, but a federal work program for 19 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:18.040 rural laborers called Semburano Nida or Sowing Life, is in 20 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.519 the process of planting five hundred million trees in the region, 21 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:24.920 far surpassing the number that were cut. It's one of 22 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.760 the world's largest reforestation endeavors. As part of the scope 23 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.879 of trend Maya's construction, according to the Mexican government, the 24 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:38.000 biosphere reserve of Calakmul, where the tracks passed by, expanded 25 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.280 its protected area by over a million acres, making it 26 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:45.799 the second largest natural sanctuary in the Americas, surpassed only 27 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.879 by the Amazon. The intervention of the military, in Etien's opinion, 28 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.159 was necessary. Mexico is littered with half finished projects, and 29 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:57.920 if it weren't for military control, activists may have tied 30 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.480 up trend Maya forever. There were previous passenger trains in 31 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.959 the region privately run, but they disappeared decades ago for 32 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:10.000 lack of profit. With the military in charge, Tranmya doesn't 33 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.719 need to make money. It's a public good, and the 34 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.240 train won't financially burden Mexican citizens as it holds no 35 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:19.599 debt and is chiefly funded by a tax on tourists. 36 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.439 Whether or not Tranmaya is an insult to the Maya 37 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.120 also seems part of the hyperbolic vitriol flung from both sides. 38 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.319 Ketzelt Saab, a well known activist who has consulted for 39 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.879 the United Nations on Native rights, insists that ninety five 40 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.120 percent of the indigenous people he knows favor the train. 41 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.599 The tiny minority opposed, he concedes, is masterful at making 42 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:48.039 itself heard. Condemnation of the archaeological rigor and the wilful 43 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.199 wrecking of relics is addressed by Manuel Perez Rivas, head 44 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:56.879 of the National Institute of Anthropology and Histories two thousand 45 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:01.960 person team. Yes. Perez Rives said the project wasn't perfect. 46 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:07.639 Some items didn't survive, but his team did register precisely 47 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.240 eight hundred seventy one thousand, two hundred sixty seven pieces 48 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:15.599 of archaeological significance, the most extensive rescue of Maya history 49 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:19.400 ever collected, and possibly the largest dig of all time. 50 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:23.360 The Yucatan is an evalving thing, not a museum, says 51 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:27.280 Perez Rivas. You need to balance the living with the historic. 52 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.960 If we preserved every artifact, we'd never build anything. The 53 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.840 pieces found by the team in obsidian jade seashell clay 54 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:41.280 and wood were notable because many weren't extraordinary, says Perez Rivas. 55 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.439 They were everyday objects like knives, plates, and pipes. When 56 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:48.960 fully studied decades, Hence, they will offer a more complete 57 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.360 understanding of how common people lived in ancient times. He adds, 58 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.039 the focus of the archaeology, like the train itself, will 59 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.360 be on lives that are often overlooked. It's the early 60 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.039 days of tran Maya, and no one knows where it's heading. 61 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.120 Triumph for disaster in or between. Ridership did start slowly, 62 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.919 but at t end projects a massive hit. The train 63 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:13.960 may Feel could serve as a many feel could serve 64 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:19.199 as a global template for juggling environmental concern and economic expansion, 65 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:23.079 and for how to transform a local population that's minimized 66 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:28.519 by tourism into one that reaps benefits. Detractors claim the opposite, 67 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.759 that the only thing tran Maya will achieve is to 68 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.680 show the world what not to do. The anti train 69 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.839 faction tends to view the project as a new kind 70 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.720 of threat, though this idea seems subverted at the renowned 71 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.519 archaeological site Cheats the Niza, a couple of train stops 72 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.879 west of Kankun. The ancient Maya constructed roads called sakboeb 73 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:53.680 all over the peninsula, which were wide and slightly elevated, 74 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.959 and often ran through the jungle plum strait. They look 75 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.600 a lot like train tracks. There's one in chi Zanita, 76 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.920 starting near the main pyramid, and something else is there too. 77 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:07.800 In the center of the site is an area of 78 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:11.439 giant pillars, lined up in rows of four, light colored 79 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:15.079 at least above ground and extending toward the forest. Their 80 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:19.759 similarity to the pillars that Rojo recorded is startling, except 81 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:23.439 that these are a thousand years old. A train connecting 82 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:27.800 Mexico and dividing it. When Tranmaya began running late last year, 83 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:31.120 it established a nine hundred sixty six mile loop across 