RECREATIONAL MEDICINE: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. LESTER GRINSPOON

POSTED BY BLAIR HOLT ON AUGUST 29, 2014

Recreational Medicine: Dr. Lester Grinspoon on Why – In the Case of Cannabis – We Can’t Always Separate Healing and Pleasure

Dr. Lester Grinspoon published his landmark scholarly study, Marijuana Reconsidered, in 1971 while serving as Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Considered radical at the time, the book grew from his experiences with patients who used cannabis to heal or mitigate the symptoms of chronic illness.

Additional inspiration came from his friends in the Harvard community – Carl Sagan among them – who consumed cannabis to no apparent personal harm, and in fact touted some of its creative and intellectual gifts.

Still a passionate advocate for the medical benefits of cannabis, Grinspoon has in recent years turned his attention toward what he calls the ‘enhancement experiences’ – or the subjective effects of cannabis that go beyond treating illness and support what he calls our “human potentials.”

http://www.solsticegrown.com/science/recreational-medicine-interview-dr-lester-grinspoon/