Get a Clue - Weed

Details: Published: 19 May 2023; Hits: 1258

Spain’s Universities of Leon and Oviedo found that “The gateway hypothesis holds that cannabis use increases other illegal substance use. Cannabis use duplicated the probabilities of tobacco and alcohol use.

Cannabis use increased 5 times the likelihood of use of other illegal drugs”.

Testing the cannabis gateway hypothesis in a national sample of Spanish adolescents

Highlights

The gateway hypothesis holds that cannabis use increases other illegal substance use.
Cannabis use duplicated the probabilities of tobacco and alcohol use.
Cannabis use increased five times the likelihood of use of other illegal drugs.

Source https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460323001466

Also see Cannabis and the Gateway Drug Theory: Correlation or Causation – Where does the Evidence Point?(DRR)

Details: Published: 19 May 2023; Hits: 986

The toxicological profile of CBD raises safety concerns, especially for long term consumption by the general population.

Highlights

Potential hazards from long term oral use of CBD are discussed.
CBD-induced male reproductive toxicity is observed from invertebrates to primates.
Mechanisms of CBD-mediated oral toxicity are not fully understood.

for full Research

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Details: Published: 17 May 2023; Hits: 1004

Abstract: The legalization of recreational and medical cannabis has increased the availability and potency of cannabis products in homes and communities. Although state laws regarding legalization and commercial sale often encompass adult use only, pediatric toxicity from unintentional exposures to cannabis edibles and adolescent harm from chronic use are increasing in states and countries that have relaxed laws on use. Unintentional edible ingestions are shown to increase in regions that legalize and commercialize cannabis products at the retail level. Long-term effects on teenagers regarding psychiatric changes as well as acute gastrointestinal effects from hyperemesis syndrome are well documented in the medical literature... [Pediatr Ann. 2023;52(5):e181-e186.] (Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37159059/ )

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Details: Published: 12 May 2023; Hits: 1112

Moves by a small number of governments to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis have led to increased consumption without explaining the potentially serious health dangers that users face from the drug, a UN narcotics watchdog said on Thursday.

Issuing the warning at the launch of its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) cited data indicating that the trend caused “negative health effects and psychotic disorders” among some recreational cannabis users, while also contravening the UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

“In all jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, data show that cannabis-related health problems have increased,” INCB said. It pointed out that between 2000 and 2018, “global medical admissions related to cannabis dependence and withdrawal increased eight-fold. Admissions for cannabis-related psychotic disorders have quadrupled worldwide.”

United Nations News – March 2023

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Details: Published: 10 May 2023; Hits: 1100

Prospective associations between cannabis use and depressive symptoms across adolescence and early adulthood
Abstract: Cannabis use and occurrences of depression during adolescence are common. However, the temporal relationship between the two is less understood. Does depression lead to cannabis use, or does cannabis use lead to depression, or is it a combination of both? Furthermore, this directionality is confounded by other substance use, specifically binge drinking, which is common during adolescence. This study aimed to examine the temporal directionality of cannabis use and depression among a prospective, longitudinal, sequential cohort of 15 to 24-year-olds. Data were drawn from the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study. The final sample included 767 participants. Multilevel regression models were run to assess concurrent (at the same time point) and prospective (1 year later) associations between cannabis use and depression. When measured concurrently, depressive symptoms did not significantly predict past-month cannabis use but did significantly predict more days of use among cannabis users. Prospective associations indicated that depressive symptoms significantly predicted cannabis use 1 year later and cannabis use significantly predicted depressive symptoms 1 year later. We found no evidence that these associations varied by age or binge drinking. Overall, the relationship between cannabis use and depression appears to be complex and not unidirectional
Conclusion: In this longitudinal study of a large sample of adolescents and young adults, we found that cannabis use is positively associated with depression, but the relationship appears to be complex and not unidirectional. Depressive symptoms were associated with more cannabis use in those already using cannabis, and frequency of use predicted greater depression symptoms 1 year later, even after adjusting for current levels of cannabis use. (Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178123001415?via%3Dihub)

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