The Medicalization of Marijuana Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience

Preface

Marijuana, Cannabis, and Hemp: A Note on Terms

Introduction: A Tale of Two Patients

Chapter 1: The Social Construction of Cannabis Use

Chapter 2: The Landscape of Cannabis Policy

Chapter 3: Becoming a Patient

Chapter 4: Cannabis and the Doctor–Patient Interaction

Chapter 5: Medical Cannabis Use in Everyday Life

Chapter 6: Changing the Set: Creating Medical Routines of Cannabis Use

Chapter 7: The Power of Place: Changes to Setting

Chapter 8: Stereotypes, Stigma, and Mitigating Risk

Chapter 9: Strategies for Managing and Changing Cannabis Stigma

Chapter 10: Beyond Medicalization: Healthism and Pharmaceuticalization

Conclusion: Medicalization and the Future of Cannabis Medicine

Biography

The authors are a husband-and-wife team with more than thirty-five years collective experience writing on cannabis and drug policy topics, including contributions to more than two dozen books.

Michelle Newhart, Ph.D., teaches Sociology and works as an instructional designer at Mt. San Antonio College. Previously, she has taught at University of Colorado, Boulder. She is the co-author of Understanding Research Methods (10th ed.) from Routledge.

William Dolphin has taught English and Composition at San Francisco State University, Rhodes College, Azusa Pacific University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He currently teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Education at University of Redlands.

Here’s an engaging story of a controversial plant and the people who rely on it. If you’ve ever finished a mystery novel and realized you’ve effortlessly learned history, pharmacology, sociology, psychology, and a warm appreciation for real characters, get ready to have a comparable experience. The authors depict the humanity of all their participants while weaving details of the data into a riveting narrative. Readers from diverse backgrounds can learn a lot from this text. Seasoned cannabis researchers are bound to appreciate the nuanced look at the lives of patients. Citizens new to the field will relish many surprises that will likely defy their stereotypes, and fellow patients will find the tales of their brothers and sisters extremely validating. In addition, the book is a superb series of lessons on the utility, challenges, and delights of qualitative research. Anyone interested in finding out more about any underground population and communicating the information in a compelling way now has a stellar example for how to do so.
Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D., Author of Understanding Marijuana and Professor, University at Albany, SUNY

With the definitions and uses of marijuana changing rapidly, this is an important and timely book. It brings together policy, experience and especially medicalization in a rich analytical fashion. It should become a benchmark work on impacts of medical marijuana in society.
Peter Conrad, Professor Emeritus, Brandeis University

Authors Newhart and Dolphin have provided an in-depth sociological study of the patient experience with cannabis in the USA that examines the real-life obstacles, stigma, and legal tightrope that people must negotiate to treat their illnesses in the face of continued federal recalcitrance. Readers will learn details of the history and legal underpinnings　 related to the cannabis controversy, and hear the stories of 40 patients in their own words, thus putting a human face on this complex topic. It is a highly accurate and welcome addition to the available literature.
Ethan Russo, MD, Director of Research and Development, International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute