Episode 1246: Pot Debate - Alex Berenson & Dr. Michael Hart

TL;DR: Joe Rogan platformed Alex Berenson — a former NYT reporter with no medical or scientific credentials — to promote claims from his book “Tell Your Children” that have been widely repudiated by cannabis researchers, including the scientists Berenson himself cited.

This was framed as a “debate” between Berenson and Dr. Michael Hart, a Canadian cannabinoid medicine physician. While Hart pushed back substantively, the format gave Berenson a roughly three-hour megaphone to amplify cherry-picked correlations and causal claims that mainstream science does not support.

Who Is Alex Berenson?

Former New York Times reporter covering the pharmaceutical industry.
Novelist (spy thrillers).
No background in medicine, neuroscience, epidemiology, or addiction research.
Author of Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence (2019), which was being promoted on this episode.

The Central Claims Berenson Pushed

Cannabis causes schizophrenia and psychosis.
Cannabis use drives violent crime, including murder.
States that legalized marijuana saw spikes in violent crime as a result.
The scientific consensus is “settled” that cannabis causes severe mental illness.

What the Evidence Actually Says

The book and Berenson’s media tour generated an unusual response: an open letter signed by roughly 100 scholars, clinicians, and researchers rejecting its claims.

Open letter from 100+ researchers and clinicians (2019): The book “misuses scientific data” and reaches conclusions not supported by the underlying research. It “infers causation from correlation, cherry-picks data, and falls victim to selection bias via anecdote.” Source
Dr. Ziva Cooper (UCLA, cannabis researcher Berenson cited): Publicly disputed Berenson’s framing, noting the National Academies report she co-authored found an association between cannabis and schizophrenia — not causation. She emphasized later research suggests shared genetic factors predict both cannabis use and schizophrenia. Source
Drs. Carl Hart and Charles Ksir (peer-reviewed response): Called Berenson’s assertions “misinformed and reckless.” Similar correlations with psychosis exist for tobacco, stimulants, and opioids — implying common vulnerability factors rather than cannabis-specific causation.
Historian Isaac Campos (University of Cincinnati): Berenson cited Campos’s research on Mexico to argue cannabis causes violence. Campos publicly stated his work was “unfairly and inaccurately represented.” Source
Reason Foundation policy review: Berenson’s literature review is “limited, periodically inaccurate, and not sufficient to model policy.” Prohibition does not reduce mental illness rates. Source
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017): Found cannabis use is associated with schizophrenia in heavy users, but explicitly cautioned the relationship “may be multi-directional and complex” — language Berenson omitted. Source

The Violence Claim Falls Apart

Berenson argued legalization states saw violent crime spikes:

He focused on absolute numbers in a few states while ignoring national crime trends and population growth.
Subsequent peer-reviewed research found the opposite or null effects. A 2018 Economic Inquiry study and a 2021 study in the Justice Quarterly found no increase in violent crime following recreational legalization; some studies found declines in border regions.
A widely cited analysis in PLOS One (Morris et al., 2014) found medical marijuana legalization was associated with reductions in homicide and assault rates. Source

Joe Rogan’s Role

To his credit, Rogan invited Dr. Mike Hart specifically to challenge Berenson rather than letting Berenson talk uninterrupted (as he had on Rogan’s earlier solo appearance, JRE #1221).

However:

Rogan repeatedly fell back on the “I don’t know, you guys figure it out” frame — false balance between a credentialed cannabinoid physician and a thriller novelist citing studies he was misrepresenting.
The “debate” format itself was the problem. Treating Berenson’s repudiated claims as one half of a legitimate scientific disagreement gave them the appearance of credibility his sources did not.
Rogan had previously hosted Berenson solo (#1221) without serious pushback, helping launch the book’s viral moment in the first place.

This episode is a partial corrective, not an exoneration.

Why It Matters

Berenson’s claims have been repeatedly invoked by opponents of cannabis legalization and reform, and by figures pushing to roll back medical cannabis access. Amplifying debunked causal claims about cannabis and violence — to an audience of millions — has tangible policy consequences and stigmatizes patients who use cannabis medically.

Episode 1246: Alex Berenson & Dr. Michael Hart