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Marijuana

Note: The problem with marijuana is that even if you do believe it has medical purposes (which I don’t), 99.999% are faking it and look at the damage that does. It entirely outweighs any benefit to the other 0.001% (if you really believe they benefit) when you consider the DNA damage to the future fetus, increased schizophrenia, 8 point lower IQ, loss of productivity which hurts America as a whole and society has to make up for, increased injuries from traffic accidents some involving loss of limbs (that they have to live with their entire lives) and some involving deaths (which their families have to mourn their entire lives), etc. These fully outweigh the 0.001% that people believe will benefit from it (which I don’t).

I can’t think of any medical condition including pain where you’re not better off being as healthy as possible and marijuana is counterproductive to that. The DNA damage to the unborn fetus is permanent caused by the damage to the eggs and male reproductive system prior to pregnancy. It’s not something where you can lay off it, get pregnant, have the kid and then start again. Those kids have to live with those defects for their entire lives plus some are even passed on to their kids.

Right or wrong, I see the medical marijuana people as being selfish in believing their rights outweigh all the negatives. I don’t buy that argument that 99.9999999% have to assume the consequences and be the bleeding hearts for the perceived 0.0000001% even it that perceived were true. Maybe the recent 30% increase is Autism was due to the increased legalization. People don’t seem to have a problem if it’s caused by a recreational drug, just if it’s caused by those evil pharmacy companies. We should try using that thing that’s between their ears.  Why aren't all those moms that protested the pharmacy companies out there protesting the pot houses?  Maybe because it's not cool or politically correct?  People need to do what's right not what's cool.

Another issue is what it does to your hormonal balance.  The same people who want to outlaw BPA because it disrupts hormones don't have a problems with marijuana which much worse and disrupts hormones to the point of causing male boobs.  If BPA is affecting the unborn due to hormone disruption just think of what marijuana is doing but again it's cool to protest those evil companies that produce plastics but it's not cool to protest pot houses.  Click here for what Jerry Brown says about marijuanna.

There are a lot of doctors who make their money by telling people what they want to hear.  I consider Dr. Gupta on CNN to be one of them.  Some polls even show doctors think it should be legalized.  Doctor's don't have time to sit around reading studies all day like I've been doing for a long time.  I've gone a few rounds with regard to a lot of issues that doctors have told me that I pointed out were wrong.  I've probably even got one of those "difficult patient" secret marks in my medical records like that episode of Seinfeld.  I'll bet most have read few if any studies on marijuana let alone the negative ones and I doubt very much that they teach marijuana courses in medical school and I doubt if they are even aware or scholarly or read the studies in the issues I raised above.  Doctors were doing Camel and Lucky Strike cigarette commercials in the '60's.  I still have my saliva glands along with no other after affects after stage III neck cancer because I was one of those difficult patients and disagreed with every single doctor on radiation treatment.  It’s alarming to see people act like zombies and consider anything that a doctor says to be written in stone.  There are even doctors selling OxyContin  prescriptions at Starbucks for god's sake!

The whole issue reminds me of the days when they claimed there were no problems with tobacco despite more and more evidence.  There's even evidence that marijuana might even be a bigger carcinogen than tobacco in addition to all the other problems I mentioned above.  I was also in the minority back when everyone thought tobacco was cool.  ‘Medical’ my butt. I read the abstracts on things like this every day. It's about as medical as tobacco and alcohol. Remember Granny on 'The Beverly Hillbillies' that had to have her moonshine for her 'arthritis'?  Who picks up the tab for those $500/month schizophrenia meds due to the increased schizophrenia?  Try the taxpayers.  And let's send more jobs to India because of the eight point decrease in American IQ.  Who pays the lifetime disability from the lifetime birth defects and increased traffic accidents?  Too many people don’t think.

There are other natural options for pain such as resveratrol:

• Adolescent Cannabis Use Tied To Depression, Suicidal Thoughts - Medscape, 2/19/19 - "The systematic review and meta-analysis included 11 studies and more than 23,300 adolescents and teens. Results showed that the cannabis users were 37% more likely to develop depression in young adulthood than their non-using counterparts ... Similarly, the pooled odds ratios (ORs) for suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts were 1.50 and 3.46, respectively, for the adolescent cannabis users compared with non-users"
• Experts challenge claims about medical marijuana's impact on teen recreational use and opioid deaths - Science Daily, 2/22/18 - "several recent studies have shown that chronic pain patients who use cannabis do not use lower doses of opioids"
• Cannabis consumption increases violent behavior in young people in psychiatric care - Science Daily, 10/7/17 - "sustained used of cannabis is associated with an increase in violent behaviour in young people after discharge from a psychiatric hospital ... the use of cannabis resulted in future violent behaviour and not the reverse (for example, a violent person might use cannabis following an episode of violent behaviour to reduce their tension) ... chronic cannabis users have deficits in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that inhibits impulsive behaviour"
• Chronic Pain and Resveratrol: The Pleasure of Relief - Psychology Today, 2/6/12 - "resveratrol, a compound found in these foods, may be beneficial as a treatment for acute and chronic pain conditions ... resveratrol, a natural product found in the aforementioned foods, might be effective in the local treatment of post-surgical pain. They reasoned that activators of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) may represent a reasonable treatment option, because AMPK activators inhibit two important pathways involved in the sensitization of peripheral pain receptors ... resveratrol profoundly inhibited ERK and mTOR signaling in sensory neurons in a time- and concentration-dependent fashion. Further, interleukin-6 (IL-6) is felt to play a role in pain; again, resveratrol had an impact, potently inhibiting IL-6-mediated signaling to ERK in sensory neurons, blocking the perception of pain. And, resveratrol administered at the time of incision completely blocked the development of persistent pain sensitization, preventing the transition to a chronic pain state" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• 11 ‘Fitness Foods’ to Help You Get in Shape Faster - ABC News, 4/4/14 - "Scientists found that the cherry juice had a significant effect on pain reduction. In addition, strength loss averaged 22 percent in the placebo group compared to just 4 percent in the cherry group" - Do we really need 500 pot shops in L.A. that does the same thing as cherry juice?

News & Research:

