Lecturer
William Dolphin is a lecturer in the Cannabis Studies Program and a faculty researcher in the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research at Cal Poly Humboldt. For the past 20 years, he has written primarily about cannabis science, law, policy, and the patient experience. He has more than 100 publications, and his book, The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience (co-authored with Michelle Newhart, PhD), won the 2020 Donald W. Light Award for the Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology from the American Sociological Association. He has taught at San Francisco State University, Rhodes College, Azusa Pacific University, University of Redlands, and University of California, Berkeley. He is a peer reviewer for the academic journals Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, Sociological Inquiry, Journal of Pain Research, Journal of Pain Management, Contemporary Drug Problems, and Journal of Dietary Supplements.
Cannabis Studies: law and policy, use behaviors, botany and chemistry, medicinal applications, stigma management, global migration and evolution
Unbalanced: Cannabis, Mental Health, and the Psychiatric Paradigm. Coauthored with Michelle Newhart. Routledge, forthcoming 2024.
“Cannabis Use and Mental Health: Paradoxes of Medicalization.” Coauthored with Michelle Newhart. In Troubled Persons Industries: The Expansion of Psychiatric Categories beyond Psychiatry. Ed. M. Harbusch. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
“Flipping the Script on Stigma: Legitimacy Strategies of Medical Cannabis Patients.” Coauthored with Michelle Newhart. In The Routledge Handbook of Post-Prohibition Cannabis Research. Eds. D. Corva and J. Meisel. Routledge, 2021.
“Labeling of CBD Products–A Public Health Perspective." Coauthored with J. Corroon and D. MacKay. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. 2020 Dec 15;5(4):274-278.
Invited response to “Canadian Rheumatology Association: Medical Cannabis Not a Substitute to Standard Care.” Perspective, Healio Rheumatology. January 28, 2019.
The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience. Coauthored with Michelle Newhart. Routledge, 2019. Winner of the 2020 Donald W. Light Award for the Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology from the Medical Sociology Council, American Sociological Association.
Recent Presentations:
"Addressing the Multiple Stigmas of Medical Cannabis: Patient Legitimacy Strategies." With Michelle Newhart. Pacific Sociological Association Annual Meeting. March 19, 2021.
"Medical vs. Recreational: Patient Rights and Other Considerations." Keynote address. CannaWest Compliance Summit. Los Angeles, California. January 24, 2020.
"The Medicalization of Marijuana." Public lecture with Michelle Newhart, Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research, Humboldt State University. October 10, 2019.
"The Medicalization of Marijuana." Author Meets Critic Session with Michelle Newhart, Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. April 20, 2019.
"The Medicalization of Marijuana." Author Meets Critic Session with Michelle Newhart, Pacific Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Oakland, California. March 31, 2019.
"Navigating Legitimacy: The Experience of Medical Cannabis Patients in Colorado." National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference. Washington, DC. March 18, 2019.
"Stigma and the Medical Cannabis Patient." Marijuana for Medical Professionals Annual Conference. Denver, Colorado. October 18, 2018.
