The Crisis of Anti-Intellectualism in Cannabis

When Experience Isn’t Enough: The Battle Between Misinformation and Science in Cannabis

Anti-intellectualism is alive and well, and few places showcase it more clearly than the cannabis industry. Step into a dispensary, sit through a cannabis marketing pitch, or skim an online forum, and you’ll see it firsthand. Myths get passed around like a well-worn joint, misinformation spreads faster than facts, and both consumers and industry professionals double down on what they think they know—whether or not the science agrees.

Despite decades of legitimate research, the conversation around cannabis still feels like it’s stuck in an old-timey barbershop, where anecdote beats expertise every time. And let’s be honest—this isn’t just a cannabis problem. We live in a time when experience is often mistaken for expertise, and questioning one’s own knowledge is practically a lost art. But in an industry that could change lives, that resistance to learning isn’t just frustrating—it’s holding us all back.

The Limits of Personal Experience

You’d think…