Dr. Grinspoon diplomatically comments on an article written in the New York Times by popular columnist David Brooks. Obviously there are still those who are uninformed and cling to old stigmas. Dr. Grinspoon continues to be a voice of reason offering engaging and relevant information on cannabis. Dr. Grinspoon is considered an expert in the field of cannabis science and has been writing on the topic for over forty years. It is worth noting that when he began his professional investigation of cannabis at Harvard, that his goal was to prove it’s negative effects.
David Brooks’ article really highlights the fact that many very smart people remain ignorant about the nature of cannabis.
The following is an excerpt from the article “Dr. Lester Grinspoon on David Brooks’ ‘Weed: Been There, Done That’”
Harvard Professor emeritus and author of Marihuana Reconsidered, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, responds to David Brooks’ New York Times anti-pot polemic.
Lester, how did you react to Brooks’ takedown of cannabis?
My overall impression is that David Brooks, who seems like a very smart man, is very much mistaken about what he thinks he knows about marijuana and out of date.
Let’s start at the top. He says that all of his friends gave it up after college, as if it’s indicative of some sort of emotional or psychological immaturity.
I think it’s true that most people who use it as young people do give it up in the course of their lives. I don’t think they give it up because it’s harmful. They give it up because they turn to other things, like getting married or having children, or having jobs with drug testing.
Brooks claims it’s addictive in 1 in 6 teenagers.
I don’t believe it is addictive, and there’s no evidence of it being so. You get addicted to things like alcohol, cigarettes or heroin and many opiate derivatives, but people do not become addicted to marijuana. There are people who use it all day long and that seems to me silly—you get the high in the morning but the rest of the day, there isn’t much. Nevertheless, it’s not an addiction because those people can give it up if they want to and will not suffer any withdrawal effects. Some may get a little irritable or depressed. That has nothing to do with withdrawal symptoms.
He claims that “smoking and driving is a good way to get killed.” Agree or disagree?
I am opposed to smoking and driving. Using any psychoactive drug, even one with a minor effect on reflexes is dangerous. However, unlike the stereotypical drunk driver who is speeding recklessly with one hand on the wheel and who isn’t in control of his car, the person who is high is usually in the right lane with both hands on the wheel and he’s going so slow he’s a pain in the neck. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t increased his risk—he might get distracted by a pretty scene on the road. However, I have to tell you there is far less danger to both the driver and other people from the stoned driver than the drunk driver.
He insists that young people who smoke “suffer IQ loss and perform worse on cognitive tests.”
Both of those statements are absolute nonsense. I’d like to see the data he finds convincing. I’ve been reading it for a long time now, and I find no data for either contention. A lot of those cognitive studies were compromised.
“it’s becoming increasingly understood that it is a very interesting and versatile medicine with much less toxicity than some of the pharmaceutical products it replaces.”
Read more: http://www.mademan.com/dr-lester-grinspoon-on-david-brooks-weed-been-there-done-that/#ixzz2q0sXieBZ
Dr. Lester Grinspoon is totally wrong with respect to the effect on teenagers. Any adult can figure this out without study’s data or anything else. Start your kids smoking pot when they are about 13 yrs and then watch their academic performance decline. Don’t take my word for it. Try it. That doesn’t mean pot should be illegal. But, it is better that academics refrain from indulging in b.s. and expect everyone to believe them based on their credentials and nothing else.
Come to think of it, I couldn’t find much of anything verifiable in his other opinions.
Thank you for reading our blog and for your reply. Obviously, we do not share your opinion of Dr. Grinspoon’s work. I do not consider his well researched opinions and personal experiences to be B.S., in the same way that I do not consider your personal experience B.S..
Regarding your statement, “Dr. Lester Grinspoon is totally wrong with respect to the effect on teenagers,” I am assuming that you are talking about his response to David Brooks’ claim that cannabis lowers IQ in teens and causes poor performance on cognitive tests. While cannabis may have contributed to this child’s poor academic performance, what else contributed to that?
The question of how cannabis impacts teenagers is a fascinating one for me. I’ve been writing a book that is in line with the topic of this website and have spent some time trying to understand who should not consume cannabis. Teens were one of the very first groups that came to mind.
There is very little clinical evidence written about how cannabis impacts the teenage brain. Most of the studies that I’ve been able to find on teens and cannabis have been compromised, in my opinion, because they were based on self reporting, did not track cannabis potency nor consumption, and often included subjects who were also consuming tobacco, alcohol and/or other drugs. While I do think that cannabis can make some people, including teens, more lethargic and fractured, it benefits others. In fact many of the smartest people I knew in high school would not have made it through had it not been for cannabis. They said that it made it possible for them to focus and be creative which was reflected in their grades.
How cannabis impacts teens is a big unanswered question. I anticipate that over time science will tell us that chronic heavy use (abuse), especially for those who start under the age of 16 may have long term impact on the brain but that responsible casual and medicinal use has its benefits. Once we know more, I wonder if we will see that cannabis impacts people differently based on their individual chemistry.
From where we sit here at Chronic Relief, we are open to the possibility that cannabis could have a detrimental effect on a developing brain for some individuals – especially those who abuse cannabis. Because of that “possibility” we believe that cannabis consumption should be reserved for adults at their choosing and others at the direction of a doctor. While the science on how cannabis impacts IQ and or teens is inconclusive, I recommend that parents talk to their teens about cannabis just like they would about alcohol, tobacco and sex. More information is always better.
While everyone has a valid opinion, the research is available for many to discover more than from personal experience, or BS, as stated. The issues of underage use is addressed with regulations. Here is the latest from Scientific America, which recanted their previous research study.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pot-smokers-might-not-turn-into-dopes-after-all
As an economist surely you know the socioeconomic impact of prohibition.