Ep116 - Dr. Godfrey Pearlson: Your Brain on Weed

“As a psychiatry resident I wondered if cannabis does to people what catnip does to cats. That turns out to be a completely incorrect assumption.”

Dr. Godfrey Pearlson, the esteemed neuroscientist, researcher, and author of Weed Science talks with me about how our favorite plant works in the brain, heart (and maybe even the soul) of human beings

On this episode the esteemed neuroscientist, Yale professor, and author Dr. Godfrey Pearlson, joins me to talk about what we know and don’t know about the way cannabis works in our brains (and hearts, and maybe our souls, too). This episode could also be called “Cannabis: The Good, The Bad and The Mysterious and if you tune in you'll learn:

The Good: Why colors seem more vibrant, why time moves more slowly, why so many musicians say they find more space between notes when using cannabis.

The Bad: We explore the evidence linking cannabis to psychotic illnesses as well as the paradoxical evidence showing that ultra-high doses of CBD reduces some psychotic symptoms. We also explore the evidence between lethal car crashes in states that have legalized -- and why this is not a reason to continue the prohibition.

The Mysterious: Many topics of interest here, but one of great interest to me: why so many of us need less cannabis to get high as you age.

And finally, for all of you who have always wondered if cannabis does to humans what catnip does to cats, the answer is revealed within!