New research presented today at APHA’s 2017 Annual Meeting and Expo examined the effect of marijuana use and dependence on life achievement in young adults.
Many people who smoke or chew tobacco can’t seem to escape nicotine’s addictive properties. Studies show that women in particular seem to have a harder time quitting, even with assistance, when compared to men. Now, scientists report in a mouse study published in ACS’ journal Chemical Research in Toxicology that the difference in gender smoking patterns and smoking’s effects could be due to how nicotine impacts the brain-gut relationship.
Planting cannabis for commercial production in remote locations is creating forest fragmentation, stream modification, soil erosion and landslides. Without land-use policies to limit its environmental footprint, the impacts of cannabis farming could get worse, according to a new study published in the November issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
As more states consider legalizing recreational marijuana, University of Colorado researchers are launching a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to examine the impact legalization has on career fulfillment, family life, and substance use.
About a quarter of adults whose marijuana use is problematic in early adulthood have anxiety disorders in childhood and late adolescence, according to new data from Duke Health researchers.
Alfgeir Kristjansson, an assistant professor in WVU’s School of Public Health, is studying data related to teen substance abuse in West Virginia. In 2016, his findings showed that at one high school in Wood County, 27 percent of students had smoked cigarettes, 41 percent had consumed alcohol and 20 percent had smoked marijuana.
A new study on cannabis use that involved 1,136 patients (from 18 to 40 years of age) with mental illnesses who had been seen five times during the year after discharge from a psychiatric hospital demonstrates that sustained used of cannabis is associated with an increase in violent behaviour in young people. Moreover, the association between persistent cannabis use and violence is stronger than that associated with alcohol or cocaine.
In the 14th episode of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Planet Lex podcast series, host Dean Daniel Rodriguez talks to Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs, and Northwestern Law alumna Dina Rollman, chief counsel at Green Thumb Industries (GTI), about the complexities of the marijuana industry, including how Illinois has set a precedent for regulatory programs, the banking challenges facing cultivators and the battle for more research within the United States.
A bipartisan group of senators led by Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) has reintroduced the Marijuana Effective Studies Act of 2016 (MEDS Act), which will remove excessive regulatory barriers inhibiting researchers from obtaining marijuana plants to conduct studies assessing the drug’s medical effectiveness and safety. The American Pain Society (www.americanpainsociety.org) said today it strongly supports the legislation and a companion measure introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in July.
More than half of the states in the U.S. now allow some type of legal marijuana use, primarily medical marijuana. But, in a survey of medical residents and deans at the nation's medical schools, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the majority of schools are not teaching their students about medical marijuana, and the majority of students don't feel prepared to discuss the subject with patients.
A study by Indiana University neuroscientists published Sept. 5 finds that a nonpsychoactive compound in cannabis called cannabidiol, or CBD, appears to protect against the long-term negative psychiatric effects of THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
• In a recent study of healthy young adults, marijuana use was not associated with change in kidney function over time or the appearance of albumin in the urine, which is a sign of kidney damage.
• Additional studies are needed to assess the effects of marijuana in older adults and patients with kidney disease.
While marijuana use amongst youth remains stable, youth admission to substance abuse treatment facilities has increased, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System a five-year, $3.8 million grant for the first long-term study to test whether medical marijuana reduces opioid use among adults with chronic pain, including those with HIV.
Fifty years ago, this summer, a social phenomenon emerged in California and swept the nation. Called the “Summer of Love,” it began with tens of thousands of “hippies” converging in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district during the summer of 1967. Many were against the Vietnam War and consumerism, and passionate about music and meditation. There was widespread use of illicit drugs such as LSD and cannabis, as well as legal substances including alcohol, tobacco and tranquilizers.
Fast forward to 2017. The bohemian “flower children” of the 1960’s are now a formidable segment of the nation’s baby boomer generation. Not surprisingly, many in this age group, now largely in their 50s and 60s, have continued to struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. And it is changing the face of addiction in America.
A new study published in the July issue of the Journal of Urban Economics finds that contrary to popular belief, medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) reduce crime in their immediate areas.
In just seven years, the number of marijuana-positive drivers increased 50 percent, according to the 2013-2014 National Roadside Survey of Alcohol & Drug Use by Drivers. On the flip side, the percentage of alcohol-positive drivers decreased 77 percent between 1973 and 2013-2014. These results and others will be shared at the 40th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Denver June 24-28.