Cannabis (seeing through the smoke): The New Science of Cannabis and Your Health

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Seeing Through the Smoke provides refreshing insights into the biases that have challenged cannabis research to date. Grinspoon presents both sides of the divisive issues polarizing society today, allowing the reader to reconsider what is and isn’t true about cannabis. Honest, personal, poignant, comprehensive, and totally current, this book emphatically reminds us that the absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence of effectiveness for this extremely therapeutic botanical.”– Donald I. Abrams, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, University of California San Francisco COLLAPSE OF SUSTAINED READING: In a study of 26,000 Americans between 2004 and 2017 the proportion of men reading for pleasure had fallen by 40% and in women it was down to 29%. By 2017 the average American spent 17 minutes a day reading books and 5.4 hours on their phone. Some 57% of Americans now do not read a single book in a typical year. In experiments where two groups are given the information in a printed book and the same information on screen, when asked questions about what they had just read, people remembered more information in written form. As we lose our capacity for deep reading that comes from books, we are then becoming less likely to read books. It’s like when you gain weight, it gets harder and harder to exercise when you don't do it and the same could be true of our ability to read long texts any more with sustained attention. Addiction Research Group and Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. Seeing Through the Smoke provides refreshing insights into the biases that have challenged cannabis research to date. Grinspoon presents both sides of the divisive issues polarizing society today, allowing the reader to reconsider what is and isn’t true about cannabis. Honest, personal, poignant, comprehensive, and totally current, this book emphatically reminds us that the absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence of effectiveness for this extremely therapeutic botanical.”– Donald I. Abrams, MD , professor emeritus of medicine, University of California San Francisco

Cannabis unites people in so many ways. It unites them when they use it together, it unites as a shared cultural practice and belief system, and it unites them politically over concerns about social justice. We are seeing examples of former influential Republicans, like John Boehner, and mem- bers of law enforcement “switching sides” and joining the cannabis train. The days of illegality of cannabis are numbered as, defying the organs of power, Americans are saying “just say legalize” to cannabis. This movement is spreading around the world too, with many countries liberating cannabis laws. Perhaps the United States, which has for so long been internationally influential in a corrosive way, by demanding that other countries march in step with our War on Drugs, could even help lead the world into a new, more enlightened phase in this area of policy. Currently, Canada, Uruguay, and Israel are the ones leading the way. Peter Grinspoon is uniquely qualified to dispense verifiable knowledge about cannabis use and misuse as both prescriber of therapeutic cannabis to qualified medical patients and a councilor to cannabis misusers.Steeped in a deep pharmacological understanding of cannabis and aided by up-to-date analysis of scientific cannabis-related studies, Seeing through the Smoke amplifies a voice trusted by both sides of the ongoing debate about functional and responsible cannabis policies post-prohibition.” -Allen St. Pierre, former Executive Director of NORML

A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth about Marijuana

Legalize federally so that regulation, safety standards, labeling, and commerce can be coherent and consistent, throughout the United States and, ideally, the entire world. In this lively, witty, and deeply personal book, Grinspoon takes readers on a fascinating tour of everything you ever wanted to know about the benefits of cannabis—especially what it can do to ameliorate suffering and enhance human potential—while always remaining grounded in the scientific evidence. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”– Jay Wexler , professor of law specializing in marijuana law, Boston University The latest book from Professor David Nutt is a one-stop-shop for everything you could ever need to know about cannabis. Dr. Grinspoon is a widely recognized expert on cannabis science and drug policy. He regularly appears as an expert on national television and radio programs, including NPR’s All Things Considered, NBC Nightly News, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, Fox and Friends and Fox News. He is quoted frequently in the national media, in such venues as People, the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe. He is a TEDX speaker. Peter Grinspoon is an ex-addict, marijuana enthusiast, and cannabis prescribing physician with a professional and moral obligation to know and tell the truth about cannabis’ relationship to driving, pregnancy, psychosis, autism, addiction, sleep, cancer, and much more. Never before have I read such an engaging and accessible review of the evidence.”– Ethan Nadelmann , founder and former executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance

However, if a patient is specifically taking a cannabis-based compound to treat a given ailment that has insufficient evidence for its use, the patient has the potential to cause more issues. As clinicians, we definitely have a responsibility to continue to educate our patients on best practices and preferred practice patterns. How would you describe the current research landscape for cannabis use and vision? If you have a particularly good or bad reaction to a particular strain or chemovar, write it down. Journaling is good practice in any case—dosage, benefits, side effects, formulations, and delivery mechanism. Peter Grinspoon is an ex-addict, marijuana enthusiast, and cannabis prescribing physician with a professional and moral obligation to know and tell the truth about cannabis’ relationship to driving, pregnancy, psychosis, autism, addiction, sleep, cancer, and much more.Never before have I read such an engaging and accessible review of the evidence.”– Ethan Nadelmann, founderand former executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance Make sure that the product you are using is safe. This is best accomplished by going through the legal market if available (as these products are carefully monitored for pesticides and molds, and are regulated), growing your own, or knowing your grower. An unflinching and utterly personal journey through the often-confusing cannabis landscape.Readers will delight in the historical as well as the scientific focus brought to life by Grinspoon, whose roots and professional experience provide a unique and fascinating perspective. Seeing through the Smoke has something for everyone – from the novice to the expert and everyone in between with an interest in cannabis.”– Staci Gruber, MD, Director of Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Grinspoon’s Harvard Health articles have reached tens of millions of readers, have been widely referenced in the national media, and have been cited in congressional testimony. His writing has been published in The Nation, the Los Angeles Times and Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics. Dr. Grinspoon is a widely recognized expert on cannabis science and drug policy. He regularly appears as an expert on national television and radio programs, including NPR’s All Things Considered , NBC Nightly News , C-SPAN’s Washington Journal , Fox and Friends and Fox News . He is quoted frequently in the national media, in such venues as People , the New York Times, New York Magazine , the Washington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe . He is a TEDX speaker. In terms of content, the book makes a compelling argument in favour of reassessing the centrality of ‘gold standard’ RCTs (Randomised Controlled Trials) when it comes to the development of new medicines and treatments. Designed to eliminate bias and other human-fault-variables, they end up as a gatekeeping tool wielded by powerful pharmaceutical companies looking to protect their own products and profits.