Moderator John Torres, medical correspondent for NBC news, wants to know if the categorization of some drugs as “bad” drugs is warranted, and the panel responds unanimously: 

Drugs are never inherently bad, explains Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. It’s our relationship to drugs and the properties we choose to associate them with that can become problematic. These relationships are not fixed, says Doblin; they can evolve over time as science and society progress.

Marijuana is is undergoing a complete reinvention from the days of Reefer Madness, and it’s already showing compelling results as a medicine. Mallory Loflin, research scientist at the Department of Veteran Affairs, is pioneering research into how cannabinoids — the specific compounds found in marijuana — could profoundly change how we treat PTSD.

Rick Doblin follows up Loflin's explanation with a reminder of the difficulties faced by researchers like Loflin in studying “bad” drugs, marijuana included. Because of their dubious reputations, regulatory quagmires often impede the ability of researchers to effectively study these drugs even in controlled environments.

While it’s true that drugs like ketamine and MDMA have produced incredible results when used to treat some mental illnesses, Dennis Charney, dean of the Icahn School of Medicine, and Mallory Loflin want us to remember that they’re almost always used in conjunction with therapy and other treatments:

Somewhat ironically, some “bad” drugs are shedding their notorious reputations and gaining reputations that drastically overstate their safe and effective usage. The panel explains, using examples from their own research, how this can quickly become problematic: