Weed Science

Godfrey Pearlson, award-winning physician and researcher, completed his medical degree at Newcastle University in the UK and a graduate philosophy degree at Columbia University in NYC. He trained in psychiatry and was subsequently a psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Yale University and directs a brain research center at the Institute of Living in Connecticut. He has published over 700 peer-reviewed scientific articles and his marijuana research is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. Dr. Pearlson is an expert in the fields of marijuana and of psychosis. He believes that any political platforms regarding cannabis should be based on scientific facts rather than emotion.

1. Introduction - how the author became acquainted with cannabis2. Good Science and Bad Science - how science helps us think about contentious social issues3. Holi - what an ancient Hindu festival can teach us about safe marijuana use4. Archaeology and Ethnobotany - the long historical relationship humans have with cannabis5. Neuroscience - the endocannabinoid system, how it evolved and what it does6. Psychology + Human Behavior - what is it like to be stoned and what goes on in our brains when we are?7. Epidemiology - what can population studies tell us about cannabis risks?8. Toxicology - cannabis’ side effects and how they occur. Synthetic cannabinoids9. Chemical Analysis and Extraction - the eternal quest for a higher high10. Medical Marijuana and Clinical Trials - what’s the evidence for marijuana as a medicine?11. Economic/Business -who stands to gain and to lose, if cannabis is legalized in the US?12. Summary/Conclusion - harm reduction; lessons from ending alcohol prohibition and from what’s going on in Canada