Tag: Effects

1/6/22--Among people with an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) stroke, a type of bleeding stroke, recent marijuana users were more than twice as likely to develop a dangerous complication that can result in death or greater disability, according to new research published today in Stroke. The study is the largest to examine the impact of THC, the mood-changing ingredient in marijuana, on complications after a bleeding stroke. Read

1/10/22--According to Sir Robin Murray, a professor at King’s College London, liberal-minded parents don’t realize the psychosis dangers with cannabis, a London psychiatrist has warned. Speaking from his experience, the expert said skunk has caused psychosis in around 30 percent of the patients he sees at his practice in south London. Murray lifted the lid on how most cases involve young people suffering with debilitating paranoia and hallucinations. Read

12/3/21--Among pregnant people living with HIV, marijuana use climbed over the last decade both in pregnancy and during the postpartum period, according to results from a cohort study. During the postpartum period, marijuana use jumped from 10.2% to 23.7% in this population over the same timeframe, the researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open. Read

11/3/21--The tobacco industry has been trying to co-opt the term 'harm reduction' as part of its business strategy to expand its user base and grow the total market for nicotine products. Read

11/2/21--The International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis (IASIC) has a medical library translated for a common understanding of the many harms of cannabis or marijuana. According to IASIC, drug abuse literature and the public press periodically embrace or push back against the “Gateway” phenomenon of drugs like marijuana. The theory behind the notion of a “Gateway” effect has been recognized by parents and addiction treatment professionals since at least the early 1980s, and to understand the gateway effect, it is important to also understand adolescent brain development. Read

11/3/21--According to a study examining and exploring patterns and predictors of problematic cannabis use behaviors among young adults, differences in cannabis use problems across these classes and their predictors reveal the heterogeneity in cannabis-related problems experienced by young people. Combustible cannabis, vaporized cannabis, and blunt cannabis use may confer the most risk for cannabis abuse and dependency outcomes, with more frequent days of use contributing to increased patterns of risk. Read

10/20/21--Alcohol consumption is one of the major modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, causing 7 of every 100 new breast cancer cases in the European Region. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, WHO encourages everyone to understand that the risk of breast cancer can be significantly reduced by simply reducing alcohol consumption. Read

11/1/21--This study aims to 1) examine the prevalence of cannabis use during adolescence, and 2) investigate links of frequent (i.e., weekly or daily) teenage cannabis use with psychopathology and functional well-being at age 20—compared to no or occasional use. Results indicate that frequent teenage cannabis use was common and associated with problematic substance use, more delinquency, and poorer functional well-being at age 20. Accordingly, frequent teenage cannabis users could experience increased difficulties in mastering the transitions of young adulthood. Read

10/17/21--Aubree Adams, director of Every Brain Matters and parent coordinator for a Houston recovery community, openly discusses in an op-ed her eldest son's addiction to marijuana and her initial denial of the fact until he attacked his younger brother and then tried to kill himself. She explains that marijuana, which has been linked to mental illness and psychosis in teens and young adults, slowly takes away your humanity, and says that this is what it did to her son. Read

9/27/21-The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public warning Monday that a growing number of fake pills bought online are laced with potentially lethal amounts of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, and blamed social media sites for not doing more to protect their users. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram reported that the amounts are staggering, and she believes we're in the midst of an overdose crisis, and the counterfeit pills are driving so much of it. Read

9/10/21--Cannabis is increasingly used for therapeutic purpose. However, its safety profile is not well known. This study assessed the risk of cardiovascular-related emergency department (ED) visit and hospitalization in adult patients authorized to use medical cannabis in Ontario, Canada from 2014 to 2017. Read

9/7/21--The purpose of this study was to assess the association between recent cannabis use and history of myocardial infarction (MI) in young adults (aged 18–44 yr) using pooled data from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts of the American Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey of US adults. The association between any recent cannabis use and history of MI using a weighted logistic regression model that adjusted for demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, health-related behaviors, concomitant substance use and other comorbidities were assessed. They also assessed this association after stratifying by frequency of use and by primary method of consumption. Read

8/30/21--The popularity of another cannabinoid, ∆⁸-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC), is on the rise. Found in gummies, vape cartridges, tinctures, and other products, delta-8-THC is popping up in gas stations, convenience stores, tobacco shops, and cannabis dispensaries throughout the US and beyond—often with no age restrictions. Regardless of whether delta-8-THC is legal, chemists are sounding the alarm after finding several unidentified compounds in products labeled as delta-8-THC. Read

8/25/21--IASIC, the International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis, a medical organization of doctors who educate on marijuana based on the scientific and medical literature. has concluded, based on review of the scientific evidence, that public health effects of high potency cannabis are harmful. These growing negative impacts further strain health care and addiction treatment resources to an extent that far surpasses taxation revenues. Read

