MICHELLE NEWHART, PH.D. is coauthor of the book The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience, a sociological study that examines the transition of cannabis into medicine in the U.S. through the experiences of midlife patients in Colorado.

Newhart earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she conducted research on alternative health and medical cannabis use. She has written other works in sociology including a research methods textbook.

Before her Ph.D., Newhart spent more than a decade as a book editor, starting at an academic press and then spending nearly eight years as the managing editor for Ed Rosenthal’s publishing company, Quick Trading where she worked on dozens of books covering cannabis topics.

Currently, she works at a large community college in southern California where she lives with her husband and coauthor William Dolphin, her two young stepsons, and her two lovable and ridiculous dogs.

"People learn through their own networks, and this means they often end up with a mix of right and wrong information. There is a lot of learning to do about phytocannabinoids as medicine, and that learning is contingent on dismantling old ideas and removing obstacles to fuller understanding.“

Michelle Newhart, Ph.D.