During an appearance on Chris Williamson’s podcast alongside comedians Tom Segura and Matt McCusker, neuroscientist Andrew Huberman discussed his political stance and his views on weed, particularly how public attitudes towards it have shifted along political lines over time.
When the topic turned to politics, Huberman made it clear that he does not identify strongly with either side of the political spectrum.
“I am totally apolitical,” he said. “I’m a double ha ter. I don’t like anything I see.”
Huberman explained that his frustration comes from seeing qualities he admires in people across the political aisle, only to later feel disappointed by their actions or rhetoric.
“I’m a double ha ter because I see certain things I like in certain people and what they’re doing and then I see something and I go, you got to be kidding me,” he said. “And I see that on both sides. So, it’s very hard for me to reconcile that.”
The discussion later shifted toward al**hol and THC consumption trends, where Huberman pushed back against the perception that he is completely against weed or alc**ol use.
“My whole thing is like people think I’m like anti-ca**abis or anti-al**hol,” he said. “Like you can have a couple drinks a week and be fine if you do a bunch of other things correctly. We’re talking about adults, right?”
At the same time, Huberman emphasized that weed can pose serious risks for people with certain mental health predispositions.
“With kids and with adults, the ca**abis thing is tricky because some people can do it and they’re all right,” he said. “Other people who have a predisposition to psychosis, like they can end up with some permanent psychosis. People who are predisposed to bipolar, it’s a real thing.”
He added that he frequently hears from parents dealing with those consequences firsthand.
“I hear from lots of, in particular, moms of guys who are in their 20s, including some people who are doing very well in life, and now their kids are like in full-blown psychotic episodes that won’t reverse,” Huberman said.
Huberman also pointed to the effect weed can have on sleep quality, specifically REM sleep.
“Ca**abis smokers get almost no REM,” he said. “Like almost no REM, and then when they come off ca**abis, their dreams are wild. So that’s a well-known kind of rebound effect.”
He then connected the weed debate to politics, arguing that public messaging around the d**g often changes depending on which political side is currently aligned with it.
“It got very political for a while,” Huberman said. “I got attacked for saying this when being pro-ca**abis was associated with one political party.”
He went on to describe how he believes political narratives surrounding ca**abis and psychedelics have shifted over time.
“The ca**abis thing has gone from being a very left-associated thing to now the Trump administration has been making some serious efforts to legalize psychedelics like ibogaine, which is not a recreational psychedelic,” he said.
Huberman also criticized what he sees as inconsistent media coverage from both sides of the political spectrum.
“And then the left-leaning news will kind of print against ca**abis, then they’ll go back and forth,” he said, “which just tells me one thing, because the right side does this too, which is that they have no heart, they have no stance. It’s all just algorithmic ping pong, blow with the wind.”
Despite outlining potential risks tied to weed use, Huberman ultimately reiterated that he is not fundamentally opposed to adults choosing to use it responsibly.
“The reality is some people should use ca**abis if they want to, no problem,” he said.
