ASAM Public Policy Statement on Marijuana, Cannabinoids and Legalization 09/21/2015 |
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Prenatal exposure to marijuana has been shown to be predictive of psychotic symptoms in young adulthood.
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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%
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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.
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The risk of developing addiction associated with cannabis use has been reported to increase to about 17% among those who start using marijuana in adolescence, and to 25-50% among those who smoke marijuana daily.
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Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain a number of carcinogens and cocarcinogens, as well as many of the toxins, irritants, and carcinogens as tobacco smoke.
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Marijuana-infused edibles account for 45% of the legal marijuana marketplace.
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AMA Marijuana has a high potential for abuse. It has no scientifically proven, currently accepted medical use for preventing or treating any disease process in the United States.
Number Using Opioids and Marijuana on the Rise
Chart: Colorado among states with growing heroin, prescription drug abuse problem
Consistent with the past, in 2014 still only 47 percent of operators involved in traffic deaths were tested for drug impairment.
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Pregnancy, addiction, cigarettes, edibles, Research, Studies |
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Public Policy Statement on Marijuana, Cannabinoids and Legalization 09/21/2015 |
Given these statistics.... is legalization worth the consequences....
Cannabis has been found to be the most frequently used drug in the U.S. after alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.
The risk of developing addiction associated with cannabis use has been reported to increase to about 17% among those who start using marijuana in adolescence, and to 25-50% among those who smoke marijuana daily.
The long-term effects of marijuana use include altered brain development and cognitive impairment, including impaired neural connectivity in specific brain regions, decreased activity in prefrontal regions, and reduced volumes in the hippocampus.
Cannabis is most commonly consumed through smoking, a route of drug delivery that predictably has a variety of negative effects on pulmonary function. Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain a number of carcinogens and cocarcinogens, as well as many of the toxins, irritants, and carcinogens as tobacco smoke. Additionally, marijuana smokers tend to inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than cigarette smokers, which leads to a greater exposure per breath to “tar” (the carcinogenic solids in smoke). Regular smoking of marijuana, in the absence of tobacco, produces visible and microscopic injury to the large airways
http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/publicy-policy-statements/mariju...
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Research, legalization, asam, Long-term, Pregnancy, adolescent, youth, cigarettes |
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Opinion: Marijuana's Adverse Impact on Youth 09/18/2015 |
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.
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youth, opinion, college |
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Cannabinoid Shows Positive Results in Treating Schizophrenia 09/15/2015 |
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.
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Schizophrenia, gw pharm, CBD |
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The Seth Leibsohn Show September 15, 2015 - Tom Gorman 09/15/2015 |
Tom Gorman discusses Colorado Legalization Impact Report for September 2015
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Gorman, Leibsohn, Report, rmhidta, radio, Colorado |
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Number Using Opioids and Marijuana on the Rise 09/15/2015 |
"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 more opioids days and more cannabis days.
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medscape, opioid, Studies, NSDUH |
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Behavioral Health Trends in the United States: Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health 09/15/2015 |
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SAMHSA, trends |
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State Medical Marijuana Laws 09/14/2015 |
State medical marijuana legislation.
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state, Laws, NCSL |
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Marijuana use doubles 09/14/2015 |
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usage, perception, Infographics |
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Everyone Praises the Healing Power of This Drug—but Many Don’t Realize the Damaging Effect It Has on Teens 09/12/2015 |
In 2014, Gilman published research on 18-to-25-year-olds that showed differences in the brain’s reward system between users and nonusers. Teens who smoked marijuana had significant abnormalities in the areas of the brain linked to emotion, motivation, and decision-making (see diagram above). “I got a lot of hate mail after that,” she says.
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Jangi, MD, reader's digest, Brain |
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HHS finds marijuana use up 12%, perception of harm down 09/12/2015 |
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%).
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youth, perception, usage |
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High School Students’ Use of Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis 09/09/2015 |
Rates of vaporizing cannabis using e-cigarettes were high. These findings raise concerns about the lack of e-cigarette regulations and the potential use of e-cigarettes for purposes other than vaping nicotine.
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Vaping, youth |
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Teens find a new use for e-cigarettes: Vaping marijuana 09/09/2015 |
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.
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Vaping, youth |
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Evidence on cannabis and cancer 09/09/2015 |
We do know that smoking is unhealthy. And that, like tobacco, cannabis contains cancer causing substances. Therefore it would seem likely to increase cancer risk. But we need more research to know this for sure.
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cancer |
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Why researching cannabis is difficult 09/09/2015 |
There are difficulties in researching the effects of cannabis.
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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.
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The amount of THC in cannabis also varies. Some of the cannabis available today is much stronger than it was 20 years ago. These versions contain more THC.
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Another difficulty researchers have is in recruiting people who smoke cannabis into studies. Because cannabis is an illegal drug in many countries, people may be reluctant to take part in research. And if they do agree to take part, they may not say how much cannabis they actually smoke.
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Research, cancer |
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When Pets Do Pot: A High That's Not So Mighty 09/04/2015 |
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has seen a similar increase. In 2014, the ASPCA's poison control centers received calls on about 539 cases of animals accidentally consuming cannabis, up from 320 in 2013.
