News & Views
10 reasons not to legalize marijuana
I'm honored to have been elected president of the Colorado Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Society. In November, the organization's member physicians asked me to speak during their annual dinner -- so know that in the video I link you to here, I'm speaking to fellow...
Medical marijuana diversion and associated problems in adolescent substance treatment
This study was published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in November 2011. Title: Medical marijuana diversion and associated problems in adolescent substance treatment Authors: Thurstone C, Lieberman SA, Schmiege S Citation: Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011 Nov...
Tax pot, and we’ll come out ahead? Riiiiight.
A common justification for marijuana legalization goes something like this: "We should just tax it and regulate it like we do alcohol and tobacco. We could use some of that money to help with the costs of addiction treatment." Yeah, um, no. Substance abusers and...
Sabet’s drug policy principles
I'm a doctor who focuses on the treatment of people who struggle with substance abuse, dependence and addiction and a variety of other health problems associated with their drug use. I conduct medical research to develop new treatments for them and improve the ones we...
A case study: Medical marijuana use and suicidality
I hope you'll read this paper I co-authored with Dr. Abraham Nussbaum and Dr. Ingrid Binswanger in The American Journal of Psychiatry. We explain the case of a 29-year-old woman who presented with marijuana addiction, a history of depression and a history of...
Thurstone named 5280 Top Doc
Wow! Talk about a nice surprise. I learned today that I have been named one of 5280 magazine's Top Doctors in 2011. I'm listed in the addiction psychiatry section along with Dr. Allan Graham of St. Joseph, Lutheran, Good Samaritan and Dr. Jonathan Ritvo, medical...
Mile High Macaroons: marijuana medicalization in Colorado
This article was originally published in The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice in 2011. Authors: Abraham M. Nussbaum, MD, MTS, Christian Thurstone, MD Abstract Since the passage of Amendment 20 in November 2000, over two percent of Colorado's population has...
Marijuana doesn’t help psych problems
In fact, it may make them worse. Please allow me to be frank -- as I was during a town hall meeting sponsored by Colorado state Sen. Irene Aguilar, a Democrat and a physician (my thanks to her for inviting me to speak): At that same meeting, I tried to put so-called...
Medical marijuana users “sharing” with kids
Take a look at this paper in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, explaining research I conducted to examine how so-called "medical" marijuana is having an impact on kids in substance abuse treatment at the clinic I direct in Denver. Among the take-away points: Medical...
How adolescents with substance use disorder spend research payments
The outcomes of this research were published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in October 2010. Study title: How adolescents with substance use disorder spend research payments Authors: Christian Thurstone, Stacy Salomensen-Sautel, and Paula D. Riggs Citation: Drug...
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.