• Marijuana Users Have Triple the Odds for Leg Artery Disease (Study) - WebMD, 5/15/23 - "Smoking cigarettes has long been linked to peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition where the buildup of plaque narrows arteries and limits blood flow to the legs or arms ... Now, a new study suggests that marijuana may have a similar impact, after finding that users had three times the risk of developing PAD ... The takeaway for this for providers, particularly in younger adults, is that these data suggest a red flag ... And what that means is that providers need to be asking at each patient encounter for their patients to be very transparent about cannabinoid use, no judgment involved, but we need to be using this as a risk factor for both coronary and peripheral artery disease"
• After a Decade, Marijuana Legalization Is Not Going Well | Opinion - Newsweek, 5/8/23 - "A decade's worth of data are in, and the promises of marijuana legalization are increasingly proving empty. From more marijuana-related hospitalizations to higher usage rates and an expansion of the illicit market, the effects of legalization have been detrimental to public health and safety, communities of color, and even the environment. Politicians who bought Big Marijuana's line about big tax money have also been made to look foolish"
• Researchers find link between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia - NBC7, 5/9/23 - "According to researchers, 30% of schizophrenia cases involving men ages 21-30 could be prevented by averting cannabis use disorder. The researchers say both cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia can be treated but can "profoundly impact people’s lives." ... The researchers added that those with cannabis use disorder cannot stop using cannabis despite the effects it has on their life ... The National Institute of Health says common symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder and movement disorder"
• Does weed help you sleep? - Washington Post, 4/3/23 - "In fact, daily users of cannabis typically report more sleep disturbances than less regular users ... The issue may be that regular users have developed a tolerance for the drug — meaning they may need a higher dose to achieve the same effect as someone who rarely uses it. Sleep problems can also result from cannabis withdrawal ... When used regularly, [cannabis] can lead to tolerance and dependence, as well as disruptions to sleep architecture, resulting in worse sleep in the long term"
• Daily Marijuana Use Now Linked to Heart Risks - WebMD, 2/27/23 - "cannabis users were 34% more likely to have heart disease than those who had never tried marijuana"
• Pot is making people sick. Congress is playing catch-up - Politico: 2/6/23 - "Now that a growing body of evidence says marijuana is bad for you, more regulation is in the offing ... the policymakers overseeing legalization were flying surprisingly blind about its effect on public health. Only recently has a steady flow of data emerged on health impacts, including emphysema in smokers and learning delays in adolescents" - Note: "Now that a growing body of evidence says marijuana is bad for you, more regulation is in the offing ... the policymakers overseeing legalization were flying surprisingly blind about its effect on public health. Only recently has a steady flow of data emerged on health impacts, including emphysema in smokers and learning delays in adolescents" - React then think. Who couldn't see this coming but we had to bow to the pot lobby's propaganda. Now it's going to be impossible to reverse the legalization.
• CBD not shown to be safe enough for use in food or supplements, FDA says - Washington Post, 12623 - "I’m sure the FDA probably concluded that no matter which way they went, it would involve trying to fit a very big genie back into a very small bottle, and create a political firestorm" - Note: Who couldn't see that coming. React to the pot lobby then think about the consiquences later. For example, pot is a recipe for homelessness. It decreases motivation, can lower IQ by five points, increases susceptibility to schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety and it's a gate drug.
• Is pain relief from cannabis all in your head? - National Geographic, 1/6/23 - "The JAMA Network Open analysis found that positive articles appeared in the media even when the research conclusions being reported were neutral or negative … The media seem to be fact-resistant in this case, because no matter what a trial says the media will report with a positive angle. So it’s a no-brainer why people keep asking for these medications … People with this pain might be especially prone to having a placebo response … It may please patients in the short term for doctors to recommend cannabis … but at the moment the scientific evidence does not support the treatment for pain"
• Ask a Doctor: Is marijuana as bad for me as alcohol? - Washington Post, 12/12/22 - "Most health claims for cannabis aren’t backed by science"
• Placebo Effect a Major Driver of Pain Reduction in Cannabis Trials - Medscape, 12/9/22 - "Investigators found that while the effect size of cannabinoids on pain intensity was significant, the placebo effect was about the same ... The researchers speculate that the sheer amount of media attention surrounding cannabis trials may have contributed to a strong positive bias toward the efficacy of cannabinoids in pain therapy."
• Lung Damage Looks Worse in Pot Smokers - Medscape, 11/15/22 - "Scans of the lungs of pot users have turned up an alarming surprise: Regular smokers of marijuana appear to be at greater risk for lung damage than are people who smoke tobacco alone."
• Four Commonly Abused Drugs Linked With Atrial Fibrillation - Medscape, 10/26/22 - "cannabis (HR, 1.35)"
• Cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opiates increase the risk of incident atrial fibrillation - Eur Heart J 2022 Oct 18 - "Methamphetamine, cocaine, opiate, and cannabis uses were each associated with increased risk of developing incident AF. Efforts to mitigate the use of these substances may represent a novel approach to AF prevention"
• Mental Disorders Up in Youth With Prenatal Cannabis Exposure - Medscape, 9/14/22 - "Among children who had been exposed to cannabis both before and after their mothers knew of their pregnancy, the mean Total Problems score on the CBCL was 31.47 ± 23.41, which was significantly greater than the 23.78 ± 19.66 among those whose mothers consumed cannabis prior to knowing of their pregnancy only (P < .001), and the 16.70 ± 15.55 for those who were not exposed to cannabis at all (P < .001). Similar relationships were found in the various subscales of the CBCL ... On the PQ-BC, among the children exposed to cannabis both before and after their mothers knew they were pregnant, the mean score was 3.14 ± 3.32 for psychotic-like experiences, compared with 2.95 ± 2.97 (P = .26) among those exposed to the drug only before their mothers learned of the pregnancy and 2.01 ± 2.54 (P = .03) for those not exposed at all. Significant findings were primarily driven by exposure following maternal knowledge of pregnancy"
• Potent Cannabis Linked to More Worldwide Addiction - Medscape, 7/26/22 - "One of the highest-quality studies included in our publication found that use of high-potency cannabis, compared to low-potency cannabis, was linked to a four-fold increased risk of addiction"
• High-strength cannabis linked to addiction and mental health problems - Science Daily, 7/25/22 - "people who use higher potency cannabis could be at increased risks of addiction as well as psychosis"
• Marijuana use is much more common in US states that have legalized recreational cannabis use - Science Daily, 7/19/22 - "the rates of cannabis use and daily cannabis use have increased across the U.S., and that current cannabis use and daily use are substantially higher among individuals residing in states that have legalized recreational cannabis use, relative to those where cannabis use remains illegal. The study also found that rates of cannabis use are even higher among Americans 12 and older who smoke cigarettes, and who reside in states with recreational cannabis laws, compared to those who live in states where cannabis was illegal in 2017 ... It remains to be seen how increased lawful accessi and growing use of cannabis among adults in all states -- almost regardless of legal status -- will impact the adolescent population. Recent trends, however, outline a potential explosion in both of-age and under-age use ... among adolescents ages 12-17 who used cigarettes daily, the majority (73 percent) had used cannabis in the past month and almost one in three (30 percent) used cannabis daily. Among adolescents who did not smoke cigarettes, 5 percent used cannabis in the past month and one percent used cannabis daily"
• Where Pot Became Legal, Car Crash Deaths Rose - WebMD, 7/19/22 - "after marijuana legalization, the rate of car crashes with injuries increased by nearly 6%, while fatal crashes rose by 4%. No increase in these crashes was seen in states that hadn't legalized marijuana"
• Marijuana use is much more common in US states that have legalized recreational cannabis use -Science Daily, 7/19/22 - "the rates of cannabis use and daily cannabis use have increased across the U.S., and that current cannabis use and daily use are substantially higher among individuals residing in states that have legalized recreational cannabis use, relative to those where cannabis use remains illegal. The study also found that rates of cannabis use are even higher among Americans 12 and older who smoke cigarettes, and who reside in states with recreational cannabis laws, compared to those who live in states where cannabis was illegal in 2017"
• Correlates of Self-Reported Medicinal Cannabis Use for Physical Health, Mental Health, and Sleep-Related Conditions in a Population-Based Survey of Canadian Youth - J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2022 Jul;83(4):528-536 - "Medicinal cannabis use (MCU) ... Relative to youth reporting NMCU only, youth reporting MCU for physical or mental health conditions had greater odds of reporting daily cannabis use, cannabis problems, vaporization and oral ingestion of cannabis, and tobacco use. Youth reporting MCU for physical health reasons also had greater odds of both illicit drug use and prescription pain medication use, whereas youth reporting MCU for mental health reasons had greater odds of prescription sedative use. Youth in both the physical health and mental health MCU groups reported poorer health and mental health compared with the NMCU-only group"
• Cannabis products demonstrate short-term reduction in chronic pain, little else, review finds - Science Daily, 6/6/22 - "Evidence behind the effectiveness of cannabis-related products to treat chronic pain is surprisingly thin"
• More young people begin recreational cannabis use illegally in states that legalize it - Science Daily, 5/26/22 - "Once a state legalizes recreational cannabis, residents are more likely to start using it, including those too young to do so legally, report researchers at University of California San Diego. The findings, published online in the May 26, 2022 issue of Addiction, counter claims that legalization does not increase cannabis use, particularly among youth"
• Is marijuana a gateway drug? - NIH - "Early exposure to cannabinoids in adolescent rodents decreases the reactivity of brain dopamine reward centers later in adulthood.47 To the extent that these findings generalize to humans, this could help explain the increased vulnerability for addiction to other substances of misuse later in life that most epidemiological studies have reported for people who begin marijuana use early in life.48 It is also consistent with animal experiments showing THC’s ability to "prime" the brain for enhanced responses to other drugs.49 For example, rats previously administered THC show heightened behavioral response not only when further exposed to THC but also when exposed to other drugs such as morphine—a phenomenon called cross-sensitization."
• Cannabis-Related ED Visits Increased 18-fold for Older Californians - Medscape, 5/12/22 - "Researchers in California found an 18-fold increase in the rate cannabis-related trips to the emergency department visits among adults over age 65 in the state from 2005 to 2019 ... "very little" is understood about the risks and benefits of cannabis use in the elderly"
• Long-Term Cannabis Use Linked to Dementia Risk Factors - Medscape, 4/14/22 - "A large prospective, longitudinal study showed long-term cannabis users had an intelligence quotient (IQ) decline from age 18 to midlife (mean 5.5 IQ points), poorer learning and processing speed compared to childhood, and self-reported memory and attention problems. Long-term cannabis users also showed hippocampal atrophy at midlife (age 45), which combined with mild midlife cognitive deficits, all known risk factors for dementia"
• Marijuana for medical use may result in rapid onset of cannabis use disorder - Science Daily, 3/18/22 - "individuals at greatest risk of developing the addictive symptoms of CUD were those seeking relief from anxiety and depression, suggesting the need for stronger safeguards over the dispensing, use, and professional follow-up of people who legally obtain cannabis through MMCs"
• AHA Statement Reviews Marijuana's Effects on Brain Health - Medscape, 2/15/22 - "Numerous research studies challenge the idea that marijuana use is harmless, and instead demonstrate that cannabis, especially Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has adverse effects on brain health ... Findings collected from animal studies demonstrate that THC interferes with normal development of signaling pathways and hinders synaptic plasticity. The authors also point out that these studies show connections between neurons are affected in the short-term, whereas in the long-haul, this contributes to changes in how neuronal networks work ... Prenatal THC affects neuroanatomic areas associated with cognition and emotional regulation, including the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and ventral tegmentum of the midbrain ... cute marijuana use affects impulsivity, memory, and behaviorial disinhibition, they note, that "can affect performance in real-world activities," such as driving. The long-term effects of cannabis on cognition are "less well established." ... Neuroimaging research has highlighted structural changes in the brain, but these data are inconsistent ... Functional MRI studies show cannabis users may experience functional changes in regions of the brain that play a role in cognition, particularly with prolonged use ... A relation between cannabis use and increased risk for stroke"
• How does cannabis use affect brain health? Caution advised, more research needed - AHA, 2/10/22 - "Animal studies indicate that marijuana’s psychoactive component, THC, may lead to behavioral and cognitive abnormalities"
• Chronic Marijuana Use Linked to Recurrent Stroke - Medscape, 2/8/22 - "cannabis use disorder (CUD) ... patients with CUD were 48% more likely to be hospitalized for recurrent stroke than those without CUD"
• Marijuana Use Linked to Nausea, Vomiting of Pregnancy - Medscape, 2/7/22 - "Overall, 15.8% of participants reported moderate to severe nausea and 38.2% reported mild nausea. A total of 5.8% of participants tested positive for marijuana use based on THC levels in urine. Those with incrementally higher levels of THC, at least 500 ng/mg of creatinine, were 1.6 times more likely to report moderate to severe nausea"
• How long-term cannabis use can damage lungs - Science Daily, 2/3/22 - "prolonged cannabis use led to over-inflated lungs and increased the resistance to airflow to a greater extent than tobacco ... cannabis use may also impair the ability of the lungs to extract oxygen from the breath. This is a known consequence of smoking tobacco, but has not been demonstrated with cannabis until now ... Respiratory doctors recognise that some patients who smoke a lot of cannabis have a distinct form of lung damage -- a very severe form of emphysema that is sometimes called bong lung -- but little is actually known about this condition ... The latest findings that heavy cannabis use leads to over-inflated lungs, increased airway resistance and impaired oxygen extraction may reflect the early signs of this disease"
• UCSD releases study on cannabis consumption, driving ability - 10News, 1/26/22 - "the THC group displayed significantly diminished ability on a composite drive score that assessed key simulated driving variables such as swerving in the lane, responding to divided attention tasks, and following a lead car. The non-placebo participants smoked a cannabis cigarette with either 5.9% or 13.4% THC ... The study authors said driving scores did not differ based on the THC content of the cigarette. Both the 5.9% and 13.4% groups performed similarly, suggesting that users "self-titrated" by smoking in such a way to achieve similar highness levels"
• Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Raised Risk of Adverse Neonatal Outcomes - Medscape, 1/28/22 - "Overall, the risk for seven adverse neonatal outcomes was significantly increased among women who were exposed to marijuana during pregnancy, compared with those not exposed. The researchers identified increased risk for birth weight less than 2,500 g (relative risk, 2.06; P = .005), small for gestational age (RR, 1.61; P < .001), preterm delivery (RR, 1.28; P < .001), and NICU admission (RR, 1.38; P < .001). In addition, they found significant differences in mean birth weight (mean difference, −112.30 g; P < .001), Apgar score at 1 minute (mean difference, −0.26; P = .002), and infant head circumference (mean difference, −0.34cm; P = .02) between women who used marijuana during pregnancy and those who did not ... The view among many women that prenatal cannabis use is safe and without consequence "is a false narrative perpetuated by a combination of outdated evidence and recent changes to state-level cannabis policies,""
• Cannabis poisoning in young children increased nine times after legalization - Science Daily, 1/7/22 - "Ontario saw nine times more emergency department (ED) visits per month for cannabis poisonings in young children under the age of 10 after Canada legalized recreational cannabis"
• Relation of Cannabis Use to Elevated Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score - Am J Cardiol 2021 Dec 17 - "atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk (ASCVD) score ... Ever cannabis use was associated with 60% increased odds of high-risk ASCVD score (odds ratio [OR] 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.60 [1.04 to 2.45], p = 0.03). We also observed a dose-response relation between increased use of cannabis and a higher risk of ASCVD. Those reporting ≥2 uses per month had 79% increased odds of high-risk ASCVD score (OR [95% CI] 1.79 [1.10 to 2.92], p = 0.02) and those reporting ≥1 use per day had 87% increased odds of high-risk ASCVD score (OR [95% CI] 1.87 [1.16 to 3.01], p <0.001]. In conclusion, cannabis use is associated with elevated CVD risk. Individuals using cannabis should be screened for CVD risk, and appropriate risk reduction strategies should be implemented"
• College Cannabis Users Report Worsening Depression, Anxiety - Medscape, 12/22/21 - "Nationally, results showed significantly higher PDQ and GAD scores, indicating worse depression and anxiety; and lower FS scores, indicating lower self-esteem among cannabis users vs non-users"
• Suspect Cannabis With Diabetic Ketoacidosis and High pH - Medscape, 12/17/21 - "Cannabis use should be considered in anyone with type 1 diabetes who presents with symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) but has high pH and bicarbonate levels, new research suggests ... Now recognized as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), it has been recently described in chronic or heavy cannabis users ... The condition can be life-threatening ... Serum bicarbonate was 19.2 mmol/L versus 9.1 mmol/L in users versus non-users, respectively, a highly significant difference"
• Cannabis may contain heavy metals and affect consumer health, study finds - Science Daily, 12/16/21 - "Cannabis plants -- which are used to produce industrial hemp, medical marijuana and cannabidiol (CBD) oil, among other products -- have an inherent ability to absorb heavy metals from the soil, making them useful for remediating contaminated sites ... Compounding the problem, Bengyella said, is the fact that some cannabis strains have been bred specifically for phytoremediation, which is the use of plants to remove pollutants from soil, water or air ... eavy metal contamination in cannabis can cause various health problems due to the fact that the heavy metals are rarely metabolized, and therefore, accumulate in specific areas of the human body. The most common mechanism of heavy metal toxicity in the human body is via the production of reactive oxygen species and free radicals, which can damage enzymes, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, and cause cancer and neurological issues ... Cannabis consumed in combustive form represents the greatest danger to human health, as analysis of heavy metals in the smoke of cannabis revealed the presence of selenium, mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, nickel and arsenic"
• Cannabis use could cause harmful drug interactions - Science Daily, 12/13/21 - "a group of substances found in the cannabis plant -- and their major metabolites found in cannabis users' blood and found that they interfere with two families of enzymes that help metabolize a wide range of drugs prescribed for a variety of conditions. As a result, either the drugs' positive effects might decrease or their negative effects might increase with too much building up in the body, causing unintended side effects such as toxicity or accidental overdose ... One study focused on a family of enzymes known as cytochrome P450s (CYPs), whereas the other looked at UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), another enzyme family. Together, these two enzyme families help metabolize and eliminate more than 70 percent of the most commonly used drugs from the body ... Cannabinoids stay in your body only for about 30 minutes before they are rapidly broken down ... The metabolites that result from that process stay in your body for much longer -- up to 14 days -- and at higher concentrations than cannabinoids and have been overlooked in previous studies ... If you have a kidney disease or you are taking one or more drugs that are metabolized primarily through the kidney and you're also smoking marijuana, you could be inhibiting normal kidney function, and it may have long-term effects for you"
• Cannabis impacts sperm counts, motility in two generations of mice - Science Daily, 12/2/21 - "This is a warning flag. You may take cannabis for some kind of momentary stress, but it could affect your offspring ... The researchers bred several of the male mice to unexposed female mice. The male progeny of the exposed group also showed lowered sperm count and motility. Cannabis-exposed sons also showed evidence of DNA damage and disruption related to sperm cell development"
• Mothers' Use of Cannabis in Pregnancy Tied to Anxiety and Hyperactivity in Offspring - Medscape, 11/19/21
• Pot Use in Pregnancy May Harm the Fetus - WebMD, 11/16/21
• PA Cannabis Legalization Will Have Dire Consequences - RCP, 10/14/21 - "Legalization is no longer about the 5% THC ditch weed of Woodstock. Instead, today’s marijuana “buds” regularly contain up to 30% THC – the main, psychoactive compound in marijuana that makes a user feel “high” – while the increasingly popular concentrates, such as dabs (inhaled through vaping devices), contain upward of 99% THC ... Expanding the creation and promotion of this new, super-charged drug into Pennsylvania will create major public health consequences. Recent research has found daily use of high-potency marijuana is associated with a five-fold increase in instances of schizophrenia and psychosis. The addiction rate alone is up from one in 10 just a decade ago to one in three. Considering these figures, the idea of normalizing and promoting marijuana use – amid the COVID-19 pandemic, no less – is simply baffling ... Pennsylvania’s “law enforcement agencies and justice system do not have the manpower or time to handle minor marijuana offenses ... Opioid-related deaths have increased year over year in states where marijuana is legal for both medicinal and recreational use ... In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is spending millions of taxpayer dollars on public-awareness campaigns urging Californians to purchase marijuana only at state-licensed pot shops. Why? Because California’s illicit market is reportedly outselling the “legal” market at a rate of three to one ... A Colorado study found that the state pays $4.50 in costs for every $1 in marijuana tax revenue ... The unfortunate reality, though, is that marijuana legalization has so far resulted in social injustice and worsened inequities" -  Note: I got into a huge pissing contest with the potheads on NextDoor dot com over a pot dispensary proposed near me. The arguments they used were that it would reduce opioid addiction, increase tax revenues, put the Mexican drug cartels out of business, reduce crime (noting a small study near the border that claimed crime was reduced), etc. Every argument they used is proving to be wrong and every argument I used such as the increased risk of schizophrenia is proving to be right, but what else is new? How much are those $600 per month schizophrenia meds plus disability (who is going to hire a schizophrenic) costing taxpayers?
• Teens who use cannabis frequently more likely to have premature baby - Science Daily, 8/19/21 - "babies born to parents (aged 29 and over) who had used cannabis every day for a period of time between the ages of 15-17 were estimated to be considerably more likely to be born preterm or to have a low birth weight, when compared to babies born to parents who hadn't used cannabis as teenagers ... There is already evidence that frequent adolescent cannabis use increases the risks for poor mental health, but our results indicate there may be further effects that individuals may not anticipate ... The more we study heavy cannabis use in the teens, the more problematic it looks. Given growing political and industry drivers for legalisation of use, there is a pressing need for bigger and better research into understanding harms arising from heavy adolescent use"
• Second-hand marijuana smoke exposure associated with respiratory infections in children - Science Daily, 7/29/21 - "parents who regularly smoked or vaped marijuana reported that their children experienced more viral respiratory infections in the year prior to the survey, compared to children whose parents did not smoke tobacco or marijuana"
• Marijuana Use Tied to Higher Odds for Thoughts of Suicide - WebMD, 6/22/21 - "14% of men and 18% of women with cannabis use disorder thought about suicide, compared with 4% for either sex not diagnosed with problematic pot use ... Nearly 9% of men and 13% of women who were daily or near-daily users thought about suicide, compared with 6.5% of men and 9% of women who were occasional users and 3% of both sexes who were non-users ... 51% of men and 57% of women with cannabis use disorder thought about suicide, compared with about 40% for either sex not diagnosed with problematic pot use ... 56% of men and 55% of women who were daily or near-daily users thought about suicide, compared with 43.5% of men and 47% of women who were occasional users and 38% of men and 34% of women who were non-users."
• Genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may increase risk of psychosis from cannabis use - Science Daily, 4/15/21 - "The research shows that while cannabis users had higher rates of psychotic experiences than non-users across the board, the difference was especially pronounced among those with high genetic predisposition to schizophrenia."
• Early cannabis use linked to heart disease - Science Daily, 4/12/21 - "Arterial stiffness was greater in cannabis users than in non-users. The team measured how fast a pressure wave travelled down the artery; stiffer arteries transmit a wave more quickly ... In cannabis users, cardiac function -- inferred from how the heart moves as seen in echocardiographic images -- was lower than in non-users"
• Cannabis legalization and link to increase in fatal collisions - Science Daily, 4/6/21
• Pot Use as a Teen, Less Success as an Adult? - WebMD, 3/29/21 - "A teenager who uses more marijuana than their identical twin is less likely to wind up in a highly skilled occupation with better pay than their brother or sister ... twins who smoked more pot did more poorly in school, which set them on a rockier life path moving forward ... Those teens had a lower GPA, on average, less academic motivation and more discipline problems, and were more likely to hang out with antisocial peers ... Pot use can affect regions of the brain associated with learning, memory and attention"
• THC Persists in Breast Milk 6 Weeks After Quitting Cannabis - Medscape, 3/19/21 - "projected time to elimination of more than 6 weeks"
• Cannabis for Migraine Strongly Linked to Rebound Headache - Medscape, 3/9/21 - "patients who used cannabis were nearly six times more likely to have medication overuse headache than those who did not use cannabis ... Patients with medication overuse headaches may have more comorbidities, such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, that are driving the cannabis use. The patients on cannabis also had higher rates of opiate use, which itself is a stronger contributor to medication overuse headache and may indicate the presence of other pain disorders"
• Cannabis Vaping Triggers Respiratory Symptoms in Teens - Medscape, 3/9/21 - "Vaping cannabis significantly increased the risk of respiratory symptoms in adolescents"
• High-Potency Cannabis Products Linked to Suicidality - Medscape, 2/22/21 - "According to a report from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, between 2014 and 2017, the number of suicides positive for marijuana increased 250% among those aged 10-19 years (from 4 to 14) and 22% among those aged 20 and older (from 118 to 144). "Other states are seeing something similar, and there is an emerging research showing a relationship between suicidality and the use of marijuana, especially high-potency products that are available in legalized markets," ... During that same 3-year time span, the proportion of Colorado youth aged 12 years and older who used marijuana in the past month jumped by 45%, which is more than 85% above the national average. "Similarly, among college-age students, we've seen an 18% increase in past-month marijuana use, which is 60% above the national average," ... 48% of young marijuana users reported going to work high (40% at least once per week), and there has been a 170% increase in youth ED urgent care visits for marijuana-related illnesses such as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome or first-episode psychosis. State health officials have also observed a 148% increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations ... The use of high-potency products also doubles the risk of developing generalized anxiety disorder, triples the risk of tobacco dependence, doubles the risk of other illicit substance disorders, and it at least quadruples the risk of developing first-episode psychosis in young people ... 12% of U.S. 8th graders self-reported marijuana use in the past year and 7% in the past month, compared with 29% and 18% of 10th graders, respectively"
• Frequent cannabis use by young people linked to decline in IQ - Science Daily, 1/28/21 - "The results revealed that there were declines of approximately 2 IQ points over time in those who use cannabis frequently compared to those who didn't use cannabis. Further analysis suggested that this decline in IQ points was primarily related to reduction in verbal IQ ... Previous research tells us that young people who use cannabis frequently have worse outcomes in life than their peers and are at increased risk for serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Loss of IQ points early in life could have significant effects on performance in school and college and later employment prospects"
• Cannabis Tied to Self-Harm, Death in Youth With Mood Disorders - Medscape, 2/1/21 - "cannabis use disorder (CUD) .... the risk for self-harm was three times higher, all-cause mortality was 59% higher, unintentional overdose was 2.5 times higher, and homicide was more than three times higher in those with versus without CUD ... The take-home message of these findings is that we need to be aware of the perception that cannabis use is harmless, when it's actually not"
• How Much Does Marijuana Impair Driving? - Medscape, 12/1/20 - "There's one thing we can conclude from this study — and a bunch of things we definitely can't ... The thing we can conclude is that THC leads to levels of driving impairment that are similar to what we see with alcohol intoxication ... A typical marijuana cigarette — what the kids call a "joint" — contains about 10 times the dose of THC given in this study. I can buy gummy bears on Amazon with twice the CBD dose this study provided"
• Marijuana Raises Post-Op Dangers After Heart Attack - WebMD. 11/10/20 - "Marijuana smokers are more likely to suffer complications like excess bleeding or stroke if they undergo angioplasty to reopen clogged arteries ... Pot smokers who've had a heart attack or needed clogged arteries reopened also are at a greater risk of subsequent heart problems ... Patients were 54% more likely to suffer from potentially dangerous excess bleeding if they had recently smoked pot ... The patients also were 11 times more likely to suffer a stroke after their angioplasty ... 67% of heart attack survivors who used pot had a subsequent heart attack, compared with 41% of nonusers ... Marijuana users also were more likely to land in the hospital for another round of angioplasty or bypass surgery"
• Marijuana use associated with complications after heart attack or procedures - AHA, 11/9/20 - "Two separate studies find dangerous complications following heart procedures for marijuana users ... Smoking marijuana (also known as cannabis) may significantly increase the risk of stroke and bleeding following procedures to open blocked arterie ... Similarly, marijuana users who had a heart attack or procedures to open blocked arteries were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital for a second heart attack or cardiac procedure than non-users"
• Brad Pitt: Multiple Divorces, Depression And Addictions - YouTube - Note:  I thought this was interesting.  Many pot enthusiasts claim that pot cures their depression when studies show the opposite.  Sounds like Brad Pitt is agreeing with the studies that it increases depression.
• Prenatal cannabis exposure linked to cognitive deficits, altered behavior - Science Daily, 10/14/20 - "While rats eventually caught on, those whose mothers were exposed to cannabis were more likely to revert to the old pattern and make regressive errors ... They also took more trials to learn the rules ... Male and female juvenile rats whose mothers were exposed to cannabis also engaged in far fewer play behaviors. The male rats were especially hesitant to engage with other rats in their initial social introductions ... Moreover, adult rats whose mothers were exposed to cannabis exhibited anxiety-like behavior in new environments.When placed in a large, elevated maze with open and closed arms, the rats were more likely to stay in the closed arms of the maze and explore the open, exposed arms less ... the finding is significant because it shows cannabis vapor administered to a rat during pregnancy may cause its offspring to have age-dependent effects well into adulthood"
• Cannabis use appears to encourage, not replace, non-medical opioid use - Science Daily, 10/8/20 - "The study, which compared the probability of non-medical opioid use on days when cannabis was used with days when cannabis was not used, included 13,271 days of observation among 211 participants from the greater New York area ... Our results suggest that cannabis seldom serves as a substitute for non-medical opioids among opioid-using adults, even among those who report experiencing moderate or more severe pain ... In other words, our study suggests that cannabis is not an effective way to limit non-medical opioid use"
• Cannabinoids associated with negative respiratory health effects in older adults with COPD - Science Daily, 9/30/20 - "The study analyzed the health data of over 4,000 individuals in Ontario ages 66 years and older with COPD from 2006 to 2016 ... Compared to non-users, new higher-dose cannabinoid users had a 178 per cent relative increase in hospitalizations for COPD or pneumonia, and a 231 per cent relative increase in all-cause death"
• Pot Users Need More Anesthesia, Painkillers: Study - WebMD, 10/7/20 - "Users of cannabis products who had surgery for a broken leg required higher doses of sevoflurane, an inhaled anesthetic that keeps you asleep during a procedure. These folks also required nearly 60% more opioid painkillers per day while recuperating in the hospita ... marijuana users who have heart or lung health issues might face some danger in the operating room, depending on how much additional anesthetic they need during surgery ... Sevoflurane has a very clear dose-dependent effect on blood pressure ... The more sevoflurane you receive in the OR, the more a patient's blood pressure drops. If you have heart problems or lung problems coming into the OR, it could be dangerous"
• Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with adverse outcomes during middle childhood - Science Daily, 9/23/20 - "Cutting to the chase ... clinicians and dispensaries should discourage cannabis use among those who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant ... However, when we look at exposure after maternal knowledge of pregnancy, which corresponds to when endocannabinoid type 1 receptors are expressed in the fetal brain, the associations with child psychopathology largely remain -- these children tend to have more psychotic-like experiences, more impulsivity and attention problems, and social problems ... This raises the intriguing possibility that prenatal cannabis exposure may plausibly impact child behavior"
  • Prenatal Pot Use Impacts Kid's Future Mental Health - WebMD, 9/23/20
• Pot-Using Drivers Still Impaired When High Fades - WebMD, 1/14/20 - "Compared to nonusers, heavy marijuana users had worse driving performance during the test. For example, they hit more simulated pedestrians, went over the speed limit more often, made fewer stops at red lights, and crossed the center line more often ... The researchers also found that the start of marijuana use before age 16 was associated with worse performance on the driving simulator."
• Cannabis use shows substantial risks, no benefits for cardiovascular health; more research is critical - AHA, 8/5/20 - "Smoking and inhaling cannabis, regardless of THC content, has been associated with cardiomyopathy (heart muscle dysfunction), angina (chest pain), heart attacks, heart rhythm disturbances, sudden cardiac death and other serious cardiovascular conditions. In states where cannabis has been legalized, an increase in hospitalizations and emergency department visits for heart attacks has been observed."
• New Insight into Neurobehavioral Effects of Legalized Cannabis - Medscape, 7/10/20 - "although cannabis consumption did not affect most short-term neurobehavioral measures, it delayed recall memory and impaired balance ... It does not appear that the potency being used matters that much ... Extended exposure to THC may also negatively affect brain regions that are associated with the control of coordinated movement, and create brain-activation deficits in motor control regions that persist well beyond the effects of short-term intoxication"
• Marijuana use while pregnant boosts risk of children's sleep problems - Science Daily, 7/2/20 - "analyzed baseline data from the landmark Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which is following 11,875 youth from age 9 or 10 into early adulthood ... Mothers who said they had used cannabis while pregnant were significantly more likely to report their children having clinical sleep problems ... Those who used marijuana frequently were more likely to report somnolence symptoms (symptoms of excess sleepiness) in their children, such as trouble waking in the morning and being excessively tired during the day"
• Parents who use marijuana and alcohol are at a higher risk of ‘physical abuse’ at home - MarketWatch, 7/19/19 - "Parents who have used marijuana in the past year are more likely than non-users on average to discipline their kids through corporal punishment (like a slap or spank), physical abuse (like a hit on the head or a kick) and also nonviolent tactics (like loss of privileges or time-outs)" - [Abstract]
• Users of high-potency cannabis four times more likely to report associated problems - Science Daily, 5/29/20 - "We know that people who use cannabis are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don't use cannabis, but we don't fully understand how recent increases in the strength and potency of cannabis affects this. This study gives us an estimate of the increased likelihood of mental health problems from use of high-potency cannabis, compared to use of lower-potency cannabis, and we are able to account for the effect that people's early adolescent mental health symptoms may have on this relationship"
• Long-Term Effects of Early Adolescent Marijuana Use on Attentional and Inhibitory Control - J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2020 Mar;81(2):164-172 - "Findings suggest that marijuana use may adversely affect cognitive development, especially during the sensitive period of early adolescence. Results emphasize the need for further prospective work to investigate relationships between early adolescent marijuana use and the development of executive functioning"
• Legal cannabis hemp oil effectively treats chronic neuropathic pain - Science Daily, 5/20/20
• Long-Term Effects of Early Adolescent Marijuana Use on Attentional and Inhibitory Control - J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2020 Mar - "High levels of early marijuana use at ages 12-14 significantly predicted low levels of adolescent attentional control at ages 18-21 (β = -.20, p < .05), above and beyond early attentional control, early alcohol use, and antisocial problems ... Findings suggest that marijuana use may adversely affect cognitive development, especially during the sensitive period of early adolescence. Results emphasize the need for further prospective work to investigate relationships between early adolescent marijuana use and the development of executive functioning"
• Marijuana may impair female fertility - Science Daily, 4/2/20 - "In the new study, researchers treated cow oocytes, or female eggs, with concentrations of THC equivalent to therapeutic and recreational doses. The oocytes were collected and matured into five groups: untreated, control, low THC, mid THC and high THC ... The eggs' developmental rates and gene expression were measured. The researchers evaluated the ability of embryos to reach critical stages of development at specific time points. With higher concentrations of THC, they found a significant decrease and delay in the ability of the treated oocytes to reach these checkpoints. "This is a key indicator in determining the quality and developmental potential of the egg," ... THC exposure led to a significant decrease in the expression of genes called connexins, which are present at increased levels in higher quality oocytes. Poorer quality oocytes, with lower connexin expression levels, have been shown to lead to a poorer embryo development. ... Preliminary data also showed THC affected the activity of a total of 62 genes in the treatment groups compared with the non-treated groups. "This implies lower quality and lower fertilization capability, therefore lower fertility in the end,""