7/28/21--Children whose parents regularly smoke or vape marijuana may experience viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, more frequently than those whose parents do not smoke, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Research. Read

7/21/21--In this Danish nationwide, register-based cohort study, the population-attributable risk fraction for cannabis use disorder in schizophrenia increased from approximately 2% in the period to 1995 to approximately 6% to 8% since 2010. Meaning These findings may indicate that cannabis use disorders are associated with an increase in the proportion of cases of schizophrenia. Read

7/21/21--A systematic review and meta-analysis found that while people who use cannabis are disproportionately more likely to initiate opioid use and engage in problematic patterns of use than people who do not use cannabis, the low quality of the evidence must be considered when interpreting these findings. Read

7/11/21--Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. Several years later, doctors in Colorado and other states are expressing alarm over the increasing potency of cannabis and the health risks it may pose for young users — from psychiatric issues, including violent psychotic episodes, to the mysterious condition officially called "cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome" but now known to health care workers as "scromiting," a mashup of "screaming" and "vomiting" — has popped up with increasing frequency at hospitals in Colorado, doctors say. Read

6/24/21--The study, published today in the journal Neuron, found that marmoset monkeys could no longer make an association between their behavior and a particular outcome when a region of their brain called the anterior cingulate cortex was temporarily switched off. This finding is important because the compulsive behaviors in OCD and addiction are thought to result from impairments in the 'goal-directed system' in the brain. Read

6/21/21--Consisting of five separate booklets, the World Drug Report 2021 provides an in-depth analysis of the global drug markets and paints a comprehensive picture of the measurable effects and potential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the world drug problem. Read

6/22/21--Results of this study concludes that from 2008 to 2019, suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt increased 40% to 60% over increases ascribed to cannabis use and MDE. However, future research is needed to examine this increase in suicidality and to determine whether it is due to cannabis use or overlapping risk factors. Read

6/16/21--Results of a study designed to examine the degree to which magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-assessed cerebral cortical thickness development is associated with cannabis use in a longitudinal sample of adolescents suggest that cannabis use during adolescence is associated with altered neurodevelopment, particularly in cortices rich in cannabinoid 1 receptors and undergoing the greatest age-related thickness change in middle to late adolescence. Read

6/16/21--In this cohort study, linear mixed-effects model analysis using 1598 magnetic resonance images from 799 participants revealed that cannabis use was associated with accelerated age-related cortical thinning from 14 to 19 years of age in predominantly prefrontal regions. The spatial pattern of cannabis-related cortical thinning was significantly associated with a positron emission tomography–assessed map of cannabinoid 1 receptor availability. Read

6/16/21--Wayne Ott and colleagues have done a real-world study of the levels of pollution caused by smoking a joint (or a bong or vaping cannabis) and found that marijuana products are as or even more polluting than tobacco cigarettes. The joints were the most polluting — 3.5 times that of a Marlboro (figure above), with the other cannabis products producing as much or more pollution than the cigarette. Read

6/16/21--All the inhaled forms of cannabis (smoking, vaping, dabbing) generate an aerosol of ultrafine particles that carries the THC deep into the lungs where it is absorbed. These forms of consumption also pollute the air. Morgan Murphy, Able Huang and Suzaynn Schick measured the air pollution levels in a cannabis retailer that provided electric herb vaporizers and dab rigs and allowed the use of vape pens, but did not allow smoking combusted cannabis or tobacco. Their results revealed unhealthy levels of air pollution. Read

6/16/21--To assess the effects of on-site consumption of cannabis on PM2.5 concentrations, we measured PM2.5 in the retail and consumption space of a cannabis store (a dispensary), where smoking was banned, but vaporizing and dabbing were permitted. The data demonstrates that consumption of cannabis products indoors increased PM2.5 concentrations. Psychoactive effects through passive exposure are unlikely (Herrmann et al. 2015). However, exposure to PM2.5 can cause changes in cardiovascular function that increase the risk of myocardial infarction and death (Brook et al. 2010). Read

6/14/21--Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) reports a new study published in the journal Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health examined the relationship between marijuana use among those in short-term recovery from an opiate use disorder and relapse. The study found that adolescents/young adults with opioid use disorder who used marijuana as a harm reduction strategy were not successful as their marijuana use enhanced cravings for opiates and promoted relapse. Read

5/19/21--In this longitudinal study, the influence of cannabis use on baseline symptom severity and treatment outcomes in 98 patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with a long acting injectable antipsychotic over 24 months was explored. Using mixed models for repeated measures, we compared visit-wise changes in psychopathology, social and occupational functioning and quality of life between recent/current cannabis users (n=45) and non-users (n=53) were compared. Read

