Ep. 369: Dr. Shauli Lev Ran

October 9, 2018

Shauli Lev Ran elaborates on the benefits of increasing research methodologies: “If we’re talking about 4,000 people smoking daily, they may be smoking hundreds of different strains with very different combinations. And we’re kind of making conclusions or sometimes jumping to conclusions that it is associated with higher or lower levels of THC. But like I said, we don’t actually know that. One of the exciting things about the modern era in terms of cannabis research, is that there’s no real reason from a research perspective that in a few years time we won’t have that data.”

Transcript:

Shauli Lev Ran: My name is Shauli Lev Ran. I'm a psychiatrist. I'm Deputy Director of [inaudible 00:00:52] Tel Aviv University.

Seth Adler: Saul or Shauli?

Shauli Lev Ran: So in Hebrew Shauli is from the biblical King Saul. So when I'm in the States and Canada, abroad then it's usually Saul.

Seth Adler: All right. Well, we're here at your office, and thank you for having me. So I'll call you Shauli for-

Shauli Lev Ran: Shauli.

Seth Adler: Shauli.

Shauli Lev Ran: Yeah.

Seth Adler: This is what I'll call you for the time being.

Shauli Lev Ran: That would be great.

Seth Adler: All right. Let's talk about a little mental health Shauli.

Shauli Lev Ran: We shall.

Seth Adler: And how cannabis effects that and how it doesn't and what this all means. So just, why don't you start by giving us a broad overview of the research that you've done.

Shauli Lev Ran: Okay. So I do mostly epidemiological research looking into what can be perceived as psychiatric outcomes of cannabis use. What that means is that individuals who use cannabis particularly regularly, what I'm interested in is in focusing a few years later, after initiating let's even say intensive use for daily use, do they suffer from more depression or less depression? Are there any special characteristics to that depression? Do they suffer for more or less anxiety, et cetera? Does it affect individuals with ADHD different than individuals without?

Shauli Lev Ran: So, the different various combinations between cannabis use and psychiatric disorders and I'm focusing on long term effects. Because the fact that if I smoke a joint now, I may be more anxious in 30 minutes if I tend to be anxious and obviously depending on what strain I smoke, et cetera. Or if I have a tendency to become psychotic because a genetic predisposition, et cetera.

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