Consumers in Colorado bought more than 17 tons of recreational marijuana during the first year of the state’s new retail market, but sales of medicinal pot still outstripped that at almost 50 tons, officials said on Friday.
In a national first, voters in Colorado and Washington state opted to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults in landmark twin ballots in 2012. The first retail stores opened in Colorado on Jan 1, 2014.
States such as Oregon and Alaska also have voted to legalize recreational pot, and others where lawmakers face proposals to do so, are watching the Colorado results closely.
State tax officials say sales hit nearly $700 million last year, with medical marijuana ac
counting for $386 million and recreational pot bringing in $313 million.
In its first annual report, the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division said 109,578 pounds (49.7 tons) of medical marijuana were sold in 2014, while 38,660 pounds (17.5 tons) were sold on the retail market.
But recreational sales of pot-infused edible products, such as candies and cookies, outstripped medical sales by about 2.85 million units to 1.96 million.
The report said 322 retail stores were licensed at the end of last year, while 833 licenses were issued to retail businesses in general, and 1,416 medical-marijuana businesses were approved by the state.
It said medical businesses were cultivating about 300,000 marijuana plants on average each month during 2014, while the number of retail plants rose steadily from fewer than 25,000 in January to nearly 217,000 during December.
Sixty-seven jurisdictions allow medical and retail licensees, 21 permit only medical and five only retail, while 228 jurisdictions prohibit them both.
The state’s marijuana laws have been challenged in federal court by neighboring Nebraska and Oklahoma, which argue that weed is smuggled across their borders.
Some Colorado residents also are challenging them, saying the pot industry has hurt their families, businesses or property values.
Supporters say voters have chosen to take the trade out of the hands of criminals, and a Quinnipiac University Poll this week showed 58 percent of Colorado residents support marijuana legalization, versus 38 percent against it.
One of the key campaigners behind the bid to legalise cannabis use for terminally ill people in New South Wales has died.
Dan Haslam, 25, was surrounded by friends and family when he died at his home in Tamworth on Tuesday, after a five-year battle with bowel cancer.
Mr Haslam came to national attention in 2014, when he and his family went public with the story of his experience using medicinal cannabis as a way to manage the effects of his cancer treatment.
The Haslam family has since been campaigning for the medicinal use of the drug to be made legal.
NSW is now running three medical trials that allow children with severe epilepsy, adults with terminal illnesses and people with nausea caused by chemotherapy to use medical cannabis.
Mr Haslam's mother Lucy Haslam told the ABC New England North West Morning program that her son did not stop fighting until the end.
"He just became the champion of the cause for so many people that didn't feel they could use their own voice to come out in support for medical cannabis," she said.
"He was very easy to love, I don't think he had any enemies."
Mrs Haslam said her son had helped thousands of people.
The Premier also directed police to not prosecute terminally ill people using the illegal drug.
Baird paid tribute to Haslam on news of his death saying “I was struck by Dan’s conviction and bravery from the moment I met him”.
“His determination, not just to beat his disease, but also to make a difference for others, is an inspiration to all, and certainly was to me. I will never forget the look in his eyes the first time I met him and it will stay with me forever.”
Haslam’s campaign continued to gather momentum last year, especially when the state and federal governments signed an agreement in October that saw NSW take the lead on medical cannabis research. Victoria is hoping to legalise medical cannabis by the end of the year.
NSW is currently running three medical trials involving adults with terminal illness, patients with nausea from chemotherapy, and children with severe epilepsy.
Baird was deeply moved by Haslam, whom he met in July last year. The Southern Cross University student was just 20 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colo-rectal cancer. A friend suggested he use cannabis to treat his nausea and pain when he was struggling with the side effects of the opiates traditionally used.
To the surprise of the fiercely anti-drugs family, they found it worked. A campaign to allow him to legally use cannabis included a petition signed by more than 195,000 people, which was presented to the premier last year.
Haslam’s campaign received support from some unlikely sources. His father, Lou, was a former drug squad policeman with 35 years in the force. Local Nationals MP Kevin Andrew also came out in support of the family and a change to the laws.
His mother Lucy told ABC Radio today that Dan became a champion for the many who felt they couldn’t speak out in support of medical cannabis and had helped thousands of people.
“He was very easy to love, I don’t think he had any enemies,” she said.
Three weeks ago, the NSW government granted Haslam just the second licence to use medical marijuana under its Terminal Illness Cannabis Scheme, which protects licence holders from prosecution for possessing up to 15 grams of cannabis leaf, 2.5g of resin or 1g of cannabis oil.
His parents also received licences to protect them from prosecution for possession of their son’s cannabis.
