Science
What is actually known. Raphael Mechoulam isolating CBD and then THC in the sixties, the discovery of the receptors and of anandamide, the trials behind Epidiolex and Sativex, cannabis for epilepsy and for chemotherapy nausea, and, honestly, the risk side: psychosis research, cannabis use disorder, and what rising potency has changed.
Part of Marijuana
68 moments in this segment.
- - O'Shaughnessy's gunjah plate, 1839. Illustration of Cannabis Indica (gunjah) from W. B. O'Shaughnessy's 1839 paper on Indian hemp preparations, the study that introduced cannabis to Western medicine.
- - Cannabis Indica materia medica plate. Materia medica illustration of Cannabis Indica, Indian hemp, from the Wellcome Collection.
- - Flora Homoeopathica cannabis, 1852. Hand-coloured plate of cannabis from Edward Hamilton's The Flora Homoeopathica, illustrating plants used as homoeopathic remedies.
- - American Medicinal Plants, 1887. Cannabis plate from American Medicinal Plants (1887), a guide to plants used as homoeopathic remedies.
- - Parke-Davis catalogue, c.1907. Front page of the Spanish-language Parke, Davis & Co. drug catalogue of about 1907, from the era when cannabis extracts were mainstream pharmacy stock.
- - Spanish drug catalogue, c.1925. Catalogue of medicaments from the Laboratorio Farmacéutico Nacional in Spain, about 1925, listing cannabis preparations.
- - Mechoulam on cannabinoids and neuroprotection. Conference talk describing cannabinoids as anti-inflammatory agents and possible neuroprotectants after brain injury.
- - Raphael Mechoulam on isolating THC in 1964 and anandamide in 1992. The Hebrew University chemist who first isolated and characterised THC recounts the 1964 discovery and the 1992 identification of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide.
- - Nineteenth-century cannabis medicine bottles. & Hemp Museum in Amsterdam.
- - Royal Society: endocannabinoids in nervous system health and disease. Interview with Maurice Elphick on a Philosophical Transactions B issue devoted to endocannabinoid signalling in development and disease.
- - University of Maryland research on marijuana and the adolescent brain. Medical school report on animal research indicating adolescent cannabis exposure alters cortical development.
- - WEED: the Sanjay Gupta CNN special. Promo for the August 2013 CNN documentary in which Gupta publicly reversed his position on medical cannabis and featured Charlotte Figi.
- - Mechoulam interviewed on Canadian television, June 2014. Broadcast interview in Vancouver the morning after a public event on medical cannabis.
- - NIH Demystifying Medicine: marijuana, the highs and lows. National Institutes of Health lecture of 24 February 2015 surveying the pharmacology, therapeutic claims and harms of cannabis.
- - Medicinal hemp preparations. Bottles of medicinal hemp preparations in the Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Amsterdam.
- - Parke-Davis cannabis pills. An old medicine bottle of gelatin-coated pills made from Cannabis indica extract, manufactured by Parke, Davis & Co, in the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Amsterdam.
- - Pharmacist pill tubes. A pharmacist's set of pill tubes for cannabis preparations, in the Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Amsterdam.
- - The Scientist: the Raphael Mechoulam documentary. Feature documentary tracing Mechoulam from his childhood in wartime Bulgaria to his isolation of THC and CBD and the mapping of the endocannabinoid system.
- - National Academies landmark report on cannabis benefits and harms. CBS report on the January 2017 National Academies of Sciences review, which found solid evidence of benefit for some conditions alongside real harms.
- - Orrin Devinsky on the cannabidiol epilepsy trial results. The director of the NYU Epilepsy Center summarises positive findings from a controlled trial of cannabidiol in severe childhood epilepsy.
- - Raphael Mechoulam: complete Live Doctors interview on medical cannabis. Forty-minute interview in which Mechoulam walks through the chemistry of cannabis and the clinical questions that followed his discoveries.
