Profs & Pints Baltimore: The Straight Dope on Cannabis

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “The Straight Dope on Cannabis,” an objective overview of the latest research on marijuana and its effects, with Ryan G. Vandrey, professor at the Johns Hopkins University Cannabis Science Lab.

Legally obtaining and using cannabis has gotten a lot easier in most states, but getting reliable information about its composition, effects, and risks remains a challenge. Cannabis dispensaries speak with wholly unjustified confidence about the precise effects of various strains, while some opponents of cannabis continue to recycle baseless claims of its dangers.

Coming to Guilford Hall Brewery to clear the air is Ryan Vandrey, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in Johns Hopkins University’ Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit who systematically studies the acute effects of cannabis in adult research volunteers.

Dr. Vandrey will cover a range of topics related to cannabis and resolve confusion and dispel myths surrounding it. He’ll give you a crash course on the differences between THC, CBD, and other chemicals found in the cannabis plant. You’ll learn about the effects of terpenes and the evidence (or lack thereof) for the “entourage effect,” through which various chemicals in cannabis strains are believed to work together to produce distinct effects such as feeling drowsy or energized.

The talk will cover research highlighting how the dose consumed and the route of administration can substantially alter both the effects experienced and drug testing outcomes. You’ll gain insights into why it is so difficult to determine if someone is acutely under the influence of cannabis based on tests using breath, blood, saliva or urine.

Dr. Vandrey also will review controlled studies that illustrate important interactions between THC and CBD—the combined effects may be the opposite of what you have been told—and how the use of high THC cannabis alone (or combined with alcohol) is likely to affect driving.  He’ll summarize research on the safety of cannabis use and he’ll discuss how to minimize the likelihood of having an adverse reaction.

Finally, he’ll review things to consider prior to using cannabis for therapeutic purposes and he’ll share data from some studies he has been involved with that showed cannabis to be promising as a therapeutic. Whether you’re a medical or recreational consumer trying to better understand how cannabis affects you or a nonuser having second thoughts about that decision, you’ll find plenty of value in Dr. Vandrey’s discussion.

(Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 5. Talk begins at 6:30.)

Image: From an illustration of cannabis sativa drawn by Walther Otto Müller and published in the 1887 book Medizinal-Pflantzen (Wikimedia).