So far 11 people have applied to the Premier’s Department for licences.
He went to Oxley High School in Tamworth before his university studies in sports science in Lismore were delayed by his illness. He met his future wife Alyce at university and the pair became engaged in 2011 and married in 2013.
Dan Haslam is survived by his wife Alyce, parents Lucy and Lou, and brothers Billy and Luke.
A public memorial for him is planned in Tamworth next week.
Here is NSW premier Mike Baird’s statement on his death.
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dan Haslam.
I was struck by Dan’s conviction and bravery from the moment I met him.
His determination, not just to beat his disease, but also to make a difference for others, is an inspiration to all, and certainly was to me.
I will never forget the look in his eyes the first time I met him and it will stay with me forever.
Dan made a lasting impression on everyone he met, but, more than that, he left a legacy in NSW that will be felt across the nation, and I believe the world.
Every step we take on medical cannabis will be built on the footsteps he left behind.
My thoughts at this sad time are with Dan’s parents Lucy and Lou, his wife Alyce and his brothers Billy and Luke, as well as his many friends.
RIP Dan, we will all miss you.
Rest in Peace Dan. Thank you for your amazing help in legalising this amazing medicine, Your sacrifice means Australia moves one step closer to being able to help thousands of other terminally ill patients, And for that your country is grateful.
In the 1990s, Portugal was faced with a drug epidemic. General drug use wasn’t any worse than neighboring countries, but rates of problematic drug use were off the charts. A 2001 survey found that 0.7 percent of its population had used heroin at least one time, the second highest rate after England and Wales in Europe. So, in 1998, Portugal appointed a special commission of doctors, lawyers, psychologists, and activists to assess the problem and propose policy recommendations. Following eight months of analysis, the commission advised the government to embark on a radically different approach.
In the 1990s, Portugal was faced with a drug epidemic. General drug use wasn’t any worse than neighboring countries, but rates of problematic drug use were off the charts. A 2001 survey found that 0.7 percent of its population had used heroin at least one time, the second highest rate after England and Wales in Europe. So, in 1998, Portugal appointed a special commission of doctors, lawyers, psychologists, and activists to assess the problem and propose policy recommendations. Following eight months of analysis, the commission advised the government to embark on aradically different approach.
Rather than respond as many governments have, with zero-tolerance legislation and an emphasis on law enforcement, the commission suggested the decriminalization of all drugs, coupled with a focus on prevention, education, and harm-reduction. The objective of the new policy was to reintegrate the addict back into the community, rather than isolate them in prisons, the common approach by many governments. Two years later, Portugal’s government passed the commission’s recommendations into law.
Just as important as the specific policies recommended by the commission is an entirely different philosophy. Rather than treating addiction as a crime, it’s treated as a medical condition. João Goulão, Portugal’s top drug official, emphasizes that the goal of the new policy is to fight the disease, not the patients.
Decriminalization doesn’t mean legalization.
Legalization removes all criminal penalties for producing, selling, and possessing drugs whereas decriminalization eliminates jail time for drug users, but dealers are still criminally prosecuted. Roughly 25 countries have removed criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of certain or all drugs. No country has attempted full legalization.
When Portuguese authorities find someone in possession of drugs, the drug user will eventually go before a three-member, administrative panel that includes a lawyer, a doctor, and a psychologist. In dealing with the drug user, the panel has only three choices: prescribe treatment, fine the user, or do nothing.
Portugal also invested heavily in widespread prevention and education efforts, as well as building rehabilitation programs, needle exchanges, and hospitals.
How did it work?
Levels of drug consumption in Portugal are now among the lowest in the European Union.No surprise, the decriminalization of low-level drug possession has also resulted in a dramatic decline in drug arrests, from more than 14,000 per year to roughly 6,000 once the new policies were implemented. The percentage of drug-related offenders in Portuguese prisons decreased as well -- from 44 percent in 1999 to under 21 percent in 2012.
HIV infection is an area where the results are clear. Before the law, more than half of Portugal's HIV-infected residents were drug addicts. Each year brought 3,000 new diagnoses of HIV among addicts. Today, addicts consist of only 20 percent of HIV-infected patients.
Portugal’s drug control officials and independent studies caution against crediting Portugal's’s decriminalization as much as its prevention and rehabilitation efforts.
Prospects for ending the U.S. Drug War.
Drug policy in the United States could not be more different. In the U.S., law enforcement still takes center stage, and the war on drugs is defended by vested interests -- from police unions to private prison companies -- that command billions in resources. While the top drug control official in Portugal is a doctor, the U.S. has a drug czar who specializes in law enforcement.
