Tom P. Freeman, Peggy van der Pol, Wil Kuijpers, Jeroen Wisselink,Ravi K. Das, Sander Rigter, Margriet van Laar, Paul Griffiths, Wendy Swift,Raymond Niesink and Michael T. Lynskey ABSTRACT: Background The number of people entering specialist drug treatment for cannabis problems has increased considerably in recent years. The reasons for this are unclear, but rising cannabis potency […]
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Science Spotlight New research suggests that marijuana users may be more likely than nonusers to misuse prescription opioids and develop prescription opioid use disorder. The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Columbia University. The investigators analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic […]
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For those who are still concerned about ‘evidence based science’ and ‘best medical and pharmaceutical practice’…the following ‘open letter’ with attachments was sent to all Federal Senators, NSW and Victorian Premiers last week. Dear Senator, In the coming weeks/months, you will no doubt be presented with a Bill to consider changing both law and […]
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Drug Free America Foundation launched its new Marijuana and the Workplace Tool Kit this morning at a forum co-sponsored with Drug Free Manatee and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce at Pier 22 in Bradenton FL. The forum featured a presentation by Amy Ronshausen, Deputy Director of Drug Free America Foundation who unveiled the Tool Kit […]
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Since the mid-1990s, the percentage of prime-age American men who don’t have a job — and aren’t looking for one — has risen dramatically. Over the same time period, per-capita sales of opioid painkillers in the United States has more than quadrupled. A new study suggests that there may be a relationship between these two facts. In a […]
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Thomas M. Nappe, DO* and Christopher O. Hoyte, MD Abstract Since marijuana legalization, pediatric exposures to cannabis have increased. To date, pediatric deaths from cannabis exposure have not been reported. The authors report an 11-month-old male who, following cannabis exposure, presented with central nervous system depression after seizure, and progressed to cardiac arrest and died. Myocarditis was diagnosed […]
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Libby Stuyt, MD spoke at the Oregon Health Forum with Drs. Esther Choo of OHSU and Katrina Hedberg who is the State Epidemiologist and State Health Officer at the Oregon Public Health Division, and at the Oregon Law & Mental Health Conference in June 2017 on the unintended consequences of marijuana legalization. Stuyt is an addictions psychiatrist […]
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US Department of Veteran Affairs found an increase in PTSD symptoms from veterans who used medical marijuana Among patients who use medical marijuana, 80% use it for chronic pain and 33% for PTSD Use for chronic pain can lead to increased risk of motor vehicle accidents and short-term cognitive impairment, experts warn Medical marijuana is […]
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In California, illegal marijuana farms are taking over thousands of acres of land as toxic wastes are increasingly corrupting ecosystems California is responsible for the majority of illegal U.S. marijuana farming New data says the state holds ‘731,000 pounds of solid fertilizer, 491,000 ounces of concentrated liquid fertilizer and 200,000 ounces of toxic pesticides.’ The […]
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LONDON (Reuters) – People who smoke marijuana have a three times greater risk of dying from hypertension, or high blood pressure, than those who have never used the drug, scientists said on Wednesday. The risk grows with every year of use, they said. The findings, from a study of some 1,200 people, could have implications in the […]
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The rapper is suing insurance company, claiming it is refusing to pay him after he was forced to cancel shows in November last year In legal documents Lloyd’s suggest marijuana may have led to Kanye’s mental health issues in a bid to invalidate the performer’s insurance claim Psychosis affects the mind and causes the sufferer […]
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By Mark Gold, MD Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Harvard Review of Psychiatry has recently chronicled important advances in understanding mental health disorders and, to a lesser extent Substance Use Disorder (SUD). This clinical review highlights the important contributions of Harvard […]
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Psychology of Addictive Behaviors journal makes corrections, SAM calls on media to correct stories A prominent journal article about marijuana and health which resulted in media outlets reporting on marijuana’s harmlessness has now been corrected. A recheck of the statistics has now found that the incidence of psychotic disorders trended toward a 2.5-fold increase in marijuana […]
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Abstract BACKGROUND Cannabis is one of the most abused drugs worldwide, with more than 20 million users in the United States (US). As access to cannabis products increases with expanding US legislation and decriminalization of marijuana, emergency physicians must be adept in recognizing unintentional cannabis toxicity in young children, which can range from altered mental […]
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The new 2016-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health State Estimates is out this week. The graphs above illustrate a few of the findings from this annual survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Numbers in graphs are percentages. The graphs can be downloaded starting Thursday, December 6 here. National […]
