Marijuana Articles, Research and Data

• Pregnancy
• PubMed

Significant effects of prenatal cannabis exposure have been found on children's sleep, cognitive functions (memory and scholastic skills), as well as on executive (frontal lobe) functions (reasoning, attention, impulsivity, and motivation), and affective (depression) and anxiety symptoms throughout the stages of development. Following the presentation of two case vignettes, we integrate the published information on outcomes of maternal use of cannabis during pregnancy on the developing fetus and the "soft" neurological deficits and neuro-behavioral disturbances manifested by them from early childhood and evolving to peaks in adolescence. Taken together, these data serve to define what we call a heretofore unspecified "fetal cannabis spectrum disorder".

• voting
• Legislation

• cannabis is safe and helpful for PTSD are limited by either anecdotal or poor quality evidence, are offset by studies reporting opposite conclusions, and the well-demonstrated potential harms of cannabis addiction and risk for psychosis are not adequately weighed in the decision to recommend medical cannabis treatment of chronic PTSD
• There is a consensus that multiple social harms associated with cannabis legalization are not being adequately addressed. These include concerns about youth exposure under age 25 (a time of highly active brain development) and youth-marketing of edible cannabis products (eg, gummy bears and other confections) and cannabis concentrates that are easily obtained and “vaped”; unintentional in utero exposure prior to a woman’s knowledge of pregnancy; increased rates of intentional cannabis use during pregnancy; driving impairment and the absence of appropriate technological and legal systems to detect and deter this (equivalent to the breathalyzer for alcohol impairment); and cannabis use in sensitive occupations such as public transportation, public protection, and health services. While the voting public and industry is moving cannabis expansion forward, state proceedings have not yet involved public health, neurodevelopmental experts, and experts in addiction psychiatry and medicine equally with industry and economy experts. This is anything but reassuring for all who keep in mind that the United States is by far the greatest demand population for psychoactive substances, worldwide.4

• Berenson

• The reality is that the medical marijuana argument is meant mostly to protect recreational users from legal problems.
• One in every 15 alcohol drinkers  drink every day while one in every five marijuana users do so daily.
• America is the Western country that uses the most marijuana and has the worst problem with opioids.

• smoking
• Environment

• Truth
• hallucinations
• cannabis-induced psychosis

CONCLUSIONS:
Early cannabis use is associated with psychosis-related outcomes in young adults. The use of sibling pairs reduces the likelihood that unmeasured confounding explains these findings. This study provides further support for the hypothesis that early cannabis use is a risk-modifying factor for psychosis-related outcomes in young adults.

• olfson
• opioids

Is the solution to the opioid epidemic as simple as the legalization of medical cannabis? Commenting on the Bachhuber et al. analysis (1), Finney et al. (4) cautioned that an ecological fallacy may be present—individuals using medical marijuana could have elevated overdose mortality rates even though there is a state-level reduction. They contended that a prospective study of individual pain patients was necessary to assess relationships between cannabis use, use of opioid medications, and other substance use (4).
 

• epilepsy
• science direct
• Death

Two cases of sudden death are reported in patients whose self-determined seizure management primarily relied on artisanal cannabis therapies. Risks of morbidity, mortality and SUDEP in SDTC users need to be further studied. Providers should be aware of the absence of morbidity and mortality data for SDTC in patients with epilepsy may only be due to a failure of reporting.

• psychiatry
• cognition

The authors discovered several interesting things. First, all elements of both alcohol and cannabis use increase annually across the various levels of frequency of use, with the exception of daily alcohol use. Second, the effects of cannabis are considerably greater than those of alcohol. Third, there appear to be both concurrent and lagged effects of cannabis use on several cognitive domains. Thus, use of cannabis has persistent effects that are also exacerbated by continued use.

• New Yorker

Given today's concerns about maintaining a healthy body eating organic foods, low carb diets, ... reading all the labels to verify safety and good health, it is ironic the same standards are not demanded by those that consume marijuana.  Dog food is safer than marijuana!

For example, smoking pot is widely supposed to diminish the nausea associated with chemotherapy. But, the panel pointed out, “there are no good-quality randomized trials investigating this option.” We have evidence for marijuana as a treatment for pain, but “very little is known about the efficacy, dose, routes of administration, or side effects of commonly used and commercially available cannabis products in the United States.” The caveats continue. Is it good for epilepsy? “Insufficient evidence.” Tourette’s syndrome? Limited evidence. A.L.S., Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s? Insufficient evidence. Irritable-bowel syndrome? Insufficient evidence. Dementia and glaucoma? Probably not. Anxiety? Maybe. Depression? Probably not.

“dose-response relationship”... non-existent!

• book
• Berenson

I was surprised, to say the least. I tended to be a libertarian on drugs. Years before, I’d covered the pharmaceutical industry for The New York Times. I was aware of the claims about marijuana as medicine, and I’d watched the slow spread of legalized cannabis without much interest.
Jackie would have been within her rights to say, I know what I’m talking about, unlike you. Instead she offered something neutral like, I think that’s what the big studies say. You should read them.....

• withdrawal
• addiction
• medicine news today

Experts define addiction as continued marijuana use despite negative consequences in a person's life, such as issues relating to their family, job, or relationships.
People who use marijuana regularly and then stop abruptly can experience some withdrawal symptoms.

• abuse

In 2017 Colorado had a record number of opioid overdose deaths from any opioid, including heroin and Colorado has had a medical marijuana program since 2001.6
There are several reasons as to why any reported benefit will be outstripped by lack of benefit and increased risk of harm, and why cannabis is contributing to ongoing opioid use, and subsequently, the opioid epidemic.

1. There is evidence in animal models showing adolescent rats exposed to THC will develop enhanced heroin self administration as adults11 which may be due to activation of mesolimbic transmission of dopamine by a common mu opioid receptor mechanism.11,12
2. More than 90% of heroin users report a prior history of marijuana use compared to a prior history of painkiller use (47%).13

• norml
• governor

Not good news!
Only 5 Republican Governors got passing grades from NORML and the 2nd highest grade (C) of this group was Ron DeSantis. :-( The only Republican Governor who got a higher grade (B+) was the Gov. of Vermont who signed a bill that legalized recreational pot! Most Republican governors got Ds and Fs.