But advocates hoping to change the system have something they don’t: scientific evidence and popular support.
In early 2014, the U.K.'s government conducted an eight-month study comparing drug laws and rates of drug use in 11 countries, including Portugal. Published in October, the report concludes that “[w]e did not in our fact-finding observe any obvious relationship between the toughness of a country’s enforcement against drug possession, and levels of drug use in that country.” It was the U.K.’s first official recognition that its war on drugs has been a complete failure since Parliament passed the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.
Another sign of hope is the near universal view among Americans that the drug war is not working. A Pew poll from April 2014 revealed that two out of three Americans think people shouldn’t be prosecuted for drug possession. Sixty-three percent support eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing, and 54 percent support full marijuana legalization. States have made more progress changing drug laws than the federal government, particularly when the decision is left to voters, who have passed recreational marijuana legalization or medical marijuana legalization by referenda in several states.
It's a long-held belief, not just among stoners, that marijuana is the safest drug. A new scientific study comparing the risks associated with various drugs backs this up, and proves that weed might even be safer than we thought.
The study looked at alcohol, heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, meth, and cannabis; the way they appear in that sentence is the order in which they ranked, highest to lowest risk. Reports theWashington Post:
At the level of individual use, alcohol was the deadliest substance, followed by heroin and cocaine.
And all the way at the bottom of the list? Weed — roughly 114 times less deadly than booze, according to the authors, who ran calculations that compared lethal doses of a given substance with the amount that a typical person uses. Marijuana is also the only drug studied that posed a low mortality risk to its users.
In other words, it's pretty darn difficult to fatally OD on pot.
The study's findings, the Post points out, emphasize how arbitrary drug laws are, since the substance that carries the highest risk of death is legal, easily purchased, and a socially-acceptable part of culture. The findings may also give some ammo to the marijuana-legalization cause.
Given the relative risks associated with marijuana and alcohol, the authors recommend "risk management prioritization towards alcohol and tobacco rather than illicit drugs." And they say that when it comes to marijuana, the low amounts of risk associated with the drug "suggest a strict legal regulatory approach rather than the current prohibition approach."
Of the seven drugs included in the study, alcohol was the deadliest at an individual level, followed by heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, methamphetamines, and marijuana. Previous studies consistently ranked marijuana as the safest recreational drug, but it was not known that the discrepancy was this large. The researchers determined the mortality risk by comparing a lethal dose of each substance with the amount typically used. Not only was marijuana the lowest of the drugs tested, but there was such a gap between its lethal and typical doses that they classified it as the only "low mortality risk" drug..
People should be allowed to use cannabis to help treat their medical conditions, The UKs deputy PM Nick Clegg said today.The Deputy Prime Minister said cannabis should be available in a 'straightforward legal way' to help people alleviate their symptoms.
Mr Clegg's remarks came after new academic research revealed users of super-strength cannabis, known as 'skunk, are three times more likely to suffer psychotic mental illness than people who don't take the drug.Overall, a quarter of new cases of psychosis can be blamed on the super-strength strain of cannabis, according to research published in the Lancet medical journal.Mr Clegg this morning insisted he did not want to legalise 'skunk' and other dangerous drugs and insisted it was 'bone-headed' to lump all substances together.Speaking on his weekly call-in on LBC, the Lib Dem leader said it 'strongly' agreed that cannabis for medicinal use should be given the go-ahead.
WATCH HERE:
The Home Office has consistently rejected calls for cannabis to be legalised for medical use – pointing to 'clear evidence cannabis can damage people's mental and physical health'.
Opponents of allowing cannabis for medical purposes insist it could be used as a back door to decriminalising the drug more widely.
Campaigners say cannabis can be used to help conditions such as MS and glaucoma, as well as the side-effects of treatment for cancer, Aids and Crohn's disease.
It came after a caller to his weekly phone-in on LBC said cannabis helped alleviate his MS.
The caller said cannabis was a 'medicine' which helped thousands of people.
He asked Mr Clegg: 'Why are you not doing more about it? I would like to get your word – I would like to get an agreement from you – live on LBC that you are going to do more to make this a big issue because this really does affect people's lives. We need access to legal medical cannabis.'
Mr Clegg replied: 'Basically agree with you. I strongly agree with you that where there is a proven medicinal use for cannabis for instance we should make that easier for those to have access to it in a straightforward legal way in order to alleviate the symptoms that you clearly have that you know as a user are alleviated by the use of cannabis.'
He said Skunk was very different, because it had a link to psychosis.
Mr Clegg: 'If you are anti the harm drugs do you should be pro-reform.'
