Lester Grinspoon

Dr. Lester Grinspoon (born June 24, 1928) is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Grinspoon was senior psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston for 40 years. Dr. Grinspoon is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychiatric Association. He was founding editor of The American Psychiatric Association Annual Review and Harvard Mental Health Letter. Grinspoon was editor of Harvard Mental Health Letter for fifteen years.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon was born June 24, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Tufts University and Harvard Medical School. He is married and the father of 4 children, including noted astrobiologist David Grinspoon and physician and author Dr. Peter Grinspoon. His oldest son died of cancer when he was 13. Dr. Grinspoon has five grandchildren. In age order: Emma, Zach, Jacob, Isabel, Audrey. In 2011 he revealed that he had cancer during the documentary "Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis"

As a doctor, Grinspoon was the first American physician to prescribe lithium carbonate for bipolar disorder.

Dr. Grinspoon became interested in marijuana in the 1960s when its use in the United States increased dramatically. He "had no doubt that it was a very harmful drug that was unfortunately being used by more and more foolish young people who would not listen to or could not believe or understand the warnings about its dangers." When Grinspoon began studying marijuana in 1967, his intention was to "define scientifically the nature and degree of those dangers" but as he reviewed the existing literature on the subject Grinspoon reached the conclusion he and the general public had been misinformed and misled. "There was little empirical evidence to support my beliefs about the dangers of marijuana," and he was convinced cannabis was much less harmful than he had believed. The title of Marihuana Reconsidered "reflected that change in view." He has testified before Congress, and as an expert witness in various legal proceedings, including the deportation hearings of John Lennon. Grinspoon worked with Ramsey Clark on a number of international marijuana related incidents.

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