News & Views
Commissioning Maj. Thurstone
Today, Dr. Thurstone picked up another title: U.S. Army Major. He was commissioned to serve as an officer in the Army Reserves' 807th Medical Command -- specifically in a unit focused on "combat stress reduction." Dr. Thurstone is the only psychiatrist in the United...
‘Time’s’ lapse in judgment
Sadly, there's no dearth of sorry journalism where marijuana is concerned. It's in the New York Times. It's in The Denver Post. It's in alternative weeklies and on TV broadcasts. This week, it's also in Time magazine. That's right. Check out this movie...
Plenty of ‘medical’ marijuana diverted to kids
My young patients have reported for quite some time that they've used someone else's medical marijuana. So, colleagues and I wanted to know just how prevalent the diversion of medical marijuana to adolescents in substance-abuse treatment is. Our peer-reviewed...
Deal in the right data — or not at all
Ay, yai, yai. It pains me to see faulty news reporting in my alma mater, The Denver Post -- so much so that I desperately hope this link, yes, to this story right here, will be broken by the time you click on it because the news organization has been responsible...
Doc asks what’s up with pot dispensaries
Several of my young patients in Denver have told me how ridiculously easy it was to get the medical marijuana licenses that fueled the addictions that drove them into my clinic for treatment. One young man said the recommending physician he paid $200 for a license...
Hear and heed the recovering addict
News organizations frequently ask me to help them find young people and parents willing to share their experiences with addiction. I try to assist when and where I can -- but these aren't easy connections to make. Many people in substance recovery fear the stigma...
Some days, it’s best to ignore journalists
Watching news coverage and commentary about marijuana is utterly painful for me on so many levels. We're talking chronic pain that would easily qualify me for a medical-pot license in Colorado. Take this week, when Reporter Will Ripley of Denver's NBC affiliate,...
Art so true it’ll make you cringe
Meet Swedish artist Marcus Mårtenson, who relentlessly challenges what he calls today’s “Gospel of Success.”
Why one high school watched suspensions fall 85%
When science informs public policy -- even if we're talking student discipline at one public high school in Walla Walla, Wash. -- wonderful things can happen. I hope you'll read this great story for yourself. It chronicles how Lincoln High School, located in, yes,...
Research underscores pot’s link to psychosis
For decades, medical research has shown that marijuana use is strongly associated with the development of psychosis. Now, research announced this month by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is breaking even newer ground by showing how marijuana use during...
Read the book
Clearing the Haze is a guide designed to help parents determine whether their child may have a substance problem and, if so, how to begin to address it. This book includes the voices and insight of experts in substance abuse counseling, young people in recovery, and parents who have lived the nightmare of adolescent addiction.