84 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:34.519 five states in the Yucatan Peninsula. While the railway system 85 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:37.920 promises to bring jobs and boost tourism by taking people 86 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:41.519 to historic Maya sites in different cities, critics allege it 87 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:46.839 destroyed forests, disrupts animal habitats, and potentially pollutes critical underground 88 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:50.319 water stores called senotes, forcing a closer look at what 89 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.680 has been gained and what has been lost. Formation of 90 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:58.600 senotes around sixty five million years ago, a six mile 91 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:03.120 wide meteorite hit the Yucatan Peninsula. Rings of fractured bedrock 92 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:07.399 have effected where eroded chambers called Senote's form, many of 93 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.279 which are interconnected and influence underground water flow to day 94 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:16.800 vast reservoir below Senotes are conduits to an aquifer covering 95 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.439 roughly sixty four thousand square miles, a key source of 96 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:25.199 drinking water impacted by pollution from sewage and infrastructure projects. 97 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.720 Tren Maya links many modern cities and makes ancient Maya 98 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:33.160 sites more accessible. The addition of freight service in the 99 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.680 coming year could also mean major economic expansion cutting through 100 00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:42.480 protected lands. A rail line linking the southern Yucatan also 101 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:49.639 bisects UNESCO designated caloc Mule Biosphere Reservoir Reserve, a bio deserve, 102 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:57.480 a biodiverse rainforest where deforestation has raised concerns over environmental impacts. Next, 103 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:03.879 The Mystery of weed Sickness by Stacy Colino and Brian Kevin. 104 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:07.600 Strong new strains and forms of cannabis are linked to 105 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.120 a set of symptoms that of doctors puzzled, and diagnoses 106 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:16.639 of the strange syndrome are on the rise. Sierra Calaham 107 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:18.759 was twenty three When she had her first month long 108 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:23.759 bout of daily abdominal pain, nausea, and cyclical vomiting, she 109 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:26.639 was bewildered, but chalked it up to stress. Work had 110 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.199 been rough and she was on the outs with her family. 111 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.600 Anti nausea and anti anxiety meds got her through most 112 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.360 days and in the evenings when she wasn't actively vomiting, 113 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.439 she kept up her usual routine of smoking a little 114 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.040 pot she wanted so badly, she says, to relax and 115 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.399 not be as present in my body. Callahan lives in 116 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:51.240 Washington State, where recreational cannabis has been legal since twenty twelve, 117 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:53.920 and she had long been a daily, if moderate user 118 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:57.279 a bit each night as a sleep aid. Before her 119 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:01.839 first gastroetestrial ordeal in late twenty twenty, she was vaping 120 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.600 concentrated cannabis oil from a battery powered pen. After her 121 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.439 symptoms seemed to pass, she switched to smoking pre rolled 122 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:14.639 joints for a few years before returning to vapes. Then, 123 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.600 in early twenty twenty four came another weeks long attack 124 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.319 debilitating stomach cramps and daily, uncontrollable vomiting that sent her 125 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:26.439 choice to an emergency room on a visit to urgent care, 126 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:30.279 a doctor asked if she used cannabis every night. Callahan 127 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.159 said she was shocked when the doctor gave her a 128 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:41.960 provisional diagnosis, Cannobioid hyperamasis syndrome c HS, sometimes simply called 129 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.720 weed sickness. Recurring episodes of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain 130 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:50.879 are the classic symptoms of this puzzling gastro intestinal condition, 131 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.679 which is associated with long term, frequent use of marijuana, 132 00:08:55.039 --> 00:09:00.759 particularly high potency products. Doctors in Australia first described cannabinoid 133 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:07.200 hypermesis syndrome in two thousand and four. Cannabinoids are compound 134 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:12.440 compounds like THHC or CBD found in marijuana. Emesis is 135 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.840 the clinical term for vomiting. Just how many suffer from 136 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:20.879 CHS is unknown, but one twenty eighteen study extrapolating from 137 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:24.240 a survey administered to er patients put the number as 138 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.799 high as two point seventy five million people in the 139 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.360 United States each year. A recent research summary from the 140 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:36.200 Journal of the American Medical Association suggests it is increasingly diagnosed. 141 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:40.679 Er visits for CCHS doubled in the US and Canada 142 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:45.039 between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty one. What's behind the rise. 143 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:51.080 One factor, says Deepak Cyril Dusuza, a professor of psychiatry 144 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:53.840 and director of the Yale Center for the Science of 145 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:59.480 Cannabis and Cannabinoids, is the increasing potency of cannabis products. 