Ep. 48 - Is Weed Really as Harmless as Everyone Says?

Send us Fan MailDr. David Gross and Dr. Andrew Rosen have been watching the marijuana conversation shift for decades and they're not buying the hype. They dig into why so many people are convinced marijuana is harmless, or even healing, when the clinical picture tells a much messier story. Confirmation bias plays a starring role: we tend to seek out what confirms what we already want to believe, and the marijuana industry has been very good at giving people exactly that.The conversation covers what actually happens in the brain when cannabinoids move in and why THC's fat-soluble nature means it sticks around far longer than most users realize. They talk about state-dependent learning, the subtle but real effects on driving, and why today's marijuana is nowhere near what it was in the 1960s. Same name, very different drug.There's a lot of ground covered on the developing brain too. Why teenage use hits differently than starting in your 30s or 40s, what the research actually shows about schizophrenia risk, and why the frontal lobe matters more than most people appreciate.The tobacco comparison runs throughout, and it's hard to shake. It took decades and a mountain of lawsuits before the public caught up with what science was already saying. They're worried we're on the same road with marijuana, just further behind than we should be.Contact the Docs:Email: [email protected] the Docs:Email: [email protected]