Manley Elisha West

Manley Elisha West OM (17 March 1929 – 24 April 2012) was a Jamaican pharmacologist who studied the marijuana plant. He investigated medicines for glaucoma.

Education West was born in Fairy Hill, Portland Parish, Jamaica. Eventually he began to study pharmacology at the University of London. West remained there for his postgraduate studies, earning a PhD in 1967. In the late 1970s, West became interested in the medicinal properties of marijuana when he observed a Manchioneal fishing community looking for fish at night. The fishermen had been smoking marijuana. He attended a conference in the United States, where he heard that marijuana can lower intraocular pressure. Canasol is still one of the most popular drugs for treating glaucoma. They were awarded a $20,000 CIDA grant to develop to medicine. 1987 Jamaican Order of Merit for contribution to medicine 1994 Institute of Jamaica Gold Musgrave Medal