"What's worrying to us is the severity of cases now," says Dr. Heidi Houchen, a veterinarian at Northwest Veterinary Specialists in Clackamas, Ore. "We still see the classic case: red eyes, wobbly, urinating on themselves, a little twitchy ... but they can progress through the sedate, leaning, urine-dribbling stage to becoming completely comatose or absolutely rigid. They've come in and had seizures. They can come in a panic, really sensitive to noise and touch. They can pass away."
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pets |
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More College Students Use Marijuana Daily, Study Finds 09/02/2015 |
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college, monitoring the future |
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Heavy cannabis users at risk of ‘severe vomiting syndrome’ – expert 09/02/2015 |
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vomit, CHS, hospital |
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Employers Grapple with Heroin Epidemic 09/02/2015 |
An employer should have a written drug testing policy that includes:
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Descriptions of the types of tests that employees can expect to be asked to take.
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Descriptions of the testing procedures.
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The disciplinary consequences for violating the drug testing policy.
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Employer, drug testing, drug free workplace |
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2015 9 The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact 09/01/2015 |
According to the Colorado Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2014:
• 13.6 percent of adults (18+ years old) are current users of marijuana
• Approximately 1 out of 3 current users report using marijuana daily
• A little less than 1 in 5 (18.8 percent) report driving after using marijuana
• Highest current use demographics:
o Younger adults (18 to 24 years old)
o Less than high school education
o Lower household income
o Black
o Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual adults
o Men
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Colorado, Behavior, Survey, youth |
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Marijuana Use: Detrimental to Youth 09/01/2015 |
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, and social functioning may have immediate and long-term implications, including increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, sexual victimization, academic failure, lasting decline in intelligence measures, psychopathology, addiction, and psychosocial and occupational impairment.”
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youth, pedestrians, legalization, ACP, Resource Paper |
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Daily pot smoking on U.S. college campuses at 35-year high: study 09/01/2015 |
The percentage of college students using any illicit drug also rose to 41 percent in 2014, compared to 34 percent in 2006, an increase driven mostly by the uptick in marijuana use, the study said.
In 2014, 35 percent of 19-to-22-year-old high school graduates said they thought regular marijuana use was dangerous compared to 55 percent in 2006, the study said.
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college, monitoring the future |
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Marijuana use surpasses cigarette use in US college students 09/01/2015 |
"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 increased from 17% to 21%. During the same period, the percentage reporting use in the past year increased from 30% to 34%.
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college, tobacco, monitoring the future |
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Legalization of Marijuana- Impact Report 09/01/2015 |
See report for details, graphs, data.
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Colorado, Potency, youth usage, vehicle, social costs, Business |
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Troopers: Driver in fatal crash had marijuana in system 08/31/2015 |
"According to Ohio Revised Code, the per se limit for marijuana in Ohio is 50 nanograms per milliliter of blood. Young’s test came back at 112.90 nanograms per milliliter, the patrol said."
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car crashes, Fatalities, Ohio |
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Morgan's Rant- Money or Medicine?? 08/31/2015 |
Does this sound like someone concerned about sick people? What is he really compassionate about?
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news video clip, video, Morgan |
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Marijuana Use May Lower Sperm Counts 'Quite a Lot' 08/28/2015 |
Moreover, in the men in the study who smoked marijuana and used other recreational drugs, the sperm counts were reduced by 55 percent, and the sperm concentrations were reduced by 52 percent, compared with men who hadn't used the drugs.
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sperm count, men |
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Marijuana Dependence Hospitalizations Increasing 08/27/2015 |
“As marijuana is approved for medical or recreational use, we need to carefully consider where we allow dispensaries to be placed,” said lead author Christina Mair, Ph.D., assistant professor in Pitt Public Health’s Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences. “Our study indicates that there are real problems associated with a higher density of marijuana dispensaries in neighborhoods. More study and monitoring, coupled with thoughtful legislation and community discussion, will be prudent to ensure that marijuana laws have the fewest negative consequences for vulnerable populations.”
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pot shops, dispensaries, hospital |
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DEA testimony on federal arrests 08/25/2015 |
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prisons, Arrest, DEA |
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Where There’s Smoke … 08/22/2015 |
Marijuana use by kids between the ages of 12 and 17 is 58 percent higher in Colorado than the national average, according to the RHMIDTA. The rate of use among college-age adults is 54 percent above the national average. Drug-related suspensions from Colorado schools jumped 34 percent from the 2005-2009 period to the 2010-2014 period, while alcohol-related suspensions stayed flat.
"Everything they said would happen has not," says Gorman. "They said alcohol use would go down. Alcohol use went up. They said it would eliminate the (marijuana) black market. We are the black market. The trends show that legalization is not working."
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youth, Colorado, college, Potency, legalization, alcohol |
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Data released Tuesday indicate that the number of Washington drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested positive for active m 08/21/2015 |
Data released Tuesday indicate that the number of Washington drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested positive for active marijuana doubled from 2013 to 2014 - the first year of legal marijuana sales in the state.