• New research sheds light on potentially negative effects of cannabis - Science Daily, 3/30/20 - "More than 50% of the study participants reported having experienced coughing fits, anxiety and/or paranoia while using cannabis ... The researchers found the most frequently occurring adverse reactions were coughing fits, chest/lung discomfort and body humming, which a subset of the study group reported occurring approximately 30-40% of the time they were using cannabis ... Panic attacks, fainting and vomiting were considered"
• One Joint May Cause Psychotic Symptoms: Study - WebMD, 3/18/20 - "None of the findings came as a surprise to Dr. Scott Krakower, who specializes in substance abuse treatment for teens and young adults ... Prior studies "have demonstrated that cannabis may be linked to future onset of psychotic and other mental health symptoms," said Krakower, who is assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. He said the connection is especially strong for younger pot users, those who use the drug frequently, and people at genetic high risk for psychosis ... "What is especially concerning are the psychotic symptoms, which are least transient in nature, and may be difficult to predict," Krakower said, and "patients may not realize that even a one-time use of marijuana may cause symptoms.""
• Marijuana Allergies on the Rise - Medscape, 3/6/20 - "As business flourishes for operators in the cannabis industry and for the legal profession, Burnham said she worries that there isn't enough protection for workers. "Do workers exposed to plant material on a daily basis have adequate workplace protection," such as masks and gowns? "There's a downstream effect that impacts people that nobody has really thought about," she pointed out ... If the cannabis industry becomes driven by money, with a lobby like the tobacco industry, there will be no way to keep people who are vulnerable from using cannabis ... Is an occasional joint, much like an occasional glass of wine, okay? "We don't know," said Burnham. "We just don't have enough information about it.""
• Marijuana Use May Increase Risk of False Memories - WebMD. 2/11/20 - "It found that taking just one hit of the drug doubled people's number of false memories of a virtual reality scenario, CNN reported ... A false memory is one that didn't actually occur or one that differs from the way an event actually happened, often influenced by suggestions from other people"
• Cannabinoids Do Not Reduce Cancer-Related Pain, Has No Clear Effect on Sleep Problems - Medscape, 1/28/20 - "Change in pain as measured by a numeric rating scale did not differ significantly between cannabinoids and placebo overall and when only phase-3 studies were included in the meta-analysis ... Change in pain intensity, a secondary outcome in one trial, did not differ significantly between cannabinoids and placebo either"
• Cannabis for Sleep: Short-Term Benefit, Long-Term Disruption? - Medscape, 1/24/20 - "chronic administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may result in tolerance to the sleep-enhancing effects of cannabis ... Medical cannabis users reported taking the drug for an average of 4 years, at an average quantity of 31 g per month. The primary mode of administration was smoking (68.6%), followed by oil extracts (21.4%) and vaporization (20%) ... Results showed that of the total sample, 24.1% reported always waking up early and not falling back to sleep; 20.2% reported always having difficulty falling asleep; and 27.2% reported always waking up during the night"
• Routine Cannabis Screening in CVD Patients: Have We Hit a Tipping Point? - Medscape, 1/21/20 - "The authors call for "routine screening for marijuana use" and a "broad commitment" from government and researchers to pursue marijuana-related research to clarify the CV safety profile. They cite the increasing use and potency of marijuana and a spike in reported cannabis-related adverse health effects ... Observational studies have suggested an association between marijuana use and a broad range of CV risks, such as myocardial infarction (MI), arrhythmias, and cerebrovascular events ... When you actually look at the chemical toxin profile of the combustion products of marijuana compared with tobacco when both are smoked, it's actually quite comparable ... So we would anticipate that the cardiovascular and pulmonary effects may also be similar ... Concerns have also been raised about potential interactions with commonly used cardiovascular drugs and cannabinoids, including THC and CBD, which are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 enzymatic (CYP) pathway in the liver"
• Real risks associated with cannabis exposure during pregnancy - Science Daily, 1/17/20 - "maternal exposure to THC during pregnancy has a measurable impact on both the development of the organs of the fetus and the gene expression that is essential to placental function ... Real risks associated with cannabis exposure during pregnancy ... The researchers say both of those factors are likely contributing to the growth restriction that they observed in the offspring" - Note: I mentioned last week about how there sure seems to be a lot of wrong way drivers on the interstate in San Diego since they legalized pot. Additionally, I’m old but it seems like everyone else is losing their memory. I have to follow-up which seems like five times on everything from adding someone onto my membership at the gym, making an appointment with Scripps (plan on at least 10 calls to schedule an MRI), BathFitter installation, a loan, etc. You cannot make just one call or email and consider it taken care of anymore.
• Pot-Using Drivers Still Impaired When High Fades - WebMD, 1/14/20 - "Even when they're not high on marijuana, recreational users of the drug display signs of impaired driving ... Compared to nonusers, heavy marijuana users had worse driving performance during the test. For example, they hit more simulated pedestrians, went over the speed limit more often, made fewer stops at red lights, and crossed the center line more often ... The researchers also found that the start of marijuana use before age 16 was associated with worse performance on the driving simulator."
• Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana and Illicit Drugs Among Persons Aged ≥ 16 Years — United States, 2018 - Medscape, 1/8/20 - "First, because NSDUH data are self-reported, they are subject to recall and social desirability biases. Second, variations in laws and regulations among states and counties regarding marijuana could have resulted in negative responses to the NSDUH substance use survey questions for fear of legal consequences, leading to an underestimation of the prevalence of the use and driving under the influence in some jurisdictions. Third, the NSDUH questions are not limited to driving under the influence of marijuana only or each illegal substance only; therefore, persons might be driving under the influence of more than one substance at a given time. Fourth, self-reported data are subject to the respondents' interpretations of being under the influence of a drug. Finally, NSDUH does not assess whether all respondents drive; therefore, reported percentages of impaired drivers might be underestimated."
• Don't Believe Online Claims for Pot's 'Benefits' - WebMD, 1/2/20 - "A lot of the dope you read online about the benefits of marijuana is just hooey, but it can influence attitudes and actions ... Researchers used a tool called a Botometer to gauge whether posts came from users or from automated software called bots ... What we found was that the proportion of bot posts that talked about health claims was larger than the proportion among non-bot accounts ... Moreover, researchers found no reference to scientifically proven uses for pot"
• Regular Cannabis Use Linked to Cardiac Abnormalities - Medscape, 12/30/19 - "The study was published online December 21 as a letter in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging ... "It has been shown before that the frequent use of marijuana increased the risk of myocardial infarction and hypoxemia, but a direct pathological effect on the heart has not been shown until now," Oberbarnscheidt told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology"
• Scientists discover medicinal cannabis substitute for treating Parkinson's disease - Science Daily, 12/19/19 - "Our study suggests that a derivative of HU-308, either alone or in combination with amantadine, may be a more effective treatment for dyskinesias and a much better option than using an unproven potentially harmful substance like cannabis ... By reducing inflammation in the brain -- such as with HU-308 -- these immune cells can support normal neural function again, rather than inhibiting it ... First, our study shows HU-308 is equally affective so a drug like HU-308 will be useful for those people who can't take amantadine. Second, for those who can tolerate amantadine, taking the combination may have even greater benefits than taking either drug alone. That means we may end up with a much more powerful treatment than currently available by ultimately prescribing both"
• Possible link between cannabis use and structural changes to heart - Science Daily, 12/20/19 - "Analysing MRI images from the UK Biobank population study, the team identified an association between regular cannabis use and an enlarged left ventricle -- the heart's main pumping chamber -- together with early signs of impairment of heart function ... The analysis also found that people who had used cannabis regularly but given up had similar heart size and function to those who had rarely or never taken the drug" - And who pays for the disability costs and the $250/month Entresto for the ones on Medicaid?  The taxpayers, i.e., me.  Then there's the costs passed on the manufactures who hire these people which effect the price of goods I buy.  See my blurb below.  I'm just tired of hearing that it doesn't affect me.
• People With Depression Turning to Pot for Relief - WebMD, 12/17/19 - "But in their misery, many might be turning to a risky solution that's likely to make their condition even worse -- marijuana ... People with depression are twice as likely to be using pot as those who aren't depressed ... With increasing legalization in the U.S., previous studies have shown that perception of risk associated with use is declining overall ... The results of this study show that this decline is even more rapid among this vulnerable population ... We have no evidence whatsoever that marijuana helps in these psychiatric disorders but, nevertheless, people believe it ... Symptoms of depression that might be heightened by marijuana include lack of motivation, listlessness and isolation as well as a lack of pleasure and interest in things people used to enjoy ... People who are depressed may be more likely to take risks ... They will go out on a limb hoping this agent may help them ... it might be that instead of turning to marijuana to relieve depression, cannabis use actually causes depression among typically healthy people"
• Pot while pregnant: Doctors urge caution - Science Daily, 12/3/19 - "In the latest issue of the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, physicians reviewed sonogram data from nearly 450 pregnant women who self-reported daily marijuana use. They found that daily cannabis use is associated with delayed fetal growth, which can put a baby at risk of certain health problems during pregnancy, delivery, and even after birth ... Those problems include low birth weight, hypoglycemia, low Apgar scores, among others, and in the most severe cases, delayed growth can lead to stillbirth. Physicians also found an increase in placental vascular resistance in both the second and third trimesters, which can "disrupt the necessary flow of oxygen rich blood through the placenta," and can lead to delayed growth ... "Recent data from JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) indicates that marijuana use in pregnancy has doubled over the last 15 years and what's more alarming is that 70% of women believe there is minimal or no harm from using marijuana in pregnancy,""
• No Link Between Marijuana Use and Cancer, Except TGCT - Medscape, 11/27/19 - "testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) ... there is insufficient evidence to support an association between ever having used marijuana and other types of cancer ... marijuana use was associated with TGCT (odds ratio [OR], 1.36 ... nonseminoma TGCT (OR, 1.85"
• FDA concerned people 'mistakenly believe' trying CBD products 'can’t hurt' - 10News, 11/16/19 - "Among the risks that the FDA cited were liver injury, drug interactions, and male reproductive toxicity. Until it learns more about the effectiveness and safety of CBD, the FDA said it cannot generally recognize the ingredient as safe or approve products that contain it ... CBD is also not characterized as a dietary supplement under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act"
• Men's Marijuana Use Linked to Elevated Miscarriage Risk - Medscape, 11/25/19 - "Some studies have shown that marijuana may negatively affect sperm quality and increase DNA fragmentation, which may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, so there is a plausible mechanism ... The risk for spontaneous abortion was nearly twofold higher when expectant fathers used marijuana at least once a week than when they did not use marijuana ... "This finding is concerning," said Eve Feinberg, MD, from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who is vice president of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. "As marijuana is becoming legalized, its use is much more ubiquitous. I think people assume legal equals safe, but that's certainly not the case""
• In states where recreational marijuana is legal, problematic use increased among adults and teens - Science Daily, 11/13/19 - "After examining usage following the enactment of marijuana legalization in 2012 to 2015, the researchers found that: Problematic use among adolescents aged 12 to 17 was 25 percent higher ... Among adults aged 26 or older, past-month marijuana use after legalization was 26 percent higher than in non-recreational states. Past-month frequent use rose by 23 percent, and past-year problematic use increased by 37 percent ... Cannabis use disorder in adolescence is associated with long-term adverse health, economic and social consequences"
• Marijuana Use Linked to Stroke, Arrhythmia in Young People - Medscape, 11/12/19 - "Compared with nonusers, recent marijuana users showed an 82% higher risk of stroke, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.82 (95% confidence interval, 1.08 - 3.10). This further increased to an odds ratio of 2.45 (95% CI, 1.31 - 4.60) with frequent recent use of marijuana defined as more than 10 days per month ... When controlled for hypertension and cholesterol, stroke odds were three times higher with recent marijuana use, odds ratio 3.11 (95% CI, 1.23 - 7.79), and four times higher, odds ratio 4.10 (95% CI, 1.22 - 13.69), with frequent recent use ... On potential mechanisms behind the observations, he noted that recent studies have reported that heavy and chronic marijuana use can lead to multifocal intracerebral vasospasm, multifocal intracranial stenosis, cardiac embolization, systemic hypotension, altered vasomotor function, other cerebrovascular dysfunctions, and procoagulant effects on platelets — all of which could increase the stroke risk ... In a separate study, younger individuals diagnosed with cannabis use disorder had a 50% greater risk of being hospitalized for an arrhythmia compared with non-users ... cannabis use disorder is independently associated with a 47% to 52% increased likelihood of arrhythmia hospitalization in the younger population"
• There's 'Scarce Evidence' to Suggest Cannabis Improves Mental Health Symptoms, a New Research Review Says - Time, 10/28/19 - "overall, the literature provided “little evidence for the effectiveness of pharmaceutical CBD or medicinal cannabis for the treatment of any of these mental health disorders ... Even the positive results may not be directly linked to cannabis. The authors note that medicinal marijuana is often prescribed to patients for whom depression and anxiety are secondary conditions—that is, a chronic disease may be their “primary” diagnosis—which makes it hard to see how, exactly, the drug is helping ... Plus, many people aren’t using pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids, and a body of research suggests non-medicinal cannabis use can worsen mental health symptom ... The review also exposed just how little research has been done on cannabinoids and mental health"
• Teen marijuana use may have next-generation effects - Science Daily, 10/28/19 - "Children and teens of chronic users were most likely to use alcohol and marijuana themselves, as researchers had predicted. But what came as more of a surprise was the behavior of children whose parents had primarily used during adolescence: Compared to the children of nonusers, children of adults in the "adolescent-limited" group were more than 2.5 times as likely to use marijuana and 1.8 times as likely to use alcohol. This was true even after parents' current marijuana use was accounted for ... In comparison, children of chronic users were nearly 4.5 times as likely to use marijuana, and 2.75 times as likely to use alcohol, as children of nonusers ... Children in the "late-onset" group, as it turned out, were least likely to use marijuana, as were children of nonusers. They did, however, have lower grades ... Using marijuana in adolescence is associated with a host of other problems in the present and later into adulthood ... Chronic users had the worst outcomes in terms of health and quality of life, Epstein added: Poor mental health, lower academic outcomes, less financial stability and greater tendency of criminal and/or risky behaviors were associated with frequent, lifetime marijuana use"
• Cannabis Use Doubles Risk for Ketoacidosis in Type 1 Diabetes - Medscape, 10/25/19 - "diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) ... The researchers say that cannabis delays gastric emptying, and this is thought to play a role in disruption of blood glucose control ... Cannabis-induced alterations to gut motility, food absorption, and postprandial glycemic timing may be unexpected and inconsistent for the typical cannabis user with type 1 diabetes ... Moreover, they add that cannabis-induced increased appetite can contribute to elevated glucose levels, and the cognitive effects of the drug can alter perception of hypoglycemia ... Studies have also suggested a link between long-term cannabis use and CHS, "which is characterized by cyclic episodes of nausea and vomiting and may result in an increased risk for DKA"
• Why we don’t know much about pot - Politico, 10/16/19
• Potential therapy to treat detrimental effects of marijuana - Science Daily, 10/15/19 - "A University of Maryland School of Medicine study using a preclinical animal model suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, makes the brain's dopamine neurons (an integral component of the reward system) hyperactive and increases sensitivity to the behavioral effects of THC during pre-adolescence. This may contribute to the increased risk of psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis later in adolescence that previous research has linked to prenatal cannabis use" - Note:  I tried pregnenolone once.  Felt like I got hit by a Mac truck.  I talked to someone else who had the same problem.  Why not just stay away from pot in the first place.
• Frequent Male Pot Use Linked to Early Miscarriages - WebMD, 10/14/19 - "Men who use marijuana at least once a week are twice as likely to see their partner's pregnancy end in miscarriage, compared to those who use no pot ... marijuana could cause DNA damage in sperm ... We would expect that the sperm was healthy enough to fertilize an egg, but any damage to the sperm might result in early pregnancy loss ... There are cannabinoid receptors within both sperm and male testicular tissue, indicating that the chemicals in pot do have some direct effect on male reproductive health" - Plus, with the DNA damaged sperm, the pregnancies that do make it probably aren't giving the offspring a good start on like.  If that DNA damage is to the testicular tissue, seems like the DNA damage would carry over to the sperm and would be a problem for life, even if they stopped.  Too many pot smokers are in denial.  You're not going to get a healthy sperm from a damaged testicle.
• Legalized Cannabis in Colorado Emergency Departments - Medscape, 10/4/19 - "Cannabis legalization has led to significant health consequences, particularly to patients in emergency departments and hospitals in Colorado. The most concerning include psychosis, suicide, and other substance abuse. Deleterious effects on the brain include decrements in complex decision-making, which may not be reversible with abstinence. Increases in fatal motor vehicle collisions, adverse effects on cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, inadvertent pediatric exposures, cannabis contaminants exposing users to infectious agents, heavy metals, and pesticides, and hash-oil burn injuries in preparation of drug concentrates have been documented. Cannabis dispensary workers ("budtenders") without medical training are giving medical advice that may be harmful to patients"
• Cannabis study reveals how CBD offsets the psychiatric side-effects of THC - Science Daily, 9/30/19 - "rats that were given THC had higher levels of activated ERK, showed more anxiety behaviours and were more sensitive to fear-based learning. Rats that were given both CBD and THC acted like the control rats: they had normal levels of activated ERK, less anxiety behaviours, and were less sensitive to fear-based learning"
• Experiment of Legalizing Marijuana in States Has Proved a Failure - CNS, 9/26/19 - "Traffic deaths where drivers tested positive for marijuana increased 109 percent ... Traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled between 2013 and 2018 ... The percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths that were marijuana-related increased from 15 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2018 ... Marijuana use in the past month for children ages 12 and up increased 58 percent, and is 78 percent higher than the national average ... Adult marijuana use increased 94 percent, and is 96 percent higher than the national average ... The yearly number of emergency room visits related to marijuana increased 54 percent after legalization ... Marijuana-related hospitalizations increased 101 percent after legalization ... Suicides where toxicology results were positive for marijuana increased from 14 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2017 ... The report also shows that the tax revenue from state-authorized marijuana sales, far from being a game-changer like pot pushers said it would be, amounted to around nine-tenths of 1 percent (000.9%) of Colorado’s fiscal year 2018 budget. Previous reports are just as bad."
• Weeding Out the Problem: The Impact of Preoperative Cannabinoid Use on Pain in the Perioperative Period - Medscape, 9/19/19 - "Patients who were on preoperative cannabinoids had higher pain numerical rating score (median [25th, 75th percentiles]) at rest (5.0 [3.0, 6.1] vs 3.0 [2.0, 5.5], P = .010) and with movement (8.0 [6.0, 9.0] vs 7.0 [3.5, 8.5], P = .003), and a higher incidence of moderate-to-severe pain at rest (62.3% vs 45.5%, respectively, P = .004; odds ratio, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.25–3.14) and with movement (85.7% vs 75.2% respectively, P = .021; odds ratio, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.10–3.57) in the early postoperative period compared to patients who were not on cannabinoids. There was also a higher incidence of sleep interruption in the early postoperative period for patients who used cannabinoids."
• Only a fraction of the costs of excessive drinking are paid for by alcohol taxes - Science Daily, 9/11/19 - "The total harm caused by excessive alcohol consumption is a staggering $2.05 per drink in the United States, and, of this, the government ends up paying about 80 cents per drink. However, the federal government and states only bring in about 21 cents per drink on average in alcohol taxes" - Note:  At least one study says about the same for pot.  Pot advocates dispute that claiming the study was biased because it was by a Christian university but it’s also common sense. As one example, a lot of street people have schizophrenia. The meds for that can run $600 per month. Tack on the costs to room, board and food for life if you’re going to take them off the streets as you should. - [Abstract]
• Cannabis may hold promise to treat PTSD but evidence lags behind use - Science Daily, 9/3/19 - "The lack of evidence supporting cannabis as a PTSD treatment is striking ... Every study had medium to high risk of bias and all were assessed as low in quality due to limitations such as small sample size, retrospective study design, lack of a control group or placebo, short follow-up periods, and not reporting other medication use or addiction. Only one study was a randomised controlled trial, investigating nabilone, but it was in a small sample over a relatively short period of time ... The researchers say there are still many unanswered questions about the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based medications for PTSD, and potential long-term effects such as addiction or a risk of psychosis ... Current prescribing of cannabinoids for PTSD is not backed up by high quality evidence"
• Teen who died in Carmel Valley bridge fall had THC, alcohol in his system - 10News  8/29/19
• 'This Ain't Your Mother's Marijuana.' Federal Health Officials Issue National Warning on Pot - Time, 8/29/19 - "Frequent marijuana use by teenagers is associated with changes in parts of the brain that are involved with attention, memory, decision-making and motivation"
• Surgeon general advises pregnant people, youth against marijuana use - Politico, 8/29/19 - "The surgeon general Thursday issued an advisory cautioning young people and pregnant people against using marijuana, warning it poses risks to developing brains ... HHS officials said the best science available suggests no amount of marijuana use during pregnancy or for youth is known to be safe."
• Gene linked to autism undergoes changes in men's sperm after pot use - Science Daily, 8/27/19 - "the researchers said the findings do not establish a definitive link between cannabis use and autism, but the possible connection warrants further, urgent study, given efforts throughout the country to legalize marijuana for recreational and/or medicinal uses"
• Teens are using a highly potent form of marijuana - Science Daily, 8/26/19 - "Among nearly 50,000 eighth, 10th, and 12th graders from the 2018 Arizona Youth Survey, a biennial survey of Arizona secondary school students, one-third (33%) had tried some form of marijuana, and nearly a quarter (24%) had tried marijuana concentrate ... Marijuana concentrates have about three times more THC ... This is concerning because higher doses of THC have been linked to increased risk of marijuana addiction, cognitive impairment and psychosis ... teens who used concentrates had more risk factors for addiction ... teens who had used marijuana concentrates were worse off on every addiction risk factor ... frequent marijuana use from adolescence through adulthood is associated with IQ decline. Pardini's prior research has linked regular marijuana use during adolescence with the emergence of persistent subclinical psychotic symptoms"
• ‘Mama went bye-bye.’ She left 2-year-old in a hot car and smoked weed, Georgia cops say - Miami Herald, 9/5/18
• Cannabis-related poison control calls for Massachusetts kids doubled after medical pot legalized - Science Daily, 8/16/19 - "Given what we've seen here," Whitehill says, "I would expect the calls to the poison control center to increase even more."
• Reefer Madness: A Case of Cannabis-Induced Psychosis - Medscape, 8/15/19 - "Cannabis-induced psychosis is a condition characterized by the sudden onset of psychosis after the consumption of marijuana ... Symptoms can include paranoia, grandiose delusions, perceptual alterations, depersonalization/derealization, amnesia, emotional lability, confusion, agitation, combativeness, and disorientation."
• Estrogen improves Parkinson's disease symptoms - Science Daily, 9/12/19 - "The female mice showed less severe symptoms at a later age, but estrogen still improved their symptoms. In male mice, the estrogen treatment reduced ?-synuclein breakdown and buildup and helped with severe symptoms, suggesting that estrogen could be a viable treatment option for Parkinson's patients with low estrogen levels." -  Note: Some lady wrote that pot helped her father’s Parkinson’s. A placebo works 30% of the time which could be the reason but pot decreases testosterone and increases estrogen. So if it’s true that pot helped Parkinson’s that could be the reason. Why not just take the estrogen and not have all the problems associated with pot?  See my Parkinson's page.  Their are a lot of natural supplements that help with Parkinson's including most recently is vitamin D.
• Does smoking pot cause man boobs? - CNN. 12/5/13 - "Gynecomastia is caused by a hormone imbalance between testosterone and estrogen. When the ratio between testosterone and estrogen tips in favor of estrogen, the body responds by creating excessive breast tissue. Hence, man boobs ... Animal studies have shown that exposure to the active ingredient in marijuana can result in a decrease in testosterone levels, a reduction of testicular size, and abnormalities in the form and function of sperm"
• Marijuana may boost risky effects of drinking alcohol - Science Daily, 8/13/19 - "individuals who simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana are at a disproportionately higher risk for heavy, frequent, and problematic substance use ... The problem with simultaneous use is that it can affect people cognitively and perceptually, and also have an impact on motor impairment ... Even after controlling for the number of drinks a person typically consumed, people who used alcohol and marijuana at the same time were at a greater risk for problems like blacking out, getting in an argument, or other concerns"
• Friend of Dayton Shooter, Who Purchased Weapon Accessories For Him, Charged With Lying on Federal Firearms Form - Time, 8/12/19 - "He also told the agents that he had smoked marijuana almost daily over a period of 10 years"
• Adults who mix cannabis with opioids for pain report higher anxiety, depression - Science Daily, 8/12/19 - "The study revealed not only elevated anxiety and depression symptoms, but also tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and sedative use among those who added the cannabis, compared with those who used opioids alone. No increased pain reduction was reported."
• Association between cannabis use, psychosis, and schizotypal personality disorder: findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions - Schizophr Res. 2013 Dec; 151(0) - "The prevalence of psychosis and schizotypal personality disorder increased significantly with greater cannabis use in a dose-dependent manner"
• Economic and Social Costs of Legalized Marijuana - ccu.edu - "For every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization"
• Mother who smoked marijuana, watched KUWTK while kids died in hot car sentenced to 20 years - Newsweek, 5/1/18
• Fatal Car Accidents Involving Marijuana Have Tripled in U.S. - hg.org - "The incidence of alcohol involved in the traffic fatalities remained constant at about 40 percent throughout that period, but the role of drugs in fatal crashes increased considerably accounting for more than 28 percent of traffic fatalities in 2010, which was up from about 16 percent in 1999. The research indicated that marijuana is the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999."
• Legalized marijuana linked to a sharp rise in car crashes - NBC, 10/18/19 - "this is the second year in a row where the IIHS found a troubling trend. A year ago, the non-profit group looked at three states, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. This year, it added Nevada to the list. Harkey said the IIHS also looked at highway crash data in surrounding states to try to control for factors like weather and the economy ... The studies looked at police reports and insurance claims, finding crashes rose between 5.2 percent and 6 percent in states with legalized recreational marijuana compared to neighboring states where such use remained illegal ... The IIHS also conducted a street-side study of marijuana use and found something Harkey said he saw as particularly concerning. While those under the influence of alcohol tend to either be driving alone or with other adults, about 14 percent of those confirmed to be using pot had a child in their vehicle. That reflects the fact, he added, that marijuana use isn’t confined to evenings and other times when adults are more likely to drink — and abuse — alcohol"
• Crime rate in Colorado increases much faster than rest of the country - Denver Post, 7/12/17 - See the graphs.
• Is marijuana legalization driving increases in violent crime? - NYT, 2/19/19 - "A review of the crime statistics cast doubt on proponents’ claim that legalization reduces violent crime; to the contrary, homicides have generally increased in pro-marijuana jurisdictions. In Denver, the homicide rate has steadily climbed from 36 in 2013 to a peak of 67 in 2018. Seattle had 19 homicides in 2013, then the rate increased every year except 2016, reaching a peak in 2018 of 31 cases. Even the District of Columbia has experienced a resurgence of violence — reaching 160 homicides in 2018 after seeing a historically low 116 homicide cases in 2017. Though too early in the year to make a meaningful projection, homicides spiked more than 100 percent in January 2019, as compared with January 2018"
• Marijuana-related ER visits climb at Colorado hospital - CBS, 3/26/19 - "Emergency room records from Monte's hospital show a three-fold increase in marijuana cases since the state became the first to allow sales of recreational marijuana in January 2014. Nearly a third of patients were admitted to the hospital, evidence of severe symptoms, Monte said"
• Legalize Pot? You Must Be High - Time, 11/7/14 - "Legalize pot and you have a workforce that is worth not more, but less—more likely to suffer from the poor memory, reduced motivation and emotional problems cited above. Kevin Sabet, former Obama White House drug policy advisor, wrote on CNN.com about a long list of problems that have occurred since legalization in Colorado, including “Employers…reporting more workplace incidents involving marijuana use.” Pot advocates claim that legalization will create jobs. It will cost jobs."
• Marijuana Legalization's Costs Outweigh Its Benefits - U.S. News, 10/30/18 - "Employees who test positive for marijuana had 55 percent more industrial accidents and 85 percent more injuries and they had absenteeism rates 75 percent higher than those that tested negative. This damages our economy."
• Marijuana Has Proven to Be a Gateway Drug - 4/26/19 - "People who are addicted to marijuana are three times more likely to be addicted to heroin"
• New Report: Cost of Marijuana Legalization Far Outweighs Tax Revenues - newyorkfamilies.org - "A new study on the impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado conducted by the Centennial Institute found that for every one dollar in tax revenue from marijuana, the state spends $4.50 as a result of the effects of the consequences of legalization"
• CBD for pain relief: What the science says - CNET, 8/3/19 - "Want to look at the high-quality studies that specifically test CBD's effect on pain? Well, there aren't any"
• Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Marijuana - by the Obama White House.
• Marijuana use may not make parents more 'chill' - Science Daily, 7/17/19 - "The findings revealed that parents who used marijuana in the past year tended to use more of all types of discipline compared to non-users, even after taking into account a variety of other factors that could impact use of discipline, such as parental stress and depression and child and parent demographics"
• The CBD craze is getting out of hand. The FDA needs to act - Washington Post, 7/30/19 - "But many of the compound’s expansive benefits are fanciful, and in fact, the sale of much of the product is illegal under current law ... CBD has risks: It can cause damage to the liver at high doses, and it may have a cumulative effect"
• Recent Cannabis Use Tied to Memory Deficits, Slowed Mental Processing - Medscape, 7/19/19 - "A total of 135 people, or 12%, had positive urine screens for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical associated with marijuana's psychoactive effects, suggesting they had used cannabis within the past week. People who tested positive for THC scored worse on tests of episodic memory and of mental processing speed ... The findings also suggest that people in high-stakes professions that require split-second decisions like police and air traffic controllers might be impaired on the job even when they limit cannabis use to their time off ... cannabis users might have short-term impairments that aren't easy to spot but could be dangerous in certain situations" - Note:  Some claim I'm not open-minded enough regarding pot.  What's to be open-minded about?  It's the biggest con-game since the '60's claiming cigarettes where healthy.  For every somewhat positive study on pot, there are 20 negative ones.
• Cannabis Expectancies for Sleep - J Psychoactive Drugs. 2019 Jul 18:1-8 - "Analyses revealed that participants expected cannabis to decrease the incidence of sleep-related problems, including allowing participants to have an earlier bedtime, to fall asleep more quickly, and to have a longer night's sleep. Moreover, expectancies about the influence of cannabis on sleep negatively covaried with cannabis-related problems. These findings suggest that individuals believe using cannabis might positively influence their sleep quality and believing so may be protective against cannabis problems" - Note:  It sounds like it might just be the placebo effect that pot improves sleep.  If so, it's another purported benefit of pot shot down.
• Early-and-regular cannabis use by youth is associated with alteration in brain circuits that support cognitive control - Science Daily, 6/19/19 - "The findings are based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from 28 adolescents and young adults (aged 14-23 years) with significant cannabis use and 32 age and sex-matched non-using healthy controls ... Compared to their healthy counterparts, the adolescents and young adults with significant cannabis use showed reduced activation in the frontostriatal circuits that support cognitive control and conflict resolution ... the research team found an association between how early individuals began regularly using cannabis and the extent to which frontostriatal regions were disrupted, suggesting that earlier chronic use may have a larger impact on circuit development than use of later onset"
  • U.S. Teens' Pot Use Has Jumped 10-fold Since 1990s - WebMD, 6/20/19
• Medical marijuana does not reduce opioid deaths - Science Daily, 6/10/19 - "The Stanford study, which revisited the issue after many more states had legalized medical marijuana, found no evidence of a connection between opioid deaths and the availability of medical cannabis" - Note: Another marijuana myth debunked.
• Growing up high: Neurobiological consequences of adolescent cannabis use - Science Daily, 5/26/19 - "The researchers found substance use to be linked to low cognitive functioning, a finding that could be indicative of an underlying common vulnerability. Cannabis use was linked to impairments in working memory and inhibitory control, which is required for self-control. Cannabis use was also linked to deficits in memory recall and perceptual reasoning. Alcohol use was not linked to impairments in these cognitive functions, suggesting cannabis could have more long-term effects than alcohol ... adolescent exposure to THC induces changes in specific a region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and in a brain circuit, the mesolimbic pathway, that closely resemble the abnormalities observed in schizophrenia. Furthermore, adolescent THC exposure also caused affective and cognitive abnormalities including deficits in social interactions, memory processing and anxiety regulation"
• One in 7 Washington State drivers with children in the car recently used marijuana - Science Daily, 4/25/19
• Regular cannabis users require up to 220% higher dosage for sedation in medical procedures - Science Daily, 4/15/19 - "patients who smoked or ingested cannabis on a daily or weekly basis required 14% more fentanyl, 20% more midazolam, and 220% more propofol to achieve optimum sedation for routine procedures, including colonoscopy"
• Marijuana Edibles May Be More Harmful Than Thought - Medscape, 4/10/19 - "When he arrived at the hospital by ambulance, the 70-year-old man said he felt like he was dying. He was pale, nauseated, and reported severe chest pain. "He had had hallucinations at home," says his doctor, Alexandra Saunders, MD, chief medical resident for Dalhousie University in St John, New Brunswick, Canada. Soon, the medical team confirmed he'd had a heart attack ... He had eaten a marijuana-laced lollipop, given to him by a friend who thought it might help him sleep"
• Cannabis during pregnancy bumps psychosis risk in offspring - Science Daily, 3/27/19
• Smoking strong pot daily raises psychosis risk, study finds - CBS, 3/20/19 - "people who smoked marijuana on a daily basis were three times more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis compared with people who never used the drug. For those who used high-potency marijuana daily, the risk jumped to nearly five times"
• 7 Arguments For Legalizing Marijuana That No One Should Believe - Federalist, 3/7/19
• Why the Cleveland Clinic Said No to Medical Marijuana - Medscape, 1/23/19 - "There is little verified, published research that supports marijuana—in forms such as vaporizers, edibles, oils, tinctures, and patches sold in dispensaries—as a medical treatment. Most "evidence" is based on anecdote rather than on large double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials ... However, there is a significant amount of scientific literature that unequivocally shows that marijuana use has both short- and long-term deleterious effects on physical health, most profoundly on cardiovascular and respiratory health."
• Teen brain volume changes with small amount of cannabis use, study finds - Science Daily, 1/14/19 - "this research is the first to find evidence that an increase in gray matter volume in certain parts of the adolescent brain is a likely consequence of low-level marijuana use ... Consuming just one or two joints seems to change gray matter volumes in these young adolescents ... The biggest differences in gray matter were in the amygdala, which is involved in fear and other emotion-related processes, and in the hippocampus, involved in memory development and spatial abilities"
• Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think? - newyorker.com, 1/14/19 - "Berenson thinks that we are far too sanguine about this link. He wonders how large the risk is, and what might be behind it. In one of the most fascinating sections of “Tell Your Children,” he sits down with Erik Messamore, a psychiatrist who specializes in neuropharmacology and in the treatment of schizophrenia. Messamore reports that, following the recent rise in marijuana use in the U.S. (it has almost doubled in the past two decades, not necessarily as the result of legal reforms), he has begun to see a new kind of patient: older, and not from the marginalized communities that his patients usually come from. These are otherwise stable middle-class professionals. Berenson writes, “A surprising number of them seemed to have used only cannabis and no other drugs before their breaks. The disease they’d developed looked like schizophrenia, but it had developed later—and their prognosis seemed to be worse. Their delusions and paranoia hardly responded to antipsychotics.”
  