6/2/21--According to a new study that has implications for prenatal development in humans, Zebrafish exposed to the leading cannabinoids found in cannabis in the earliest stages of development suffer a significant drop in neural activity later in life, . Read

5/29/21--The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between recreational marijuana use and patient-reported outcomes two years after orthopaedic surgery. It has been hypothesized that pre-operative recreational marijuana use would be associated with less pain, better function, and better mental health measures two years after orthopaedic surgery. Read

5/17/21--This study assessed the magnitude of the daily association between cannabis and opioid use in individual adults with and without pain who use non‐medical opioids. Finding indicate that among US adults with problem substance use who use non‐medical opioids, the odds of opioid use appear to be approximately doubled on days when cannabis is used. This relationship does not appear to differ between people with moderate or more severe pain versus less than moderate pain, suggesting that Cannabis is not being used as a substitute for illegal opioids. Read

5/6/21--In this cross-sectional study, primary care patients with documented medical cannabis use had a high prevalence of health conditions for which cannabis use has potential benefits, yet a higher prevalence of conditions with potential risks from cannabis use. These findings suggest that practitioners should be prepared to discuss potential risks and benefits of cannabis use with patients. Read

5/4/21--Cannabis is the “gravest threat” to the mental health of young people in Ireland, a psychiatrists’ group has warned, with an estimated 45,000 15-34 year olds now meeting the criteria for cannabis dependence. A combination of increasingly potent strains of the drug and a “widespread conception” among the public that it is generally harmless has had “devastating effects”, the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland said. Read

4/23/21--In an op-ed by addiction psychiatrist Libby Stuyt, MD, she points out that data linking marijuana use to people with suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicides are steadily increasing. There has been a significant increase in the number of teen suicides in Colorado in the last 5 years, up to 80 in 2019, along with a significant increase in the number with marijuana found in their system. The fact that marijuana is the number one drug found when toxicology is reported correlates with the increased THC potency and availability. Read

3/23/21--The journal Addiction published the findings of a major new analysis by researchers at Emory and Brown University showing that at least a small portion of the risk for developing into an adult marijuana user may be related to inherited behaviors and traits that appear during adolescence. Read  

4/20/21--As marijuana legalization spreads across U.S. states, so does a debate over whether to set pot policy by potency. Supporters say such measures will protect public health by roping off, or at least discouraging, what they view as dangerously concentrated cannabis while opponents argue that THC limits could drive people to buy illegally, and amount to beginning to ban pot again over a concern that critics see as overblown. Read

4/22/21--Cannabis use disorder (CUD) during pregnancy has increased dramatically in the United States (US). This study examined the associations between prenatal CUD and adverse neonatal outcomes and heterogeneities in the associations by mothers' tobacco use status and race/ethnicity. Read

4/23/21--According to an analysis of nearly 5 million California women who gave birth between 2001 and 2012, babies born to women who were heavy cannabis users during pregnancy are more likely to have health problems, including premature birth and death within a year of birth, compared to babies born to women who did not use cannabis during pregnancy. Read

4/20/21-- On average, 2.7 million individuals are affected by cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome in a year. Though this disorder is rare, it still affects those who use marijuana frequently, including daily or weekly usage. It can affect the user whether they are smoking the drug, consuming the drug, or any form of intake of marijuana with tetrahydrocannabinol present. Read

4/14/21-- A new study published in Translational Psychiatry by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and King’s College London shows that while cannabis users had higher rates of psychotic experiences than non-users across the board, the difference was especially pronounced among those with high genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. Read

4/6/21--The purpose of the present study was thus to examine associations between prospectively assessed adolescent cannabis use and young-adult outcomes (psychiatric, cognitive, and socioeconomic) in three longitudinal studies of twins (n = 3,762). findings thus suggest that cannabis use in adolescence has potentially causal, deleterious effects on adolescent academic functioning and young-adult socioeconomic outcomes despite little evidence suggesting a strong, causal influence on adult mental health or cognitive ability. Read

3/29/21--According to a new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics and led by a team of scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, adolescents and teenagers who experiment with marijuana and prescription drugs are more likely to get hooked on them than young people who try these drugs for the first time when they are college-aged or older. Read

3/18/21--In this cohort study based on health insurance claims data from 75,395,344 beneficiaries between 2003 and 2017, rates of self-harm injuries among males younger than 40 years increased more in states legalizing recreational cannabis dispensaries compared with states without cannabis legalization laws. For other age and sex groups and for more restrictive legalization approaches, no association with self-harm and assault was found. Read

