Professor Manley West, OM (1929 - 2012) a Science Icon, was a pharmacologist who developed several useful medicines from ganja (Cannabis). Born in Portland, Professor West was a graduate of the Titchfield High School after which he travelled to England to further his secondary level and later tertiary studies. At the University of London, he studied pharmacology eventually earning his Ph.D in this field before continuing his studies and work at a variety of institutions globally. In 1964 he returned to Jamaica as an Assistant Lecturer in Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. He rose through the ranks and served as Head of the Pharmacology Dept. amongst other senior positions. In 1981, West was appointed as Professor of Pharmacology - the first Jamaican and West Indian to be so appointed. He is best known for the development of medical drugs from marijuana for the treatment of glaucoma and asthma. Dr. West did the initial research after getting special permission to grow and use marijuana plants after observing that people who used homemade eyewash consisting of ganja and fishermen who drank ganja tea, tended to have improved night vision. He then met Dr. Albert Lockhart, an ophthalmologist who had learnt through a scientific presentation that persons who used marijuana had lower intraocular pressure than non-users and this led them to spend ten years developing the drug Canasol® in 1987 and later Cantimol® in eye-drops for the treatment of glaucoma. In the 1990s, Professor West also developed Asmasol®- which treats bronchial asthma, coughs and colds and Canavert®- a drug that stabilizes the part of the brain that controls motion sickness. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1987 and the Gold Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica in 1994.