  Messamore theorizes that THC may interfere with the brain’s anti-inflammatory mechanisms, resulting in damage to nerve cells and blood vessels. Is this the reason, Berenson wonders, for the rising incidence of schizophrenia in the developed world, where cannabis use has also increased? In the northern parts of Finland, incidence of the disease has nearly doubled since 1993. In Denmark, cases have risen twenty-five per cent since 2000. In the United States, hospital emergency rooms have seen a fifty-per-cent increase in schizophrenia admissions since 2006. If you include cases where schizophrenia was a secondary diagnosis, annual admissions in the past decade have increased from 1.26 million to 2.1 million.incidence of schizophrenia in the developed world, where cannabis use has also increased? ...
  
  Berenson looks, too, at the early results from the state of Washington, which, in 2014, became the first U.S. jurisdiction to legalize recreational marijuana. Between 2013 and 2017, the state’s murder and aggravated-assault rates rose forty per cent—twice the national homicide increase and four times the national aggravated-assault increase ...
  
  The cannabis industry would have us believe that its product, like coffee, belongs at the other end of the continuum. “Flow Kana partners with independent multi-generational farmers who cultivate under full sun, sustainably, and in small batches,” the promotional literature for one California cannabis brand reads. “Using only organic methods, these stewards of the land have spent their lives balancing a unique and harmonious relationship between the farm, the genetics and the terroir.” But cannabis is not coffee."
• What Advocates of Legalizing Pot Don't Want You to Know - NYT, 1/4/19 - "This huge shift in public attitudes comes even though most Americans do not use the drug ... Instead, the change has been largely driven by decadeslong lobbying by marijuana legalization advocates and for-profit cannabis companies ... Those groups have shrewdly recast marijuana as a medicine rather than an intoxicant. Some have even claimed that marijuana can help slow the opioid epidemic, though studies show that people who use cannabis are more likely to start using opioids later ... Meanwhile, legalization advocates have squelched discussion of the serious mental health risks of marijuana and THC, the chemical responsible for the drug’s psychoactive effects. As I have seen firsthand in writing a book about cannabis, anyone who raises those concerns may be mocked as a modern-day believer in “Reefer Madness,” the notorious 1936 movie that portrays young people descending into insanity and violence after smoking marijuana ... With large studies in peer-reviewed journals showing that marijuana increases the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia, the scientific literature around the drug is far more negative than it was 20 years ago ... Worse — because marijuana can cause paranoia and psychosis, and those conditions are closely linked to violence ... the first four states to legalize — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — have seen sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults since 2014" - Note:  I've been pointing out for years how people are falling for the propaganda being put out by the pot lobbyists and I've taken a lot of hits for it.
• Study: Today's Stronger Pot Is More Addictive - WebMD, 12/17/18 - "This added punch may be associated with an higher risk of cannabis use disorder ... Meanwhile, average risk of developing cannabis use disorder increased by about 40 percent with every 1 percentage point increase in national pot potency, they found ... It definitely is a signal that potency increases the addictive potential of cannabis ... It's a legal substance, but it has the potential for major health consequences"
• Exposure to cannabis alters the genetic profile of sperm - Science Daily, 12/19/18 - "men in their child-bearing years should also consider how THC could impact their sperm and possibly the children they conceive during periods when they've been using the drug ... Much like previous research that has shown tobacco smoke, pesticides, flame retardants and even obesity can alter sperm, the Duke research shows THC also affects epigenetics, triggering structural and regulatory changes in the DNA of users' sperm ... THC appears to target genes in two major cellular pathways and alters DNA methylation, a process essential to normal development ... What we have found is that the effects of cannabis use on males and their reproductive health are not completely null, in that there's something about cannabis use that affects the genetic profile in sperm"
• How marijuana may damage teenage brains in study using genetically vulnerable mice - Science Daily, 12/17/18 - "pot exposure increases inflammation in a specific type of brain cell in adolescent mice that carries a rare genetic mutation linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other major psychiatric disorders"
• CBD in marijuana may worsen glaucoma, raise eye pressure - Science Daily, 12/17/18 - "One of the most commonly proposed uses of medical marijuana is to treat glaucoma ... But a study from researchers at Indiana University has found that a major chemical component in the substance appears to worsen the primary underpinning of the disease: a rise in pressure inside the eye"
• Benefits of Medical Cannabis for Resistant Epilepsy Time-Limited? - Medscape, 12/13/18 - "Long-term exposure may produce a different picture. With time, efficacy may decrease, resulting in a need to increase the dose. This suggests the development of tolerance ... We know marijuana may have cognitive consequences with long-term, chronic recreational use. I think we need to be a little more cautious on our expectations of this therapy"
• Pot Use Tied to Serious Diabetes Complication - WebMD, 11/8/18 - "People with type 1 diabetes who use marijuana may double their risk of developing a life-threatening complication ... Called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), the condition occurs when there is not enough insulin to break down sugar in the body, so the body burns fat for fuel instead. This triggers a build-up of chemicals known as ketones, which make blood more acidic and can lead to coma or death"
• New insights into the neural risks and benefits of marijuana use - Science Daily, 11/6/18 - "Today's new findings show that: Prenatal exposure to THC in rats has lasting effects on metabolites in the brain, making the animal more vulnerable to stress later in life (Robert Schwarcz, abstract 609.12) ... Rats exposed to synthetic compounds that are similar to THC during fetal development show impaired formation of the neural circuits involved in learning and memory as adolescents (Priyanka Das Pinky, abstract 424.17) ... In adolescent rats, cannabinoids may disturb the development of a protein lattice important for balancing excitatory and inhibitory activity in a brain region involved in decision-making, planning, and self-control (Eliza Jacobs-Brichford, abstract 645.09)"
• Adolescent cannabis use alters development of planning, self-control brain areas - Science Daily, 11/6/18 - "the prefrontal cortex, or PFC, which controls high-level cognitive functions ... These impulsive choices are taking place during a key period of brain development and could have costs later in life, according to the researchers ... Adolescence is a crucial time for fine-tuning the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the brain, which combine to control precise patterns of brain activity ... Substance use as a teenager thus has the potential to disrupt the normal developmental trajectory of the PFC, with potentially long-term consequences for decision-making"
• Cognitive changes in offspring of heavy cannabis-using rats - Science Daily, 11/4/18 - "rats exposed to a high concentration of cannabis, "showed marked deficits in their ability to shift strategies when the new rule was implemented," ... The general take-home message is that we see deficits, particularly in the domain of cognitive flexibility, in rats prenatally exposed to high doses of cannabis vapor ... They cannot seem to adapt properly and tend to commit more regressive errors as a result, which suggests impairment in maintaining the new optimal strategy"
• Teen Cannabis Use May Increase Adult Psychosis Risk - Medscape, 10/30/18 - "The results demonstrate that adolescent exposure to THC alters the developmental trajectory into adulthood of prefrontal cortical neurons, which are critical for decision making and cognitive function ... The impairments were evident in the structure of neurons, where there was reduced complicity of the neurons critical for communication between cells ... The impairments were also evident in the expression of genes critical for synaptic plasticity and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate DNA openness and chromatin structure that determines whether genes are turned on or off ... Moreover, "the gene network alterations were similar to those observed to be impaired in the PRC of people with schizophrenia"
• Cannabis pain relief without the 'high' - Science Daily, 10/25/18 - "Researchers were able to extrapolate the exact dosage of CBD displaying analgesic and antianxiety properties without the risk of addiction and euphoria classically produced by the THC"
• Stroke Rates Higher Among Pot Users - WebMD, 10/19/18 - "The risk for any stroke could increase by 15 percent and it could jump 29 percent for an ischemic stroke -- the most common kind ... Over five years, the rate of all types of stroke increased from 1.3 to 1.5 percent among marijuana users, and the rate of ischemic stroke rose from 0.7 to 0.9 percent, the researchers found ... The increase in strokes among marijuana users was across all age groups -- for people in their teens to those in their 80s, Patel said. In addition, costs to care for these patients rose between 2010 and 2014, from $71,000 to $92,000"
• Study Finds Cannabis Is Worse For Teens' Brains Than Alcohol - Newsy, 10/10/18 - Video
• Teen cannabis use is not without risk to cognitive development - Science Daily, 10/3/18 - "beyond the role of cognition in vulnerability to substance use, the concurrent and lasting effects of adolescent cannabis use can be observed on important cognitive functions and appear to be more pronounced than those observed for alcohol ... Our study is unique in that it followed a large sample of high school students from 7th to 10th grade using cognitive and substance-use measures ... The study found that vulnerability to cannabis and alcohol use in adolescence was associated with generally lower performance on all cognitive domains ... However, further increases in cannabis use, but not alcohol consumption, showed additional concurrent and lagged effects on cognitive functions, such as perceptual reasoning, memory recall, working memory and inhibitory control ... Of particular concern was the finding that cannabis use was associated with lasting effects on a measure of inhibitory control, which is a risk factor for other addictive behaviours, and might explain why early onset cannabis use is a risk factor for other addictions ... Some of these effects are even more pronounced when consumption begins earlier in adolescence."
• Largest brain study of 62,454 scans identifies drivers of brain aging - Science Daily, 8/21/18 - "The study found that a number of brain disorders and behaviors predicted accelerated aging, especially schizophrenia, which showed an average of 4 years of premature aging, cannabis abuse (2.8 years of accelerated aging), bipolar disorder (1.6 years accelerated aging), ADHD (1.4 years accelerated aging) and alcohol abuse (0.6 years accelerated aging). Interestingly, the researchers did not observe accelerated aging in depression and aging, which they hypothesize may be due to different types of brain patterns for these disorders"
• How cannabis and cannabis-based drugs harm the brain - Science Daily, 8/13/18 - "the long-term use of either cannabis or cannabis-based drugs impairs memory ... It is already known that heavy, regular cannabis use increases the risk of developing mental health problems including psychosis and schizophrenia ... mice exposed for long-term to the drug had "significant memory impairments" and could not even discriminate between a familiar and novel object. Also, brain imaging studies showed that the drug impairs function in key brain regions involved in learning and memory. Moreover, the long-term exposure to the drug impairs the ability of brain regions involved in learning and memory to communicate with each other, suggesting that this underlies the negative effects of the drug on memory ... our work clearly shows that prolonged cannabinoid intake, when not used for medical reasons, does have a negative impact in brain function and memory"
• How cannabis and cannabis-based drugs harm your brain - Science Daily, 7/23/18 - "mice exposed to the drug long-term had "significant ... memory impairments" and could not even discriminate between a familiar and novel object ... Brain imaging studies showed that the drug impairs function in key brain regions involved in learning and memory ... Long-term exposure to the drug impairs the ability of brain regions involved in learning and memory to communicate with each other, suggesting that this underlies the negative effects of the drug on memory ... Importantly, our work clearly shows that prolonged cannabinoid intake, when not used for medical reasons, does have a negative impact in brain function and memory. It is important to understand that the same medicine may re-establish an equilibrium under certain diseased conditions, such as in epilepsy or MS, but could cause marked imbalances in healthy individuals. "As for all medicines, cannabinoid based therapies have not only beneficial disease-related actions, but also negative side effects. It is for the medical doctor to weight the advantages of the therapy, taking into consideration quality of life and diseases progression, against the potential side effects"
• Paying the Piper: Marijuana Now, Psychosis Later - Medscape, 7/23/18 - "From 13 to 16 years of age, participants completed an annual online survey to self-report symptoms and frequency of cannabis use. The study revealed statistically significant positive associations, at every time point, from use to psychosis symptoms reported up to a year later"
• First marijuana-derived drug is on the verge of approval - Washington Post, 6/23/18 - "In April, an advisory committee unanimously recommended approval of the drug for two of the most severe types of childhood epilepsy, and the agency is expected to render its decision by the end of June. The medication is an oral solution containing highly purified cannabidiol, or CBD, which is one of scores of chemicals in the cannabis plant. It contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive element THC, and does not induce euphoria." - Note:  I guess we'll find out whether people are taking it for the high or whether they really want it for the weak evidence of a medical benefit.  I'm betting that the CBD won't sell.
• Congress May Soon Make CBD From Hemp Legal - WebMD, 6/18/18 - "Although it’s a type of cannabis plant like marijuana, hemp does not produce the ''high" of THC. It’s often used in industrial products and also contains cannabidiol, or CBD; much more, in fact, than cannabis or marijuana. CBD is used in products that claim to relieve pain, ease stress, help you sleep, improve skin, and pump up mascara's lash-thickening power" - Note: I'm betting that all those people that claim they need pot for their condition won't use it because they really want the high and use their condition as an excuse.  The studies I've read show the THC that gives the high does nothing for the conditions.
• Young Marijuana Users Face Psychosis Risk - WebMD, 6/18/18 - "The effect was seen for everyone in the study, says Conrod, not just teens with a family history of schizophrenia or something biological that makes them more likely to be affected by it"
• All Young Cannabis Users Face Psychosis Risk - Medscape, 6/15/18 - "The effect was observed for the entire cohort. This finding, said Conrod, means that all young cannabis users face psychosis risk, not just those with a family history of schizophrenia or a biological factor that increases their susceptibility to the effects of cannabis ... The first time point occurred at a mean age of 12.8 years. Twelve months separated each assessment. In total, 86.7% and 94.4% of participants had a minimum of two time points out of four on psychosis symptoms and cannabis use, respectively ... Cannabis use, in any given year, predicted an increase in psychosis symptoms a year later" - Note: I don’t know where Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN finds his positive studies but it burns me up that he ignores the overwhelming number of negative stories.
• All Young Cannabis Users Face Psychosis Risk - Medscape, 6/15/18 - "The effect was observed for the entire cohort. This finding, said Conrod, means that all young cannabis users face psychosis risk, not just those with a family history of schizophrenia or a biological factor that increases their susceptibility to the effects of cannabis ... The first time point occurred at a mean age of 12.8 years. Twelve months separated each assessment. In total, 86.7% and 94.4% of participants had a minimum of two time points out of four on psychosis symptoms and cannabis use, respectively ... Cannabis use, in any given year, predicted an increase in psychosis symptoms a year later"
• As CBD Oil Flirts with Mainstream, Questions Mount - Medscape, 6/11/18 - "Yet evidence for most benefits is lacking, experts warn. The industry has set no standards. As with other products, a CBD product may not deliver what it promises on the label. Despite Internet marketing implying anyone can buy CBD products, that's not the case legally"As CBD Oil Flirts with Mainstream, Questions Mount - Medscape, 6/11/18 - "Yet evidence for most benefits is lacking, experts warn. The industry has set no standards. As with other products, a CBD product may not deliver what it promises on the label. Despite Internet marketing implying anyone can buy CBD products, that's not the case legally"
• Cocaine, Marijuana Use Linked to Mortality in Young MI Patients - Medscape, 6/5/18 - "Among adults age 50 years and younger, those who reported use of cocaine or marijuana just before the MI, or who were positive for use of cocaine or marijuana on toxicology — making up about 10% of this population of young MI patients – were twice as likely to die of cardiovascular (CV) or all causes during a median 11-year follow-up"
• Growing number of fatal car crashes linked to drug use - NBC, 6/3/18 - "The report raises serious concerns at a time when the U.S. is facing an epidemic of opioid usage and as more and more states legalize marijuana for medical and recreational usage ... But what federal data shows is that, where tests were performed, 44 percent of drivers fatally injured in a crash tested positive for drugs in 2016, up from 28 percent a decade earlier. Of those who tested positive for drugs in the latest study, 38 percent had used marijuana, 16 percent had used some form of opioid, and 4 percent tested positive for a combination of both"
• Legalizing marijuana is fine. But don’t ignore the science on its dangers - Washington Post, 5/25/18 - "And amid the flood induced by regular marijuana use, the brain dampens its intrinsic machinery to compensate for excessive stimulation. Chronic exposure ultimately impairs our ability to imbue value or importance to experiences that truly warrant it.
  
  In adults, such neuro-adjustment may hamper or derail a successful and otherwise fulfilling life, though these capacities will probably recover with abstinence. But the consequences of this desensitization are more profound, perhaps even permanent, for adolescent brains. Adolescence is a critical period of development, when brain cells are primed to undergo significant organizational changes: Some neural connections are proliferating and strengthening, while others are pared away ...

  It’s not surprising, then, that heavy-smoking teens show evidence of reduced activity in brain circuits critical for flagging newsworthy experiences, are 60 percent less likely to graduate from high school, and are at substantially increased risk for heroin addiction and alcoholism. They show alterations in cortical structures associated with impulsivity and negative moods; they’re seven times more likely to attempt suicide ...
  
  Now, as a scientist, I’m unimpressed with many of the widely used arguments for the legalization of marijuana. “It’s natural!” So is arsenic. “It’s beneficial!” The best-documented medicinal effects of marijuana are achieved without the chemical compound that gets users high. “It’s not addictive!” This is false, because the brain adapts to marijuana as it does to all abused drugs, and these neural adjustments lead to tolerance, dependence and craving — the hallmarks of addiction."

  Young people are choosing marijuana before cigarettes and alcohol - Science Daily, 5/17/18 - "The researchers found that 8 per cent of participants reported in 2014 that marijuana was the first drug they ever used. This percentage had almost doubled from 4.8 per cent in 2004. According to Fairman, this could be related to a concurrent decline in those who start smoking cigarettes first, which dropped from about 21 per cent in 2004 to 9 per cent in 2014" - Note:  It's just one more consequence of legalized pot plus that's the age bracket where marijuana does the most permanent damage.
  • Note:  Marijuana is a touchy issue with me. I had an old girlfriend who was stabbed 15 times by her son (that video brings tears to my eyes).  She died from the wounds.  The son was 30 years old and lived with her.  He never had a meaningful job.   I blame the marijuana for his laziness and what led him to harder drugs.  I'm sure there are many similar stories.  It has ruined a lot of lives.  It upsets me that some think their personal possible slight gains based on weak or non-existent evidence are more important.  Placebos work 35% of the time.  There's something to the stereotype of the 40 years-old pot head living in their parents basement.
• Viewing more medical marijuana ads linked to higher pot use among adolescents - Science Daily, 3/17/18 - "The proportion of adolescents who reported viewing medical marijuana advertising increased sharply over the course of the study. In 2010, 25 percent of the participants reported seeing at least one medical marijuana advertisement during the previous three months -- the exposure rate grew to 70 percent by 2017 ... Adolescents who reported greater exposure to medical marijuana advertising were more likely to report having used marijuana over the previous 30 days, and were more likely to report that they expected to use marijuana during the next six months. Viewing more medical marijuana advertising also was associated with having more-positive views about the drug, such as agreeing that marijuana relaxes a person and helps a person get away from their problems."
• Cannabis: It matters how young you start - Science Daily, 5/18/18 - "What a difference a year or two can make: If you started smoking marijuana at the start of your teens, your risk of having a drug abuse problem by age 28 is 68 per cent, but if you started smoking between 15 and 17 your risk drops to 44 per cent"
• Cannabis use up among parents with children in the home - Science Daily, 5/14/18 - Who couldn't see things like this coming?
• Most Dispensaries Recommend Marijuana for Morning Sickness - Medscape, 5/14/18 - All about the money.  They couldn't care less about the offspring's health.
• Prenatal marijuana use can affect infant size, behavior, study finds - Science Daily, 5/10/18 - "Eiden found that infants who had been exposed to both tobacco and marijuana, especially into the third trimester, were smaller in length, weight and head size, and were more likely to be born earlier, compared to babies who were not exposed to anything. They also were more likely to be smaller in length and weight compared to babies exposed only to tobacco in the third trimester. The results were stronger for boys compared to girls ... "We also found that lower birth weight and size predicted a baby's behavior in later infancy," Eiden says. "Babies who were smaller were reported by their mothers to be more irritable, more easily frustrated and had greater difficulty calming themselves when frustrated. Thus, there was an indirect association between co-exposure to tobacco and marijuana and infant behavior via poor growth at delivery.""
• It’s Time for a New Discussion of Marijuana’s Risks - NYT, 5/7/18 - "Cancer ... Heart disease ... Lung function ... Impaired driving ... Pregnancy effects ... Memory and concentration ... Mental health ... Secondhand smoke" - Like I've been saying, for every condition that it MIGHT help it gives you 20 other problems.  So one step forward and 20 steps back.  Makes sense?
• Why America will regret legalizing marijuana - The Week, 4/30/18 - "It's clear enough why politicians are warming to pot. They're chasing public opinion. Since 1990, the percentage of Americans who think pot should be illegal has fallen by more than half. A solid majority now supports legalization. Younger voters are especially enthused. To a politician's eyes, this is not a battle worth fighting, and everyone loves an opportunity to infuse moral triumphalism into a thoroughly winnable crusade. Jeff Sessions' protests notwithstanding, this ship is unlikely to turn.
  
  Public opinion can be wrong, though. It's understandable that the public would be eager to dial back the War on Drugs, with its (somewhat deserved) associations with police brutality and mass incarceration. At the same time, it's genuinely shameful for us to celebrate booming new markets and burgeoning state revenues, considering what that means on the consumer side ...
  
  How will this affect society at large? We live in an era when significant numbers of people are struggling to get a handle on the fundamentals: holding down jobs, developing healthy life habits, managing finances and personal relationships. Our social workers have crushing case loads, and our foster care system is increasingly strained. Young people are marrying less, but ever more prone to drug addiction. These grim realities reflect many casual factors, but we needn't become sneering moralists just to wonder: Will a massive infusion of psychoactive drugs help this situation?
  
