There are few people more qualified to weigh in on the legalization of cannabis than psychologist R. Lorraine Collins, a renowned addictions expert who started researching the drug decades ago, long before the wave of legalization began sweeping the U.S. In this episode of Driven to Discover, David Hill talks to Collins, a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo and director of the Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, about the pros and cons of legal cannabis, what New York State is getting right (and wrong) in its legalization journey, the historical racism behind cannabis being designated a Schedule I substance, and why it’s so critical for research that the federal government reclassify it.
Credits:
Host: David Hill
Guest: R. Lorraine Collins
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group
Coming on Feb. 4: Continuing the conversation on social determinants, host Ellen Goldbaum sits down with Leonard Egede, chair of UB’s Department of Medicine and a nationally recognized expert on health equity. Egede is known for developing innovative interventions to tackle health disparities, including, his newest effort, using AI to address hospital closures in redlined neighborhoods.