- - AP: clinical study finds cannabis medicine cuts seizures in children. Associated Press report of 24 May 2017 on the multi-country trial showing a marijuana-derived medicine sharply reduced seizures in children with Dravet syndrome.
- - NYU Langone: cannabidiol reduces seizures in Dravet syndrome. University hospital report on the New England Journal of Medicine study showing cannabidiol reduced seizures in Dravet syndrome patients.
- - Igor Spigelman on non-psychoactive cannabinoids for chronic pain. UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative lecture on synthetic non-psychoactive cannabinoids as candidate chronic pain treatments.
- - FDA panel recommends the first cannabis-derived epilepsy drug. NBC Nightly News on the April 2018 advisory committee recommendation for Epidiolex, a cannabidiol medicine containing no THC.
- - Cannabinoids 101: the endocannabinoid system explained. Canadian Public Health Association webinar by Dr Matthew Hill on how the endocannabinoid system works and what cannabis does to it.
- - FDA approves the first medication made from marijuana. Broadcast report on the June 2018 approval of Epidiolex for two rare forms of epilepsy, the first cannabis-derived drug cleared in the United States.
- - Mechoulam at Hebrew University on the history and future of cannabis. Talk given at the Hebrew University Board of Governors 2018 by the researcher known as the father of medical cannabis.
- - Ruth Ross: demystifying the endocannabinoid system. University of Toronto pharmacologist explains what happens in the brain when THC binds cannabinoid receptors.
- - Youth cannabis use and the developing brain: myth busting. Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction panel of physicians and neuroscientists on adolescent cannabis myths and evidence.
- - Jeffrey Chen on medicinal cannabis and cancer. Talk at the 2019 Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer by the founder of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative.
- - Mechoulam keynote in Berlin, 2019. Keynote address on the state of cannabinoid research delivered in Berlin in 2019.
- - Igor Grant: clearing the smoke on medical marijuana. UC San Diego psychiatry symposium talk by the director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research on what its trials did and did not show.
- - PBS NewsHour: scientists rush to study cannabis and the brain. Report on the research scramble to understand rising-potency cannabis, with researchers describing the obstacles federal scheduling created.
- - Mechoulam keynote: the chemistry behind cannabinoid acids. Keynote lecture on cannabinoid acid chemistry and its therapeutic implications, delivered by the chemist who first isolated THC and CBD.
- - TED-Ed: is marijuana bad for your brain?. Animated explainer by psychiatrist Anees Bahji on how THC and CBD act on the brain and which risk factors matter.
- - Charlotte Figi, who inspired the CBD movement, dies at 13. CNN report by Sanjay Gupta on the death of Charlotte Figi, the Colorado girl whose treatment for Dravet syndrome gave Charlotte's Web its name.
- - Cannabis and mental health: a neuroscience lecture. Carleton University neuroscientists Kim Hellemans and Zachary Patterson review the evidence linking cannabis use to mental health outcomes.
- - Mechoulam: the cannabinoids, looking back and ahead. Late-career lecture reviewing decades of cannabinoid chemistry and the receptors and endogenous ligands discovered along the way.
- - Mechoulam on cannabis research past, present and future. Long-form interview with the first researcher to isolate THC and CBD, recorded near the end of his career.
- - Kwame McKenzie on psychosis and cannabis. CAMH psychiatrist explains what is and is not established about the relationship between cannabis use and psychotic illness.
- - Cannabis and the endocannabinoid system explained. Short university explainer on how cannabis compounds act on the brain's endocannabinoid signalling system.
- - Mayo Clinic: introduction to medical cannabis. Educational session by Mayo Clinic medical oncologist Stacy D'Andre covering the basics of cannabis medicine for patients and clinicians.
- - NOVA: is there a link between cannabis and psychosis?. PBS NOVA segment examining the evidence on adolescent cannabis use and psychiatric risk.
- - Matthew Hill on cannabis, the endocannabinoid system and neurodevelopment. University of Calgary neuroscientist presents research on how the endocannabinoid system shapes brain development and how cannabis exposure interacts with it.
