Episode 94: Medical marijuana

Episode 94: Medical marijuana

Author: Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie February 3, 2026 Duration: 1:02:58

Here’s another episode that revists a topic we’ve covered before. A while back, we did an episode on the downsides of cannabis (for example, the risk of psychosis). But of course, a lot of people claim there are medical benefits, too! Not least among them is Donald Trump, who recently re-scheduled cannabis so that it can be studied more for medical purposes.

That research is sorely needed. In this episode, we discuss the very uncertain state of our knowledge on medical marijuana.

The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine, where you can find Samuel Hughes’s excellent new article on “Urban expansion in the age of liberalism”, as discussed in today’s episode. That’s at worksinprogress.co—which is packed full of other great articles on science, tech, and human progress.

Show notes

* “Trump expands access to cannabis” (December 2025)

* Info from the DEA on drug schedules

* The new JAMA review on medical marijuana

* Reason article on the 2011 RAND study; Retraction Watch article on the same

* Studies on the crime impacts of medical marijuana (increase; neutral; decrease)

* Useful 2021 review of the wider societal effects of medical marijuana legalisation

* 2020 Arizona “natural experiment” study

* Washington Post article on the poor resemblance of “real” marijuana compared to what’s allowed for research studies

* Survey on the use of cannabis for medical purposes

Credits

The Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com

Every week, Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie pull apart the biggest arguments and most confusing claims making headlines. Science Fictions isn't just about celebrating breakthroughs; it's a necessary dive into the messy, contested, and often surprising realities of how science actually works. You'll hear them unpack heated debates, examine questionable studies, and explore why even solid research can sometimes lead to public confusion. This podcast serves as a guide through the noise, separating compelling evidence from overblown narratives. Each episode feels like a conversation with two deeply informed friends who aren't afraid to ask tough questions, offering clarity on topics that matter. For anyone curious about the stories behind the science headlines, this is an essential listen. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that goes beyond the press release, grounded in a genuine fascination with how we know what we know.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Science Fictions
Podcast Episodes
Unpaywalled: The science of Johann Hari [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:50
We are sorry we’ve been missing so many episodes recently! Stuart’s been busy and Tom’s been… also busy. We’re busy. Hopefully back to normal service next week. In the meantime, here’s an old paid episode, unpaywalled. A…
Episode 100: Replication, replication, replication [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:07
We made it: triple figures! And as luck would have it, Nature just simultaneously published four major meta-science papers that are right up our street. Aw. Thanks, Nature. You shouldn’t have.How screwed is social/behavi…
Episode 99.5: Candidate genes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:09
Here’s another one for the annals of “entire scientific field becomes totally misguided for decades”. How could it have been possible that so many scientists fell for the idea of candidate genes—that there were individua…
Episode 99: Power posing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:01
For a while in the early-to-mid 2010s, the most prominent psychology research in the world was on power posing. Harvard’s Amy Cuddy did a TED talk that reached tens of millions; her exhortation to “fake it til you make i…
Paid-only episode 28: Tourette's syndrome [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:21
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comHave you seen the award-winning film I Swear, about a Scottish man with Tourette’s? (The less said about what happened at the c…
Episode 98: Dark oxygen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:38
In 2024, researchers claimed to find something mysterious at the bottom of the ocean. It was “dark oxygen”—oxygen produced where there’s no chance of photosynthesis. So what could possibly be producing it?Natural batteri…
Episode 97: The 2D:4D digit ratio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:23
The last few episodes have been pretty heavy. So here’s… well, here’s the 2D:4D ratio. Does the difference in length between your index finger and your ring finger reveal a huge amount about your personality (and much mo…
Paid-only episode 27: Antidepressants [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:06
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comAnd now… following last week’s episode on ECT, here’s part two of our double episode on depression treatments. This time we’re…
Episode 96: Electroconvulsive therapy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:25
Open up some scientific papers, and you’ll hear electroconvulsive therapy described as the most effective treatment for depression (especially very severe depression). But open up others, and you’ll see it described as c…
Episode 95: Critical thinking [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:00
This episode is dedicated to Justin Eldridge.We like to think that, in often hamfisted ways, we’re applying critical thinking on this show. But what even is “critical thinking”? Can you measure it? Can you teach it to ki…