Writing About Marijuana: Research, Evidence, and Storytelling

Marijuana is getting easier to buy, easier to brand, and easier to shrug off. That's exactly why I wanted a grounded conversation with Dr. Raymond Wiggins, a licensed physician with decades on the front lines and author of Weeding Out the Myths About Marijuana.For him, cannabis isn't abstract. He shares personal family losses and a disturbing case of sudden psychosis after early use that changed a young life overnight. We also dig into the clinical side: what he's observed around anesthesia and recovery, from harder-to-sedate patients to higher medication needs, and the uncomfortable question of what regular THC exposure might be doing beneath the surface.From there, we take on legalization, the profit motive he believes is driving it, and why he argues "medical marijuana" still carries real mental health and addiction risks. We get into today's ultra-high THC products—concentrates, edibles, and why delayed dosing can spiral into an ER visit. We close on psychedelics and microdosing, where Wiggins urges caution and points to how early-stage science gets oversold in the wellness world.If you care about public health, parenting, or making informed choices in a fast-changing cannabis landscape, you'll leave with specific claims to research, questions to ask, and resources to explore.Send us Fan MailSupport the show📬 JOIN THE NEWSLETTERThe Storyteller Quest is  a weekly letter on writing,publishing, and the business of books.Subscribe, and I'll send you Traditional, Self, or Hybrid? —11 pages on what each publishing path really costs, plus a7-question worksheet that tells you which one is yours.Subscribe here.