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“It’s really difficult to document drugged driving in a relevant way, [because of] the simple fact that THC is fat soluble,” said Margaret Haney, a neurobiologist at Columbia University. “That makes it absorbed in a very different way and much more difficult to relate behavior to, say, [blood] levels of THC or develop a breathalyzer.”

The simple fact that THC is fat soluble. That makes it absorbed in a very different way and much more difficult to relate behavior to, say, [blood] levels of THC or develop a breathalyzer."  The height of your intoxication isn't at the moment when blood THC levels peak, and the high doesn't rise and fall uniformly based on how much THC leaves and enters your bodily fluids, says Marilyn Huestis, who headed the chemistry and drug metabolism section at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In its recommendations, the AAP opposes:
·      Marijuana use by children and adolescents (aged through 21 years) given evidence on the negative health and brain development effects.
·      Medical marijuana use outside the regulatory process of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although it recognizes it may be an option for children with life-limiting or severely debilitating conditions for whom current therapies are inadequate.
·      ... Read More

DENVER — The Colorado Department of Transportation says traffic deaths rose by 10 percent last year to 545, the highest total since 2008.
 
#NoCoincidence  

Five companies were awarded licenses in November to grow and distribute the new low-THC forms of the drug and some have now hired lobbyists. Costa Farms, a giant Miami-based grower of fruits and vegetables, wants to expand the list of ailments for which low-THC marijuana can be prescribed so it can broaden its market. It gave $88,000 to the political committees of the top players, including $35,000 each to the sponsors of their bills -- Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island and Rep. Matt Gaetz... Read More

The good news, however, is to be found in the very restrictive guidelines they have imposed, including prohibiting smoking it, and pot edibles, as well as Not including psychological issues as debilitating conditions, ie  PTSD, or "pain" to justify physician recommendation for patients. There is also no providing immunity for physicians or dispensers for civil liability. Patient warnings on the packaging are also required because of the risks of use, including addiction. While it is still... Read More

"At a minimum, dabs are four times as strong as a joint, and the high is administered all at once,"

January 2016 Update:
YOUTH USAGE: 
• In the two year average (2013/2014) since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, youth past month marijuana use increased 20 percent compared to the two year average prior to legalization (2011/2012). o Nationally youth past month marijuana use declined 4 percent during the same time.
• The latest 2013/2014 results show Colorado youth ranked #1 in the nation for past month marijuana use, up from #4 in... Read More

Although studies are beginning to show that some ingredients in marijuana are likely to be helpful for people with certain conditions, the findings have yet to nail down the specifics about the dose, the frequency, the best form to take (such as getting the active compounds from edible products or smoking it), the risks from frequent use, and whether marijuana works as well as or better than other available treatments, Budney said.
Usage Doubles & Addiction... Read More

Analysis of Impaired Drivers - Three years ago, about 19 percent of the samples contained THC, the key ingredient in pot. This year, that percentage is up to 33 percent.  

The evidence of harm, however, is only getting clearing. And the latest rise in use, addiction and death by car crash numbers add clarity to the picture of harms associated with widespread use of the drug.

These results from an uncontrolled study support the animal studies and prior reports showing that CBD may be a promising treatment for TRE and it is generally well-tolerated in doses up to 25mg/kg/day. Epidiolex is now being investigated in randomized controlled studies in DS and LGS.

According to Kevin Merill, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer in charge in Denver, "more and more criminals are moving to Colorado to exploit our drug laws, sell marijuana through the U.S. and line their pockets with drug money."
The Colorado experience is certainly troubling and has not been the panacea purported by legalization advocates.
In 2010, medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado.  In 2012, it legalized marijuana and in 2014 retail businesses began selling it... Read More

Recent federally funded reports show that: 
▪ The majority of DUI drug arrests involve marijuana.
▪ Youth consumption has increased.
▪ Drug-related suspensions/expulsions (mostly for marijuana) increased 32 percent over a five-year period.
▪ The number of college users has increased.
▪ Almost 50 percent of Denver arrestees tested positive for marijuana.
▪ Marijuana-related emergency room visits increased 57 percent from 2011 to 2013.
▪ ... Read More

Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T., a statewide recovery program, found that 84 percent of program participants in 2014 struggled with substance abuse, 54 percent of which said they used marijuana

And yes, my friends, there are many problems associated with use of marijuana, such as the risk of addiction, risk for vehicle crashes, emergency department visits, psychiatric symptoms, poor quality of life, cognitive decline, and the use of other drugs.
Marijuana’s immediate effects include distorted perception, difficulty with thinking and problems solving, and loss of motor coordination. Marijuana use can also cause space and time distortion, delusional thinking, and even... Read More

By the end of 2014, the number of total crimes was 24 percent higher than in 2012. Property crimes increased 14 percent... Read More

Children whose mothers use marijuana during pregnancy have a higher risk of stunted growth and of developing ADHD, anxiety, and depression later in life.
When THC enters the body, it interferes with endocannabinoid’s actions, competing with it for binding sites on target cells and generally getting its way.

 “It is important to know that legalizing marijuana would not mean greater access to potentially effective treatment for children and adults with a medical illness such as epilepsy. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is not at all marijuana.”

CBD is not medical marijuana. CBD does not get anyone high nor does it increase appetite. It may be beneficial in treating children with rare forms of epilepsy, often difficult to control with... Read More

The project is intended to treat 50 children from ages 2 to 16 living with epilepsy that have exhausted most of their treatment options, Carney said.
Every step of the three-year study will be meticulously tracked. Patients will check-in at regular intervals and the researchers will examine how the children are responding, Carney said.
All subjects will be clinically evaluated and seizure frequency will be recorded in a diary given to patients, according to the ... Read More

Most of the deaths occurred in the spring, when fishers come out to mate and raise their kits, and all of the poisoned animals were found in remote areas but within the vicinity of illegal marijuana farms.

More Positive Results With Cannabidiol in Epilepsy (You will need to google this title in order to get the article to avoid creating an account)
They found a reduction of the total number of seizures by a median of 38% at 3 months and 31% at 6 months.
These patients started on a cannabidiol (CBD) dose of 2 mg/kg per day, which was increased to a maximum tolerated dose or to 25 mg/kg per day.
Of the 25 patients enrolled in the study, two discontinued treatment before 6... Read More

Adolescent cannabis use increased the odds of non-progression with formal education.

• ... Read More

§Puff for puff, smoking marijuana is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.  http://162.99.3.213/products/manuals/matrix/ppt/marijuana.ppt

• 22.2 million (8.4%) people were current (past month) users of marijuana in 2014, making it the most used illicit drug.
• Marijuana use was most prevalent among people age 18 to 25 (with 19.6% using it in the past month).
• 7.4% of... Read More

The overstuffed vehicles parked outside Pueblo’s Posada, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless families, have license plates from as far away as South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida and Texas.
Those families have come in what social service agencies here see as a perfect storm: legal marijuana, Colorado’s Medicaid expansion (which extends coverage to all qualified adults under the 2010 Affordable Care Act), and Pueblo’s ranking as one of the ... Read More

Is legal 'medical' marijuana linked to high youth substance abuse rates?

Let's look at Colorado's substance abuse rates in 2011- 2012 when medical marijuana was legal but recreational pot was not,... Read More

Kembel's is the highest-profile death associated with cannabis since it became legal for adults to purchase recreational marijuana in Oregon last week. Police said Tuesday it was unclear to what extent marijuana impairment had been a factor in the crash.

At the moment, there simply isn’t enough evidence to prove that cannabinoids – whether natural or synthetic – works to treat cancer in patients, although research is ongoing. And there’s certainly no evidence that ‘street’ cannabis can treat cancer.

Levy says. “We are simply not prepared for the fallout of marijuana legalization.”
Each hit of THC rewires the function of this critical cognitive system: Early evidence in mice has shown that repeated exposure to THC causes these receptors to disappear altogether, blunting the natural response to positive behaviors and requiring higher doses to achieve the same effect. Marijuana exploits essential pathways we’ve evolved to retrieve a memory, to delicately regulate our metabolism, and... Read More

“I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of similar lawsuits in other states,” Malsbury said, pointing out that the nation’s largest marijuana producer, California, has no pot regulations at all. Medical marijuana is grown and sold in California but recreational sales remain against state law.