  Policy always involves trade-offs, and some might argue that higher addiction rates are an acceptable price to pay for greater freedoms. To a committed libertarian, for instance, marijuana bans look like paternalistic nanny-statism, which is contemptible even if it does protect vulnerable citizens from a great deal of suffering."
• Opioid-related hospitalizations rising in Medicare patients without opioid prescriptions - Science Daily, 4/18/18 - "A 2014 federal change that limited the dispensing of hydrocodone products may be indirectly contributing to the illegal use of some of those drugs"
• Opioid Prescriptions See Largest Annual Drop in 25 Years - Medscape, 4/19/18 - "Factors driving the decline in opioid prescriptions include major clinical guideline shifts and payer reimbursement controls as well as regulatory and legislative restrictions" - Note:  Marijuana advocates keep pointing out that as pot is legalized, opioid prescriptions have been going down implying that the reason is that pot decreases the need for opioids. That's not the reason. People don't think again!!!! - https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/895419
• Smoke and Mirrors: Is Marijuana Actually Medicinal? - Medscape, 4/18/18 - "Cannabis' efficacy in treating cancer-related symptoms, chronic pain, and MS should alleviate concerns that clinicians were used simply as unwitting pawns in the campaign for legalization. Conversely, the string of indications where medical cannabis, at best, failed to show a benefit and, at worst, was associated with significant morbidity should serve as a counterpoint to the rose-colored outlook put forth by some of its more optimistic advocates" - The average voter is soooo gullible. Believing that pot is medicinal is one of them.
• Parental Cannabis Use Tied to Child Psychosis Risk - Medscape, 4/11/18 - "cannabis use was linked to a 38% increased risk for psychotic symptoms in offspring at 10 years of age; cannabis use among fathers was associated with a 44% increased risk"
• Marijuana Use Tied to Fatal Car Crashes - NYT, 4/4/18 - "April 20 has become known as a day to celebrate the pleasures of marijuana consumption with parties that traditionally begin at 4:20 p.m. ... Before 4:20 p.m. there was no difference between the number of fatalities on April 20 and the number on the nearby dates. But from 4:20 p.m. to midnight, there was a 12 percent increased risk of a fatal car crash on April 20 compared with the control dates" - Note: That 12% increase is huge when you consider that only a small percentage celebrate that date and time.
• Teenagers who smoke cannabis damage their brains for LIFE and may be more likely to develop schizophrenia - Daily Mail, 7/25/13
• New guideline warns pain benefits of medical cannabis overstated - Science Daily, 2/15/18 - "Published in Canadian Family Physician, "Simplified Guideline for Prescribing Medical Cannabinoids in Primary Care" states there is limited evidence to support the reputed benefits of medical marijuana for many conditions, and what benefits do exist may be balanced out or even outweighed by the harms"
• Risk of fatal traffic crash higher during annual 4/20 cannabis celebration - Science Daily, 2/12/18 - "The investigators found that April 20 was associated with a 12 per cent increase in the risk of a fatal traffic crash. Among drivers younger than 21 years of age, the risk was 38 per cent higher than on control days ... It isn't known how commonly drivers get behind the wheel while high on 4/20, but a 2011 study of U.S. college freshmen found 44 per cent of cannabis users drove soon after consuming marijuana in the month prior to the survey ... Assuming fewer than 10 per cent of Americans drive while high on April 20, our results suggest that drug use at 4/20 celebrations more than doubles the risk of a fatal crash"
• Evidence that medical marijuana outlets sell to other users - Science Daily, 2/12/18
• New cannabis products highly potent, pose mental health risks - Science Daily, 2/12/18
• Study: Marijuana use appears to increase rather than decrease risk of opioid use disorder - psypost.org, 10/5/17
• Marijuana May Raise, Not Reduce, Risk for Opioid Use Disorder - Medscape, 2/2/18
• Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use - Washington Post, 1/2/18 - Did I ever mention that for every study claiming pot might help a condition there's about 20 negative studies?
• More Pregnant Women Are Using Pot - WebMD, 12/27/17 - "Why the trend? The growing acceptance of marijuana may be a driving factor ... Whatever the reasons, the findings could be bad news for babies, since "initial evidence suggests that prenatal marijuana may impair fetal growth and neurodevelopment,""
• Marijuana use may not aid patients in opioid addiction treatment - Science Daily, 12/4/17 - "frequent marijuana use seems to strengthen the relationship between pain and depression and anxiety, not ease it"
• Cannabis linked to bipolar symptoms in young adults - Science Daily, 11/30/17
• Marijuana associated with three-fold risk of death from hypertension - Science Daily, 8/9/17
• Heavy Cannabis Use Associated With Depression, Suicidality - Medscape, 7/31/17  - "among monozygotic twins, those who used cannabis were more than 100 times more likely to meet criteria for MDD and report suicidal ideation than their genetically identical twin who had never used cannabis or who had used it less frequently"
• Muted stress response linked to long-term cannabis use - Science Daily, 7/31/17 - "The findings are consistent with a growing body of literature that indicates chronic cannabis use is associated with dulled adrenal and emotional reactivity ... the release of cortisol typically serves an adaptive purpose, allowing an individual to mobilize energy stores and respond appropriately to threats in the environment ... Thus, an inability to mount a proper hormonal response to stress could also have detrimental effects that could potentially be harmful to the individual"
• Pattern of marijuana use during adolescence may impact psychosocial outcomes in adulthood - Science Daily, 7/25/17
• Cannabis Use Directly Linked to Psychosis Relapse - Medscape, 7/24/17
• Marijuana and vulnerability to psychosis - Science Daily, 7/5/17 - "Going from an occasional user of marijuana to a weekly or daily user increases an adolescent's risk of having recurrent psychotic-like experiences by 159%"
• Recreational cannabis, used often, increases risk of gum disease - Science Daily, 5/29/17
• Cannabis use in adolescence linked to schizophrenia - Science Daily, 4/26/17 - "young people with a genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia -- those who have psychiatric disorders in their families -- should bear in mind that they're playing with fire if they smoke pot during adolescence ... Researchers exposed mouse models with a genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia -- the mutant DISC-1 gene -- to THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. During a time period similar to that of human adolescence, the susceptible mice were found to be at a far higher risk for lasting brain defects associated with the onset of schizophrenia"
• Marijuana use associated with increased risk of stroke, heart failure - Science Daily, 3/9/17 - "marijuana use was independently associated with a 26 percent increase in the risk of stroke and a 10 percent increase in the risk of developing heart failure"
• Pot May Restrict Blood Flow to Brain: Study - WebMD, 12/30/16 - "Brain scans of nearly 1,000 past and present marijuana users revealed abnormally low blood flow throughout their brains, compared with a smaller control group of 92 people who'd never used pot ... The differences were astonishing ... Virtually every area of the brain we measured was lower in blood flow and activity in the marijuana smokers than in the healthy group ... Blood flow was lowest in the hippocampus of marijuana users, which Amen found most troubling ... The hippocampus is the gateway to memory, to get memories into long-term storage"
• Brain Blood Flow Abnormally Low in Marijuana Smokers - Medscape, 12/9/16 - "Using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in marijuana users and healthy nonusers, researchers found abnormally low blood flow in multiple brain regions in marijuana users, particularly in areas known to be affected by Alzheimer's pathology, and this "reliably" distinguished marijuana users from nonusers ... This work suggests that marijuana use has damaging influences in the brain — particularly regions important in memory and learning and known to be affected by Alzheimer's"
• Marijuana use may be linked to temporarily weakened heart muscle - heart.org, 11/13/16 - "marijuana users were almost twice as likely to develop stress cardiomyopathy compared to non-users, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into consideration ... Stress cardiomyopathy is a sudden, usually temporary, weakening of the heart muscle that reduces the heart’s ability to pump, leading to chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness and sometimes fainting"
• Cannabis excess linked to bone disease, fractures - Science Daily, 10/12/16 - "Our research has shown that heavy users of cannabis have quite a large reduction in bone density compared with non-users and there is a real concern that this may put them at increased risk of developing osteoporosis and fractures later in life"
• Early marijuana use associated with abnormal brain function, lower IQ - Science Daily, 10/5/16 - "The study found no evidence that marijuana use improved depressive symptoms ... those participants who used marijuana from a young age had highly abnormal brain function in areas related to visuo-spatial processing, memory, self-referential activity and reward processing. The study found that early marijuana use was also associated with lower IQ scores"
• Cannabis reduces creativity, but user generally not aware - Science Daily, 10/4/16 - "Regular users of cannabis are less aware of their own mistakes, and they are not good at creative thinking ... The research also indicated clear long-term effects: cannabis disrupts the activity of dopamine in the brain. With chronic users a significant reduction was seen in the frequency of spontaneous eye blinking, an indication of a reduction in dopamine production"
• Pot Use Linked to Relapse in Psychosis Patients - WebMD, 9/28/16 - "the risk that patients would relapse was 13 percent higher when they used pot than when they didn't. And the odds appeared to go up when the patients used more pot"
• Arizona’s governor asked voters to fact-check whether pot is safer than alcohol. So we did - Washington Post, 9/8/16
• Scientists Prove Stoned Rats Really Don’t Care About Much - Daily Caller, 8/24/16 - "Researchers from the University of British Columbia found that giving THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, to rats made them “cognitively lazy,”"
• Marijuana Tied to Persistent Subclinical Psychotic Symptoms in Teens - Medscape, 8/15/16 - "for each year the teens engaged in weekly marijuana use, their level of subsequent subclinical psychotic symptoms rose by 21%. The increase was greatest for paranoia (133%) and hallucinations (92%)"
• Marijuana use dampens brain's response to reward over time, study finds - Science Daily, 7/6/16 - "for people who've been using marijuana, that rush just isn't as big -- and gets smaller over time ... something that would be rewarding to most people was no longer rewarding to them, suggesting but not proving that their reward system has been 'hijacked' by the drug, and that they need the drug to feel reward -- or that their emotional response has been dampened ... the more marijuana use a volunteer reported, the smaller the response in their nucleus accumbens over time ... long-term marijuana use dampens a person's emotional response -- something scientists call anhedonia"
• Colorado prosecutor: Marijuana-related murders are skyrocketing - American Thinker, 6/1/16 - "Regular readers will know that Colorado has seen a massive increase in crime since it legalized pot. The numbers just keep getting worse ... Now a prosecutor in the state has gone on the record with his concerns. Arapahoe County district attorney George Brauchler provides some disturbing statistics: 10 of the last 15 murders in his jurisdiction were connected to marijuana ... Similar trends were observed in Utah, where "officials say the number of fatal car wrecks in Utah in which drivers tested positive for marijuana has more than doubled in the last three years.""
• Marijuana use in College Linked to Poor Health Years Later - Medscape, 5/18/16 - "Overall, students with minimal or no marijuana use during the first six years of the study had significantly better health outcomes by their late 20s than those who used marijuana chronically or increased their use in the latter part of the study's first six years. Even students who reported low marijuana use had worse health outcomes than those who never used marijuana"
• Driving while high on marijuana causing spike in fatal accidents - today.com, 5/10/16 - "A new report by the American Auto Association (AAA) has found that the percentage of drivers who are high on pot during fatal accidents in Washington State more than doubled between 2013 and 2014"
• Cannabis, Psychosis, and Mortality: A Cohort Study of 50,373 Swedish Men - Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 22 - "Subjects with a baseline history of heavy cannabis use had a significantly higher risk of death (hazard ratio=1.4"
• Study: Heavy Pot Users Face As Many Midlife Troubles As Those Dependent on Alcohol - CNS News, 3/19/16 - "Researchers found that regular cannabis smokers “ended up in a lower social class than their parents, with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers." ... These regular and persistent users also experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed ... Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse ... Our data indicate that persistent cannabis users constitute a burden on families, communities, and national social-welfare systems"
• Heavy cannabis use associated with reduced dopamine release in brain - Science Daily, 4/14/16 - "Using positron emission tomography (PET) to track a radiolabelled molecule that binds to dopamine receptors in the brain, the scientists measured dopamine release in the striatum and its subregions, as well as in several brain regions outside the striatum, including the thalamus, midbrain, and globus pallidus. The cannabis users in this study stayed in the hospital for a week of abstinence to ensure that the PET scans were not measuring the acute effects of the drug ... Compared with the controls, the cannabis users had significantly lower dopamine release in the striatum, including subregions involved in associative and sensorimotor learning, and in the globus pallidus ... the bottom line is that long-term, heavy cannabis use may impair the dopaminergic system, which could have a variety of negative effects on learning and behavior"
• Cannabis use in pregnancy linked to low birthweight and intensive care - Science Daily, 4/5/16 - "recent research has pointed to links between the drug and an increased risk of road traffic accidents, psychosis, HIV, hepatitis, infective endocarditis and TB. Less is known, however, about its possible effects on fetal growth and development ... Analysis of the pooled data showed that mums- to-be who used cannabis were 36% more likely to have anemia than women who didn't use the drug ... Infants exposed to cannabis in the womb were 77% more likely to be under weight at birth and twice as likely to require intensive care as those whose mums had not used cannabis during their pregnancy"
• Heavy, persistent pot use linked to economic, social problems at midlife - Science Daily, 3/23/16 - "A research study that followed children from birth up to age 38 has found that people who smoked cannabis four or more days of the week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents, with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers. These regular and persistent users also experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed"
• Alaska legalizes pot, crime explodes in Anchorage - American Thinker, 3/18/16 - "for the first six months of 2015, the number of violent crimes in Anchorage (the only city reporting for Alaska) increased 34% compared to the same period in 2014. Murders were up 167%, and aggravated assaults increased 32% versus the first six months of 2014 ... The increase in violent crimes that occurred at the same time pot was legalized is striking. Between 2006 and 2014, the number of violent crimes was stable. Once marijuana legalization took place in early 2015, the crime rate went up dramatically"
• February data now in: Crime continues to explode in the legal pot metropolis of Denver - American Thinker, 3/18/16 - "In the first two months of 2016, total reported offenses using the NIBRS definitions are up a further 10.5% over this time last year. Crimes against persons have increased 14.1%, property crimes are up 13.8%, and crimes against society are up 18.4% compared to the same time frame in 2015 ... For comparison, in January and February of 2013 – the last year for these two months before marijuana legalization – there were just 6,791 crimes in the city. During January and February of 2016, there were 9,985, a 47% increase over the same period from 2013"
• NIH: Nearly 6 Million Americans Suffer From ‘Marijuana Use Disorder’ - CNS News, 3/11/16 - "Nearly six million Americans - or 2.5 percent of adults in the U.S. - suffer from “marijuana use disorder” ... the 6.3 percent of the study participants who smoked pot an average of 274 days per year had “lifetime diagnoses” of marijuana use disorder, which “was associated with other substance use disorders, affective disorders, anxiety, and personality disorders.” ... To be diagnosed with the disorder, individuals must meet at least two of 11 symptoms [listed in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders] that assess craving, withdrawal, lack of control, and negative effects on personal and professional responsibilities ... mental disabilities “persist even after remission.”"
• Crime continuing to rise in Denver in the legal pot era - American Thinker, 3/12/16 - "The latest data shows that reported offenses during January 2016 increased a further 4.5% from the same month in 2015. This continues a consistent trend seen since the state's marijuana legalization process started in mid-2013 ... During 2015, total reported crime increased 4.1% over 2014, with the number of murders up 74%, aggravated assaults up 14%, forcible sexual offenses up 8%, and non-forcible sex offenses up 39% ... In 2012, the year before the legalization framework was brought into force, there were 44,338 total reported crimes in Denver. Last year, this number hit 63,816, an increase of nearly 20,000 crimes per year – 44% higher than in the pre-legal pot era ... what we do know is that the number of crimes in Denver skyrocketed started at the same time the legalized marijuana policy was implemented, and this empirical evidence, combined with what science tells us about the harmful psychological effects of marijuana use, is, while not conclusive, strongly suggestive that the social fabric is starting to unravel in the Mile-High City due to pot legalization"
• Cannabis in First-Episode Psychosis Linked to Poor Outcomes - Medscape, 3/8/16 - "Cannabis use by patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) is associated with significantly worse clinical outcomes over time"
• Marijuana Use May Lead to Abuse of Other Substances - NBC News, 2/21/16 - "Based on national surveys three years apart, researchers found that adults who reported using pot in the first survey were two to nine times more likely to have a substance abuse problem by the time of the second survey ... These risks should be considered not only by patients and doctors, but also by policymakers in states where marijuana may be up for legalization for recreational or medical use"
• Marijuana smokers 5 times more likely to develop an alcohol problem - Science Daily, 2/17/16 - "The researchers analyzed data from 27,461 adults enrolled in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions who first used marijuana at a time when they had no lifetime history of alcohol use disorders. The population was assessed at two time points. Adults who had used marijuana at the first assessment and again over the following three years (23 percent) were five times more likely to develop an alcohol use problem, compared with those who had not used marijuana (5 percent). Adult problem drinkers who did not use cannabis were significantly more likely to be in recovery from alcohol use disorders three years later"
• Pot Smokers Susceptible to Other Addictions - WebMD, 2/17/16 - "Two-thirds of marijuana users had some form of substance use disorder three years later compared to less than 20 percent of those who didn't use marijuana in the previous year"
• Starting age of marijuana use may have long-term effects on brain development - Science Daily, 2/10/16 - "participants who began using marijuana at the age of 16 or younger demonstrated brain variations that indicate arrested brain development in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for judgment, reasoning and complex thinking. Individuals who started using marijuana after age 16 showed the opposite effect and demonstrated signs of accelerated brain aging ... These three indexes indicate that when participants began using marijuana before age 16, the extent of brain alteration was directly proportionate to the number of weekly marijuana use in years and grams consumed"
• Long-term marijuana use associated with worse verbal memory in middle age - Science Daily, 2/1/16 - "Past exposure to marijuana was associated with worse verbal memory but does not appear to affect other domains of cognitive function. For every five years of past exposure, lower verbal memory corresponded to an average of 1 of 2 participants remembering one word fewer from a list of 15 words"
• High-Potency Cannabis Linked to Brain Damage, Experts Warn - Medscape, 12/15/15 - "users of cannabis with a high delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content and daily users experienced a significant increase in mean diffusivity, a measure of white matter integrity, in the corpus callosum. Notably, the changes were seen both in individuals with and without psychosis"
• Cannabis increases the noise in your brain - Science Daily, 12/3/15 - "Several studies have demonstrated that the primary active constituent of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC), induces transient psychosis-like effects in healthy subjects similar to those observed in schizophrenia ... A new study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, reports that ∆9-THC increases random neural activity, termed neural noise, in the brains of healthy human subjects. The findings suggest that increased neural noise may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis ... This interesting study suggests a commonality between the effects on the brain of the major active ingredient in marijuana and symptoms of schizophrenia ... Not only does this finding aid our understanding of the processes underlying psychosis, it underscores an important concern in the debate surrounding medical and legalized access to marijuana"
• RA: No 'Sound Evidence' to Support Use of Cannabinoids - Medscape, 11/10/15 - "In view of the considerable limitations of the studies examined in this review, including small sample sizes, short duration, only modest efficacy and a high rate of mild to moderate adverse effects, it is not currently possible to recommend this category of treatments as therapy for patients with rheumatic diseases"
• Relationship between marijuana and other illicit drug use and depression/suicidal thoughts among late middle-aged and older adults - Int Psychogeriatr. 2015 Nov 6 - "major depressive episode (MDE) ... Compared to non-users of any illicit drug, the odds of past-year MDE among those who used marijuana only, other illicit drugs only, and marijuana and other illicit drugs were 1.54 (95% CI = 1.17-2.03), 2.75 (95% CI = 1.75-4.33), and 2.12 (95% CI = 1.45-3.09), respectively. Those who used marijuana and other drugs also had higher odds (2.44, 95% CI = 1.58-3.77) of suicidal thoughts than non-users of any illicit drug" - Note:  People take it to get happy but when the short term effect wears off it actually makes them sad. When are people going to wake up to that?
• Marijuana Use, Disorders Double in US Adults - Medscape, 10/23/15 - "marijuana use places individuals at risk for vehicle crashes, emergency department visits, psychiatric symptoms, poor quality of life, cognitive decline, and use of other drugs, note the authors in reference to other published studies ... Furthermore, marijuana use disorders are linked to substantial comorbidity and disability"
• Medical Marijuana: Where's the Evidence? - Medscape, 7/6/15 - "Reviewing the medical literature on medical marijuana, the two papers come to similar conclusions — that some evidence supports the use of marijuana for nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, specific pain syndromes, and spasticity from multiple sclerosis. But for most other indications such as hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, or Tourette's syndrome, they found that the evidence supporting its use is of poor quality"
• Cannabis Harms Brain, Imaging Shows - Medscape, 6/8/15 - "The heavy, long-term use of cannabis is associated with negative changes in parts of the brain not previously implicated ... the investigators showed that heavy chronic cannabis use is associated with lower dopamine release in the associative striatum and the sensory motor striatum, regions involved in cognition ... An exploratory analysis showed a significant association between lower dopamine release capacity in the associative striatum and decreased cognitive measures in probabilistic category learning and working memory tasks"
• Cannabis Smoking Common, Affects Cognition in MS - Medscape, 5/28/15 - "From 40% to 70% of patients with MS have some impairment in information processing speed, working memory, visual-spatial memory, and/or executive function. Dr Feinstein's own research shows that smoking marijuana can make those deficits worse ... if they start smoking cannabis, the numbers go up; it aggravates preexisting cognitive deficits ... One of his studies showed that persons who had smoked marijuana were about 50% slower on a single-digit test than nonsmokers"
• Smoking marijuana may cause early puberty and stunts growth in boys - Science Daily, 5/18/15 - "Levels of puberty-related hormones such as testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH) were increased in the marijuana smokers. In contrast, growth hormone levels were decreased in this group. It was also found that non-smoking boys were on average 4 kg heavier and 4.6 inches taller by the age of 20 than the marijuana smokers ... marijuana smokers have significantly higher levels of cortisol than non-smokers ... marijuana use may provoke a stress response that stimulates onset of puberty but suppresses growth rate"
• The Great Pot Experiment - Time, 5/14/15 - "So she mated her rats, but only after she had waited a month to make sure the drug was no longer in their system. She raised the offspring, along with another group of rats that shared the same life experiences except for the THC ... The rats with drug-using parents pushed the lever more than twice as much. They wanted the heroin more ... This data tells us we are passing on more things that happen during our lifetimes to our kids and grandkids ... She is also continuing to study the behavior of rats whose only exposure to marijuana’s active ingredients came through the DNA passed on to them from their parents or grandparents. That research suggests that THC may have epigenetic effects, which have been found in other drugs like cocaine and heroin, changing the way genes express themselves in the brains of offspring"
• Cannabis Use Linked to Memory Dysfunction - Medscape, 5/7/15 - "Heavy cannabis users have an increased susceptibility to false memories, with reduced activity in brain regions linked to memory processing, and attention, and performance, new research shows ... Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) performed during the task revealed that there was reduced activity in the lateral and medial temporal lobe, along with other brain regions ... the deficits found bear similarities with alterations observed in psychiatric and neurologic conditions and also with age-related cognitive decline"
• The dark side of cannabis: Panic attacks, nausea - Science Daily, 5/5/15 - "smoking weed -- can cause acute and chronic harms. These include panic attacks, impaired coordination of movement, and nausea, as Eva Hoch and colleagues show in a topical review article in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International"
• How Cannabis Causes Paranoia - Medscape, 5/1/15 - "THC significantly increased paranoia, negative affect (anxiety, worry, depression, negative thoughts about the self), and a range of anomalous experiences, and reduced working memory capacity. The increase in negative affect and in anomalous experiences fully accounted for the increase in paranoia"
• Common cholesterol drug stimulates the same receptors as marijuana - Science Daily, 4/1/15 - "If you want the benefits of medical marijuana without the "unwanted side effects" of cannabis, new research should leave you on a high note ... fenofibrate, also known by the brand name Tricor®, may benefit a wide range of health issues, such as pain, appetite stimulation, nausea, as well as immune and various psychiatric and neurological conditions. This suggests that fenofibrate may be the starting point for a new class of cannabis-like drugs to treat these types of conditions ... It may be difficult to persuade people in Colorado, Washington, and the District of Columbia that there are people who want the beneficial effects of marijuana without actually getting high ... but there are people who do not want to get stoned just to get the relief that marijuana brings. This new work suggests that possibility"
• Colorado Marijuana Study Finds Legal Weed Contains Potent THC Levels - NBC News.com, 3/23/15 - "After analyzing more than 600 samples of bud provided by certified growers and sellers, LaFrate said he detected little medical value and lots of contamination ... The 600-plus weed samples generally carried little or no cannabidiol, or CBD — the compound that makes medical marijuana "medical." The average CBD amount: 0.1 percent ... It's disturbing to me because there are people out there who think they're giving their kids Charlotte's Web. And you could be giving them no CBD — or even worse, you could be giving them a THC-rich product which might actually increase seizures ... Three decades of cross-breeding pot strains — done to meet a demand for stronger weed — generally elevated THC and decreased CBD in many marijuana varieties ... just like other industries, now you have a big marijuana industry determined to hide these findings from the public. Where is their outcry?"
• Teen cannabis users have poor long-term memory in adulthood - Science Daily, 3/12/15 - "Teens who were heavy marijuana users -- smoking it daily for about three years -- had an abnormally shaped hippocampus and performed poorly on long-term memory tasks ... The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals' early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana ... Young adults who abused cannabis as teens performed about 18 percent worse on long-term memory tests than young adults who never abused cannabis ... The longer the individuals were chronically using marijuana, the more abnormal the shape of their hippocampus"
• An alternative to medical marijuana for pain? - Science Daily, 3/4/15 - "when animals were given Δ9-THC, they developed complete tolerance to the pain-suppressing effects of THC and with repeated dosing"
• 2/28/15 Dr. Samadi: Study claiming pot is safer is nonsense, medical marijuana "biggest scam" - YouTube
• Marijuana: The allergen you never knew existed - Science Daily, 3/3/15 - "Included in the article is information on case reports regarding episodes of allergic reactions, hypersensitivity and even anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) to cannabis in its various forms. Among other things, cannabis pollen or cannabis smoke exposure has resulted in symptoms of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) conjunctivitis and asthma. Allergic asthma triggered by seasonal and occupational exposure to cannabis has also been reported" - Note:  It seems like every week another negative study comes out on marijuana.
• Acute use of cannabinoids depresses motor neuron activity - Science Daily, 2/23/15 - "cannabinoids hinder the transmission of information between neurons." A consequence of this fact is, for example, that muscular weakness is produced as "the motor neuron, that is the one that gives the order to the muscle to contract, sees its activity reduced which, as a consequence, would weaken the strength of the muscle contraction," as doctor Moreno points out. All of this could lead to problems speaking, breathing and even swallowing food"
• More Support for Causal Link Between Marijuana and Stroke - Medscape, 2/20/15 - "81% of cases exhibited a temporal relationship with cannabis use and the index event; the patient sustained a stroke within 24 hours of using cannabis ... In 70%, the evaluation was sufficiently comprehensive to exclude other sources for stroke"
• 'Skunk-like cannabis' increases risk of psychosis, study suggests - BBC News, 2/16/15 - "Scientists found the risk of psychosis was five times higher for those who use it every day compared with non-users ... Psychosis refers to delusions or hallucinations that can be present in certain psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder ... the availability of skunk-like cannabis was becoming more widespread ... In London, it's very difficult to find anything else ... Someone suffering from psychosis would often be "extremely paranoid and become very suspicious" about the people around them" - [Time Magazine]
• Marijuana use is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents - Science Daily, 3/23/25 - "43 percent of children with urine drug screens positive for marijuana actually had test results consistent with narcolepsy or abnormal REM sleep patterns" - Note:  It's just one more item to add to the long list of problems such as male breasts and other hormonal problems, DNA damage that's passed on to the unborn child, lower IQ and other brain damage, increased schizophrenia, increased depression, lack of motivation, increased anxiety, increase bipolar disorder, etc.  As far as medical use for pain, I'm seen more promising studies for cherry juice.
• Significant link between cannabis use and onset of mania symptoms - Science Daily, 2/10/15 - "Mania can also make people feel angry and aggressive with extreme symptoms including becoming delusional or hearing voices ... cannabis use significantly worsened mania symptoms in people who had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder ... Cannabis is the most prevalent drug used by the under-18s and during this critical period of development services should be especially aware of and responsive to the problems that cannabis use can cause for adolescent populations"
