Dr. Peter Grinspoon

Peter Grinspoon, M.D. is a primary care physician and educator at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a certified health and wellness coach. He is currently serving as a board member of the advocacy group Doctors For Cannabis Regulation, which works towards legalizing cannabis with an eye toward social justice issues.

According to Wikipedia, Dr. Grinspoon “Is an authority on virtually all aspects of cannabis, including recreational and medical usages, as well as political issues and social history.”

He has treated patients with, and counseled people on, cannabis for several decades. In the cannabis industry, he has served as an expert witness, as a consultant, and as a medical and scientific advisor.

His latest book, “Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana” will be out in April, 2023 (Prometheus)

Dr. Grinspoon is a Contributing Editor to Harvard Health Publications, where his popular blogs are read by millions. His blog on CBD has more than four million page views.

In recovery from opiate addiction, he has been a national leader on the issue of physician health and has served as an Associate Director of the Massachusetts Physician Health Service, helping physicians with addiction and mental health issues. 

He is the author of the memoir Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction published by Hachette Book Group, which was optioned by MarVista Entertainment (the option has since reverted back).

He graduated with an M.A. in Philosophy with honors from Swarthmore College. He then spent five years as a Campaign Director for the environmental group Greenpeace before entering medical school at Boston University School of Medicine, where he graduated with honors. He completed his residency in the year 2000 at Harvard’s Brigham and Woman’s Hospital and has been employed at Harvard-affiliated hospitals ever since.

He has appeared on national television including NBC, C-SPAN and Fox and Friends, Good Morning America, MSNBC and The Daily Show, discussing issues ranging from cannabis to the opioid crisis; he has been appeared in the national press such as on NPR: All Things Considered and in People magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and New York Magazine. His writing has been published in The Nation, The Los Angeles Times, The Narrative Inquiry In Bioethics, and The Psychiatric Times.