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Billy R. Martin, PhD, was a scholar whose grace and dignity was a testament to his scientific and personal integrity. A beloved teacher, scientist, mentor, inventor, and humanitarian, Dr. Martin was internationally renowned for his research on the biological basis of drug addiction. His work is pivotal to our understanding of addiction and how drugs of abuse affect the brain.

Dr. Martin was the Louis and Ruth Harris Professor of Pharmacology and Chairman of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. On June 15, 2008 Dr. Martin was to receive the Nathan B. Eddy Award, the highest honor awarded by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and in the fall of 2008 he was to receive the VCU Award for Excellence, the highest honor that the university bestows on faculty members. He was awarded many other honors, including the 1999 Virginia Outstanding Scientist, the 2001 International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) Mechoulam Award, and the VCU Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award in 2007. For the past several years, Dr. Martin has been among the top 10 most cited scientists in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology.

Dr. Martin was an advocate for equipoise between the medicinal and abuse potential for marijuana. He served as the first president of the ICRS, an adviser to the World Health Organization, a member of the Institute of Medicine Advisory Panel, and past President of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD). A recipient of the National Institutes of Health prestigious MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award, Dr. Martin was a consultant for the Partnership for a Drug Free America and a member of the Institute of Medicine's Marijuana Advisory Panel. Dr. Martin is a founding member of the Endocannabinoid System Network (ECSN) Working Group, and was instrumental to the development of the ECSN educational resources. In addition to training many predoctoral and postdoctoral students, Dr. Martin worked with middle and high school students, and was responsible for developing and running a pharmacology class at the local Math and Science High School, and was a featured guest on National Public Radio’s “Science Friday.”

Dr. Martin’s primary focus was researching the effects of marijuana’s principal psychoactive ingredient, ∆-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Dr. Martin was the first to show that most of the behavioral effects of marijuana are attributable to ∆-9-THC. He demonstrated for the first time that the marked tolerance that developed was a true pharmacological tolerance at the neuronal level in the brain. Dr. Martin did a considerable amount of research that increased our understanding of the actions of nicotine, PCP, and other drugs of abuse on the brain. He received his first grant in 1980 studying the biodisposition of PCP, which eventually evolved into an investigation of drugs of abuse via the inhalation route of administration. This grant has continued to receive funding through 2009. Dr. Martin’s recently published data demonstrated for the first time that marijuana can produce physical dependence. Dr. Martin’s legacy in the scientific community continues through his protégés, many of whom have achieved scientific excellence in cannabinoid research.

Thoughts and Perspectives

*Click the play buttons to the watch videos.

Hear Dr. Martin’s insightful summary of the ECS, and his thoughts on the importance of ECS education to the medical profession.

Hear Dr. Martin’s commentary on the peripheral actions of the ECS.

Hear Dr. Martin’s perspective on the future of ECS research.

Dr. Martin discussed The Role of the ECS and Anticipatory Nausea with Linda Parker, PhD at the 2007 ICRS Meeting. Introduction by Ken Mackie, MD.

In 2004 Dr. Martin presented evidence for a relationship between different drug dependences with the endocannabinoid system at the Cannabis Therapeutics Conference.

Library of Scientific Publications