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Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified 428 distinct disease conditions that co-occur in people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), in the most comprehensive review of its kind. The results were published today in The Lancet. “We’ve systematically identified numerous disease conditions co-occurring with FASD, which underscores the fact that […]
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Cannabis interferes with a user’s ability to recognize, process and empathize with human emotions including happiness, sadness and anger Pot smokers were shown faces depicting different emotions in tests They were hooked up to brain monitoring device, looking at activity levels Cannabis users showed greater response to negative emotions And those smoking marijuana showed lower […]
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By Dean A. Dabney The United States has been waging a war on drugs for nearly 50 years . Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on this long campaign to thwart the production, distribution, sale and use of illegal drugs. This sustained investment has resulted in millions of drug offenders being processed through the American criminal justice system. It […]
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By Robert DuPont Abstract The current narrative describing the national opioid epidemic as the result of overprescribing opioid pain medicines fails to capture the full dimensions of the problem and leads to inadequate and even confounding solutions. Overlooked is the fact that polysubstance use is nearly ubiquitous among overdose deaths, demonstrating that the opioid overdose […]
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Narcotics experts are warning against dangerous drugs being mis-sold as MDMA. According to reports from the UK, this substance can lead to psychosis and some users claim it has the ability to keep them awake for up to three days. These undesired side effects are not typical of MDMA or “Molly.” Instead, this “fake MDMA” […]
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Dear David, I am sending you below a copy of a letter I have sent to the Premiers of Canada – and other members of the worldwide drug prevention community, plus an email to UN HQ in New York. Since they get so many letters I thought it would be sensible to send you a copy […]
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A three-month-old baby boy died after being left alone overnight while his mother smoked cannabis, a serious case review has found. Social services dealt repeatedly with the child’s family before his death but closed the case after the woman said she had stopped using drugs. A police investigation into potential neglect is currently ongoing. The […]
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OCTOBER 25, 2018 BY PARTNERSHIP NEWS SERVICE STAFF A new study finds traffic accidents are increasing in states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Bloomberg reports. Crashes have risen by as much as 6 percent in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, compared with neighboring states that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use, according to research from […]
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Anybody wondering what happens to the 8 per cent of the skunk-smoking population who develop mental illness should visit any psychiatric hospital in Britain or speak to somebody who has done so What is really needed in dealing with cannabis is a “tobacco moment”, as with cigarettes 50 years ago, when a majority of people […]
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According to a Colorado Springs Gazette editorial about legalization in Colorado there has been a doubling of drivers involved in fatal crashes testing positive for marijuana. [1] Marijuana significantly impairs driving including time and distance estimation and reaction times and motor coordination. [2] The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists marijuana as the most prevalent […]
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Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray described the process as similar to making a pipe bomb. But some marijuana users — and dealers — are willing to take that risk despite potentially dangerous results. For the past several years, law enforcement in several states have been combating the increasing popularity of something called “dabs.” Dabs, or […]
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The medical marijuana market is in a downward spiral as businesses, lured by big money, shift to recreational At the height of the medical marijuana industry there were 420 dispensaries in Oregon. Now there are only eight. In 2015, Erich Berkovitz opened his medical marijuana processing company, PharmEx, with the intention of getting sick people […]
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Teens who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to try marijuana in the future, especially if they start vaping at a younger age, a new study shows. More than 1 in 4 teenagers who reported e-cigarette use eventually progressed to smoking pot, according to the survey of more than 10,000 teens. That compared with just 8 percent […]
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There are several principal pathways to inheritable genotoxicity, mutagenicity and teratogenes is induced by cannabis which are known and well established at this time including the following. These three papers discuss different aspects of these effects. 1) Stops Brain Waves and Thinking The brain has both stimulatory and inhibitory pathways. GABA is the main brain […]
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