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car crashes, Fatalities, Washington |
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Emphasis patrols to target DUI problem areas through Labor Day 08/21/2015 |
“We have seen marijuana involvement in fatal crashes remain steady over the years, and then it just spiked in 2014,” said Dr. Staci Hoff, WTSC Data and Research Director.
From 2010-2014, nearly 60 percent of drivers involved in fatal collisions were tested for drugs. Among these tested drivers, approximately 20 percent (349 drivers) were positive for marijuana.
From 2008 through 2014, more than 1,100 people died in impaired collisions in Washington. Impaired driving is involved in nearly half of all traffic deaths and more than 20 percent of serious injury collisions. The highest percentage of these deaths occurs during the summer months.
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car crashes, DUI, Fatalities, Washington |
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Medical Marijuana for Pain: What the Evidence Shows 08/19/2015 |
Overall, these studies seem to indicate that cannabinoids have a significant role to play in the management of chronic pain. However, there are important issues that limit the validity of this conclusion. First and most important is how the improvement in pain was evaluated. In many of the studies, only instruments to measure the level of pain, most notably the Visual Analogue Scale, were used. This is fine when one is measuring acute pain. But when it comes to chronic pain—which is what the studies were looking at—the most important measures of the impact of any treatment are improvement in functioning and other objective measures, such as reduction in use of analgesic medications.
he review found minimal evidence that cannabinoids are beneficial for the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy or for stimulation of appetite in patients with HIV/AIDS. It also found no evidence of effectiveness for the treatment of glaucoma or mental disorders; instead, it found that cannabinoids were more likely to worsen the latter. There was some evidence that cannabinoids might be beneficial for the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, but even here the results did not reach statistical significance.
Current research has fallen far short of criteria required by the FDA to approve any drug, much less for conditions not considered acutely life-threatening and for which there are already many other effective and safe treatments. The variation from state to state as to which medical conditions are approved for cannabinoid use is not because lawmakers have ignored scientific evidence. Rather, it reflects the absence of such evidence and an approval process based on politics, not science.
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pain, review, Studies |
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Medical Marijuana for Pain: What the Evidence Shows 08/19/2015 |
Twenty-eight studies were undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of cannabinoids for chronic pain. Of these, only 2 were found to be at low risk of bias.
Overall, these studies seem to indicate that cannabinoids have a significant role to play in the management of chronic pain. However, there are important issues that limit the validity of this conclusion. First and most important is how the improvement in pain was evaluated. In many of the studies, only instruments to measure the level of pain, most notably the Visual Analogue Scale, were used. This is fine when one is measuring acute pain. But when it comes to chronic pain—which is what the studies were looking at—the most important measures of the impact of any treatment are improvement in functioning and other objective measures, such as reduction in use of analgesic medications.
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meta-analysis, Studies, Placebo, pain |
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Cannabinoid Pharmacokinetics 08/15/2015 |
Pharmacokinetics encompasses the absorption of cannabinoids following diverse routes of administration and from different drug formulations, the distribution of analytes throughout the body, the metabolism of cannabinoids by different tissues and organs, the elimination of cannabinoids from the body in the feces, urine, sweaty oral fluid, and hair, and how these processes change over time. Cannabinoid pharmacokinetic research has been especially challenging because of low analyte concentrations, rapid and extensive metabolism, and physio-chemicaI characteristics that hinder the separation of drugs of interest from biological matrices and from each other, and that lower drug recovery because of adsorption of compounds of interest to multiple surfaces. Mass spectrometric developments now permit highly sensitive and specific measurement of cannabinoids in a wide variety of biological matrices.
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Cannabinoid, Pharmacokinetics |
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Nicotine and the adolescent brain 08/15/2015 |
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Vaping, e-cig, nicotine |
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Cannabis use may influence cortical maturation in adolescent males 08/15/2015 |
Male teens who experiment with cannabis before age 16, and have a high genetic risk for schizophrenia, show a different brain development trajectory than low risk peers who use cannabis.
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Schizophrenia, males |
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Neighborhood Marijuana Shops Linked to Pot-Related Hospital Stays 08/13/2015 |
"Our study indicates that there are real problems associated with a higher density of marijuana dispensaries in neighborhoods," Mair said. Community discussions are needed to ensure that marijuana laws have the fewest negative consequences for vulnerable people.
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pot shops, hospitalization, neighborhood |
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The Futile Search for the “Right” THC per se Level 08/13/2015 |
THC is a large, fat-soluble molecule whose concentration in the blood rapidly drops as it is sequestered into the body’s fat stores, including the brain. Immediately after smoking a joint, the THC level will be very high in the blood and very low in the brain. The THC level in the brain climbs rapidly at the same time that as it is declining in the blood. At some point, the concentrations cross, and the concentration continues to rise in the brain while it is still declining in the blood, since the brain acts like a sponge, soaking up the partially insoluble THC from the blood.
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alcohol, driving, impaired |
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The Rise And Risks Of Synthetic Marijuana 08/12/2015 |
It gets called synthetic marijuana, but it’s not marijuana. It is a cannabinoid. And it is confounding health officials and law enforcement. This hour On Point: the unpredictability and danger of the little packets known as “spice.”