- - Daniele Piomelli: an introduction to the endocannabinoid system. Keynote by the UC Irvine pharmacologist at the Innovations in the Science of Cannabis conference, May 2022.
- - The endocannabinoid system and cannabis pharmacology. Drexel University Medical Cannabis Research Center seminar with pharmacist Michael Butler on cannabinoid pharmacology.
- - UCLA Health: cannabis, mental health and addiction. UCLA psychiatry faculty discuss the mental health effects of cannabis and whether it produces dependence.
- - Ziva Cooper on what we know about medical marijuana and CBD. American Psychological Association interview with the director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative on the evidence gap behind consumer cannabis products.
- - Raphael Mechoulam: full unedited CBD Nation interview. Unedited 2018 interview filmed for the documentary CBD Nation, covering Mechoulam's whole research career on cannabinoids.
- - Roswell Park: cannabis and cancer for patients. Comprehensive cancer centre session on the evidence for cannabis in supportive cancer care, including nausea and appetite.
- - Dana-Farber on cannabis use during cancer treatment. Cancer centre guidance for adults using cannabis alongside cancer treatment, from the oncology care teams themselves.
- - Medicinal cannabis and cannabidiol in the treatment of epilepsy. CURE Epilepsy webinar reviewing the clinical evidence for cannabidiol since the first FDA-approved prescription CBD medicine.
- - Teen marijuana use and psychotic disorders, NBC report. NBC News report with medical contributor Dr Vin Gupta on a study associating adolescent cannabis use with elevated psychotic disorder risk.
- - Cannabis use and psychosis risk: what we need to know. Washington Poison Center clinical webinar on cannabis-induced psychosis presentations in emergency departments and subsequent risk.
- - Kurzgesagt: we have to talk about weed. Science-communication film reviewing the current evidence on cannabis harms, including psychosis risk and dependence.
- - Jibran Khokhar on cannabis, vaping and the teenage brain. Talk at the 2024 Amazing Brain Science Talks by a Western University neuroscientist on adolescent cannabis exposure.
- - Ontario records study links cannabis and schizophrenia. Report on research covering the medical records of 11.5 million Ontarians after recreational legalisation, finding an association with schizophrenia diagnoses.
- - Cannabis use and cardiovascular health: NHANES, MESA and CARDIA. UC San Diego Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research seminar of February 2025 by Jamie Corroon on cardiovascular signals in large US cohort datasets.
- - Scientific American on the science of THC. Science magazine explainer on how THC acts on the body and brain, and why the effects are so varied.
- - Heavy cannabis use in over-45s linked to dementia risk. Report on Canadian research covering six million people aged 45 and older, associating severe cannabis use with later dementia diagnoses.
- - NPR: European cannabis back-pain studies will need US replication. Report on European trial findings that cannabis helps chronic back pain, and why the studies must be repeated in the United States for regulatory purposes.
- - The National Cannabis Study with Ryan Vandrey and Johannes Thrul. Johns Hopkins researchers present the design and early findings of a large national study of cannabis use and health.
- - Cannabis Research Institute: cannabis science and the endocannabinoid system. Inaugural session of the CRI Public Research Series, recorded October 2025, surveying cannabis science for a general audience.
- - Rise in psychotic disorder diagnoses linked to cannabis use. CBC report on a Canadian Medical Association Journal study finding a sharp rise in psychotic disorder diagnoses in young people over nearly fifty years.
- - Cannabis and psychosis, a NIMHANS lecture. Lecture by Dr Venkata Lakshmi Narasimha of India's National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences on cannabis-related psychotic illness.
- - ICRS Ethan Russo Trainee Prize webinar, 2026. International Cannabinoid Research Society webinar presenting prize-winning early-career cannabinoid research.
- - Study links cannabis to earlier onset of psychosis. Australian broadcast report on research finding cannabis users who develop psychosis in their thirties show symptoms roughly six years earlier than non-users with the condition.