“This is one of the most visible cases of science denial I’ve seen in decades.”
Bertha Madras is a Professor of Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry , Harvard Medical School; a psychobiologist at the Substance Use Disorders Division, Division of Basic Neuroscience; and Director of the Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology, McLean Hospital in Massachusetts.
In public policy, Dr. Madras served as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a Presidential appointment confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. In 2016, she served as a panelist at the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences, “Narcotics: Problems and Solutions of this Global Issue” and in 2017, was appointed by President Trump to a 6-member Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. She is recipient of an NIH MERIT award, NIDA Public Service Award, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Founders’ Award, and others.
In this interview with Say Nope To Dope’s Aaron Ironside, she explains in simple language:
* what is psychosis, and what about marijuana & psychosis?
* the endocannabinoid system and its role
* are older users also at risk for addiction, psychosis and cognitive impairment?
* is cannabis less harmful than alcohol?
* how dangerous and how potent are edibles? And how significant is potency in general?
* what are the concerns about legalisation and the future?
* when will the negative effects of legalisation be fully realised?
She says “It took 100 years of data to really show unequivocally that tobacco caused a series of significant health effects, including lung cancer, cardiovascular disease etc. What we’re doing now is engaging in another human experiment without informed consent, because the advocates are not only not informing the public – in many ways, they’re trying to bury it..”
She concludes: “This is one of the most visible cases of science denial I’ve seen in decades.”
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