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synthetics, Spice |
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Stoned Driving Nearly Doubles the Risk of a Fatal Crash 08/09/2015 |
People who drive within three hours of smoking marijuana are at nearly twice the risk of being in an accident that leads to serious injury or death, compared with sober drivers, according to a new review of the research.
While driving stoned is clearly risky — and combining marijuana with alcohol is even more dangerous — drunk driving remains a bigger hazard on the road. Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 — the legal limit — nearly triples the risk of crashing; a blood alcohol concentration of .10 almost quintuples it. Although drunk driving deaths have dropped by more than half since 1982, they still represent about one-third of all auto fatalities and kill about 11,000 people annually.
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car crashes, Fatalities |
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Reckless homicide charges filed in Kokomo crash that killed two sisters 08/05/2015 |
Police said Johnson initially claimed he wasn't the driver of the vehicle, but eventually admitted both to driving and to using marijuana and alcohol prior to the crash.
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car crashes, Fatalities |
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No One Serves Jail Time for Smoking Pot 08/03/2015 |
Here is why there is confusion: the only time someone is sentenced to jail for smoking pot is if there is a more serious crime they are clearly guilty of, and the prosecutor or judge wants to give them a lighter sentence. Theft or burglary were the most common crimes I came across. Instead of being required to sentence a defendant to a year imprisonment for stealing, a defendant could plead guilty to marijuana possession instead and get a much lesser sentence. So on paper, it looks like they are serving time for drug possession, but in reality, they were let off the hook for a serious crime.
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crime, jail |
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Arizonans For Responsible Drug Policy 08/02/2015 |
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Arizona, Drug Policy |
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Facts for Parents 08/02/2015 |
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Parent, Arizona |
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Medicinal and Recreational Marijuana: What are the Risks? 07/31/2015 |
Brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed in these individuals in their early twenties, two years after they had stopped using marijuana. The cannabis users were noted to have striatal, globus pallidus, and thalamus changes showing these brain regions appearing to shrink and collapse inward. These individuals also had poorer working memory. The earlier the age of cannabis use, the more dramatic the brain changes and memory deficits were noted to be.
Not only does it appear that cannabis use itself is a potential precursor to future drug use, but the age of first use of cannabis and the frequency of cannabis use seem to also be predictors of future substance abuse issues. Studies have shown that over two-thirds of those under the age of 18 who have been admitted to a drug treatment program identify cannabis as their substance of choice.
” One important characteristic that defines a substance use disorder is “an underlying change in brain circuits that may persist beyond detoxification, particularly in individuals with severe disorder"
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Teens, Research, Studies, Brain, addiction, anxiety, depression, Resource Paper |
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Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicle Report 2014 07/31/2015 |
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Florida, Report, driving |
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Teen driver admits to smoking marijuana before crash killing 3 07/30/2015 |
Prosecutors said McKay, 17, was going 75 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone at 3 a.m. on Sunday when he lost control of his car killing Luther Wiggins-Stoudemire, 18, Kassidy Clark, 16, and Jenna Farley, 14.
Prosecutors also said McKay admitted smoking marijuana a little more than an hour before the crash.
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Teen, car crashes, Fatalities |
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Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind 07/29/2015 |
Mr. Wright was confident that a new anticancer drug called Krebiozen would cure him. Mr. Wright’s tumors had shrunk by half, and after 10 more days of treatment he was discharged from the hospital. And yet the other patients in the hospital who had received Krebiozen showed no improvement.
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Placebo |
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Out-of-county prosecutor to handle Rayborn crash case 07/27/2015 |
Party goers saw the driver, who had a learner’s permit, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at the house late into the night before, said a search warrant issued to gather evidence as part of an investigation into possible charges of DUI manslaughter, possession of marijuana, possession of alcohol under 21 years old and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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Teen, car crashes, Fatalities |
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Examining the relationship between marijuana use, medical marijuana dispensaries, and abusive and neglectful parenting. 07/27/2015 |
Current marijuana use was positively related to frequency of child physical abuse and negatively related to physical neglect.Density of medical marijuana dispensaries and delivery services was positively related to frequency of physical abuse. As marijuana use becomes more prevalent, those who work with families, including child welfare workers must screen for how marijuana use may affect a parent's ability to provide for care for their children, particularly related to physical abuse.
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child abuse, dispensaries, physical abuse, Studies, parenting |
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Sharon Osbourne doesn't want marijuana legalised and says it would be a 'disaster' 07/27/2015 |
Marijuana should not be legalized in America or the UK.
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legalization, Osbourne |
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Marijuana Triggers Psychotic Symptoms In Male Users 07/27/2015 |
Trends in cannabis use suggest that twice as many males as females use the drug. This gender ratio is mirrored in rates of psychosis with males outnumbering females by 2:1. However, researchers at the University of York found there is a significant widening of this ratio for cannabis psychosis, where males outnumber females by four to one.
