Latest Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States Stories
A strong and independent link between cannabis use and the onset of psychosis at a younger age has been reported, according to researchers from Spain.They said the association cannot be explained by chance, and is not related to gender or the use of other drugs. It is, however, related to the amount of cannabis used.Dr. Ana Gonzalez-Pinto from Santiago Apostol Hospital in Vitoria said the clinical importance of this finding is potentially high given that cannabis use is extremely prevalent...
By Nick Harding When Nick Harding left university for a high pressure career, he consigned his days of regular dope-smoking to the history books. More than a decade later - and with recreational drug use more prevalent than ever - how would this balding, 38-year-old father of two cope with a cannabis habit? He decided to cultivate one in the name of research... with startling results I first smoked cannabis when I was 18 - a late starter by today's standards. It took many years before I...
Despite reported declines in teen marijuana use, in 2007 almost 11 million teens report having used marijuana. For those using the drug, four alarming trends are of grave concern for parents and teens, according to "Non-Medical Marijuana III: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette?," a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. From 1992 - 2006: -- There was a 175 percent jump in the potency of marijuana (3.2 to 8.8 percent THC(1)...
Claims that a large increase in the strength of cannabis over the last decade is driving the occurrence of mental health and other problems for users are not borne out by a study of the worldwide literature, say researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) and the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI), both from Australia.Their conclusions, published in this month's issue of ADDICTION, are that increased potency has been observed in some countries, but there is...
Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons."I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused," said Garon, lying in...
By Anne Harding NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teens who experiment with marijuana may be making themselves more vulnerable to heroin addiction later in life, if the findings from experiments with rats are any indication. "Cannabis has very long-term, enduring effects on the brain," Dr. Yasmin Hurd of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health in an interview. Whether or not trying marijuana is a 'gateway' to use of so-called harder drugs...
LONDON (Reuters) - Driving under the influence of cannabis can double the odds of causing a fatal car crash and the risk increases if the drug is combined with alcohol, French scientists said on Friday. Researchers from the French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS) who studied 10,748 drivers involved in fatal car crashes from 2001-2003, said about 7 percent tested positive for cannabis and 21.4 percent for alcohol. Nearly 3 percent were under the influence...
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in a California case that could make or break a growing trend in some states towards legalizing medical marijuana. Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. has joined with his counterparts from California and Washington in filing a joint amicus brief supporting the respondents, two women who use marijuana as a pain medication. At issue in the case, Ashcroft v. Raich, is whether federal law enforcement agencies have a right to take...
