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Cannabis. Jak działa marihuana, do czego służy i jak wpływa na twoje zdrowie
Być może jesteś osobą, która używa marihuany w celach medycznych. A może rozważasz takie leczenie i chcesz poznać realne korzyści i szkody z tego wynikające? Albo już korzystasz z konopi, ale zastanawiasz się, czy dobrze robisz? Może używasz marihuany rekreacyjnie lub odkryłeś, że Twoje dziecko ją zażywa i chcesz dowiedzieć się więcej o potencjalnych zagrożeniach? A może po prostu słyszysz co pewien czas takie słowa jak marihuana, CBD, skunk, spice, ganja, cannabis, konopie i zastanawiasz się, co się kryje pod tymi pojęciami i czym się one różnią?
W przełomowej książce Cannabis David Nutt opowiada o wpływie marihuany na wszystkie obszary ciała i mózgu oraz o jej skutecznych zastosowaniach w leczeniu chorób (np. przewlekłego bólu, epilepsji, stwardnienia rozsianego, zespołu stresu pourazowego [PTSD], stanów lękowych i depresji).
W przełomowej książce Cannabis David Nutt opowiada o wpływie marihuany na wszystkie obszary ciała i mózgu oraz o jej skutecznych zastosowaniach w leczeniu chorób (np. przewlekłego bólu, epilepsji, stwardnienia rozsianego, zespołu stresu pourazowego [PTSD], stanów lękowych i depresji).
320 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2022
27 people are currently reading
570 people want to read
About the author
David J. Nutt
44 books82 followersDavid John Nutt is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep. He is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit which he founded in 2010 to provide independent, evidence-based information on drugs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 21, 2023
A really interesting time to revisit this topic as we’ve now had a few years of several countries trialling significant reductions in prohibitionist approaches to cannabis. Giving us a big chunk of medical data, recreational regulated markets and harm reductionist policies to draw experience from.
Some of the personal testaments from patients with epilepsy or various muscular diseases who’ve gone from zero quality of life to now being able to live independently are nothing short of incredible.
Goes in depth to a lot of interesting practical topics that come with regulated markets, like when is it safe to drive, how is this measured etc.
TLDR; Basically everything points to that weed is fine, but let’s rid ourselves of THC super strains and hyper commercialisation (looking at you America) that don't seem to do anyone any favours.
Some of the personal testaments from patients with epilepsy or various muscular diseases who’ve gone from zero quality of life to now being able to live independently are nothing short of incredible.
Goes in depth to a lot of interesting practical topics that come with regulated markets, like when is it safe to drive, how is this measured etc.
TLDR; Basically everything points to that weed is fine, but let’s rid ourselves of THC super strains and hyper commercialisation (looking at you America) that don't seem to do anyone any favours.
February 17, 2022
Wanted to give this 3.5 stars. Its good, but I wish it was more thorough. I feel like there is a lot more to cover on each topic in the book, it feels a bit rushed. Also the book was written so you can read each chapter on its own, allowing you to read only the topics which interest / apply to you, but this has lead to quite some repetition.
February 16, 2022
Well structured, well evidenced, thorough argument for the legalisation or decriminalisation of Cannabis.
August 4, 2022
A very useful book. Professor Nutt starts with telling us the history of cannabis use and then its tortured political history, both around the world but especially in the UK. This culminates in his own extensive involvement in the attempt to get a rational risk/benefit attitude in UK policy. This is very much an ongoing job with the UK currently one of the most behind and restrictive in its laws on the use of cannabis, both medically and recreationally. Professor Nutt is much more interested in the medical uses and the harm that is being done to many UK citizens through the establishment's over-cautious approach. He includes a number of illustrative real life stories, some of which would make you grind your teeth with frustration at the suffering that is not being prevented by this over-caution. He's not so much interested in the recreational use of cannabis, except to point out that it is overall much less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol, but that the current predominance of skunk (largely home grown) is likely to mean that street cannabis is more harmful than it need be.
The figures are too small and fairly difficult to read, but overall this is clear, well argued and easy to read.
The figures are too small and fairly difficult to read, but overall this is clear, well argued and easy to read.
February 11, 2025
Okay, so cannabis can work for treating pain where other drugs have failed. It can also work for epilepsy. That said, it can cause psychosis taking into account that higher ratios of THC in cannabis cause more problems but the causative link with schizophrenia is still not established. It can also be addictive but less than alcohol, heroin or some other hard drugs and synthetic cannabis should be avoided because it's dangerous. Lastly, one shouldn’t use cannabis every day and should start doing it as late in life as possible.