• Year One of Colorado's Marijuana Law - RealClearPolitics, 2/8/15 - "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported brain abnormalities in chronic users, while (beyond the 2012 study documenting an 8 point IQ loss from heavy use), the Journal of Neuroscience reported that even occasional use produces alterations in the brain ... The British medical journal, The Lancet, showed that the effects of marijuana include increased odds of school drop-out and suicidal propensity, while a 20-year review of research in the journal Addiction confirmed marijuana’s “gateway” effect to other illicit drugs, as well as its link to schizophrenia. Finally, in June the Obama administration’s top addiction scientist, Dr. Nora Volkow, summarized the adverse consequences in the New England Journal of Medicine, emphasizing not only the risk of psychosis, but marijuana’s destructive effects on memory, cognition, and learning"
• Saying No to Cannabis Improves Bipolar Outcomes - Medscape, 1/19/15 - "quitting cannabis during acute treatment for manic/mixed bipolar episodes and refraining from use during a maintenance treatment period significantly improved function and lowered the risk for recurrence ... Our results also showed that patients who continued to use cannabis had worse outcomes than those who either stopped using cannabis or had never used it ... patients that continued using cannabis had more suicide attempts than those that quit or those who never used cannabis"
• Cannabis-Related ED Visits Rise in States With Legalized Use - Medscape, 12/16/14 - "emergency department (ED) visits with International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition (ICD-9) coding for cannabis use grew 50.4% between 2007 and 2012 in Colorado ― one of the first two states to legalize both medical and recreational use of marijuana"
• Marijuana Smoke as Damaging to Arteries as Tobacco Smoke - Medscape, 12/3/14 - "When the rats were exposed to marijuana smoke in a laboratory for half an hour, arterial flow-mediated dilation dropped by 50% to 70%"
• Marijuana Decriminalization Spreads; Public Health Prepares - Medscape, 12/3/14 - "'We've worked for decades to fight against the scourge of cigarette smoking. Why are we embracing this substance?' Yet we don't have the same type of evidence we have with smoking. We never studied it this closely because it's an illegal product ... emerging research already shows the potential short- and long-term effects of marijuana use on public health, with young adults a high-risk group. Young adults who use marijuana heavily as teens are more likely to become addicted, have altered brain development and perform poorly in school ... Then there's the maternal and child health issues. We've heard anecdotally that pregnant women are using marijuana products, so what is the effect on the fetus? ... A total of 4.5 percent of fatal crashes in the first six months of 1994 involved a driver using marijuana, compared with 10 percent of crashes in the last six months of 2011"
• Marijuana Poisoning Incidents Spike in Washington State - Medscape, 11/19/14 - "Marijuana exposures are defined as any situation where an adult or child suffers an adverse reaction to the consumption of marijuana, such as increased heart rate, paranoia or stomach illness ... Some 210 marijuana exposures were reported in the first nine months of the year, more than in all of 2013 ... Washington legalized recreational marijuana use in 2012, with the first retail stores opening in 2014 ... most exposures among young children are accidental, with parents reporting their children found and ate marijuana-laced items such as cookies and candy bars ... comes amid a lack of clear data about how cannabis affects young brains and bodies"
• Secondhand Pot Smoke Can Give Your Heart an Unwelcome Buzz - WebMD, 11/17/14 - "That whiff of pot that drifts your way at a rock concert or outdoor event could damage your heart and blood vessels as much as secondhand cigarette smoke does ... Blood vessel function in laboratory rats dropped by 70 percent after a half-hour of exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke ... Reduced blood vessel function can increase a person's risk of developing hardened arteries"
• Regular marijuana habit changes your brain, study says - CNN.com, 11/11/14 - "new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ... compared to nonusers, people who smoked marijuana starting as early as age 14 have less brain volume, or gray matter, in the orbitofrontal cortex. That's the area in the front of your brain that helps you make decisions" - [Web MD] [Science Daily] [Medscape]
• This Is Your Brain on Drugs - NYTimes.com, 10/29/14 - "What she and fellow researchers at Harvard and Northwestern University found within those scans surprised them. Even in the seven participants who smoked only once or twice a week, there was evidence of structural differences in two significant regions of the brain. The more the subjects smoked, the greater the differences ... All smokers showed abnormalities in the shape, density and volume of the nucleus accumbens, which “is at the core of motivation, the core of pleasure and pain, and every decision that you make,”"
• Smoking cannabis doesn't make you more creative, study suggests - Science Daily, 10/8/14 - "Smokers who ingested a low dose of THC, or none at all (they were given a placebo), performed best in the thinking tasks that the test candidates had to carry out. A high dose of THC was actually shown to have a negative effect on the ability to quickly come up with as many solutions as possible to a given problem"
• Cannabis as Addictive as Heroin, New Study Finds - breitbard.com, 10/7/14 - "The paper by Professor Wayne Hall, who is an advisor for the World Health Organisation, says that Cannabis use can have numerous harmful side-effects, including mental illness, impaired driving ability and lower educational attainment"
• What Are the Effects of Cannabis Use During Pregnancy? - Medscape, 9/12/14 - "Cannabis compounds have a small molecular size and are lipophilic in nature which allows for the drug to readily cross the placental barrier ... In children about 6 years old, lower verbal reasoning scores were associated with heavy cannabis use during the first trimester, and impairment of short-term memory and lower composite and quantitative scores on intelligence testing were associated with heavy cannabis use during the second trimester.[2,9] Evaluation of children born to women who used cannabis throughout pregnancy found significantly higher depressive symptoms and attention problems at 10 years of age and delinquency at 14 years of age compared with those who were not exposed" - Note:  Plus what about the permanent DNA damage to the female egg and/or male sperm even if they quit prior to pregnancy?  Err!!  I've seen young people tout reports from college professors telling them what they want to hear.  I'm convinced you can find what you want to hear on the Internet on any subject if you search long enough.  Things you do in like can affect the offspring several generations later.  Search "generations" on my website.
• Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Long-term Adverse Outcomes - Medscape, 9/9/14 - "Compared with nonusers, daily users of cannabis before age 17 are more than 60% less likely to complete high school or obtain a university degree, 7 times more likely to attempt suicide, have an 18 times' greater chance of cannabis dependence, and are 8 times as likely to use other illicit drugs down the road ... The associations are "biologically plausible" ... as some research suggests that heavy cannabis use in adolescence can have an effect on central nervous system development. For example, in relation to education, it's feasible that this could decrease cognitive function"
• Regular marijuana use bad for teens' brains - Science Daily, 8/9/14 - "Frequent marijuana use can have a significant negative effect on the brains of teenagers and young adults, including cognitive decline, poor attention and memory, and decreased IQ ... regular cannabis use, which we consider once a week, is not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage ... People who have become addicted to marijuana can lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood ... Brain imaging studies of regular marijuana users have shown significant changes in their brain structure ... frequent use of high potency THC can increase risk of acute and future problems with depression, anxiety and psychosis ... marijuana use among teenagers was higher in counties where larger numbers of people voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2004. In addition, teens in counties with more votes for the legalization of medical marijuana perceived marijuana use to be less risky"
• Study Sheds Light on Cannabis and Paranoia - WebMD, 7/17/14 - "After analyzing the results, the scientists found that THC increased the likelihood of paranoia happening ... Half the participants had paranoid thoughts with THC, compared to just 30% with placebo ... The paranoia declined as the drug left the bloodstream ... The drug also caused a range of other psychological effects: anxiety, worry, lowered mood, negative thoughts about the self, various changes in perception (such as sounds being louder than normal and colors brighter), thoughts echoing, altered perception of time, and poorer short-term memory ... They say it's likely that paranoia creeps in because THC increases negative feelings, and the perceptual changes lead to the rise in paranoia"
• The Devastation That’s Really Happening in Colorado - The Weekly Standard, 7/10/14 - "There is no indication that Obama is really paying attention to what he has done in Colorado. During our recent visit to the state we found no one is measuring this “experiment” at all. Even more troubling, if this were truly an experiment, the impact of this “laboratory” is on human subjects, many of whom—Colorado adolescents, communities in neighboring states—were hardly approached for “informed consent.” Nor did citizens we talked to vote for what they see happening to them now"
• In Past Decade, Traffic Fatalities Involving Marijuana Have Spiked - dailysignal.com, 6/12/14 - "Traffic fatalities involving marijuana have tripled in the U.S. over the last decade, increasing from 4 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in 2010 ... Currently, one of nine drivers involved in fatal crashes would test positive for marijuana"
• Marijuana Tied to Addiction, Long-term Cognitive Dysfunction - Medscape, 6/11/14 - "Marijuana use is associated with substantial adverse events, including addiction and long-term cognitive dysfunction, new research suggests ... as policy shifts toward legalization of marijuana, it is reasonable and probably prudent to hypothesize that its use will increase and that, by extension, so will the number of persons for whom there will be negative health consequences ... They also have less functional connectivity in areas that include processing habits and routines and inhibitory control, as well as a significant decline in IQ ... Regular use of cannabis has also been associated with an increased risk for depression and anxiety; it has been linked to psychoses (especially in those with a preexisting genetic vulnerability), and it exacerbates the illness in patients with schizophrenia ... many of the growing problems could be because the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content of marijuana increased from approximately 3% in the 1980s to 12% in 2012"
• Pot Use Might Be Linked to Abnormal Sperm - WebMD, 6/5/14 - "Although cigarettes and alcohol had little effect, the study revealed that sperm size and shape was negatively affected if the men were younger than age 30 and had smoked marijuana within three months"
• Research on marijuana's negative health effects summarized in report - Science Daily, 6/5/14 - "older studies are based on the effects of marijuana containing lower THC -- the main psychoactive chemical found in marijuana -- stronger adverse health effects may occur with today's more potent marijuana ... The reviewers consider areas in which little research has been conducted. This includes possible health consequences of secondhand marijuana smoke; the long-term impact of prenatal marijuana exposure; the therapeutic potential of the individual chemicals found in the marijuana plant; and effects of marijuana legalization policies on public health"
• Marijuana use associated with impaired sleep quality - Science Daily, 6/2/14 - "any history of cannabis use was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting difficulty falling asleep, struggling to maintain sleep, experiencing non-restorative sleep, and feeling daytime sleepiness. The strongest association was found in adults who started marijuana use before age 15; they were about twice as likely to have severe problems falling asleep (odds ratio = 2.28), experiencing non-restorative sleep (OR = 2.25) and feeling overly sleepy during the day (OR = 1.99) ... The most surprising finding was that there was a strong relationship with age of first use, no matter how often people were currently using marijuana. People who started using early were more likely to have sleep problems as an adult"
• Poor sleep equal to binge drinking, marijuana use in predicting academic problems - Science Daily, 6/2/14 - "sleep problems have about the same impact on grade point average (GPA) as binge drinking and marijuana use. Its negative impact on academic success is more pronounced for freshmen. Among first-year students, poor sleep -- but not binge drinking, marijuana use or learning disabilities diagnosis -- independently predicted dropping or withdrawing from a course"
• After 5 Months of Sales, Colorado Sees the Downside of a Legal High - nytimes.com, 5/31/14 - "There is the Denver man who, hours after buying a package of marijuana-infused Karma Kandy from one of Colorado’s new recreational marijuana shops, began raving about the end of the world and then pulled a handgun from the family safe and killed his wife, the authorities say. Some hospital officials say they are treating growing numbers of children and adults sickened by potent doses of edible marijuana. Sheriffs in neighboring states complain about stoned drivers streaming out of Colorado and through their towns"
• Marijuana use involved in more fatal accidents since commercialization of medical marijuana - Science Daily, 5/15/14 - "fatal motor vehicle crashes in Colorado involving at least one driver who tested positive for marijuana accounted for 4.5 percent in the first six months of 1994; this percentage increased to 10 percent in the last six months of 2011. They reported that Colorado underwent a significant increase in the proportion of drivers in a fatal motor vehicle crash who were marijuana-positive after the commercialization of medical marijuana in the middle of 2009. The increase in Colorado was significantly greater compared to the 34 non-medical marijuana states from mid-2009 to 2011"
• Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Earlier Psychosis Onset - Medscape, 5/14/14 - "youth who used cannabis when aged 15 to 17 years experienced first episode psychosis (FEP) an average of almost 4 years earlier than their counterparts with FEP who did not use cannabis"
• Cannabis Abuse Rife in College Kids With Mental Illness - Medscape, 5/8/14 - "Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), a 100-point scale with higher scores indicating higher functioning ... Overall, 25% of the study sample was on leave from college. However, the investigators found that those with cannabis use disorder were significantly more likely to be on leave compared with their counterparts who did not have a cannabis use disorder ― 46% vs 13% ... In addition, those with cannabis use disorders had a statistically significant lower GAF compared with those without cannabis use disorders ― 56 vs 66 (P < .01). The investigators also found that 47% of students diagnosed with bipolar disorder also had a cannabis use disorder ... My concern with the move to legalize marijuana is that it may encourage more people to experiment with marijuana, and that may be dangerous for them"
• Improving air quality in NYC would boost children's future earnings by increasing IQ - Science Daily, 5/8/14 - "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), a family of chemicals created by burning fossil fuels ... Gains in IQ related to the hypothetical 25% reduction in PAH translated to increased lifetime earnings of $215 million ... The researchers previously reported that children born to nonsmoking mothers exposed to higher levels of airborne PAH during pregnancy had IQs three points lower at age 5 than children whose mothers had lower PAH exposures. The IQ reduction was modest but in the range of that seen with low-level lead ... IQ affects academic performance and earnings" - Note:  Sometimes it just seems like priorities are out of sync.  On the one hand you've got marijuana showing an eight point decrease in IQ and the media seems to be supporting it and that's nearly three times what pollution causes and it's difficult to get rid of cars, heating, manufacturing, etc.  If a three point decline in IQ results in $215 million decrease in lifetime earnings, then an eight point decrease in IQ would interpolate to a $573 million decrease in lifetime earnings assuming it was linear.
• The Marijuana Debate: Time for Reefer Sanity - heritage.org, 4/27/14
• Colorado 4th-Graders Caught Selling Pot at School - Fox News Insider, 4/24/14 - "the students involved, three 10-year-old boys and a 10-year-old girl ... The marijuana appears to have been legally purchased by adults ... Pot is celebrated and glorified and promoted. Kids are watching adults and this is the way adults are behaving ... a man ate marijuana-infused candy before shooting and killing his wife last week ... Her death followed that of a Wyoming college student who ate well over the recommended dose of a marijuana-laced cookie and jumped to his death from a hotel balcony in Denver"
• Marijuana Use Linked to Rising Cardiovascular Events - Medscape, 4/23/14 - "Their concerns stem from a review of reports made to the French Addictovigilance Network between 2006 and 2010 indicating that almost 2% of reported events concerned cardiovascular complications. What's more, the average age of the people with CV complications was 34, with the number of cardiovascular complications tripling over the study period ... Vasospasm, which has been linked with cannabis use in experimental settings, "could be a possible common origin for many of the cases we describe in the present study."" - [WebMD] [Science Daily] - Note:  The studies on the detrimental effects of cigarettes started coming out in 1964 yet people ignored them for years.  Look at all the cigarettes in the movie 'Argo' which was loosely based on an event in 1979.  Even in the 80's newspapers had a huge bias in favor of smoking in public and workplaces even from the New York Times who I remember writing too.  I was so mad at them I requested a price quote for a full page ad countering their argument.  Full page cigarette ads were common at the time.  Smoking in the workplace was even still acceptable until the early '90's.
• Marijuana Use Linked to Rising Cardiovascular Events - Medscape, 4/23/14 - "Their concerns stem from a review of reports made to the French Addictovigilance Network between 2006 and 2010 indicating that almost 2% of reported events concerned cardiovascular complications. What's more, the average age of the people with CV complications was 34, with the number of cardiovascular complications tripling over the study period ... Vasospasm, which has been linked with cannabis use in experimental settings, "could be a possible common origin for many of the cases we describe in the present study.""
• Articles: The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Violent Crime - americanthinker.com, 4/23/14 - "the plots show apparent reversals or slowing of declining violent crime rates in each MML state at the same time as, or soon after, legalization"
• More Smoking Equals Lower Quality of Life - Medscape, 4/22/14 - "Smoking cigarettes, even for a short time, is associated with a significantly lower quality of life (QoL)" - Note:  Mark my word people are going to see the same thing with marijuana and it will take 50 years for that conclusion also.
• Student Jumps to Death at Denver Hotel After Eating Too Much Pot - CNS News, 4/17/14 - "Levy Thamba Pongi, 19, consumed more than one cookie purchased by a friend — even though a store clerk told the friend to cut each cookie into six pieces and to eat just one piece at a time ... Pongi began shaking, screaming and throwing things around a hotel room before he jumped over a fourth-floor railing into the hotel lobby March 11. An autopsy report listed marijuana intoxication as a "significant contributing factor" in the death ... when Pongi felt nothing after about 30 minutes, he ate an entire cookie ... The marijuana concentration in Pongi's blood was 7.2 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood. Colorado law says juries can assume someone is driving while impaired if their blood contains more than 5 nanograms per milliliter"
• Brain changes associated with casual marijuana use in young adults: More 'joints' equal more damage - Science Daily, 4/15/14 - "The team of scientists compared the size, shape, and density of the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala -- a brain region that plays a central role in emotion -- in 20 marijuana users and 20 non-users. Each marijuana user was asked to estimate their drug consumption over a three-month period, including the number of days they smoked and the amount of the drug consumed each day. The scientists found that the more the marijuana users reported consuming, the greater the abnormalities in the nucleus accumbens and amygdala. The shape and density of both of these regions also differed between marijuana users and non-users ... This study raises a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use isn't associated with bad consequences"
• Marijuana Re-Shapes Brains of Users, Study Claims - NBC News, 4/15/14 - "Anytime you find there’s a relationship to the amount of marijuana consumed, and you see differences of core brain regions involved in processing of rewards, the making of decisions, the ability to assess emotions, that is a serious issue ... When we saw that there was a consistent abnormality and that it was directly related to the amount of cannabis one took in, it gave us some significant pause ... Seeing these differences raises a cautionary flag that we need to do more research"
• Fifty Years On, Half As Many Americans Now Smoke, but… - Medscape, 4/14/14 - "The 1964 report heralded the beginning of a dramatic change in the United States — from smoking being accepted as a social norm to becoming a social stigma" - Note:  I see the same thing happening with marijuana.  When I was a kid, grown-ups thought I was a nut for criticizing tobacco.  Sometimes it seems inconceivable that people ignore what is so obvious.
• Amanda Bynes' Mother Blames Daughter's Erratic Behavior on Marijuana - breitbart.com, 4/10/14 - "Amanda has no mental illness whatsoever. She has never been diagnosed as schizophrenic or bipolar ... Her mother said Bynes "is very sorry for all the hurtful tweets, statements and actions that occurred while she was under the influence of marijuana.""
• Blog: Pot Legalization and Crime Rates in Denver, Colorado - americanthinker.com, 4/9/14 - "Over the first two months of 2014, “simple assaults” in Denver are up an astonishing 70% over the same timeframe in 2013. The crime of “intimidation” is up 86%, and all “crimes against persons” have increased 32% compared to 2013. But the real changes are evident in the “all other offenses” category. Here we see that “disorderly conduct/disturbing the peace” has increased 1,144% (from only 18 offenses in 2013 to 224 in 2014), “family offences/nonviolent” are up 97%, “liquor law/drunkeness” is up 1,150%, “violation of a restraining/court order” increased 87%, “criminal trespassing” is up 339%, and the “all other offenses” subcategory have increased 400%"
• BPA and related chemicals: Human safety thresholds for endocrine disrupting chemicals may be inaccurate - Science Daily, 4/8/14 - "Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are compounds that interfere with animal hormone (or endocrine) systems in various ways. Sometimes, this can lead to developmental problems, including those of the reproductive system. Over the past four decades, human sperm counts have been markedly decreasing and the rate of testicular cancer rates has risen. Meanwhile, the occurance of undescended testicles and abnormally developed male urethras are also thought to be increasing. Evidence suggests that these male reproductive disorders are at least partially due to the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals which are becoming increasingly concentrated and prevalent in the environment and that these EDs act on the testis during fetal development" - Note how the media has been sensationalizing the endocrine disruption of BPA but doesn't seem to want to irritate their readers with the endocrine disruption caused my marijuana which is probably even worse.  I'm against both.
• 4/6/14 Crimes, deaths linked to Colorado marijuana legalization, black-market still exists - YouTube - 3:58
• 457 Marijuana Shops File Tax Renewals in L.A. - breitbart.com, 4/3/14 - "the city remains last nationally in job growth, after bankrupt Detroit" - Does anyone believe all those people have medical conditions even if you're one of those that believe it works for medical conditions (which I don't).
• Medical Marijuana: What the Research Shows - Medscape, 4/2/14 - "Few of these studies, though, followed a controlled clinical trial. This is considered the best type of trial because it compares a drug to another drug, or to a placebo (a "fake" treatment) ... Also, most of the studies had fewer than 200 patients. So doubt continues about marijuana’s value and who it really can help" - Note:  Like I said about doctors getting paid to tell you what you want to here and this wasn't even a medical doctor and don't forget there were medical doctors advertising for cigarette companies in the '60's.
• Medicinal Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids in Older Adults - Medscape, 3/28/14 - "There are two oral cannabis-based drugs available in tablet form (dronabinol and nabilone) and one in-mouth spray form (nabiximols). Dronabinol and nabilone (tetrahydrocannabinol) are registered in some countries, including the United States ... The lack of information about the safety and efficacy of cannabis and cannabinoids in older adults warrants further research, especially adequately powered randomized controlled trials to assess the evidence for, and the risk–benefit ratio of, medical cannabis in older individuals. Until then, individual evaluation of the pros and cons is necessary before cannabis can be prescribed to older adults"
• No Evidence to Support Medical Marijuana Use for Arthritis Pain - Medscape, 3/4/14 - "Smoking of cannabis cannot be recommended medically for a number of reasons, they say. THC content is variable, bioavailability is inconsistent, and dangers range from the immediate effects on cognition, psychomotor function, cardiovascular function, and mood to chronic effects such as drug dependence and potential cancer risk ... Oral administration is even more erratic, and much of the ingested marijuana is eliminated by first-pass metabolism in the liver ... the lack of the most elementary requirements for responsible drug administration must call into question any use of herbal cannabis for rheumatic pain treatment at this time"
• Prevalence of high school seniors' marijuana use is expected to increase with legalization - Science Daily, 2/27/14 - "Assuming that onset use would occur before or during the senior year, the study's results suggest that this would constitute a 5.6% absolute increase in lifetime prevalence in this age group, rising from 45.6% to 51.2%,"
• Increase in Child Pot Exposures Linked to Decriminalization - Medscape, 2/11/14 - "the call rate for unintentional marijuana exposure among children younger than 9 years increased by 30.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22.5% - 38.5%) in states where laws decriminalizing marijuana use had been passed. The rate was unchanged in states with no marijuana legislation"
• Fatal Car Crashes Involving Pot Use Have Tripled in U.S., Study Finds - WebMD, 2/4/14 - "Currently, one of nine drivers involved in fatal crashes would test positive for marijuana ... Marijuana proved to be the main drug involved in the increase, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999 ... If a driver is under the influence of alcohol, their risk of a fatal crash is 13 times higher than the risk of the driver who is not under the influence of alcohol ... if the driver is under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana, their risk increases to 24 times that of a sober person"
• Cannabis during pregnancy endangers fetal brain development - Science Daily, 1/27/14 - "consuming Cannabis during pregnancy clearly results in defective development of nerve cells of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that orchestrates higher cognitive functions and drives memory formation. In particular, THC negatively impacts if and how the structural platform and conduit for communication between nerve cells, the synapses and axons, will develop and function. Researchers also identified Stathmin-2 as a key protein target for THC action, and its loss is characterized as a reason for erroneous nerve growth ... these developmental deficits may evoke life-long modifications to the brain function of those affected ... relatively subtle damage can significantly increase the risk of delayed neuropsychiatric diseases ... Even if THC only would cause small changes its effect may well be sufficient to sensitize the brain to later stressors or diseases to provoke neuropsychiatric illnesses in those affected in the future"
• Teen pot use could hurt brain and memory, new research suggests - NBC News.com, 12/16/13 - "Research released Monday in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin showed the brains of young heavy marijuana users were altered in so-called sub-cortical regions — primitive structures that are part of the memory and reasoning circuits. And young people with such alterations performed worse on memory tests than non-using controls, despite the fact that the heavy users had not indulged for more than two years, on average, before the testing"
• Smoking Pot May Double Risk for Stillbirth - Medscape, 12/9/13 - "Odds of stillbirth were nearly 2 times higher among women whose fetuses tested positive for any drug metabolite (case patients, 7.0%; control patients, 3.7%; odds ratio [OR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16 - 3.27). The most common illicit drug was cannabis, which increased the odds of stillbirth by more than twice as much (case patients, 3.9%; control patients, 1.7%; OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.13 - 4.81) ... There was a dose–response relationship between maternal smoking and stillbirth, with odds of stillbirth increasing with higher maternal cotinine levels. Exposure to secondhand smoke (lack of maternal smoking history along with cotinine levels less than 3 ng/mL) increased the odds of stillbirth by twice as much (case patients, 5.0%; control patients, 2.7%; OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.24 - 3.41)"
• Amino acid offers potential therapeutic alternative in psychiatric disorders - Science Daily, 10/8/13 - "drug discovery is at a near standstill for treating psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and common forms of autism ... According to Professor Berk, there is now an incontrovertible evidence base that these disorders share inflammation and oxidative stress as part of their disease physiology ... The amino acid, NAC, seems to have multiple effects on all these pathways: it boosts glutathione, which is the body’s major antioxidant defence; has anti-inflammatory properties; enhances levels of nerve cell growth proteins and the growth of new neurons; and reduces cell death pathways. It also appears to reduce dysfunction of mitochondria ... NAC reduces the core symptoms of schizophrenia including negative symptoms such as improved apathy, social interaction and motivation. It also appears to reduce depression in people with bipolar disorder and at this meeting ... there is intriguing evidence that it reduces cravings in a number of addictions including cocaine, cannabis and cigarette smoking" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Perception of marijuana as a 'safe drug' is scientifically inaccurate, finds review of teen brain studies - Science Daily, 8/27/13 - "The researchers reviewed over 120 studies that looked at different aspects of the relationship between cannabis and the adolescent brain, including the biology of the brain, chemical reaction that occurs in the brain when the drug is used, the influence of genetics and environmental factors, in addition to studies into the "gateway drug" phenomenon ... Data from epidemiological studies have repeatedly shown an association between cannabis use and subsequent addiction to heavy drugs and psychosis (i.e. schizophrenia) ... When the first exposure occurs in younger versus older adolescents, the impact of cannabis seems to be worse in regard to many outcomes such as mental health, education attainment, delinquency and ability to conform to adult role ... Individuals who will develop cannabis dependence generally report a temperament characterized by negative affect, aggressivity and impulsivity, from an early age. Some of these traits are often exacerbated with years of cannabis use, which suggests that users become trapped in a vicious cycle of self-medication, which in turn becomes a dependence"
• Marijuana use in adolescence may cause permanent brain abnormalities, mouse study suggests - Science Daily, 7/24/13 - "Previous research has shown that children who started using marijuana before the age of 16 are at greater risk of permanent cognitive deficits, and have a significantly higher incidence of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia ... We wanted to identify the biological underpinnings and determine whether there is a real, permanent health risk to marijuana use ... "In the adult mice exposed to marijuana ingredients in adolescence, we found that cortical oscillations were grossly altered, and they exhibited impaired cognitive abilities ... We also found impaired cognitive behavioral performance in those mice. The striking finding is that, even though the mice were exposed to very low drug doses, and only for a brief period during adolescence, their brain abnormalities persisted into adulthood"
• Long-Term Cannabis Use May Blunt the Brain's Motivation System - Science Daily, 7/1/13 - "Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation ... The researchers used PET brain imaging to look at dopamine production in the striatum of 19 regular cannabis users and 19 non-users of matching age and sex ... The lowest dopamine levels were seen in users who meet diagnostic criteria for cannabis abuse or dependence"
