Ryan G. Vandrey, PhD, is associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His research focuses on the behavioral pharmacology of marijuana in adult research volunteers, clinical trials, web-based survey research, and patients using marijuana or cannabinoids for therapeutic purposes.

Key Points

• Correlation but not causality
• States with lower death rates may have implemented other programs
• Population studies don’t apply to individuals; need to look at individual patients
• Need to compare marijuana pain relief with standard pain relievers 

Next Up? Dr. ElSohly on Can Marijuana Cure Brain Cancer?