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males, Psychosis |
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Pot death: Teen leaps 4 stories after eating marijuana cookie 07/26/2015 |
Over the next few hours, the man showed erratic speech and hostile behaviors, the report said. About 2.5 hours after he ate the whole cookie, he jumped off a balcony on the fourth floor of his building, and died from trauma from the fall, the report said.
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youth, edibles, Death |
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Keizer mother sentenced to 11 years in prison for son's death 07/24/2015 |
"She said she didn't know where her son was, and then saw him standing in the living room and made the decision to walk to the manager's office for help instead of going in and getting him out," Nelson said. By the time she returned, Sosa-Martinez could see her son through the flames, it wasn't too late.
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Death, fire, impaired |
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Notes from the Field: Death Following Ingestion of an Edible Marijuana Product — Colorado, March 2014 07/24/2015 |
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Death, edibles, Colorado, CDC |
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Dever Citywide Reported Offenses 07/21/2015 |
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denver, Colorado, crime |
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http://www.attcnetwork.org/marijuana/docs/MJPregInfographicEnFinal.pdf 07/17/2015 |
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Infographics, Pregnancy |
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American Epilepsy Society Position Statement 07/16/2015 |
Safety concerns coupled with a lack of evidence of efficacy in controlled studies result in a risk/benefit ratio that does not support use of marijuana for treatment of seizures at this time. Healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers are reminded that use of marijuana for epilepsy may not be advisable due to this lack of information on safety and efficacy.
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Charlotte's Web, american epiliepsy society, AES, Epidiolex, Idaho, position paper |
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Colorado rejects medical marijuana for PTSD treatment 07/16/2015 |
Board members cited a lack of research, including medical trials. "We have an absence of scientific information," board member Rick Brown said.
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PTSD, Colorado |
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Colorado rejects medical marijuana for PTSD treatment 07/16/2015 |
“Telling someone to use marijuana for PTSD or any mental health problem is like telling them to go get drunk,” says one specialist who has treated the disorder among veterans and active-duty service members for more than 15 years.
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PTSD, Colorado |
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Obama Can’t Find Victims of 'Mass Incarceration' in Federal Prisons 07/15/2015 |
And just who is Obama releasing? Not “low-level, drug-possession offenders” or marijuana users. No, he is releasing crack dealers, cocaine dealers, and methamphetamine dealers. Most of the 46 were crack cocaine distributors, some convicted of dealing more than 10 pounds of crack.
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prisons, obama |
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Marijuana and Lung Health 07/15/2015 |
Smoke is harmful to lung health. Whether from burning wood, tobacco or marijuana, toxins and carcinogens are released from the combustion of materials. Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens as tobacco smoke.4-7
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lungs, second hand smoke |
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Cannabinoid Pharmacokinetics 07/14/2015 |
|
Pharmacokinetics, Cannabinoid |
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The Relationship Between Marijuana Use and Intimate Partner Violence in a Nationally Representative, Longitudinal Sample 07/14/2015 |
Adolescent marijuana use, particularly consistent use throughout adolescence, is associated with perpetration or both perpetration of and victimization by intimate partner violence in early adulthood. These findings have implications for intimate partner violence prevention efforts, as marijuana use should be considered as a target of early intimate partner violence intervention and treatment programming.
|
adolescent, crime, Domestic Violence, Research, USF, UF |
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American Epilepsy Society- Letter to Gov. Otter, Idaho 07/13/2015 |
American Epilepsy Society- Letter to Gov. Otter, Idaho
|
Idaho, american epiliepsy society, AES, Resolution, position paper |
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THC can't help PTSD, say experts 07/13/2015 |
For every military veteran appearing in a Colorado public meeting to advocate for the right to use marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, mental health professionals throughout Colorado estimate they’ve worked with thousands whose pot use made their PTSD — and their lives in general — much worse.
“I have seen marijuana use create so many more problems than it solves,” said Brian Lanier, a licensed clinical social worker and Army reservist in Colorado Springs who has worked more than 15 years with veterans and active-duty service members. “If nothing else, these people are just numbing themselves, which is definitely not appropriate treatment for PTSD. Telling someone to use marijuana for PTSD or any mental health problem is like telling them to go get drunk.”
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PTSD, Veterans, Military |
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A Bristol man involved in a three-vehicle crash Monday, July 27, on S.R. 15 was found with prescription drugs and more than 80 g 07/13/2015 |
Typical "medical" pot user and drug dealer.
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car crashes |
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A Bust for Medical Marijauna 07/12/2015 |
A separate analysis of edible marijuana found that many products laced with pot, such as drinks, baked goods and candy, misrepresent the potency of THC, the active ingredient on the labels. Only 13 of 75 products tested were accurately labeled, making reads of their potency and its effects little more than a guessing game.
Celebrating the medical benefits, if any, of marijuana has been an effective ruse to win social acceptance for getting high. This was thoroughly predictable, and now it’s clear that the organized pot heads have been blowing smoke at us.
