Dr. Rick Doblin is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit research and educational organization with about 1000 members. MAPS focuses on the development of beneficial, socially-sanctioned uses of psychedelic drugs and marijuana.
Since 1992, MAPS has been assisting Dr. Donald Abrams in implementing a clinical trial comparing smoked marijuana v. the oral THC capsule in promoting weight gain in patients suffering from the AIDS wasting syndrome. Recently MAPS and California NORML co-sponsored a study to measure the effectiveness of water pipes and vaporizers in filtering particulate matter from marijuana smoke. MAPS has positioned itself directly at the center of the conflict between scientific freedom and the politically-driven strategy of the War on Drugs which blurs all distinctions between use and abuse.
Dr. Doblin received a Ph.D. in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he obtained his Masters in Public Policy. His master's thesis (a policy analysis exercise) focused on the attitudes and experiences of oncologists concerning the medical use of marijuana. His dissertation focused on the development of regulations governing the beneficial uses of psychedelics. His undergraduate thesis was a twenty-five year follow-up to the classic Good Friday experiment which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experience.
Dr. Doblin's commitment to marijuana law reform derives from a deeply felt sense of outrage at the infringement of personal freedom inherent in the laws criminalizing the use of marijuana. His professional goal is to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist.
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Dr. Rick Doblin is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit research and educational organization with about 1000 members. MAPS focuses on the development of beneficial, socially-sanctioned uses of psychedelic drugs and marijuana.