146 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.440 Three years ago, samples seized by the US Drug Enforcement 147 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:09.279 Administration averaged four per cent THHC content by weight. As 148 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.360 of twenty twenty two, that average is about sixteen per cent. 149 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:17.159 The oil in vape cartridges like what calahamos using, can 150 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:21.720 reach as high as eighty five percent. Research also points 151 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:26.039 to the broadening legalization of recreational weed. In one characteristic 152 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.679 study published in twenty twenty two in the journal American 153 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:35.559 Journal of Gastroentrilology, researchers compared admissions for HS at a 154 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:40.480 large Massachusetts hospital between twenty twelve and twenty twenty, noting 155 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:44.600 a significant uptick after cannabis was legalised in the state 156 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:48.720 in late twenty sixteen. All the same, HS is a 157 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:53.679 frustratingly spotty affliction. Why some people seem to be vulnerable 158 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.440 to this and not others really seems to be a mystery, 159 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.799 Desuza says, most people who smoke cannabis dans don't get this, 160 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:06.279 acknowledges Christopher N. Andrews, a gestro entrologist and clinical professor 161 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.960 at the University of Calgary in Canada. Among those who do, 162 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.279 the symptoms aren't constant. It comes and goes, and it 163 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.039 happens in cycles, says Desuza. Andrews believes that if CHS 164 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.519 symptoms were more consistent, it might motivate more patients to 165 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:25.840 stop using cannabis. One theory about the cause of CHS 166 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:33.519 involves the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal HPS axis, which regulates the 167 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:39.000 body's stress responses by adjusting hormone balances. Chronic cannabis use 168 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:41.879 makes that pendulum swing further one way than the other, 169 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:48.840 Andrews says, perhaps triggering symptoms by abnormally stimulating the HPA axis. 170 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:52.879 There may also be a genetic susceptibility at work, and 171 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:56.039 depression and anxiety are common in people with the syndrome. 172 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.799 The paradox is, we don't understand what's triggering this in 173 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.799 particular moment, says David Leventhal, director of the neuro gastro 174 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:10.080 Enterology and Motility Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. 175 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:13.519 Among the leading suspects, he says, our lack of sleep 176 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:18.799 and intense stress. Another strange aspect of HS sufferers tend 177 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.000 to spend a lot of time in the shower. People 178 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:25.159 with HS often report temporary relief of symptoms from bathing 179 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.759 in hot water, which may lead to compulsive bathing, says 180 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.320 Maria Isabel Angulo, an assistant professor of internal medicine and 181 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.279 pediatrics at the University of Illinois in Chicago. This suggests 182 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:41.159 that the area of the brain that helps regulate body temperature, 183 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:45.840 the hypothalamus, might be involved in the syndrome. Whatever the causes, 184 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:49.759 the long term consequences of CHS can far exceed the 185 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:55.559 lengthy stretches of intense discomfort. Complications can include severe dehydration 186 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:00.159 and electrolyte imbalances, which can lead to kindy inner injury, 187 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:05.399 heart rhythm abnormalities, and seizures. In rare cases, such complications 188 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.799 can have can even prove fatal. As hard as its 189 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:13.879 symptoms are to ignore, Accurately diagnosing CHS can be tricky, 190 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:18.960 physicians say, partly because those symptoms mimic other gastro intestinal 191 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.840 conditions and because patients aren't always straightforward about their habits. 192 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:26.360 The way to make the diagnosis, Andrews explains, is to 193 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:30.679 have the patient come off cannabis, proving retroactively that it's 194 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.519 the cannabis causing the symptoms. Giving up pot is also 195 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.200 the only known lasting CHS solution, and while the myth 196 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:42.320 of non addictive cannabis persists, Quitting cold turkey from regular 197 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:47.279 use can cause symptoms like anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, and 198 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.360 loss of appetite. Relief moreover, can take weeks or months. 199 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:53.320 Since it can take such a long time to get 200 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.639 better once cannabis has stopped, Andrews says, many people often 201 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.200 think that the cannabis has nothing to do with their symptom. 202 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:04.080 Even the prospect of abstinence may make some chronic users 203 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:08.000 reluctant to calm to terms with the condition. Not Calaham. 