LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY UNIT
Cannabis – From Bench to Bedside
The cannabis plant has seemingly been used by man for
at least 8000 years. As long as 3000 years ago, cannabis
was specifically planted for medicinal use. Its more
celebrated use, as a recreational drug, only became
common in the west during the last fifty years.
The main active ingredients giving psychoactive and
medicinal effects are the so-called cannabinoids. While
describing some interesting biological and chemical
aspects of the plant, Dr Potter shows how, and suggests
why, the plant produces these molecules. He then
shows how a number of these cannabinoids are being
incorporated into a range of medicines.
Health implications of the changing street cannabis
over recent years are considered.
Above all else, this talk’s main aims are to be
informative and fun.
For information about the Clinical Psychopharmacology
Unit, please visit our website: www.ucl.ac.uk/cpu
Date: Monday 16th February
Time: 1-3pm
Location: Gustave Tuck Lecture
Theatre
Admission: Free
Speaker: David Potter JP PhD
CBiol FSB FLS CMIOSH
Dr David Potter is Director of Botanical
Research
and
Cultivation
for
GW
Pharmaceuticals, a public company researching
and developing cannabis based medicines.
Since becoming their first employee in 1998,
David has overseen the propagation of
approximately two million cannabis plants.
Prior to joining GW he had 20 years’
experience in agricultural R & D.
David has a real passion for his subject and
indeed gained a PhD in Cannabis Botany and
Pharmacognosy at Kings College London in
2009.
In addition to the medicinal aspects of cannabis
he has also established a reputation as a
forensic expert on cannabis issues. His
published work on UK cannabis potency is
widely quoted. David regularly acts as an
advisor to the police, and has appeared in
Crown Court as an expert witness many times.
Meanwhile, as a magistrate with 15 years’
experience on the bench, he has continually
dealt with cannabis-related crime at a local
level.