August 25, 2025
Love a good science backed book. Although it may be a bit outdated with new studies out now as it was written in 2019 it is still a good, easy to understand and quick read so I do recommend.
December 5, 2024
Super książka, zgrabne tłumaczenie na polski, masa przydatnych przypisów, także od redakcji merytorycznej.
Zabrakło mi jednak wyjaśnienia przypadków osłabienia zdolności poznawczych wyraźnie widocznych u niektórych osób używających konopie długoterminowo. Po przeczytaniu książki wnioskuję, że może to być wpływ użycia konopii o wysokiej zawartości THC, przy prawie braku CBD, ale, mimo wszystko, oczekiwałabym, że ten temat się w książce pojawi (chociaż może przeceniam liczbę takich przypadków albo może niekoniecznie to wpływ konopi a raczej innych substancji przyjmowanych przez osoby, u których widać długoterminowe skutki palenia marihuany).
Zabrakło mi jednak wyjaśnienia przypadków osłabienia zdolności poznawczych wyraźnie widocznych u niektórych osób używających konopie długoterminowo. Po przeczytaniu książki wnioskuję, że może to być wpływ użycia konopii o wysokiej zawartości THC, przy prawie braku CBD, ale, mimo wszystko, oczekiwałabym, że ten temat się w książce pojawi (chociaż może przeceniam liczbę takich przypadków albo może niekoniecznie to wpływ konopi a raczej innych substancji przyjmowanych przez osoby, u których widać długoterminowe skutki palenia marihuany).
April 14, 2023
Professor David Nutt, a scientist who looks at the evidence-based practice rather than some emotional story (and who was famously sacked by the Labour Government for speaking truth as the evidence shows on drugs) gives the facts about cannabis. Nutt was sacked in 2009, when as a government adviser on drugs he stated that ecstasy was no more dangerous than horse riding. This statement was corrected – in fact if you had some peanuts in one hand and an ecstasy tablet in the other, the peanuts carry far greater risk of harm and death than an ecstasy tablet.
- Now, every year more governments reverse the ban on cannabis or attempt to. In the US over 200 million citizens in 36 states have access to medical marijuana and over 100 million in 17 states can legally buy recreational cannabis. We are learning a lot about this drug, a lot of what you might read in newspapers or out of the mouth of politicians, doesn't follow any kind of science, just a narrative and an emotional story which is often clouded in misdirection, lies and mistruth. 17 countries including Holland, Belgium and Germany have made cannabis a medicine and yet in the UK it's even mainly illegal as a form of treatment. As a result, it's been estimated that over a million people in the UK are using illegal cannabis for medical purposes every day. This situation has left people lacking good information on and confused about cannabis. This book attempts to address this issue.
- We are currently in a war on drugs, and this has only resulted with more people taking cannabis, a black market, and stronger cannabis, as well as criminalising and blotting people's lives with a criminal record. Cannabis isn't going away, and it is a much safer drug than cigarettes or alcohol. The UK government has persisted with prohibition policies which have not reduced the consumption of cannabis. In fact from 1995 to 2019, people between the ages of 16 and 59 have gone from 23% of the population to just under 32% of the population who have tried it.
- This book looks at four aspects of cannabis. It tells the history of cannabis, where it came from and how it became illegal. Then it talks about how cannabis works and what it does to the brain and body. Then it looks at how cannabis, which for thousands of years with the medicine, suddenly became illegal. The last section talks about how to minimise the harms of cannabis.
- TREATMENT: People with a range of pain difficulties and epilepsy, cancer and other horrific conditions have been successfully treated with cannabis when other medical treatments have failed or had much worse side effects. Charlotte Figi began taking an oil made from it, and it was no longer a disappointment. Charlotte had a rare form of untreatable epilepsy, suffering from hundreds of seizures a day. After she took the oil, they stopped and this strain was renamed Charlotte’s Web. The book is full of stories of medical breakthroughs that have occurred with cannabis.
- HISTORY: Cannabis has been used as a medicine for thousands of years – back to the Egyptians and Chinese. A 5,000-year-old Chinese document has described the plant as useful in treating more than 100 conditions. In 16th-century Britain, not only was growing cannabis not banned, it was mandated — Henry VIII decreed that farmers grew it for the manufacture of hemp for the navy. And Queen Victoria appears to have taken it. The Lancet (medical paper) in 1890 declared it as one of the most valuable medicines we possess.