204 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.960 When her urgent care doctor first handed her literature about CHS, 205 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.519 she was skeptical. I was like, there's no way, I'm 206 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:19.200 so intentional about how I consume, she says, But as 207 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:21.399 soon as I read the materials, I thought, oh no, 208 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.879 and that was the day that I quit. She's been 209 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.159 weed sober ever since. It hasn't been easy. She's fought 210 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.840 cravings and hadgy retrain herself to recognize what relaxation feels 211 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.120 like when she isn't high, But it's easier when Callaham 212 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:42.840 remembers what the depths of hyper hypermesis felt like. I 213 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:45.080 was so desperate, she says, I was so desperate to 214 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:49.879 feel better. Modern cannabis explained what else her. Scientists learning 215 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.559 about the potential health impacts of high potency pot particularly 216 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.759 among teens using marijuana in any form, comes with risks, 217 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:01.919 but researchers i've raised particular concerns about how cannabis products 218 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:07.000 with high THHC content might affect mental health in adults. 219 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.799 Evidence suggests that users of high potency cannabis, particularly frequent users, 220 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.720 have an increased risk of both psychosis and cannabis use 221 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.240 disorder and inability to quit, even when the drug is 222 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:23.279 causing health or social problems. Some studies have linked high 223 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:27.679 potency cannabis to depression and anxiety, Although the evidence for 224 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.159 increased risk is spottier. Health professionals sound even greater alarm 225 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:35.360 when it comes to teenagers, early and frequent users of 226 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.240 high potency cannabis products, such as those consumed by vaporing 227 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:44.159 and dabbing are at risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and 228 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:50.200 suicidal ideation, along with impacts to memory, cognitive function, and motivation. 229 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.320 Adolescents who use cannabis concentrates are at higher risk for 230 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:59.759 substance use problems than those who use non concentrate forms 231 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:04.159 of cannabis, and because teenager's brains are still developing, there's 232 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.759 a real risk of life's lifelong damage. A relatively new phenomenon, 233 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:13.879 concentrates have caught some parents, caregivers, and teachers off guard. 234 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.600 Because vaping produces a fainter smell and is as simple 235 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.840 as pressing a button, it's easy for teens to hide. 236 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.840 A twenty twenty four National Institutes of Health report found 237 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:29.360 that experimentation started early, with nearly six percent of eighth 238 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:33.559 graders having vaped cannabis within a twelve month period. That 239 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:37.200 number jumped to twelve percent among tenth graders and eighteen 240 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:41.679 percent for twelfth graders. Fewer adolescents are dabbing, but the 241 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.399 most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported 242 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:49.080 nearly a fifth of twelve to seventeen year olds who 243 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:55.039 used cannabis had dabbed concentrates in the past year. Perhaps counterintuitively, 244 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.440 concerns about high potency pot have prompted calls for the 245 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:02.519 federal government to remove cannabis from its most restrictive class 246 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:07.079 of illicit drugs. Legal limits on THHC content vari at 247 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.279 state levels and moving cannabis from the Drug Enforcement Administration's 248 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:16.000 Schedule one to Schedule three would allow for federal regulations 249 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:21.000 on potency. This reclassification was initiated in twenty twenty four 250 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:26.000 during the previous presidential administration, but it's now in limbo. 251 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:31.880 A reminder that cannabis prohibition is not yet repealed. Next 252 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.240 article How do you save the Evergrades from tens of 253 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:39.759 thousands of rogue snakes? By Rebecca Renner. In Florida, non 254 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.359 native pythons pose a huge habitat threat. Shrewd fashion designers 255 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:49.519 are offering a novel solution. Just after midnight, l Barbieto 256 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.119 drove her Dodge pick up deep into the shadows of 257 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:57.799 the Florida Everglades after hours, navigating narrow marsh roads, past 258 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:03.279 towering bald cypresses and racous shoots of romiliads. She suddenly 259 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.720 pulled onto the shoulder and aimed a flashlight at a 260 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:11.319 writhing patch of prehistoric looking ferns. Python, Barbietto shouted, pointing 261 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:15.359 to a me talic sheen of scales glistening like silken 262 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.559 chain mail in the moonlight. The next part would require 263 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.720 her gun. No one can say for certain how Burmese 264 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:25.200 pythons arrived in the Everglades in the first place, or 265 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:28.480 how many there are today, though conservative estimates put their 266 00:18:28.519 --> 00:18:32.160 population in the tens of thousands. What we do know 267 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.200 is that the voracious snakes are destroying one of the 268 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:40.160 country's most important ecosystems by reproducing rapidly and feasting on 269 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.200 just about anything they can fit their jaws around, from 270 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.720 endangered wood rats to threatened wood storks. The snakes have 271 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.279 few regional predators except alligators, so the only way to 272 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.119 stop them is by culling them. Over the past twenty 273 