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Medical, edibles, news article |
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Oregon- High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas 07/11/2015 |
The report concludes by stating that home invasions will continue to rise at grow sites, and the "exploitation of the current medical marijuana laws will continue to encourage larger indoor marijuana grow operations, impede law enforcement efforts to investigate illegal marijuana operations and contribute to the volume of marijuana trafficking through and out of the state."
|
Oregon, impact, Studies, HIDTA |
|
Legalization didn’t unclog prisons 07/11/2015 |
“Our courts and prisons are actually filled with people who committed serious crimes while under a drug’s influence or while they were in possession of very large amounts of a drug with the intent to sell it in circumstances associated with violence and/or firearms,” he said. “If anything, we need to conduct more research on how marijuana use contributes to criminal behavior.”
|
prisons, crime, Colorado-0, clearing the haze |
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Today’s Heroin Epidemic Infographics 07/11/2015 |
Heroin use is part of a larger substance abuse problem.
Nearly all people who used heroin also used at least 1 other drug. Most used at least 3 other drugs.
Heroin is a highly addictive opioid drug with a high risk of overdose and death for users.
People who are addicted to…
Alcohol are 2 times more likely to become addicted to heroin.
Marijuana are 3 times more likely to become addicted to heroin.
Cocaine are 15 times more likely to become addicted to heroin..
Prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin.
SOURCE: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2011-2013.
|
CDC, Infographics, heroin, opioid |
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Medical marijuana laws and adolescent marijuana use in the USA from 1991 to 2014: results from annual, repeated cross-sectional 07/11/2015 |
Our findings, consistent with previous evidence, suggest that passage of state medical marijuana laws does not increase adolescent use of marijuana. However, overall, adolescent use is higher in states that ever passed such a law than in other states. State-level risk factors other than medical marijuana laws could contribute to both marijuana use and the passage of medical marijuana laws, and such factors warrant investigation.
|
Lancet, usage, youth, journal, Studies |
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Scentists have successfully isolated the medical benefits of cannabis from its unwanted side effects. 07/11/2015 |
PLEASE note: 23 states in the US have legalized marijuana- using the entire plant as medicine not isolating specific cannabinoids as done in research labs.
However, Dr. McCormick was quick to warn of the dangers of individuals self-medicating, but stated he hopes the research would lead to a "safe synthetic equivalent being available in the future."
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Medical, Spain, UK, Studies |
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How Cannabis Causes Paranoia: Using the Intravenous Administration of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to Identify Key Cognitive Me 07/10/2015 |
The principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC administered intravenously is characterized by the appearance of psychopharmocological effects within 5 minutes, which continue for at least 90 minutes, providing an excellent experimental window.[12] In within-subjects tests with nonclinical volunteers, D'Souza, in particular, has shown that intravenous administration of THC causes schizophrenia-like symptoms, perceptual disturbances, anxiety, and impaired working memory (eg, Morrison et al[13] and D'Souza et al[14,15]). Similar but more pronounced results were found in patients with schizophrenia.[15]
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Schizophrenia, paranoia, Studies, Research |
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Marijuana-growing spikes Denver electric demand, challenges clean-power plan 07/10/2015 |
Citywide electricity use has been rising at the rate of 1.2 percent a year, and 45 percent of that increase comes from marijuana-growing facilities, Denver officials said Wednesday.
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Colorado-0, denver, Electricity, Environment |
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Medical marijuana and children don't mix, most Americans say. 07/08/2015 |
However, there is little science about the safety or efficacy of treating children with medical marijuana. Research also indicates that the brains and nervous systems of children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to adverse effects of marijuana use, a concern raised by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Poll
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Research, Children |
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South Carolina Law Enforcement Division 07/08/2015 |
In response to inaccurate statistics from pro-marijuana groups and proposed legislation in South Carolina; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) conducted the following research:
On April 16, 2015, the South Carolina Department of Corrections reported that of the more than 23,000 inmates presently incarcerated, only ten (10) of those inmates had been convicted of possession of marijuana. All ten (10) inmates were incarcerated for multiple violent offenses, traffic violations, probation violations or negotiated plea bargains. None of the ten (10) would have been incarcerated at the South Carolina Department of Corrections without other more serious violations accompanying the possession of marijuana offenses.
Between April 16, 2015 and July 6, 2015, SLED made random inquiries of seven county detention centers throughout the four regions of the state. The total inmate population for the seven detention centers was 3,017. Of those 3,017 inmates, only six (6) (.001%) were incarcerated for possession of marijuana.
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crime, South Carolina, prisons |
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http://tbo.com/news/politics/giant-reefer-float-raises-eyebrows-at-temple-terrac… 07/07/2015 |
Ellen Snelling, chairman of the Anti-Drug Alliance, lives in Temple Terrace and often participates in the parade. She said the float and the NORML organizers who accompanied it and handed out fliers were out of place at a family-friendly event.
“When you promote drug legalization on a float in a parade, it can give a really bad message to children,” Snelling said. “I believe in free speech, but I think there is a time and a place to conduct speech referring to legalization of drugs, and a children’s parade is not that place.”
Snelling also questioned if the members of the Central Florida NORML chapter used deception to get the float in the parade. She said when she first saw the float it was an unadorned boat, but when she came back 20 minutes later, the wagon was festooned with NORML banners. Atop the green and white float was a fake 10-foot marijuana cigarette, painted red on the tip as if burning.