- Nutt attempts to answer the question that cannabis became illegal not through science, but through politics, the media and society.
- The drug became illegal due to propaganda from the US where the world turned against the drug after a clever propaganda campaign in the US, where the end of alcohol prohibition in 1933 threatened many police jobs. The director of the agency responsible for fighting alcohol needed a new drug scare and this became cannabis. The film, Reefer Madness, which made out in a racist manner that the drug made people crazy, violent and mad. And thus, along with Harry Jacob Anslinger who was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics - though even he ended up riddled with cancer and treated with the very drugs he spent a lifetime fighting (his story is told in Johann Hari’s excellent book ‘Chasing the Scream’ which also ends up describing the war on drugs as an utter failure.
- OTHER NARCOTICS AND CANNABIS: The truth is that under the influence of alcohol, 1000’s of people die every year, become violent, aggressive, have fights, ruin their liver, wreck other people's lives through acts of violence or car crashes. People who get stoned don’t cause anything like these kinds of problems. And how many people die from cannabis, about 12 people (who only took cannabis and nothing else) every year. Cannabis also appears less damaging to the heart and lungs than tobacco.
- Of course, another worry that we hear about is that cannabis makes people become schizophrenic and leads to anxiety. Well, Nutt takes us through all the evidence and though there are a few reports that say that people who are prone to schizophrenia do take cannabis – they also take alcohol and smoke cigarettes. And does being schizophrenic make you more likely to take cannabis than the other way round. Certainly, some people have a genetic blueprint that does have some possible link. However, since being illegal, this has meant cannabis has become skunk (much stronger form of cannabis) and also led to spice. Prohibition always leads to stronger forms of a substance – in prohibition US they didn’t make more beer, they made gin. Drug prohibition and the war on drugs has just made cannabis stronger. Isn’t it strange that the fear mongering about cannabis and mental illness led to stronger forms of cannabis - but not a surprise..
- What we need to acknowledge, and something that we have known since millennia is that cannabis can be a highly effective medicine. Many countries do now approve cannabis drugs for some forms of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, Parkinson's. We need to make this legal, not illegal. Sadly, we are surrounded by politicians in the Daily Mail and similar newspapers speaking utter nonsense and causing significant harm with their emotional stories and blinded to clear evidence that shows we need to be using this as a treatment. And it is of less harm than many other medicines that are out there in the market. It's a plant chemical that has been used by human beings for thousands of years, it's not something new, it's a natural substance.
- It does carry risks, such as dependency, particularly if started young and he does state that one in ten can become dependent, but this is much less than tobacco, alcohol and opiates.
- By making this relatively harmless drug illegal, we are criminalising millions as well as giving money to organised crime. It's as much governments that have led to country lines as much as criminal gangs and it leads to unsafe products with no quality control. Our drug policy is madness.
- COCA LEAVES: I will finish with something I heard by the writer Wade Davis. Coca leaves are amazing, tiny amounts of these leaves contain incredible amounts of vitamins, large amounts of calcium (which is rare in plants) and they're nutritionally rich. It gives a mild high like coffee, gives you energy, helps you concentrate for longer and helps you focus – and in its natural form it's no less addictive than coffee. It's amazing and yet the USA has been trying to burn coca leaves for 50 years when it's part of some countries in South America's livelihoods - not to make cocaine (that's the USA) but to live on and grow as we might coffee beans or wheat. However, it's a multi billion pound industry for both traffickers and the governmental USA drugs enforcement bodies, who both want the war on drugs to continue as the USA spends $60 billion (a total of a trillion dollars) since the beginning of the war on drugs. And yet people are taking more drugs than at any other time in history and traffickers and drug pushers want this war to continue because they are making trillions of dollars. So much money has been made that if you put every dollar on top of each other it would reach 1/4 of the way to the moon. Americans have spent more on this than anything else to stop Pablo Escobar and yet he's managed to flood the USA with 80 tons of cocaine every month. And yet none of this would have happened if it wasn't for illegal cocaine being brought internationally. And thousands of people are dying through the market and suffering caused to innocent people. And the people who are really suffering are the countries that make cocoa leaves. The war on drugs is a failure and we need to be looking for alternatives in allowing people to take these drugs, rather than putting them in prison, giving them criminal records, and helping criminalise gangs to make lots of money. We need to research, and we need to remember that a derivative of opiates such as morphine has been the most powerful painkiller we have.
