By Peter GrinspoonJuly 9, 2026
Grinspoon is an addiction specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the author of “Aging Well with Cannabis: Feel Better, Sleep Better and Live Better with Marijuana and CBD.”
In 2016, about six weeks after cannabis was legalized for adults in Massachusetts, I was at a bustling New Year’s Eve party. It was a fun crowd, and I was having a good time. Suddenly, a friend shouted, “Peter, come quickly, you’re the only doctor here who isn’t high. We have an emergency.”
I ran into the next room to find a 70-ish woman, an acquaintance, looking incredibly disoriented. She kept repeating, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die,” and seemed unsteady. I did my best to calm and comfort her, but within a few minutes, she collapsed. I checked her pulse but she didn’t need CPR. She came to in a few minutes, anxious and confused.
I sat by her and reassured her for several hours. The host called an ambulance so she could get checked out in the hospital. In the end, she was fine, although I missed the ball drop and she had slobbered all over my nice outfit.
