UMass Libraries Special Collections and University Archives to Present “Remembering a Pioneer: Exploring the Legacy of Dr. Lester Grinspoon”

AMHERST, Mass. — The Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries, are hosting a Online event in honor of Dr. Lester Grinspoon on Thursday June 24th from 7-8.30 p.m. The event, a conversation between experts and activists led by the late Dr. Grinspoon mentored and inspired focuses on his life, activism and work, including his groundbreaking research on cannabis use, psychedelics and other drugs in the 50th anniversary year of his book, Marihuana Reconsidered.

picture

This free virtual event for Dr. Grinspoon officially opens Fundraising campaign to process and digitize Lester Grinspoon Papers, one of the premier drug policy and social change collections held in the UMass Amherst Libraries’ special collections and university archives.

The event, which marks the start of a larger event slated for June 24, 2022, will include an expert group of people who knew and were inspired by Grinspoon:

Richard M. Evans (moderator), a lawyer in western Massachusetts since 1973, authored the first comprehensive cannabis regulation / tax plan to become law in a state. In the 1990s, while serving on NORML’s board of directors, he was the driving force behind the organization’s responsible cannabis use principles, which are now adopted around the world. In 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from NORML. His numerous commentaries and other writings helped shape and advance the counter-prohibitionist narrative. In 2016, Evans chaired the Massachusetts Yes on 4 campaign committee and served on the drafting committee that drafted the first legalization bill with a social justice mandate.

Rick Döblin, is the founder and managing director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and has been researching the use of cannabis and psychedelics for 35 years. He received his PhD in Public Policy from Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he completed his dissertation on the regulation of the medical use of psychedelics and marijuana and his master’s thesis on an oncologist survey of smoked marijuana vs. oral THC. authored pill to control nausea in cancer patients. As a certified holotropic respiratory therapist who studied with Stanislav Grof, Doblin is interested in developing legal frameworks for the beneficial use of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription drugs but also for the personal growth of otherwise healthy people. He founded MAPS in 1986, lives in Boston with his wife and dog and has three grown children.

Peter Grinspoon, MD, is a family doctor and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, instructor at Harvard Medical School, certified health and wellness coach, and board member of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR). He spent two years serving as the assistant director of the Massachusetts Physician Health Service, helping physicians with addiction and mental health problems, and is the author of the memoir, Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction.

Staci Gruber, Director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core at the Brain Imaging Center at McLean Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has studied the effects of recreational cannabis on the brain for more than two decades. Her research focuses on the application of neurocognitive models and brain imaging to characterize risk factors for substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. Given the inherent differences between recreational and medicinal cannabis users, Gruber launched Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) in 2014, the first program of its kind designed to elucidate the specific effects of medicinal cannabis use. MIND supports numerous projects, including clinical studies, aimed at examining the effects of medical cannabis on a number of important variables such as cognition, brain structure and function, clinical condition, quality of life, pain, sleep and other health-related measures.

Allen St. Pierre ’89 established himself during his long tenure at NORML (1991-2015; Executive Director 2005-2015) as one of the hardest-working cannabis law reform activists in the US, helping to move public opinion from anti-pot to anti-pot bans walk. He has made thousands of media appearances; published major public policy reports on cannabis law reform; organized national conferences, legal seminars, public protests and pro-reform festivals; met with elected officials; and testified before local, state, and federal lawmakers. His writings have appeared in national magazines and newspapers, including more than 200 columns for High Times and – after Prohibition – in Cannabis Business Executive and Cannabis & Technology. After leaving NORML, St. Pierre was Vice President of Freedom Leaf based in Las Vegas, partner at Sensible Alternative Investments based in Boston, advisor to the cannabis-oriented software company getAmbr and curator of the WeedMaps Museum of Weed. He is currently the CEO of California-based cannabis grower Cypress. As an alumnus of UMass Amherst, where he studied law, St. Pierre was instrumental in developing the SCUA’s archive collections on drug policy. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife and two children.

Genester Wilson-King, MD, is a certified obstetrician and gynecologist with more than 20 years of clinical experience. In 2010 she founded the Victory Rejuvenation Center (VRC), a private, holistic and integrative wellness medicine practice that offers patients life-changing management modalities and tailored medication. She is the vice president of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, a non-profit organization committed to empowering and educating healthcare providers in the use of cannabis medicine, author of two modules in the new SCC Cannabis Clinicians Training curriculum, and co-director of the training curriculum. Dr. Wilson-King serves on the board of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR), the first and only national medical association dedicated to the legalization and regulation of adult cannabis.