- An excellent book, which helps to give a more balanced account on cannabis than you would hear from a politician or stupid newspapers that can only focus on emotional hot air, misinformation and not hard facts.
- Now, every year more governments reverse the ban on cannabis or attempt to. In the US over 200 million citizens in 36 states have access to medical marijuana and over 100 million in 17 states can legally buy recreational cannabis. We are learning a lot about this drug, a lot of what you might read in newspapers or out of the mouth of politicians, doesn't follow any kind of science, just a narrative and an emotional story which is often clouded in misdirection, lies and mistruth. 17 countries including Holland, Belgium and Germany have made cannabis a medicine and yet in the UK it's even mainly illegal as a form of treatment. As a result, it's been estimated that over a million people in the UK are using illegal cannabis for medical purposes every day. This situation has left people lacking good information on and confused about cannabis. This book attempts to address this issue.
- We are currently in a war on drugs, and this has only resulted with more people taking cannabis, a black market, and stronger cannabis, as well as criminalising and blotting people's lives with a criminal record. Cannabis isn't going away, and it is a much safer drug than cigarettes or alcohol. The UK government has persisted with prohibition policies which have not reduced the consumption of cannabis. In fact from 1995 to 2019, people between the ages of 16 and 59 have gone from 23% of the population to just under 32% of the population who have tried it.
- This book looks at four aspects of cannabis. It tells the history of cannabis, where it came from and how it became illegal. Then it talks about how cannabis works and what it does to the brain and body. Then it looks at how cannabis, which for thousands of years with the medicine, suddenly became illegal. The last section talks about how to minimise the harms of cannabis.
- TREATMENT: People with a range of pain difficulties and epilepsy, cancer and other horrific conditions have been successfully treated with cannabis when other medical treatments have failed or had much worse side effects. Charlotte Figi began taking an oil made from it, and it was no longer a disappointment. Charlotte had a rare form of untreatable epilepsy, suffering from hundreds of seizures a day. After she took the oil, they stopped and this strain was renamed Charlotte’s Web. The book is full of stories of medical breakthroughs that have occurred with cannabis.
- HISTORY: Cannabis has been used as a medicine for thousands of years – back to the Egyptians and Chinese. A 5,000-year-old Chinese document has described the plant as useful in treating more than 100 conditions. In 16th-century Britain, not only was growing cannabis not banned, it was mandated — Henry VIII decreed that farmers grew it for the manufacture of hemp for the navy. And Queen Victoria appears to have taken it. The Lancet (medical paper) in 1890 declared it as one of the most valuable medicines we possess.
- Nutt attempts to answer the question that cannabis became illegal not through science, but through politics, the media and society.
- The drug became illegal due to propaganda from the US where the world turned against the drug after a clever propaganda campaign in the US, where the end of alcohol prohibition in 1933 threatened many police jobs. The director of the agency responsible for fighting alcohol needed a new drug scare and this became cannabis. The film, Reefer Madness, which made out in a racist manner that the drug made people crazy, violent and mad. And thus, along with Harry Jacob Anslinger who was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics - though even he ended up riddled with cancer and treated with the very drugs he spent a lifetime fighting (his story is told in Johann Hari’s excellent book ‘Chasing the Scream’ which also ends up describing the war on drugs as an utter failure.
- OTHER NARCOTICS AND CANNABIS: The truth is that under the influence of alcohol, 1000’s of people die every year, become violent, aggressive, have fights, ruin their liver, wreck other people's lives through acts of violence or car crashes. People who get stoned don’t cause anything like these kinds of problems. And how many people die from cannabis, about 12 people (who only took cannabis and nothing else) every year. Cannabis also appears less damaging to the heart and lungs than tobacco.
- Of course, another worry that we hear about is that cannabis makes people become schizophrenic and leads to anxiety. Well, Nutt takes us through all the evidence and though there are a few reports that say that people who are prone to schizophrenia do take cannabis – they also take alcohol and smoke cigarettes. And does being schizophrenic make you more likely to take cannabis than the other way round. Certainly, some people have a genetic blueprint that does have some possible link. However, since being illegal, this has meant cannabis has become skunk (much stronger form of cannabis) and also led to spice. Prohibition always leads to stronger forms of a substance – in prohibition US they didn’t make more beer, they made gin. Drug prohibition and the war on drugs has just made cannabis stronger. Isn’t it strange that the fear mongering about cannabis and mental illness led to stronger forms of cannabis - but not a surprise..
- What we need to acknowledge, and something that we have known since millennia is that cannabis can be a highly effective medicine. Many countries do now approve cannabis drugs for some forms of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, Parkinson's. We need to make this legal, not illegal. Sadly, we are surrounded by politicians in the Daily Mail and similar newspapers speaking utter nonsense and causing significant harm with their emotional stories and blinded to clear evidence that shows we need to be using this as a treatment. And it is of less harm than many other medicines that are out there in the market. It's a plant chemical that has been used by human beings for thousands of years, it's not something new, it's a natural substance.
- It does carry risks, such as dependency, particularly if started young and he does state that one in ten can become dependent, but this is much less than tobacco, alcohol and opiates.
- By making this relatively harmless drug illegal, we are criminalising millions as well as giving money to organised crime. It's as much governments that have led to country lines as much as criminal gangs and it leads to unsafe products with no quality control. Our drug policy is madness.
- COCA LEAVES: I will finish with something I heard by the writer Wade Davis. Coca leaves are amazing, tiny amounts of these leaves contain incredible amounts of vitamins, large amounts of calcium (which is rare in plants) and they're nutritionally rich. It gives a mild high like coffee, gives you energy, helps you concentrate for longer and helps you focus – and in its natural form it's no less addictive than coffee. It's amazing and yet the USA has been trying to burn coca leaves for 50 years when it's part of some countries in South America's livelihoods - not to make cocaine (that's the USA) but to live on and grow as we might coffee beans or wheat. However, it's a multi billion pound industry for both traffickers and the governmental USA drugs enforcement bodies, who both want the war on drugs to continue as the USA spends $60 billion (a total of a trillion dollars) since the beginning of the war on drugs. And yet people are taking more drugs than at any other time in history and traffickers and drug pushers want this war to continue because they are making trillions of dollars. So much money has been made that if you put every dollar on top of each other it would reach 1/4 of the way to the moon. Americans have spent more on this than anything else to stop Pablo Escobar and yet he's managed to flood the USA with 80 tons of cocaine every month. And yet none of this would have happened if it wasn't for illegal cocaine being brought internationally. And thousands of people are dying through the market and suffering caused to innocent people. And the people who are really suffering are the countries that make cocoa leaves. The war on drugs is a failure and we need to be looking for alternatives in allowing people to take these drugs, rather than putting them in prison, giving them criminal records, and helping criminalise gangs to make lots of money. We need to research, and we need to remember that a derivative of opiates such as morphine has been the most powerful painkiller we have.
- An excellent book, which helps to give a more balanced account on cannabis than you would hear from a politician or stupid newspapers that can only focus on emotional hot air, misinformation and not hard facts.
January 5, 2024
Very good and up to date guide to Cannabis research and legislation with a focus primarily on the UK, but with comparisons with other countries and a short overview of the bigoted origins of its prosecution in the US. Much needed mythbusting regarding the schizophrenia link (old and misleading study, large increase in use not followed by population wide increase in schizophrenia).
Nutt isn't a libertarian absolutist who wants all drugs freed, but uses the multiple government investigation mandates he was spearheading to find actual data on harm from many spectrums, not just direct drug harm but societal consequences and costs. When government regulation indirectly leads to more harm, as in the case with cannabis increasing potency and getting synthetic alternatives popular because of ease of access and not popping drug tests, he points out how one led to the other.
The medicinal and compassionate use arguments for rare diseases like rare seizure conditions will probably be the hardest to deny, but the overall view is one where enforcement has caused more harm than good and a regulated market would be a victory across the board, according to the information in this book.
Nutt isn't a libertarian absolutist who wants all drugs freed, but uses the multiple government investigation mandates he was spearheading to find actual data on harm from many spectrums, not just direct drug harm but societal consequences and costs. When government regulation indirectly leads to more harm, as in the case with cannabis increasing potency and getting synthetic alternatives popular because of ease of access and not popping drug tests, he points out how one led to the other.
The medicinal and compassionate use arguments for rare diseases like rare seizure conditions will probably be the hardest to deny, but the overall view is one where enforcement has caused more harm than good and a regulated market would be a victory across the board, according to the information in this book.
