SCIENTIST BILLY R. MARTIN DIES

He Worked 32 Years at VCU and Was a Top Marijuana Researcher

During the past 35 years, Dr. Billy Ray Martin established himself as
a world leader in marijuana research.

In the late 1970s, he was the first to show that most of the
behavioral effects of marijuana were attributable to
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the substance's principal
psychoactive ingredient.

Later, he was chosen by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to lead
a team of international researchers to study anandamide, a
marijuana-like substance that occurs naturally in the brain.

Since 2000, Dr. Martin served as chairman of Virginia Commonwealth
University's department of pharmacology and toxicology. He died
Sunday at his Richmond home of cancer. He was 65.

During his tenure leading the department, it ranked in the top 10 in
the nation in terms of National Institutes of Health funding. This
year, U.S. News & World Report ranked VCU 16th in the nation among
programs in substance abuse.

As a leader in the department, Dr. Martin "recruited excellent
scientists and built a highly collaborative research team," said Dr.
Jerome F. Strauss III, dean of the VCU School of Medicine.

Dr. Martin's research into marijuana looked at both avenues of the
drug -- its dangers and its therapeutic potential, said his mentor,
Dr. William L. Dewey, a professor at VCU's department of pharmacology
and toxicology.

A native of Kernersville, N.C., Dr. Martin was educated at the
University of North Carolina. After postdoctoral work at Uppsala
University in Sweden and Oxford University in England, he joined the
faculty at VCU as an assistant professor in 1976.

During the course of his career, he published almost 400 scientific
papers and served on numerous national committees and boards,
including being an adviser to the World Health Organization.

An avid photographer and reader of nonfiction, Dr. Martin received
many awards from all levels for his contributions in research, which
extended to nicotine and cocaine. He won the VCU Distinguished
Scholarship Award in 1996, and he received the Method to Extend
Research in Time (MERIT) award from the National Institutes of Health
for his research in drug dependence.

This Sunday, he was set to receive the Nathan B. Eddy Award, the
highest award given by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. In
the fall, he was going to be recognized with the VCU Award for
Excellence, the university's highest award bestowed on a faculty member.

Dr. Martin, described as a kind, soft-spoken man, was the founder and
first president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and
won the group's Raphael Mechoulam Award for outstanding contributions
to cannabinoid research.

Throughout it all, Dr. Martin was humble about his accomplishments
and status as a leader in marijuana research, always recognizing and
giving credit for the work of his students and colleagues; he'd shy
away from accepting an award as a personal recognition, Strauss said.

Even as cancer robbed him of his sight in March -- he listened to the
radio to hear his beloved Tar Heels play their NCAA tournament
basketball games -- he was still going to work when he could or
working from home, said his wife, Jean Y. Martin of Richmond.

In addition to his wife, Dr. Martin's survivors include a son,
Zachary Lee Martin of Wilmington, N.C.; a daughter, Lindsay Brooke
Martin of Charlottesville; a brother, Donald Lee Martin of
Kernersville; and a stepbrother, Elmer Made Jr. of the Kernersville area.

A funeral will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Chippenham Chapel
of Bliley Funeral Home, 6900 Hull Street Road, in Richmond. Burial
will be private.