“Every state must take steps to reduce drug-impaired driving, regardless of the legal status of marijuana,” said Jonathan Adkins, Executive Director of GHSA. “This is the first report to provide states and other stakeholders with the information they need. And we encourage NHTSA to issue guidance on best practices to prevent marijuana-impaired driving. We look to the federal government to take a... Read More

A quadrupling in the use of prescription drugs since 1999, and legalization of marijuana use in some states are cited among the reasons drug use has become an increasing threat to roadway safety, according to a report released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association, an organization of state highway safety officers.

Background Paper on Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Use  Prepared for the Members of the Georgia Medical Cannabis Commission by National Families in Action
1.... Read More

Olympia, WA – Newly released data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) shows that marijuana is increasing as a factor in deadly crashes. The number of drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested positive for marijuana increased 48 percent from 2013 to 2014. 
“This study is a step towards answering the myriad of questions we have about the impact of legalized marijuana on driving.

• Prenatal exposure to marijuana has been shown to be predictive of psychotic symptoms in young adulthood.
• Monitoring the Future survey reported a five-year decline in the perceived harm of regularly smoking marijuana, from 52.4% of high school seniors to 36.1%
• Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the United States and it is estimated that it is used by 61% of all persons suffering from a substance use disorder related to drugs other than alcohol.... Read More

The commonly heard expression that “no one ever died from a marijuana overdose” minimizes the cost of unmet potential and inability to fully engage in the challenges of daily life. Scientific research cites multiple impacts of the recreational misuse of marijuana.

"We found support for the synergistic effect on an individual level; people who tend to use more marijuana also tend to use more opioids," said Scott Novak, PhD, senior research scientist at RTI International, a leading research institute in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
What's worrisome is that the positive association between cannabis and opioid use is growing stronger. The study found that over time, people were using these drugs more often; there were... Read More

Positive top-line results have been reported from an exploratory phase 2a placebo-controlled clinical trial of cannabidiol (CBD, GW Pharmaceuticals) in patients with schizophrenia who had failed to respond adequately to first-line antipsychotic medications.  DOES NOT CONTAIN THC.

This week, the Department of Health and Human Services found that marijuana use among all Americans 12 and over – especially those over 26 – significantly increased in 2014 compared to 2013. The number of 16 and 17 year-olds using marijuana in the past month also increased, (14.2% versus 15.0%).

About 27% of high school students who have used both marijuana and e-cigarettes reported using the devices to vaporize cannabis. Those most likely to vaporize pot with e-cigarettes included males and younger students.

There are difficulties in researching the effects of cannabis.

1. Many people who smoke cannabis also smoke tobacco. And users of cannabis often mix it with tobacco. This can make it difficult to know whether it is the tobacco, the cannabis, or both that has caused a cancer.
2. The amount of THC in cannabis also varies. Some of the... Read More

An employer should have a written drug testing policy that includes:  

• Descriptions of the types of tests that employees can expect to be asked to take.
• Descriptions of the testing procedures. 
• The disciplinary consequences for violating the drug testing policy.

In summary, marijuana use is harmful to children and adolescents.  For this reason, the American College of Pediatricians opposes its legalization for recreational use and urges extreme caution in legalizing it for medicinal use.  Likewise, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) recently offered their own policy statement opposing efforts to legalize marijuana. They similarly pointed out that “marijuana’s deleterious effects on adolescent brain development, cognition... Read More

"There is some more welcome news for parents as they send their children off to college this fall. Perhaps the most important is that 5 out of every 10 college students have not used any illicit drug in the past year, and more than three-quarters have not used any in the prior month."
Alongside regular users, the number of occasional marijuana users has also increased. Between 2006 and 2014, the percentage of students who reported using marijuana once or more in the prior 30 days... Read More