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:57.359 five years, more than twenty five twenty three thousand, five 274 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:02.000 hundred pythons have been removed from Learned Florida's wetlands through 275 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:06.240 organized annual hunts, eradication agents hired by the state, and 276 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:11.079 volunteers like Barbietto, who help capture and kill them. While 277 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.039 most snake hunters dump them or leave the carcasses to rot. 278 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:19.079 Barbieto does things differently. After euthanizing the python, she carefully 279 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.279 loaded its serpentine body into the back of her truck 280 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:24.759 and took it home. The twenty nine year old, who 281 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.839 comes from the world of New York fashion, hunts these 282 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:32.400 enormous creatures and then repurposes their remains, transforming each one 283 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.119 into a highly sought after python's skin accessory. I get 284 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:40.319 to have this connection with my material that most artists don't, 285 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.359 Barbieto says she's developed a cult following for her limited 286 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:49.079 edition line of carefully sourced products, including bags and belts, 287 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.400 which appeal to clients who want to wear reptile skin 288 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.960 without some of the ethical complications. For years, animal welfare 289 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:59.960 advocates have encouraged shoppers to steer clear of animal beas 290 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:04.680 raised leathers, prompting fashion companies to explore synthetic or vegan 291 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:09.640 alternatives derived from things like mushrooms and apples. Now, an 292 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:13.279 increasing number of designers are recognizing how useful the leather 293 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:17.519 of Burmese python skin from the Everglades can be. As 294 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.680 brands raced to scale their ambition, Barbieta plays a unique 295 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.880 role as someone involved in every step of the sourcing 296 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:29.480 and sales process. Here is a beautiful material that's sustainable, 297 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.160 and nobody was really doing anything with it, she says. 298 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.720 It became this solution to a problem. For as long 299 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:39.039 as she can remember, Barbietto wanted to make clothes. At 300 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:42.160 age eighteen, she moved to New York City for fashion school, 301 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:46.160 enrolling in classes like pattern making and interning for big 302 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:49.759 time designers. She also helped stitch pieces for a collection 303 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:53.400 shown at Paris Fashion Week, but each experience only made 304 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:57.079 her more aware of the industry's environmental trade offs, like 305 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:02.680 pollution from industrial manufacturing and tile textile waste. This is 306 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.039 what I wanted to do with my life, she remembers, thinking, 307 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:08.720 how can I pursue it without becoming part of the problem. 308 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:12.000 During a trip home to Florida eight years ago, Barbeto 309 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:15.839 joined her father, Mark Yon, a python removal agent for 310 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:19.119 the state, on a job in the Everglades. Recognizing how 311 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:23.480 beautiful the intricate tan and brown puzzled piece skin patterns were, 312 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.640 she was shocked to see other hunters tossing their snakes 313 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:29.720 into the garbage. Such a waste to have to remove 314 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.200 these invasive species and then just throw them in the trash. 315 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.759 She says, the material felt like an answer to the 316 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.160 question I had been asking myself. Fashion school hadn't exactly 317 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:44.599 prepared her to hunt pythons, so Barbietta moved back home 318 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:49.440 and studied tracking and capturing techniques alongside her father. Since 319 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:53.599 releasing her first collection on Instagram in twenty nineteen, she 320 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.240 has continued to join him on countless midnight hunts while 321 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:01.599 developing a deep appreciation for their urgent conservation work. This 322 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.799 isn't something he does because he loves hunting and killing snakes, 323 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:07.960 she says, he just loves the Everglades. If you have 324 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.279 to destroy something harming the land, she reasons, why not 325 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.160 find a way to recycle it and create something useful. 326 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:17.039 It's a way to honor them, she explains, and I 327 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:21.799 see that as a privilege. Rabietto repeats that mantra to 328 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:25.000 herself in the back yard of her family's house in 329 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:28.079 Cutler Bay, a half hour drive south of Miami, where 330 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.759 in the second life of these animals begins. There, she 331 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:36.920 soaks the hides in six gallon glass jars of water, glycerine, 332 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.880 and alcohol for two weeks to preserve them before stretching 333 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:44.440 them out on plywood boards to dry and tan. She 334 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.400 then hand sows each accessory from her own customized patterns. 