July 7, 2025
An excellent, concise summary of the current state of scientific research into cannabis, by one of the world's foremost experts in relative drug harms.
This book is an important read for all of the many, many people who have fallen victim to anti-cannabis propaganda over the decades. It lays out the bare truth, without agenda, based on actual scientific evidence.
It covers the politics of why cannabis was made illegal, what cannabis does in the human body and brain, the various medicinal applications of cannabis and the best regulatory scheme for cannabis.
Nutt admits to being a supporter of cannabis, but this has not led to any obvious bias in the text. He does not advocate a Colorado-style free market model but rather a Uruguay-style state regulation model, although he agrees that either would be better than decriminalisation, and all three better than prohibition.
This book is a clearly-written and engaging text. I gave it five stars for being well-written, accurate and something that needs to be read by many.
This book is an important read for all of the many, many people who have fallen victim to anti-cannabis propaganda over the decades. It lays out the bare truth, without agenda, based on actual scientific evidence.
It covers the politics of why cannabis was made illegal, what cannabis does in the human body and brain, the various medicinal applications of cannabis and the best regulatory scheme for cannabis.
Nutt admits to being a supporter of cannabis, but this has not led to any obvious bias in the text. He does not advocate a Colorado-style free market model but rather a Uruguay-style state regulation model, although he agrees that either would be better than decriminalisation, and all three better than prohibition.
This book is a clearly-written and engaging text. I gave it five stars for being well-written, accurate and something that needs to be read by many.
July 30, 2022
I've been curious about the medical science of cannabis use, given its varied legalization and illegalization across Europe, the US, and the UK in recent decades. This book delivers the up-to-date research on its efficacy in treating medical conditions as well as side-effects, putting reliable information into the hands of anyone trying to make up their minds about the issue.
It shouldn't be shocking to learn its legal status in the UK (and other countries) has been decided by personal opinions of lawmakers and propaganda more than medical science. Or that research has been astonishingly neglected, if not blocked by government decisionmakers. Nor that although its medical use is authorized in the UK, the NHS and physicians are not prescribing it. It was an enlightening read, and a valuable reference.
It shouldn't be shocking to learn its legal status in the UK (and other countries) has been decided by personal opinions of lawmakers and propaganda more than medical science. Or that research has been astonishingly neglected, if not blocked by government decisionmakers. Nor that although its medical use is authorized in the UK, the NHS and physicians are not prescribing it. It was an enlightening read, and a valuable reference.
February 16, 2023
I found the whole book informative, up to date and its case for some form of legalisation of cannabis well argued. However, most enlightening for me was the historic account of the chequered history of cannabis prohibition here in the UK, driven by political pandering rather than social and health concerns. The consequent lack of scientific studies into medical uses of the substance over recent decades is a huge and shameful loss to many suffering from pain and other conditions. Thank goodness we have an eminent scientist such as Nutt arguing the case for a more mature, pragmatic and compassionate approach to our society's use of cannabis.
February 26, 2023
Very good. A powerfully-argued and persuasive, science-based argument in favour of legalisation and state regulation of cannabis. Criminalisation causes far more problems than it solves: it feeds racial profiling by the police; it stands in the way of research into and prescription of cannabis for a range of different conditions (including treatment-resistant epilepsy and anxiety); and it encourages the proliferation of ever-stronger and more dangerous forms of - and alternatives to - cannabis, with massive THC concentration and no (antipsychotic) CBD.
Turns out Peter Tosh was right.
Turns out Peter Tosh was right.
April 5, 2023
I think this is wrote to a good level for anyone to understand the evidence and benefits of cannabis across society and the main reasons why we should legalise this, socially, medically, economically and it’s done so without going one step too far and going overtly detailed and detracting from the main headlines. I’m sure if people want more detailed assessments they can find these online / in other texts and build on what this book already starts.
It’s well written and seemingly backed up by relevant / qualified people. A good and enlightening read.
It’s well written and seemingly backed up by relevant / qualified people. A good and enlightening read.
June 12, 2023
I was pleasantly surprised by new information on the War on Drugs. Professor David Nutt presents yet another side to the issue I didn't hear before.
UK's point of view, talked about here extensively, reminds me strongly of how it looked like in Poland. It also exhibits very similar mentality influenced strongly by the US. Some of the quotes matched perfectly what our leaders had said at the time.
Overall, it was a short but interesting read. I recommend it to everyone who wants to educate themselves on the subject.