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Florida, tampa, norml |
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Mental Illness alcohol, drugs and gun violence 07/07/2015 |
These findings have profound implications for crafting policy to avert future tragedies. In the wake of mass shootings, politicians from both sides of the aisle often call for including better mental health records in background checks. Though a worthwhile sentiment, the evidence suggests that these efforts would be better spent focusing on alcohol abuse instead.
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guns, alcohol |
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Adolescents Who View Medical Marijuana Advertising Are More Likely to Use the Drug 07/06/2015 |
Seeing advertisements for medical marijuana was related to middle school adolescents' intentions to use marijuana and their actual marijuana use one year later. Researchers say this is particularly important given that the mean age of adolescents surveyed was 13 and initiation of marijuana use during early adolescence is associated with poor school performance, neuropsychological performance deficits and further use of other illicit drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.
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youth, advertising, usage |
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Marijuana grow house fire deemed arson 07/06/2015 |
"It's a very nondescript house, but inside, the only purpose for this house is to grow marijuana," said Lt. John Preyer.
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Florida, tampa, fire, grow sites |
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Adolescents who view medical marijuana ads more likely to use the drug, study finds 07/06/2015 |
Adolescents who saw advertising for medical marijuana were more likely to either report using marijuana or say they planned to use the substance in the future, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
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adolescent, advertising |
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Medical marijuana: A growing issue for employers in Workers’ Compensation 07/02/2015 |
Currently, there are several factors hindering adoption:
1. Illegal at federal level.
2. No FDA approval. Medical marijuana is not viewed as safe or effective by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
3. Lack of proof of efficacy.
4. Evidence-based guidelines.
5. Effect on work performance.
6. Drug-free workplace programs.
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Employer, workman's comp |
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Colorado Supreme Court Provides a Moment of Sanity on Marijuana 06/30/2015 |
In a unanimous (6-0) decision on June 15, 2015 in Coats v. Dish Network, the Colorado Supreme Court, ruled that an employer could fire an employee for testing positive for marijuana in that state despite the legality of both medical and recreational marijuana, even if the marijuana use were based on a physician’s recommendation and even if the marijuana use were limited to nonworking hours away from the workplace. The Colorado state marijuana laws are in conflict with the federal law, under which marijuana is an illicit substance and in this Supreme Court ruling, marijuana use was therefore considered “illegal.”
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Colorado, Employer, Business, supreme court |
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I Got A Marijuana Prescription And Pot In Minutes Without Leaving My Couch 06/30/2015 |
NOT A PRESCRIPTION
He quickly glanced over my medical history, asked me some cursory questions about my wrist and noted in less than three minutes that he didn’t “see any reason why [I] shouldn’t try marijuana to help with the pain.” I had the recommendation letter in PDF form in my email inbox soon after and used the rest of my consultation time to press Dr. Zlotolow on the perceived benefits of using an app to diagnose patients.
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article, Medical |
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Lancet Study 06/30/2015 |
The study found that 10th and 12thgrade use in Colorado increased significantly after medical marijuana.
The study did not look at recreational marijuana
The study did not look at marijuana use over an extended period of time....read more on link
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Lancet, Studies |
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PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE CRIME BEHIND THE EMERALD CURTAIN 06/29/2015 |
Trespass grows are large-scale operations, with plant counts numbering anywhere from 1,000-80,000, and they are largely funded and operated by drug trafficking organizations. They are uniformly conducted with flagrant disregard for environmental and social well-being.
The use of these chemicals causes toxic contamination in all aspects of the ecosystem. After these chemicals are dispersed from grow sites and leeched into the soil and water supply, they slowly make their way through the entire food chain. From insects to scavengers to birds, smaller animals to bigger ones, evidence of chemical contaminants from trespass grows is being discovered.
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Environment, california, grow sites, chemicals |
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Six Ways Science Says Marijuana May Hurt Your Health 06/27/2015 |
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Danger, science, car crashes 2, Brain, addiction, heart, car crashes |
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ACOG: Doctors Should Urge Against Prenatal Marijuana Use 06/25/2015 |
Studies show that children exposed to marijuana in utero have lower scores on tests of visual problem-solving, visual and motor coordination, and visual analysis, compared with children not exposed to the drug, the report states. Prenatal marijuana exposure also has been associated with decreased attention span and behavioral problems. The nervous system of a human fetus can respond to the chemicals in marijuana within 14 weeks of gestation, and studies have shown that 14-year-olds are more likely to be marijuana users if their mothers used the drug during pregnancy.
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Pregnancy, Doctors, Research |
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Is Medical Marijuana Really A Miracle Cure? 06/25/2015 |
“Individuals considering cannabinoids as a possible treatment for their symptoms should discuss the potential benefits and harms with their doctor,” said Penny Whiting of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust in the UK.
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FDA, Medical |
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THC extracts concentrate problems 06/24/2015 |
Peer-reviewed journal Clinical Pediatrics, found that between 2006 and 2013, the marijuana exposure rate rose 147.5 percent among children age 5 and under. In that same period, the rate rose nearly 610 percent in states that sanctioned medical marijuana before 2000, the year Colorado followed suit.