335 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:52.279 Praises range from four hundred twenty five dollars for Cowboy 336 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:57.160 boot straps two upwards of twelve hundred dollars for many handbags, 337 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:00.319 and items often sell out within twenty four hours of 338 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.440 being listed on social media. While Barty Barbietto will schedule 339 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:08.720 more hunts for custom orders, she isn't interested in creating 340 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:12.200 a backlog. I'm not Amazon Prime, she says. There's a 341 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:15.039 reason why I don't have an inventory of stuff. I 342 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.559 try hard to not be wasteful and to be as 343 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:22.000 intentional as possible with every single thing I'm making. Requests 344 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.119 now come in from all over the country and for 345 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.759 customers in places like New York or Los Angeles. Barbietto 346 00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:32.759 says her designs sometimes double as conversation starters about Everglade's 347 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:36.519 wildlife conservation. When I first started, I just saw it 348 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.119 as this material I was able to utilize, she says, 349 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:44.160 But it's also a form of being able to educate people. 350 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.839 A recent small batch release was inspired by a visit 351 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.519 to Florida's largest working cattle ranch, also located in the 352 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:56.680 Everglades and includes Python's spur straps and a headstall for horses. 353 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:00.440 As more people seek her out, she has saying how 354 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:04.599 to scale up production and whether to collaborate with celebrities. 355 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.680 I would love to see doitchi e in my pieces, 356 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.200 she muses about the stylish singer. For a lot of 357 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:16.000 fashion designers, that kind of high profile exposure is carefully 358 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:21.799 orchestrated and primarily about building brand awareness. In Barbieto's case, 359 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.680 she argues, the ecological impact is poised to blend the 360 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.839 lines of what fashion and art can be. Barbieto isn't 361 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:32.720 the only one who has noticed how sourcing Python's skin 362 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.599 from the Everglades skirts many of the major dilemmas around 363 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:40.720 using animal based products in clothing. Since late twenty twenty, 364 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:44.960 a Miami based startup called Inversa has operated as a 365 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:50.359 broker between independent Florida hunters or invasive removals specialists, as 366 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:55.079 in Versa ceo A rav Chabda calls them, and high 367 00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:59.799 high end designers interested in using materials made of species 368 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:05.240 Burmese pythons or lionfish, a similarly damaging animal threatening native 369 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:10.880 fish populations and coral reefs along Florida's coasts. Barbieto runs 370 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.440 a small, often bespoke operation. In Versa has a more 371 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.759 industrial outlook. If we're going to tackle something as big 372 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:20.799 as invasive species, we have to be thinking in terms 373 00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:24.079 of scale. Choptas says, we have to be removing tens 374 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:28.200 of thousands, hundreds of thousands, eventually millions in order to 375 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:32.119 really make a difference. So far, there's more than enough 376 00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:35.920 supply to satisfy the growing demand. In Versa recently partnered 377 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:41.119 with acclaimed sustainable fashion designer Gabriella Hurst on a line 378 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:44.920 inspired by the snake Goddess of Neolithic Europe, which included 379 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:49.319 Burmese python pumps and bags. Like Barbietto, Hurst has never 380 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.480 had never seen a textile that could have such an 381 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:57.039 immediate impact on conservation. I was never a full subscriber 382 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:00.359 to the Mushroom Leather because I knew that it wasn't 383 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:02.839 going to have the impact that this leather could. Hers 384 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.599 says it was exciting to work with something that is 385 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:11.400 beautiful and also helping restore the environment. Katherine Holstein, founder 386 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:14.559 and creative director of the New York based brand Kate, 387 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.880 has also worked with Versa on a collection of made 388 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:23.640 to order python skin handbags. In the meantime, Chabda's company 389 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:28.640 has expanded to offer other materials made from environmentally devastating species. 390 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:35.559 Beachwear designer Joanna Orties recently debuted belts made with scales 391 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.119 of Asian karp, a ravenous fish threatening to destroy the 392 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:43.519 delicate ecosystem of the Great Lakes after being introduced to 393 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:48.960 help control algae blooms in aquaculture facilities, and Chava hints 394 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:52.359 that several major fashion houses may be poised to debuted 395 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:56.759 lines that include in versus materials at upcoming fashion weeks 396 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:01.799 in Paris, London and Milan Beckon, Florida. Barbetta still feels 397 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:06.079 satisfaction in staying connected to every part of production, even 398 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:10.279 as her mission reaches larger brands that increase awareness of 399 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:13.960 the problem she initially set out to solve. I don't 400 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:18.160 want people to look at it as only closed, she says. 401 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:20.680