Every Brain Matters is a community of support and advocacy based on science and live experiences. Join us as we find freedom from marijuana and the drug culture expansion.

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Mar-Anon Family Group is a fellowship of those affected by another person’s marijuana use and is independent of Every Brain Matters. To view, Mar-Anon meetings, go to: mar-anon.com/meetings/

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Event Series: Every Brain Matters Monthly Speakers Meeting

Monthly Speakers Meeting-True -Weed-Dr. Judy Grisel

Name: Monthly Speakers Meeting-True -Weed-Dr. Judy Grisel
Start: 2026-07-08T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-07-08T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Online Zoom Meeting

July 8 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm CDT

In this new era of commercial marijuana, families need education, support, and hope. Please join us on the 2nd Wednesday of every month for messages of healing from the impacts of marijuana and the expanding drug crisis. There will be a Q&A at the end of each meeting. This meeting may be recorded at the presenter’s discretion. This month, we feature Dr. Judy Grisel.

Judy’s research on the use and abuse of recreational drugs began during adolescence. After hitting bottom and getting clean and sober in her twenties, she went on to earn a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. Judy is an internationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and a professor of psychology at Bucknell University with expertise in pharmacology and genetics whose research focuses on determining root causes of drug addiction. In 2019, Judy published a bestselling book, Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction, which has since garnered a worldwide audience. Judy attributes much of her success in recovery and in neuroscience to many of the same attributes that gave rise to her disordered drug use, and posits that widespread community efforts based in scientific understanding are needed to effectively address the addiction pandemic. Judy’s talk will explain the neural changes associated with cannabis use, and why the drug’s impact is especially costly for children. Her most recent work involves empowering students to share scientific information on cannabis with other young people through social media: e.g., TrueWeed.Org.

This session will explain how the brain adapts to addictive drugs by creating the states of craving, tolerance, and dependence that characterize addiction. Addresses the synergistic influences of genetic predispositions, childhood trauma, and drug exposure during periods of brain development that make some people more vulnerable than others. We’ll discuss the neurobiology that underlies all addictions as well as our highest achievements. Particular focus will be given to the influence of cannabis on adolescent development. Finally, we will brainstorm ways to use an understanding of developmental neuroscience to help kids become healthy and happy adults.

Learning Goals
1. Illustrate how genetic vulnerabilities, socio-cultural influences, and developmental changes impact the brain to give rise to substance use disorders.
2. Summarize how the brain adapts to regular drug use by creating an “opponent process” to maintain homeostasis, leading to the hallmarks of addiction: tolerance, dependence, craving and routine use
3. Describe how addictive drugs exploit and undermine brain circuits that benefit healthy development and why robust brain plasticity in adolescents enhances their risk for addiction
4. Explain how the endocannabinoid system facilitates the trajectory from child to adult, and why marijuana use during adolescence has negative impacts on brain structure and mental health
5. Understand how and why cannabis use during adolescence is so detrimental to mental health
6. Describe how prenatal and multigenerational effects of marijuana, including a role for epigenetics, perpetuate a cycle of trauma and addiction

Register for this meeting at this link. Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link to join the meeting, which you can save to your calendar. You will not be required to register again if you have already registered for a previous Speakers Meeting. If you have any questions, please email us at info@everybrainmatters.org.

This meeting is free, but donations are welcome to increase our effort to support and advocate for families impacted by marijuana.

Link To Register

Meeting ID: 872 9417 0134
Passcode: ebmsupport