UK's point of view, talked about here extensively, reminds me strongly of how it looked like in Poland. It also exhibits very similar mentality influenced strongly by the US. Some of the quotes matched perfectly what our leaders had said at the time.
Overall, it was a short but interesting read. I recommend it to everyone who wants to educate themselves on the subject.
September 28, 2022
Great book! Recommended reading for anyone working in the cannabis industry to develop your knowledge in this area. Based on the information in this book, my colleagues wrote an article called "Strategies to Market Your CBD Products ". So, if you want to save your time and learn all the important points from the book and more, I suggest you read this article.
April 9, 2024
Top boek. Als je interesse hebt over het echte NUT, van cannabis en de misvattingen er over is deze 100% een aanrader. Het enige waar ik misschien mee zit is dat er niet echt over geheugenproblemen wordt gesproken. Ik dacht altijd dat mensen dat zeiden? Er staat wel in dat het cognitief en leerbekwaamheid door gebruik op dat moment aangetast is maar geen lange termijn effecten. Buiten dat heb ik nog veel vragen die ik had over cannabis kunnen oplossen.
July 10, 2024
The general populace’s view on cannabis has been negative in recent history. I feel like Nutt is trying to compensate for this a little too much in this book. I did not get the same feeling when reading Drink? from the same author.
Additionally, I felt the book was a little longer than it should have been, partially due to repetition. However, this has the benefit of allowing the chapters to be read standalone.
Additionally, I felt the book was a little longer than it should have been, partially due to repetition. However, this has the benefit of allowing the chapters to be read standalone.
February 7, 2022
With the benefit of 30+ years as a leading neuroscientist and pharmacologist, David Nutt here reaches a lay audience with straight science in an accessible manner.
Really tremendous work from a true expert in the field.
Balanced info about harms and dangers especially in teenagers etc. found it unbiased and informative
Really tremendous work from a true expert in the field.
Balanced info about harms and dangers especially in teenagers etc. found it unbiased and informative
June 22, 2022
The only criticism I have for this book is that it has a lot of mention of Britain and it's policies but it also shows how to start the change from within very conservative minds whom have deemed all drugs to be problematic and punishable. Otherwise this was a great read and very succinct, there is very little fat in this book.
January 12, 2023
Read this to refresh my memory on cannabis, since I'm writing my thesis on it. Since i liked "drugs without the hot air", I decided to pick up this book.
Very clear language, up-to-date research and good arguments. He could've gone a bit more in depth on some topics, but it was still very informative.
Very clear language, up-to-date research and good arguments. He could've gone a bit more in depth on some topics, but it was still very informative.
August 3, 2025
Very informative, I also like the whole analysis and objective views that the author presents. I am now more knowledgeable about the risks of various drugs and the benefits, living based on opinions is not healthy, finally this book discloses facts that I can reflect upon and make up my mind in a better way.
November 8, 2025
Interesting read, UK policy focus was a bit dated and not that interesting for me personally.
Fascinating the relationship between CBD and THC, in particular CBD's neuroprotective qualities which I had not read before.
Big fan or Professor Nutt's writing, look forward to reading more of his work.
Fascinating the relationship between CBD and THC, in particular CBD's neuroprotective qualities which I had not read before.
Big fan or Professor Nutt's writing, look forward to reading more of his work.
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December 30, 2022An informative and interesting look at one of the most popular illegal drug. The history, science and sociological approaches of the book offer a holistic insight into the demonisation and potential medical uses of the drug. A great read.
February 7, 2024
I was looking for an evidence based book about cannabis, it’s real harms and how to control it, but the book had no new data than what you’d read in Reddit and was purely argumentative about cannabis politics in the UK.
April 8, 2025
mam wrażenie, że gdy odpowiedź brzmiała nie wiem to autor robił wszystko by przekonać mnie do konopi. wykresy bez opisów osi też nie pomagały i sporo razy zatrzymywałam się na pozytywnym wartościowaniu konopi mimo braku dowodów. z plusów dużo można się dowiedzieć, chociaż pozostałabym sceptyczna
February 9, 2022
Brilliant book, evidence based without the stereotypical political propaganda we are all spoon fed.
Highly recommend that any one reading this also reads his alcohol book too
Highly recommend that any one reading this also reads his alcohol book too
July 21, 2022
Short and sweet. The author has a very interesting perspective.
September 15, 2022
Very balanced 3.5
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