• Chronic Marijuana Use Linked to Hypopituitarism - Medscape, 5/3/13 - "Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, can suppress multiple hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis pathways, with subsequent effects on multiple organ systems ... Any gland can be affected, including the whole pituitary ... several states have passed laws legalizing marijuana. Use will probably go up, and people won't be so afraid to come forward … We'll probably start finding all kinds of cases like this ... described the symptoms of the 37-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with dyspnea on exertion, increased fatigue, and loss of libido. On physical exam, he was found to have bibasilar rales, gynecomastia, and atrophied testes ... He had low levels of luteinizing hormone, follicular-stimulating hormone, and testosterone (0.2 mIU/mL, 1.8 mIU/mL, and 22 ng/dL, respectively), high prolactin (53.3 ng/mL), and ACTH of 6 pg/mL. He also had abnormal thyroid-function tests, normal growth-hormone levels, and low insulinlike growth factor-1"
• Marijuana Not Medicine, Addiction Experts Say - Medscape, 4/29/13 - "Illinois should not legalize cannabis, and physicians should not write recommendations for patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, because it is a dangerous, addictive drug and is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a group of addiction medicine physicians said during a press conference here ... For every disease and disorder for which marijuana has been recommended, there is a better, FDA-approved medication ... There are probably very few patients for whom marijuana is the only drug that makes them feel better. Is it worth the risk to our society to give one person an intoxicant to help them feel better — while not getting better — and put our entire society at risk by making that intoxicant available to all?"
• Cannabis Use in Teens Linked to Irreparable Drop in IQ - Medscape, 4/26/13 - "Cannabis users who start smoking the drug as adolescents show an irreparable decline in IQ, with more persistent use linked to a greater decline ... Case-control studies show that light to heavy cannabis use can cause enduring neuropsychological problems, but they are retrospective and there are no tests of premorbid functioning ... Between the ages of 8 and 38 years, individuals who began using cannabis in adolescence and continued to use it for years thereafter lost an average of 8 IQ points. In contrast, IQ among individuals who never used cannabis actually rose slightly ... Cessation of cannabis did not restore IQ among teen-onset cannabis users"
• Cannabis Use Linked to More Severe Schizophrenia - Medscape, 4/10/13 - "Cannabis use not only increases the risk for schizophrenia but new research suggests it is associated with more severe schizophrenic psychosis ... "Those who had schizophrenia after cannabis use had many more hospital days...more than a third [38%] of those who had cannabis use had more than 2 years in total in hospital stay" compared with 21% of nonusers, said Dr. Allebeck. The median number of hospital days was 547 for cannabis users and 184 for nonusers ... After controlling for socioeconomic factors, personality disorders, IQ, and other factors associated with cannabis use, "there was more than 3-fold increased risk of such long hospital days among cannabis users," ... The number of readmissions is also about 3-fold increased of those with many readmissions after the first admission for schizophrenia"
• Mental illness linked to heavy cannabis use - Science Daily, 4/2/13 - "People with mental illnesses are more than seven times more likely to use cannabis weekly compared to people without a mental illness ... researchers analyzed data from face-to-face interviews with over 43,000 respondents over the age of 18 from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions"
• Even a Little Pot Use Ups College Dropout Risk - WebMD, 3/22/13 - "students with high levels of marijuana use (more than 17 days a month) were twice as likely as those with minimal use (less than a day a month) to have an enrollment gap while in college. But even students who used pot less often, in the range of three to 12 days a month, were more likely to experience enrollment gaps"
• Smoking marijuana associated with higher stroke risk in young adults - Science Daily, 2/6/13 - "In a New Zealand study, ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients were 2.3 times more likely to have cannabis, also known as marijuana, detected in urine tests as other age and sex matched patients ... People need to think twice about using cannabis," because it can affect brain development and result in emphysema, heart attack and now stroke"
• Consider Cannabis as Cause of Stroke in Younger Patients - Medscape, 1/22/13 - "because most cannabis smokers are young, patients under 45 years of age presenting with symptoms of stroke should be asked about cannabis use and have their urine tested for cannabinoids ... The authors note that 59 case reports of cannabis-related stroke (mean age, 33 years) have been described. Most cases were in men, with a male-to-female ratio of 4.9:1 ... although only these few cases of stroke associated with cannabis use have been documented, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg ... Nobody is looking for it, and if you don't look you won't find it. Neurologists are not thinking about cannabis as a possible cause of stroke so they don't ask patients about it ... cannabis appears to be associated with multifocal intracerebral stenosis, which can cause a stroke ... The stenoses are caused by shrinkage of the blood vessels and can occur in several different areas of the brain. It appears that cannabis may cause the arteries to constrict"
• Regular Marijuana Use by Teens Continues to Be a Concern - Science Daily, 12/19/12 - "Only 41.7 percent of eighth graders see occasional use of marijuana as harmful; 66.9 percent see regular use as harmful. Both rates are at the lowest since the survey began tracking risk perception for this age group in 1991. As teens get older, their perception of risk diminishes. Only 20.6 percent of 12th graders see occasional use as harmful (the lowest since 1983), and 44.1 percent see regular use as harmful, the lowest since 1979 ... A 38-year NIH-funded study, published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that people who used cannabis heavily in their teens and continued through adulthood showed a significant drop in IQ between the ages of 13 and 38 -- an average of eight points for those who met criteria for cannabis dependence. Those who used marijuana heavily before age 18 (when the brain is still developing) showed impaired mental abilities even after they quit taking the drug ... The risk of addiction goes from about 1 in 11 overall to about 1 in 6 for those who start using in their teens, and even higher among daily smokers"
• Recreational Marijuana: Are There Health Effects? - WebMD, 12/11/12 - "Smoking marijuana produces a nearly threefold increase of inhaled tar compared with tobacco, according to some studies ... For cigarette smokers who also smoke marijuana, there may be an additive effect ... Some research shows that marijuana smoke has up to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke ... Long-term, heavy use of marijuana can lead to impaired thinking skills and memory problems ... Numerous studies have linked marijuana use with schizophrenia. In this brain disorder, people may think they hear voices and that others are controlling their minds and thoughts"
• More Evidence Cannabis Use Linked to Schizophrenia - Medscape, 11/8/12 - "Cannabis use causes a temporary cognitive breakdown in nonpsychotic individuals, leading to long-term psychosis ... patients with no history of cannabis use had more normal activation patterns during rest, which is actually a good thing in that this mode has been shown to be important for learning in healthy individuals"
• Marijuana use implicated in pregnancy problems - Science Daily, 9/12/12 - "abnormal biological signaling by endocannabinoid lipid molecules produced by the body disrupts the movement of early embryonic cells important to a healthy pregnancy, in particular trophoblast cells that form the placenta. Abnormal placental function is common in preeclampsia -- a medical condition of unknown cause that is a danger to mother and child"
• Marijuana use may increase risk of testicular cancer - Science Daily, 9/10/12 - "looked at the self-reported history of recreational drug use in 163 young men diagnosed with testicular cancer and compared it with that of 292 healthy men of the same age and race/ethnicity ... men with a history of using marijuana were twice as likely to have subtypes of testicular cancer called non-seminoma and mixed germ cell tumors. These tumors usually occur in younger men and carry a somewhat worse prognosis than the seminoma subtype. The study's findings confirm those from two previous reports in CANCER on a potential link between marijuana use and testicular cancer"
• Adolescent pot use leaves lasting mental deficits; Developing brain susceptible to lasting damage from exposure to marijuana - Science Daily, 8/27/12 - "The persistent, dependent use of marijuana before age 18 has been shown to cause lasting harm to a person's intelligence, attention and memory ... individuals who started using cannabis in adolescence and used it for years afterward showed an average decline in IQ of 8 points when their age 13 and age 38 IQ tests were compared. Quitting pot did not appear to reverse the loss"
• High potency and synthetic marijuana pose real dangers in first weeks of pregnancy - Science Daily, 8/15/12 - "Marijuana is up to 20 times more potent than it was 40 years ago and most pregnant women who use the drug are totally unaware that it could harm their unborn child before they even know they are pregnant ... Given that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug by pregnant women worldwide -- one study estimates the rate is as high as 20 per cent -- this is a major issue ... marijuana exposure during pregnancy has been associated with anencephaly, a non-sustaining life condition where a large part of the skull or brain is absent, neurobehavioral deficiencies, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities and memory impairment in toddlers and 10 year olds, as well as neuropsychiatric conditions, including depression, aggression and anxiety, in teens"
• Marijuana use prior to pregnancy doubles risk of premature birth - Science Daily, 7/17/12 - "Preterm or premature birth -- at least three weeks before a baby's due date -- can result in serious and life-threatening health problems for the baby, and an increased risk of health problems in later life, such as heart disease and diabetes ... A study of more than 3000 pregnant women in Adelaide, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand has detailed the most common risk factors for preterm birth"
• Effect of Long-term Cannabis Use on Axonal Fiber Connectivity - Medscape, 7/12/12 - "Our results suggest that long-term cannabis use is hazardous to white matter in the developing brain. Given the association between cannabis-related harms and age of onset of regular use, delaying use may minimize such harmful effects. Disturbed brain connectivity in cannabis users may underlie cognitive impairment and vulnerability to psychosis, depression and anxiety disorders (Lim et al., 2002), all of which are significant public health concerns. White matter alterations have been associated with various functional and clinical outcomes in schizophrenia, including illness, symptomatic and cognitive measures (Walterfang et al., 2011), with white matter pathology underlying faulty integration of cortical–cerebellar–thalamic–cortical circuits thought to play a primary role in the observed cognitive deficits (Wexler et al., 2009). Similar connectivity disturbances, particularly in the fimbria of the hippocampus and commissural fibres extending to the precuneus reported in this study, may underlie the memory impairment and other cognitive deficits that are observed in long-term heavy cannabis users"
• Mothers' teen cannabinoid exposure may increase response of offspring to opiate drugs - Science Daily, 6/5/12 - "The rats with mothers who had adolescent exposure to WIN-55,212-2 were significantly more likely to opt for the morphine-paired chamber than those with mothers who abstained. The results suggest that these animals had an increased preference for opiate drugs ... We acknowledge that we are using rodent models, which may not fully translate to the human condition. Nevertheless, the results suggest that maternal drug use, even prior to pregnancy, can impact future offspring"
• Dude, Where's My Baby? - The Daily, 6/4/12 - "A 5-week-old boy strapped in a car seat miraculously survived a fall from the roof of his mother’s 2000 Ford Focus when she wheeled away from a pot party early Saturday ... Officers found the baby about an hour later — in the middle of the street — after friends of Clouser and motorists driving by called 911"
• Cannabis 'does not slow multiple sclerosis' progress - BBC News, 5/29/12
• More Evidence Links Early Cannabis Use to Psychosis - Medscape, 5/17/12 - "The uniqueness of this study lies in the demonstration of an association between early cannabis use and subsequent schizophrenia-like symptoms that persisted into adulthood and that was not explained by early anxiety or depressive disorders, or exposure to other drug and cigarette use ... cannabis use before the age of 14 years "strongly predicted" schizotypal symptoms in adulthood, independent of early adolescent schizotypy, major depression, anxiety, other drug use, and cigarette use ... what is "truly noteworthy is that cannabis use may play a role in the formation of schizophrenia symptoms beyond psychotic symptoms, such as its characteristic oddness and negative symptoms of low motivation and low social drive.""
• How cannabis use during adolescence affects brain regions associated with schizophrenia - Science Daily, 5/8/12 - "This is the first study to show that the combined effects of the COMT gene with adolescent cannabis use cause physical changes in the brain regions associated with schizophrenia. It demonstrates how genetic, developmental and environmental factors interact to modulate brain function in schizophrenia and supports previous behavioural research which has shown the COMT gene to influence the effects of adolescent cannabis use on schizophrenia-related behaviours"
• Obstetric Complications, Cannabis Use Predict Early Psychosis - Medscape, 4/29/12 - "the most significant risk factor, she said, is cannabis"
• How marijuana impairs memory - Science Daily, 3/1/12 - "A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning ... Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons. The side effects stem instead from the drug's action on astroglia, passive support cells long believed to play second fiddle to active neurons"
• Smoking pot tied to slacking off at work - msnbc.com, 2/23/12 - "People who reported smoking in the past year generally reported less dedication to work than abstainers ... their work commitment continued to decline into adulthood, and remained significantly below that of never-smoker"
• Marijuana users twice as likely to cause accident - USATODAY.com, 2/9/12
• Effects of marijuana ingredients on brain functioning during visual stimuli evaluated - Science Daily, 1/3/12 - "Δ9-THC significantly increased the severity of psychotic symptoms compared with placebo ... CBD may also influence the effect of cannabis use on salience processing -- and hence psychotic symptoms -- by having an opposite effect"
• Driving Stoned: Safer Than Driving Drunk? - ABC News, 12/2/11 - "traffic fatalities in those states fell nearly 9 percent after medical pot became legal" - Note:  First of all there is no way to tie the 9% drop in accidents to legalizing maryjane and second (just for beginners and just the tip of the iceberg, not counting many other issues) what about the retarded offspring do to DNA damage? So they might (and I emphasize “might”) have improved one problem but they’ve exasperated a multitude of other problems. Talk about warped logic.
• Smoking Pot Shrinks the Brain - Medscape, 11/11/11 - "It is now accepted by most psychiatrists that smoking cannabis increases an individual's risk of psychosis, and more specifically schizophrenia ... People with a family history of schizophrenia are particularly vulnerable to the psychotomimetic effects of the drug, and are likely at particular elevated risk of developing schizophrenia if they use cannabis ... those participants who had used marijuana showed a reduction in their thalamic volume that was significant on the left side of the thalamus (F = 4.47; P = .04), and highly significant on the right (F = 7.66; P = .008). However, no loss of thalamic volume was noted in those who did not use marijuana during the 2-year period" - Duh!!!  It took all this time to figure out that maryjane shrinks the brain.  I figures that out 45 years ago from observing people that used it.  Yet people must think that American's don't have a small enough brain already so we should legalize it.
• How cannabis causes 'cognitive chaos' in the brain - Science Daily, 10/25/11 - "While the effects of the drug on individual brain regions were subtle, the drug completely disrupted co-ordinated brain waves across the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, as though two sections of the orchestra were playing out of synch. Both these brain structures are essential for memory and decision-making and heavily implicated in the pathology of schizophrenia ... Marijuana abuse is common among sufferers of schizophrenia and recent studies have shown that the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana can induce some symptoms of schizophrenia in healthy volunteers"
• Pot smoking may more than double crash risk - USA Today, 10/14/11
• Smoking cannabis increases risk of depression in the case of genetic vulnerability, study finds - Science Daily, 10/10/11 - "Young people who are genetically vulnerable to depression should be extra careful about using cannabis: smoking cannabis leads to an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms ... Two-thirds of the population have the gene variant that makes one sensitive to depression ... Besides worse performances at school, the use of cannabis also increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and psychosis"
• Marijuana use may double the risk of accidents for drivers, study finds - Science Daily, 10/6/11
• New study proposes public health guidelines to reduce the harms from cannabis use - Science Daily, 9/22/11 - "Some of the harmful practices and patterns of use documented in the study include: ... using cannabis from a young age can be associated with a number of problems, including mental illness and dependence ... linked to a variety of health problems, including cognitive and memory performance, or risk for dependence ... there is sufficient scientific basis to recommend abstinence from cannabis use during pregnancy" - Note:  My biggest pet peeve about the people that want to legalize cannabis is the lifetime of problems to the unborn children it could be causing and possible even the offspring that generation.  Google "cannabis damage dna".  Like anything else with the Internet, I'm sure it will also show cannabis websites that tell people what they want to hear.
• Feds: Pot has no medical purpose - MSNBC, 7/8/11 - "The federal government officially declared that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a dangerous and addictive drug. It will remain in the same class of drugs as heroin" - I never bought off on that "I need it for my medical condition" line.  Maybe I just heard it too many times as a kid when granny on the Beverly Hillbillies would say it referring the her moonshine.
• Unhealthy lifestyle is associated with sexual dysfunction - Science Daily, 7/6/11 - "A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that several unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as weight problems, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and hard drugs are associated with sexual dysfunctions in men. Additionally, an unhealthy lifestyle is more common in persons who are sexually inactive ... Among those who had a sexual partner, risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction was greater in men who lead unhealthy lives by 71% in those with substantially increased waist circumference and more than 800% in men using hard drugs. Women who used hashish had almost 3 times increased risk of anorgasmia (difficulties or inability to reach climax during sexual activity with a partner) compared to non-users"
• Drug use involved in 25% of fatal crashes, study finds - USATODAY.com. 6/23/11 - "Among drivers who tested positive for drugs, 22% were positive for marijuana, 22% for stimulants and 9% for narcotics"
• Cannabis Use in Early Adolescence Especially Neurotoxic - Medscape, 6/16/11 - "there were no differences in IQ, vocabulary, or block design results when comparing the early-onset, late-onset, and control groups. However, they note, "the early-onset, but not the late-onset, group performed poorly on selected executive tasks compared with controls. In addition, the early-onset group performed poorly on the Frontal Assessment Battery compared with both the late-onset and the control groups." ... The study also showed that the early-onset group had poor performance on the Stroop Test and perseverative responding as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. These findings suggest that "exposure to cannabis in early adolescence may lead to lower flexibility." ... The authors note that it is unclear whether starting cannabis use at a later age affects cognition"
• Chronic marijuana smoking affects brain chemistry, molecular imaging shows - Science Daily, 6/6/11 - "With this study, we were able to show for the first time that people who abuse cannabis have abnormalities of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain ... Results of the study show that receptor number was decreased about 20 percent in brains of cannabis smokers when compared to healthy control subjects with limited exposure to cannabis during their lifetime. These changes were found to have a correlation with the number of years subjects had smoked. Of the original 30 cannabis smokers, 14 of the subjects underwent a second PET scan after about a month of abstinence. There was a marked increase in receptor activity in those areas that had been decreased at the outset of the study, an indication that while chronic cannabis smoking causes downregulation of CB1 receptors, the damage is reversible with abstinence"
• Cannabis use precedes the onset of psychotic symptoms in young people, study finds - Science Daily, 3/1/11
• Marijuana Use Linked to Risk of Psychotic Symptoms - Science Daily, 3/1/11 - "Those participants who had no psychotic symptoms and had never tried marijuana when the study began and then started using marijuana had nearly double the risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms in the future"
• Cannabis use may worsen sexual dysfunction, rat study suggests - Science Daily, 2/22/11 - "While it was previously known that cannabis could affect certain receptors in the brain, it's now believed that these receptors also exist in the penis. Cannabis use may have an antagonizing effect on these receptors in the penis, making it more difficult for a man to achieve and maintain an erection"
• Smoking pot may hasten onset of mental illness - MSNBC, 2/7/11 - "in the subjects who had been pot smokers, the psychotic symptoms began nearly 3 years earlier than in those who had not been marijuana users ... no one's been able to prove that smoking marijuana actually causes psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, but the new research adds to "growing evidence" that it does, at least in some people ... Why was there disagreement in the past over whether this effect really exists? The reasons lie in the way the individual studies might have been done ... One study found that compared to people who didn't use marijuana, people over 18 who did use it had twice the risk of mental illness, but kids under 15 had five times the risk" - Note:  Regarding the second to the last statement, people will find the study they wish to believe.
• Cannabis compounds found to trigger unique immune cells which promote cancer growth - Science Daily, 11/24/10 - "research, published in the European Journal of Immunology, reveals why cannabis users are more susceptible to certain types of cancers and infections ... cannabinoids can trigger a massive number of MDSCs through activation of cannabinoid receptors. This research reveals, for the first time, that marijuana cannabinoids may suppress the immune system by activating these unique cells"
• Early Cannabis Use May Contribute to Psychosis-Related Outcomes in Young Adults - Medscape, 5/7/10 - "twice as likely to develop a nonaffective psychosis, 4 times as likely to have high scores on the PDI, and 3 times as likely to develop hallucinations ... This study adds to the body of emerging literature identifying early cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia ... The concordance between this study and previous epidemiologic studies strengthens the argument that adolescent cannabis use is a risk factor for the development of psychosis ... The general perception that cannabis is a 'soft' drug may not be true. There is now evidence that cannabis may affect the adolescent brain[, permanently altering] its developmental trajectory"
• Teen Marijuana Use Might Have Lasting Effects on Mood, Anxiety - US News and World Report - U.S. News, 12/31/09
• Daily Pot Smoking May Hasten Onset of Psychosis - Science Daily, 12/20/09 - "The researchers analyzed data from 109 hospitalized patients who were experiencing their first psychotic episode. The results showed that patients who had a history of using marijuana, or cannabis, and increased to daily pot smoking experienced both psychotic and pre-psychotic symptoms at earlier ages"
• Cannabis damages young brains more than originally thought, study finds - Science Daily, 12/17/09 - "The damaging effects of this illicit drug on young brains are worse than originally thought ... daily consumption of cannabis in teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain"
• Teen Use of Marijuana Tied to Later Depression - Medscape, 12/8/09 - "Among subjects who had used cannabis more than 10 times, the odds ratio was 1.33, indicating a dose-dependent relationship ... A possible biological explanation for this association is that "receptors such as the cannabinoid receptors may act as moderators,""
• What Proportion Of Psychotic Illness Is Due To Cannabis? - Science Daily, 9/29/09
• Active Ingredients In Marijuana Found To Spread And Prolong Pain - Science Daily, 8/13/09 - ""endocannabinoids," which are made within the human body, can actually amplify and prolong pain rather than damping it down"
• Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals - Science Daily, 6/15/09 - "Using a highly sensitive new test, scientists in Europe are reporting "convincing evidence" that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer"
• Daily Consumption Of Cannabis Predisposes To Appearance Of Psychosis And Schizophrenia, Study Finds - Science Daily, 3/25/09 - "66% of the patients with psychosis who participated in the study and had a normal neurodevelopment admitted to have consumed cannabis daily or almost every day, whereas 43% of the participants with markers of an abnormal neurodevelopment (those already indicated: bad previous social and academic behaviour, a family history and a "clumsier" attitude when they carry out tasks of motor coordination and complex motor acts) were drug users too"
• Marijuana Use Linked To Increased Risk Of Testicular Cancer - Science Daily, 2/9/09 - "being a marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 70 percent increased risk of testicular cancer. The risk was particularly elevated (about twice that of those who never smoked marijuana) for those who used marijuana at least weekly and/or who had long-term exposure to the substance beginning in adolescence"
• Marijuana testicular cancer link - BBC News, 2/9/09 - "being a regular marijuana user doubled the risk compared to those who never smoked it"
• Marijuana Use Takes Toll On Adolescent Brain Function, Research Finds - Science Daily, 10/15/08 - "chronic, heavy marijuana use during adolescence – a critical period of ongoing brain development – is associated with poorer performance on thinking tasks, including slower psychomotor speed and poorer complex attention, verbal memory and planning ability"
• Schizophrenia Linked To Dysfunction In Molecular Brain Pathway Activated By Marijuana - Science Daily, 7/7/08 - "The use of marijuana in individuals with schizophrenia appears to worsen this deficit in GABA synthesis"
• Cannabis 'can harm foetal brain' - BBC News, 6/16/08 - "Smoking cannabis while pregnant could harm the developing foetal brain ... the backbones of higher cognitive functions - do not develop normally when endocannabinoid signalling is disturbed"
• Marijuana Use May Shrink the Brain - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "the hippocampus, which is thought to regulate memory, was an average of 12% smaller among marijuana users, compared with people who didn't smoke pot. The amygdala, involved in emotion and memory, was an average of 7% smaller ... The study also suggests that long-term marijuana users were more likely to report symptoms associated with mental disorders"
• Marijuana Users Have Increased apoC3, Triglycerides - Medscape, 5/19/08 - "Heavy, chronic use of marijuana causes increased levels of apolipoprotein C3 (apoC3), which in turn results in a major increase in triglyceride levels"
• Take this Marijuana Message to Heart - WebMD, 5/13/08 - "the active chemical in marijuana, THC, causes the body to overproduce a protein called ApoC-111. ApoC-111 is linked to high triglycerides (blood fats) because of problems with the breakdown of blood fats in the body"
• Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Later Illness - washingtonpost.com, 5/8/08 - "Teenagers who smoke marijuana put themselves at risk for future mental illness and higher rates of depression ... studies show links between marijuana use and risk of mental illness later in life, and that use could increase the risk by as much as 40 percent ... teenagers who smoke marijuana at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-users"
• Sex, Drugs, and Cancer? - WebMD, 3/11/08 - "Head and neck cancers that were positive for HPV 16 were associated with having more oral sex partners and smoking more marijuana ... Head and neck cancers that were negative for HPV 16 weren't linked to sex or marijuana. Instead, they were tied to smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, and having poor oral hygiene"
• Daily Cannabis Smoking Linked With Increased Steatosis Severity - Medscape, 3/5/08
• Pot Use May Hamper Thinking in MS - WebMD, 2/13/08 - "Marijuana smokers had slower average reaction times on a test that challenged them to process information quickly. And they were more likely to report a history of psychiatric diagnoses, most of which were depression or anxiety diagnoses"
• Marijuana Linked to Early Gum Disease - WebMD, 2/5/08 - "Compared with people who smoked no pot at all, heavy marijuana users were three times more likely to have at least one gum site with evidence of severe gum disease and 60% more likely to show evidence of mild gum disease"
• Lung Cancer Risk Increases With Cannabis Use - oncologystat.com, 1/29/08 - "smoking a single joint is the same as smoking 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk ... cannabis smoke contains higher levels of carcinogens than cigarette smoke ... cannabis smokers are more likely to inhale more smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs longer, allowing for more carcinogens to be deposited in the lungs. Marijuana cigarettes do not usually have proper filters and are smoked to the tip, which also increases the amount of smoke inhaled ... smoking 1 joint daily for 10 years or 2 joints daily for 5 years increased the risk of lung cancer 5.7 times"
• Marijuana Withdrawal As Bad As Withdrawal From Cigarettes - Science Daily, 1/25/08 - "overall withdrawal severity associated with marijuana alone and tobacco alone was of similar frequency and intensity. Sleep disturbance seemed to be more pronounced during marijuana abstinence, while some of the general mood effects (anxiety, anger) seemed to be greater during tobacco abstinence"
• Marijuana Smokers Face Rapid Lung Destruction -- As Much As 20 Years Ahead Of Tobacco Smokers - Science Daily, 1/23/08 - "the mean age of marijuana-smoking patients with lung problems was 41, as opposed to the average age of 65 years for tobacco-smoking patients"
• Pot Slows Cancer in Test Tube - WebMD, 12/26/07 - "The researchers are quick to point out that much more study is needed to find out whether these test-tube results apply to tumor growth in animals and in humans"
• Marijuana Smoke Contains Higher Levels Of Certain Toxins Than Tobacco Smoke - Science Daily, 12/17/07 - "ammonia levels were 20 times higher in the marijuana smoke than in the tobacco smoke, while hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide and certain aromatic amines occurred at levels 3-5 times higher in the marijuana smoke"
• Study Shows Toxins in Marijuana Smoke - WebMD, 12/14/07 - "Ammonia levels were up to 20 times higher in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke. Levels of hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen-related chemicals were three to five times higher in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke"
• Cannabis Smoking Contributes to Pulmonary Disease - Medscape, 12/13/07 - "Cannabis smoking was associated with an increased risk of wheeze, chest tightness, and cough ... Cannabis smokers had twice the risk of chronic bronchitis and a 70% increased risk of asthma diagnosed after age 16 years ... Cannabis and tobacco smoking were both associated with a reduction in the FEV1/FVC ratio ... An increased percentage of low density lung tissue was associated with cannabis smoking ... one joint was pathologically equivalent to 2.5 to 5 tobacco cigarettes"
• Study: Marijuana may increase psychosis risk - USA Today, 7/26/07 - "even infrequent use could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40% ... The scientists found a more disturbing outlook for "heavy users" of pot, those who used it daily or weekly: Their risk for psychosis jumped to a range of 50% to 200%"
• Cannabis 'disrupts brain centre' - BBC News, 4/30/07 - "those who took THC showed reduced activity in an area of the brain called the inferior frontal cortex, which keeps inappropriate thoughts and behaviour, such as swearing and paranoia in check"
• Twin Study Adds Fuel To Marijuana Debate - Psychiatric Times, 3/21/03 - "Findings from a new study of more than 300 sets of twins show that early use of marijuana, independent of genetic background and environment, is associated with later drug use and abuse"

