Episode 94: Medical marijuana

Episode 94: Medical marijuana

From Science Fictions by Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie

February 3, 2026 · 1h 3m

About this episode

The episode discusses the uncertain state of knowledge on medical marijuana and its potential benefits and risks.

Here’s another episode that revists a topic we’ve covered before. A while back, we did an episode on the downsides of cannabis (for example, the risk of psychosis). But of course, a lot of people claim there are medical benefits, too! Not least among them is Donald Trump, who recently re-scheduled cannabis so that it can be studied more for medical purposes. That research is sorely needed. In this episode, we discuss the very uncertain state of our knowledge on medical marijuana. The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine , where you can find Samuel Hughes’s excellent new article on “Urban expansion in the age of liberalism”, as discussed in today’s episode. That’s at worksinprogress.co —which is packed full of other great articles on science, tech, and human progress. Show notes * “ Trump expands access to cannabis ” (December 2025) * Info from the DEA on drug schedules * The new JAMA review on medical marijuana * Reason article on the 2011 RAND study; Retraction Watch article on the same * Studies on the crime impacts of medical marijuana ( increase ; neutral ; decrease ) * Useful 2021 review of the wider societal effects of medical marijuana…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tom Chivers, Stuart Ritchie

Topics covered

  • medical marijuana
  • cannabis research
  • psychosis
  • societal effects
  • drug policy

Keywords

  • medical marijuana
  • cannabis
  • Donald Trump
  • research
  • psychosis
  • drug policy
  • societal effects

Sponsors

Works in Progress magazine

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DEA, JAMA, RAND, Retraction Watch, Washington Post

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