Riches and knowledge of India have attracted many foreign invasions. Each time, Indian culture has emerged stronger. Like a great melting pot, India has assimilated invading cultures and yet maintained its glorious core.

What are the strengths of Indian culture that have enabled it to survive for thousands of years? Were there persistent scientific endeavors that shaped Indian society? What kind of discoveries were Indians trying to make when three thousand years ago they were dealing with such large numbers as "1,971,956,574 years"?

How did ancient Indians figure out that if you pierced the globe and emerged on the opposite side of the globe from India, you would find an advanced culture (Americas)? What is the driving force behind the predominance of vegetarianism in India? What enabled them to perform plastic surgery more than two thousand years ago?

Did they know the role of the spleen in driving the characteristic red pigmentation of blood? Has the Om (ॐ) symbol been discovered in the ancient Americas?

A doctor discovers the surprising truth about marijuana.

No substance on earth is as hotly debated as marijuana. Opponents claim it’s dangerous, addictive, carcinogenic, and a gateway to serious drug abuse. Fans claim it as a wonder drug, treating cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines, PTSD, and insomnia. Patients suffering from these conditions need—and deserve—hard facts based on medical evidence, not hysteria and superstition.

In Stoned, palliative care physician Dr. David Casarett sets out to do anything—including experimenting on himself—to find evidence of marijuana’s medical potential. He smears mysterious marijuana paste on his legs and samples pot wine. He poses as a patient at a seedy California clinic and takes lessons from an artisanal hash maker. In conversations with researchers, doctors, and patients around the world, he learns how marijuana works—and doesn’t—in the real world.

Dr. Casarett unearths tales of near-miraculous success, such as a child with chronic seizures who finally found relief in cannabidiol oil. In Tel Aviv, he learns of a nursing home that’s found success giving marijuana to dementia patients. On the other hand, one patient who believed marijuana cured her lung cancer has clearly been misled.

As Casarett sifts the myth and misinformation from the scientific evidence, he explains, among other things:

• Why marijuana might be the best treatment option for some types of pain
• Why there’s no significant risk of lung damage from smoking pot
• Why most marijuana-infused beer or wine won’t get you high

Often humorous, occasionally heartbreaking, and full of counterintuitive conclusions, Stoned offers a compassionate and much-needed medical practitioner’s perspective on the potential of this misunderstood plant.