MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE TRIES TO SHOW CALMING EFFECTS OF CANNABIS ON AGGRESSIVE SNAKES

Berkeley researcher believes marijuana is a better treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder than the current medication given schoolchildren

By Pamela Putz

The Unconventional Gazette
March 15, 2017

BERKELEY, CALIF. -- Dr. Henry Schlemiel, head of UC-Berkeley’s Institute of Behavioral Disorders, is one of the nation’s leading medical marijuana advocates. He is also a severe critic of the drugs given to schoolchildren diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Dr. Schlemiel believes the calming effects of marijuana can treat ADHD schoolchildren far better than the current crop of drugs prescribed for hyperactivity. To prove his point, Dr. Schlemiel invited this reporter to his laboratory to observe how the calming effects of cannabis will make even aggressive snakes mellow.

For his experiment, Dr. Schlemiel used a Bushmaster, one of South America’s most aggressive and deadly poisonous snakes. Bushmasters are the continent’s largest pit vipers and are known to strike repeatedly when agitated, injecting a large amount of venom with each bite.

Dr. Schlemiel’s Bushmaster is about seven feet long and is kept in an aquarium-like tank.

“For the past three months I’ve fed this snake rats which were injected with high doses of cannabis,” said Dr. Schlemiel. “A blood test earlier this morning showed that this snake, let me put it this way, is stoned. Now watch as I reach in and pet this mellow fellow.”

Funeral services for Dr. Schlemiel will be held Sunday, 2:30 p.m., at the Wat Mongkolratanaram Buddhist temple in South Berkeley, 1911 Russell Street.