3/2/21--Commissioner Nikki Fried inveighed against a measure filed last week in the House by Rep. Spencer Roach that would cap flower at 10% THC, edibles at 15%, and concentrates at 60%. Fried said that people should be “very worried” about the THC caps, noting that the leadership in the House and Senate are entertaining arguments. Read

2/25/21--Data from this study confirms a close relationship across space and lagged time between cannabis and TPCIR which was robust to adjustment, supported by inverse probability weighting procedures and accompanied by high e-Values making confounding unlikely and establishing the causal relationship. Cannabis-liberal jurisdictions were associated with higher rates of TPCIR and a faster rate of TPCIR increase. Data inform the broader general consideration of cannabinoid-induced genotoxicity. Read

2/15/21--Recreational drinking, smoking, and drug use is linked to premature heart disease in young people, particularly younger women, finds research published online in the journal Heart. Read

2/7/21--State Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Lynnwood, founding executive director of the Washington Recovery Alliance who also represents the 32nd District, presents and emphasizes in a commentary published in HeraldNet that lawmakers must address research that shows these concentrates can have mental health consequences. Read

2/10/21--A public hearing for House Bill 1463—Addressing serious mental health consequences of high-potency cannabis products by regulating the sale of cannabis concentrates will occur on Friday, February 12 at 10am at the House Commerce and Gaming Committee. Read

2/4/21--State Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician and Thornton Democrat, said she is still revising the bill she plans to introduce this month, but one of the main provisions would ban legal marijuana products above 15% THC — the psychoactive compound responsible for the marijuana high. The ban would apply to flower and edibles. THC in flower products can top off close to 30%, while concentrates generally run at 70-80%. Read

2/6/21--In a startling new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups, Carl Hart, an Ivy League professor and five year regular heroin user, argues that the dangers of recreational drug use have been wildly overstated. Furthermore, Hart states that he's actually better for his drug use, and believes that when used in an informed and responsible manner, they fulfill a purpose with only the smallest risks.. Read

1/15/21--About one third of the families enrolled in this study reported smelling secondhand marijuana smoke (SHMS) while at home with their child. Participants in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments were more likely to report smelling SHMS. Therefore, according to study results, policies that limit all smoke in multiunit housing should be supported. Read

1/27/21--This study was conducted to examine county level associations between the prevalence of medical and recreational cannabis stores (referred to as dispensaries) and opioid related mortality rates. Findings indicate that higher medical and recreational storefront dispensary counts are associated with reduced opioid related death rates, particularly deaths associated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Read

2/3/21--GW Pharmaceuticals soared as much as 46% on Wednesday after Jazz Pharma said it would acquire the company for $7.2 billion in cash and stock. According the press release announcement, the merger is expected to accelerate double-digit top-line revenue growth and will be accretive in the first full year of combined operations, and "substantially accretive thereafter." Read

1/30/21--According to a study published by The BMJ, access to legal cannabis stores is associated with a reduction in opioid related deaths in the United States, particularly those linked to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Read

1/28/21--A study has found that adolescents who frequently use cannabis may experience a decline in intelligence quotient (IQ) over time. The findings of the research provide further insight into the harmful neurological and cognitive effects of frequent cannabis use on young people. Read

1/30/21--This systematic review and meta-analysis found a significant effect for the association between frequent or dependent cannabis use in youth and IQ change. Read

1/30/21--This report examines the concentration of seven major cannabinoids including Δ9-THC and CBD in illicit herbal cannabis products seized by the Drug enforcement Administration (DEA) over the last ten years in the USA. Results indicate that an overall increase in potency of illicit cannabis going from approximately 10% in 2009 to approximately 14% in 2019. Read

1/30/21--This study analyzed data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse (2010-2016) for returning war veterans who were diagnosed with CUD (N = 46,268). The findings highlight that the majority of returning war veterans with CUD are highly complex and substantiate the need for urgent, comprehensive care for veterans with co-occurring CUD and PTSD, including integrated and transdiagnostic treatment approaches. Read

1/18/21--A paper published January 11th in EClinicalMedicine reported that marijuana smokers were found to have several smoke-related toxic chemicals in their blood and urine such as naphthalene, acrylamide, and acrylonitrile metabolites. Another recent study, this one published January 5th in the journal Addiction reported that over half of individuals who use medical marijuana to ease pain also experience clusters of multiple withdrawal symptoms in between uses. Read

1/26/21--According to a new study in the Journal of Business Venturing by Washington State University researchers, when entrepreneurs dream up ideas for new businesses, cannabis use might help, and hinder, their creativity. The study found that cannabis-using entrepreneurs generated new business ideas such as a weightless, gravity-free virtual reality workout, that were more original, but less feasible, compared to those who do not use cannabis. Read