Abstracts:

• Marijuana Use and Older Adults' Self-Reported Difficulty Concentrating, Remembering, or Making Decisions - J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2022 Nov - "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) ... We found a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between past-month marijuana use and SDCRMD. This finding serves as an important first step in identifying the relationship between older adults' self-reported marijuana use and their difficulty concentrating, remembering, and decision-making"
• Self-reported marijuana use and cardiac arrhythmias (from the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) - Am J Cardiol 2022 Jun 17 - "Compared with never users, participants reporting current use of marijuana (n = 40, 3%) had more supraventricular tachycardia/day (adjusted geometric mean ratio [GMR] 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.87 to 2.32), more premature atrial contractions/hour (GMR 1.22, 95% CI 0.72, 2.13), and more NSVT/day (GMR 1.28, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.73); although, CIs overlapped 1. Additionally, more frequent marijuana use was associated with more runs of NSVT/day (GMR 1.56, 95% CI 1.13, 2.17). In conclusion, our results suggest that current marijuana use may be associated with a greater burden of arrhythmias"
• Cannabis Use is Associated with Prevalent Coronary Artery Disease - Am J Med Sci 2022 Apr 12 - "Ever (versus never) cannabis users had 90% increased odds of CAD [OR (95% CI): 1.90 (1.24 - 2.93), p = 0.003]. Those who had used cannabis at least once per month for at least one year had 68% increased odds of CAD [OR (95% CI): 1.68 (1.02-2.77), p = 0.04]. Current cannabis users had near 98% increased odds of CAD [OR (95% CI): 1.98 (1.11 - 3.54), p = 0.02]. Similar results were seen with heavy cannabis users [OR (95% CI): 1.99 (1.02 - 3.89), p = 0.045]. These results were consistent in subgroups stratified by race, gender, hypertension, obesity, COPD, hyperlipidemia, tobacco smoking status, and diabetes"
• Long-Term Cannabis Use and Cognitive Reserves and Hippocampal Volume in Midlife - Am J Psychiatry 2022 Mar 8 - "Long-term cannabis users showed IQ decline from childhood to midlife (mean=-5.5 IQ points), poorer learning and processing speed relative to their childhood IQ, and informant-reported memory and attention problems ... Long-term cannabis users showed smaller hippocampal volume"
• Use of Marijuana: Effect on Brain Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association - Stroke 2022 Feb 10 - "Marijuana is perceived as a harmless drug, and its recreational use has gained popularity among young individuals. The concentration of active ingredients in recreational formulations has gradually increased over time, and high-potency illicit cannabinomimetics have become available. Thus, the consumption of cannabis in the general population is rising. Data from preclinical models demonstrate that cannabinoid receptors are expressed in high density in areas involved in cognition and behavior, particularly during periods of active neurodevelopment and maturation. In addition, growing evidence highlights the role of endogenous cannabinoid pathways in the regulation of neurotransmitter release, synaptic plasticity, and neurodevelopment. In animal models, exogenous cannabinoids disrupt these important processes and lead to cognitive and behavioral abnormalities. These data correlate with the higher risk of cognitive impairment reported in some observational studies done in humans. It is unclear whether the effect of cannabis on cognition reverts after abstinence. However, this evidence, along with the increased risk of stroke reported in marijuana users, raises concerns about its potential long-term effects on cognitive function"
• The effects of cannabidiol and analgesic expectancies on experimental pain reactivity in healthy adults: A balanced placebo design trial - American Psychological Association, 4/22/21 - "Fifteen healthy adults each completed four separate experimental sessions. Participants were randomly assigned to different counterbalanced manipulation conditions at each session: control (told inactive—given inactive); expectancy (told active CBD—given inactive); drug (told inactive—given active CBD); and expectancy + drug (told active CBD—given active CBD). Primary outcomes were pain threshold, tolerance, intensity, unpleasantness, conditioned pain modulation (CPM), and offset analgesia (OA). There was a significant main effect of instructions on OA, such that the OA response was significantly larger when participants were told that they received CBD, regardless of drug content. Pain unpleasantness was significantly reduced in the drug, expectancy, and expectancy + drug conditions, relative to the control condition. The drug and expectancy conditions separately improved CPM, whereas the expectancy + drug and control conditions produced the lowest CPM change scores. We did not detect significant effects for pain threshold, tolerance, or intensity. Our results indicated that separate pain outcomes can be differentially affected by CBD and/or expectancies for receiving CBD" - [Nutra USA] - Note: In other words, it was mostly in their heads.
• Long-Term Effects of Early Adolescent Marijuana Use on Attentional and Inhibitory Control - J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2020 Mar;81(2):164-172 - "High levels of early marijuana use at ages 12-14 significantly predicted low levels of adolescent attentional control at ages 18-21 (β = -.20, p < .05), above and beyond early attentional control, early alcohol use, and antisocial problems"
• U.S. Adults With Pain, a Group Increasingly Vulnerable to Nonmedical Cannabis Use and Cannabis Use Disorder: 2001-2002 and 2012-2013 - Am J Psychiatry. 2020 Jan 22 - "The results suggest that adults with pain are a group increasingly vulnerable to adverse cannabis use outcomes, warranting clinical and public health attention to this risk. Psychiatrists and other health care providers treating patients with pain should monitor such patients for signs and symptoms of cannabis use disorder"
• The role of marijuana in homicide - Int J Addict. 1994 Jan;29(2):195-213 - "In this paper we examine the relationship between marijuana use and homicide. Data derive from interviews with 268 individuals incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities for homicides that occurred in 1984. We found that in terms of lifetime use, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug in this sample; that about one-third of respondents who had ever used marijuana used the drug in the 24-hour period before the homicide; and that almost three-quarters of those respondents were experiencing some type of effect from the drug when the homicide occurred. A total of 18 respondents (7% of the total sample) said that the homicide was related to their marijuana use"
• Endocrine effects of marijuana in the male: preclinical studies - NIDA Res Monogr. 1984;44:46-64 - "The THC-induced block of GnRH release results in lowered LH and FSH which is responsible for reduced testosterone production by the Leydig cells of the testis. Other hormones that might have a synergistic or antagonistic effect upon reproduction in the male are the adrenal cortical hormones, prolactin, thyroid hormones, and growth hormones. THC appears to depress prolactin, thyroid gland function, and growth hormone while elevating adrenal cortical steroids. Chronic exposure of laboratory animals, such as rats, mice, and monkeys to marijuana and to the various cannabinoids in marijuana has altered the function of several of the accessory reproductive organs. Reports of reduced prostate and seminal vesicle weights, as well as altered testicular function, have been partially explained by the effect of marijuana in lowering serum testosterone needed for proper function and support. Although some of the change in organ weight may be due to lowered testosterone production by the Leydig cells of the testis, some of the weight changes may be due to a direct action of THC, and perhaps some of the other nonpsychoactive cannabinoids in marijuana, on the tissue themselves. Also, of concern are the reports that acute cannabinoid treatments affects the quality and quantity of spermatozoa produced by the testis"
• Paradoxical Patterns of Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome-Like Liver Injury in Aged Female CD-1 Mice Triggered by Cannabidiol-Rich Cannabis Extract and Acetaminophen Co-Administration - Molecules. 2019 Jun 17;24(12) - "The goal of this study was to investigate the potential for a cannabidiol-rich cannabis extract (CRCE) to interact with the most common over-the-counter drug and the major known cause of drug-induced liver injury-acetaminophen (APAP)-in aged female CD-1 mice ... These findings highlight the potential for CBD/drug interactions, and reveal an interesting paradoxical effect of CBD/APAP-induced hepatotoxicity" - [Nutra USA] - Note:  So add liver toxicity to the long list of problems with pot.
• Association Between Use of Marijuana and Male Reproductive Hormones and Semen Quality - Medscape, 10/8/15 - "Regular marijuana smoking more than once per week was associated with a 28% (95% confidence interval (CI): −48, −1) lower sperm concentration and a 29% (95% CI: −46, −1) lower total sperm count after adjustment for confounders. The combined use of marijuana more than once per week and other recreational drugs reduced the sperm concentration by 52% (95% CI: −68, −27) and total sperm count by 55%"
• Cannabis use and quality of life of adolescents and young adults: findings from an Australian birth cohort - J Psychoactive Drugs. 2015 Apr-Jun;47(2):107-16 - "After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics and for QOL pre-cannabis use, participants who used cannabis more frequently had a lower QOL at the 21-years follow-up. Frequent use of cannabis does not appear to enhance the user's QOL and appears to be associated with a reduced QOL into young adulthood"
• Long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Nov 10 - "in 48 marijuana users and 62 age- and sex-matched nonusing controls. The results showed that compared with controls, marijuana users had significantly less bilateral orbitofrontal gyri volume, higher functional connectivity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) network, and higher structural connectivity in tracts that innervate the OFC (forceps minor) as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA). Increased OFC functional connectivity in marijuana users was associated with earlier age of onset. Lastly, a quadratic trend was observed suggesting that the FA of the forceps minor tract initially increased following regular marijuana use but decreased with protracted regular use. This pattern may indicate differential effects of initial and chronic marijuana use that may reflect complex neuroadaptive processes in response to marijuana use"
• Effects of cannabis on cognition in patients with MS: A psychometric and MRI study - Neurology. 2014 Apr 30 - "Patients with MS who smoke cannabis are more cognitively impaired than nonusers. Cannabis further compromises cerebral compensatory mechanisms, already faulty in MS"
• Cannabis use is quantitatively associated with nucleus accumbens and amygdala abnormalities in young adult recreational users - J Neurosci. 2014 Apr 16;34(16):5529-38 - "Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, but little is known about its effects on the human brain, particularly on reward/aversion regions implicated in addiction, such as the nucleus accumbens and amygdala. Animal studies show structural changes in brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens after exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, but less is known about cannabis use and brain morphometry in these regions in humans. We collected high-resolution MRI scans on young adult recreational marijuana users and nonusing controls and conducted three independent analyses of morphometry in these structures ... Gray matter density analyses revealed greater gray matter density in marijuana users than in control participants in the left nucleus accumbens extending to subcallosal cortex, hypothalamus, sublenticular extended amygdala, and left amygdala, even after controlling for age, sex, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking. Trend-level effects were observed for a volume increase in the left nucleus accumbens only. Significant shape differences were detected in the left nucleus accumbens and right amygdala. The left nucleus accumbens showed salient exposure-dependent alterations across all three measures and an altered multimodal relationship across measures in the marijuana group. These data suggest that marijuana exposure, even in young recreational users, is associated with exposure-dependent alterations of the neural matrix of core reward structures and is consistent with animal studies of changes in dendritic arborization"
• Juvenile cannabinoid treatment induces frontostriatal gliogenesis in Lewis rats - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2014 Jan 18 - "Cannabis abuse in adolescence is associated with a broad array of phenotypical consequences, including a higher risk for schizophrenia and other mental disturbances related to dopamine (DA) imbalances ... These results indicate that, in Lewis rats, juvenile cannabinoid exposure leads to alterations in frontostriatal gliogenesis, as well as select behavioral alterations time-locked to high DAergic metabolism, but not overt schizophrenia-related deficits"
• Effects of cannabis and familial loading on subcortical brain volumes in first-episode schizophrenia - Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2013 Nov;263 - "Patients fulfilling the criteria for cannabis abuse at admission showed an increased area of the CC2 segment compared to those who did not fulfill the criteria. Patients with a family history of schizophrenia combined with previous cannabis abuse showed lower volumes of the bilateral caudate nucleus compared to all other patients, implicating an interaction between the genetic background and cannabis abuse as environmental factor"
• Marijuana use and risk of lung cancer: a 40-year cohort study - Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Jul 12 - "Cannabis (marijuana) smoke and tobacco smoke contain many of the same potent carcinogens, but a critical-yet unresolved-medical and public-health issue is whether cannabis smoking might facilitate the development of lung cancer ... military conscription in Sweden in 1969-1970. Participants were tracked until 2009 for incident lung cancer outcomes in nationwide linked medical registries ... such "heavy" cannabis smoking was significantly associated with more than a twofold risk (hazard ratio 2.12, 95 % CI 1.08-4.14) of developing lung cancer over the 40-year follow-up period, even after statistical adjustment for baseline tobacco use, alcohol use, respiratory conditions, and socioeconomic status"
• Metabolic Effects of Chronic Cannabis Smoking - Diabetes Care. 2013 Mar 25 - "studied cannabis smokers (n = 30; women, 12; men, 18; 27 +/- 8 years) and control subjects (n = 30) ... Self-reported cannabis use was: 9.5 (2-38) years; joints/day: 6 (3-30) [median (range)] ... cannabis smokers had a higher percent abdominal visceral fat (18 +/- 9 vs. 12 +/- 5%; P = 0.004). Cannabis smokers had lower plasma HDL cholesterol (49 +/- 14 vs. 55 +/- 13 mg/dL; P = 0.02)" - Note:  So you still get the beer belly even without the beer.
• Marijuana use and long-term mortality among survivors of acute myocardial infarction - Am Heart J. 2013 Feb;165(2):170-5 - "Compared with nonusers, the mortality rate was 29% higher (95% CI 0.81-2.05, P = .28) among those reporting any marijuana use"
• A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial of N-Acetylcysteine in Cannabis-Dependent Adolescents - Am J Psychiatry. 2012 Jun 15 - "Participants receiving NAC had more than twice the odds, compared with those receiving placebo, of having negative urine cannabinoid test results during treatment (odds ratio=2.4, 95% CI=1.1-5.2) ... Findings support NAC as a pharmacotherapy to complement psychosocial treatment for cannabis dependence in adolescents" - See NAC products at iHerb.
• Cannabis Use, Ischemic Stroke, and Multifocal Intracranial Vasoconstriction: A Prospective Study in 48 Consecutive Young Patients - Stroke. 2011 Apr 21 - "Multifocal angiopathy associated with cannabis consumption could be an important cause of ischemic stroke in young people"
• Cannabis Use and Earlier Onset of Psychosis: A Systematic Meta-analysis - Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Feb 7
• Early endothelial dysfunction as a marker of vasculogenic erectile dysfunction in young habitual cannabis users - Int J Impot Res. 2008 Nov-Dec;20(6):566-73 - "We conclude that early endothelial damage may be induced by chronic cannabis use (and endocannabinoid system activation); insulin resistance may be the hallmark of early endothelial dysfunction and may concur to determine vascular ED in the absence of obesity"
• Atrial fibrillation and marijuana smoking - Int J Clin Pract. 2007 Nov 21 - "Marijuana smoking affects the circulatory system triggering various cardiovascular events. Of note, recent case reports indicate a possible association with atrial fibrillation (AF). In this article, we provide a brief systematic review of all reported cases implicating marijuana smoking in AF development and we concisely discuss the potential underlying mechanisms as well as the clinical implications of this emerging association"
• Cannabis and psychosis - Lancet. 2007 Nov 3;370(9598):1540
• Genetic effects of marijuana - Int J Addict. 1990-1991;25(1A):19-33 - "Marijuana and its constitutive cannabinoids--tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabidiol (CBD)--markedly affect mammalian cells. Cytogenetic studies have revealed that cannabinoids induce chromosome aberrations in both in vivo and in vitro studies. These aberrations include chromosomal breaks, deletions, translocations, errors in chromosomal segregation, and hypoploidy, and are due to the clastogenic action of cannabinoids or to cannabinoid-induced disruption of mitotic events or both. Conflicting reports of the cytogenetic effects of cannabinoids are partially explained by the different experimental protocols, cell types, and animals used by investigators. Cannabinoids also suppress macromolecular synthesis (DNA, RNA, and protein) as well as reduce the level of histone gene expression. In general these studies show that cannabinoids are detrimental to the health of an individual"
• Effects of administration of cannabis resin during pregnancy on emotionality and learning in rats' offspring - Percept Mot Skills. 1980 Apr;50(2):359-65 - "Injection of cannabis resin as a saline-Tween 80 solution to pregnant rats resulted in pups having lower body weight, higher emotionality, poorer learning capacity, and paradoxically higher brain weight and DNA content. The cannabis appeared directly to have caused the inferior growth rate of the pups which in turn affected emotionality and learning"