Employers, law enforcement officials, educators and addiction treatment providers say Colorado has cooked up a poorly regulated THC-food fiasco that crisscrosses the country with the ease of exporting gummy bears in glove compartments, pockets and handbags. For taxpayers, the growing edibles market means an array of social costs — including hospitalizations, traffic accidents, school dropouts and lost work productivity — that state and federal officials haven’t fully investigated, estimated and made public.
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Colorado, edibles, social costs, green crack |
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Review Raises Troubling Questions About Marijuana's Safety, Effectiveness 06/24/2015 |
79 different studies: they found only moderate evidence indicating that marijuana reduced nerve pain and pain from cancer.
If a pharmaceutical company, for example, wanted to get a drug approved for a medical condition and they only submitted anecdotal data, there's absolutely no chance that that drug would be approved.
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Medical |
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Official: Cannabis use impairs driving as much as alcohol says first of its kind study while drug's legality continues to spread 06/24/2015 |
A National Institute on Drug Abuse study tasked stoned participants with driving a highly sophisticated driving simulator.
Researchers found that after their blood levels of THC reached a certain point, the drivers weaved similarly to a driver with a BAC of .08
The study also found that combining cannabis and alcohol decreased motor skills even more than just one or the other
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car crashes, alcohol, impaired |
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Study analyzes how much pot impairs drivers 06/23/2015 |
"But what we've found out is that as alcohol-impaired driving is going down, drug-impaired driving is going up."
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THC moves more rapidly than alcohol out of the bloodstream and into the body, making it harder to detect accurately with a blood test.
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impaired, driving, car crashes, TODAY, Studies |
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Study: Scant Evidence That Medical Pot Helps Many Illnesses 06/23/2015 |
The researchers pooled results from studies that tested marijuana against placebos, usual care or no treatment. That's the most rigorous kind of research but many studies found no conclusive evidence of any benefit. Side effects were common and included dizziness, dry mouth and sleepiness. A less extensive research review in the journal found similar results.
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Studies, Illness, evidence, Medical |
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'Lack of evidence' to support benefits of medical marijuana 06/23/2015 |
When it came to the use of cannabinoids for treatment of weight loss in HIV/AIDS patients, nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy, sleep disorders and Tourette syndrome, the researchers found there was low-quality evidence that the compounds were effective, while there was very low-quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of cannabinoids in the treatment of anxiety.
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Medical, evidence, Studies |
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Some physicians concerned about cannabis oil use 06/23/2015 |
"We've seen children that have had rather severe reactions while on medical marijuana products," said Amy Brooks-Kayal, M.D., a Colorado pediatrician who is president of the American Epilepsy Society. "We don't know if that's from the medical marijuana product or something else, because it wasn't done in a controlled setting."
Dr. Brooks-Kayal supports the clinical trials underway now across the country, and advises parents not to treat their sick children with cannabis oil until clinicial trials are complete.
"Just because a single child or person or even a few may respond well to a treatment, that doesn't mean that the majority of them will," she said.
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Charlotte's Web, evidence, risks |
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Many Medical Marijuana Edibles May Have Inaccurate Labels 06/23/2015 |
The majority of the products we tested were inaccurately labeled," said study author Ryan Vandrey, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
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edibles, Potency |
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Cannabinoids for Medical Use A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 06/20/2015 |
A systematic review of the benefits and adverse events (AEs)
A total of 79 trials (6462 participants) were included; 4 were judged at low risk of bias. Most trials showed improvement in symptoms associated with cannabinoids but these associations did not reach statistical significance in all trials. Data about AEs were reported in 62 studies (127 reports).
There was an increased risk of short-term AEs with cannabinoids, including serious AEs. Common AEs included dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, somnolence, euphoria, vomiting, disorientation, drowsiness, confusion, loss of balance, and hallucination.
Four (5%) trials were judged at low risk of bias, 55 (70%) were judged at high risk of bias, and 20 (25%) at unclear risk of bias (eAppendix 13 in Supplement 2) The major potential source of bias in the trials was incomplete outcome data. More than 50% of trials reported substantial withdrawals and did not adequately account for this in the analysis.
Common AEs included asthenia, balance problems, confusion, dizziness, disorientation, diarrhea, euphoria, drowsiness, dry mouth, fatigue, hallucination, nausea, somnolence, and vomiting.
There was no clear evidence for a difference in association (either beneficial or harmful) based on type of cannabinoids or mode of administration. Only 2 studies evaluated cannabis. There was no evidence that the effects of cannabis differed from other cannabinoids.
An additional limitation of many included studies was their very small sample sizes.
Future studies should assess patient-relevant outcomes (including disease-specific end points, quality of life, and AEs) using standardized outcome measures at similar time points to ensure inclusion in future meta-analyses.
Future trials should adhere to the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) reporting standards197 and ensure that appropriate methods are used for randomization, allocation concealment, patient and outcome assessor blinding, handling of withdrawals, and avoiding selective outcome reporting.
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meta-analysis, Research, 2017 Legislation |
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