'This slightly bone-headed approach which says you treat all drugs in exactly the same way, you treat everyone who's ever had access to drugs in exactly the same way – you chuck them in jail.
'We chuck 500 people a year for using cannabis for personal use into jail. Yet, we allow the Mr Biggs who paddle the really nasty drugs, we let them walk scot free?
'Let's take a more intelligent approach – where there is a clear medicinal use, make sure you have access to that in a regulated way.
'Come down much, much more heavily on the people who paddle the really harmful drugs – bring drugs out from the shadows.'
Mr Clegg's remarks come just days after bombshell academic research revealed the true damage caused by cannabis abuse.
According to research carried out by King's College London the potent form of the drug – known as 'skunk' – is so powerful that users are three times more likely to have a psychotic episode than those who have never tried it.
Skunk is thought to account for around for 80 per cent of the UK drug market and is believed to be more addictive than normal herbal cannabis or its solid form, hash.
According to Crime Survey figures for England and Wales, more than a million youngsters aged 16 to 24 smoke cannabis.
Regular users are most at risk of a psychotic episode, prompting experts to warn that youngsters need to be aware of the dangers of skunk, which has been cultivated to be four times as strong as cannabis smoked by previous generations.
The researchers, led by a team at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, conclude there is an 'urgent need… to inform young people about the risks of high-potency cannabis', despite a worldwide trend towards relaxing drug laws.
They will reveal there is a key difference between potent skunk strains and ordinary 'hash'. Those who used these 'weaker' forms did not seem to suffer the same increase in risks.
Psychosis is defined as a form of mental illness where people experience delusions, hallucinations, or both at the same time.
Associated with conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, some victims are so badly affected that they end up committing suicide or seriously harming others because they believe they are being ordered to do so by voices in their heads.
The findings will add substance to a 2012 report by the Schizophrenia Commission, which recommended the need for 'warnings about the risks of cannabis' to mental health.
Last year Mr Clegg pledged to abolish prison terms for users caught with any drugs, including class A substances such as cocaine and heroin.
It was 'utterly senseless' to lock up the 1,000 people a year convicted of possession, he said.
The law currently allows drugs firms to develop medicines based on cannabis under a licence granted by the Home Office. One such medicine, Sativex, is already authorised for use in the UK for the treatment of MS.
However, a Home Office spokesman said: 'This Government has no plans to legalise cannabis or to soften our approach to its use as a medicine.
'There is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people's mental and physical health. Our cross-government strategy remains clear.
'We must prevent drug use in our communities, support users through treatment and recovery, and tackle the organised criminals behind the drugs trade.
'There has been a long-term downward trend in drug use over the last decade.
'Drug-related deaths in England and Wales have continued to fall during the past three years and people going into treatment today are more likely to free themselves from dependency than ever before.'
AN epileptic boy turned blue and nearly died after his medical marijuana supply ran out.
Cooper Wallace’s parents are desperately urging the Government to fast-track legalising the drug, to save their son and thousands more patients who claim to rely on cannabis.
Mernda couple Cassie Batten and Rhett Wallace have joined calls for an amnesty so they can avoid police prosecution until the Government changes the law later this year.
“It’s great that governments are trying to come to a resolution but it’s still months away,” Ms Batten said from Cooper’s bedside at the Northern Hospital in Epping.
The boy’s parents said they would be willing to undergo strict drug testing to ensure the cannabis was being used only for medical purposes.
They had been treating Cooper with cannabis oil, which they claimed lessened the severity of fits and relieved pain caused by his disabilities.
But six weeks ago the daily seizures returned when their supply ran out.
Their pot doctor doesn’t have enough of the specially bred plants to meet demands nationwide.
Ms Batten said that she watched her four-year-old lose consciousness and turn blue as he began having seizures late on Tuesday.
“He wasn’t himself — we knew something wasn’t right,” Ms Batten said.
“He started to have smaller fevers and then he wasn’t coming out of them, he was unresponsive ... he was going blue.”
Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to legalise the drug.
But families will have to wait until at least August, when the Victorian Law Reform Commission reports on how the law could be changed.
Until then, the drug remains banned. Ms Batten said families were prepared to grow their own but needed a guarantee from authorities that they would not be punished.
“We need the law changed now, we can’t wait,” she said.
According to a new study published in Nature this week, the munchies are partly driven by neurons that, oddly enough, normally work to suppress your appetite.
“It’s like pressing a car’s brakes and accelerating instead,” Yale’s Tamas Horvath says in a news release. “We were surprised to find that the neurons we thought were responsible for shutting down eating, were suddenly being activated and promoting hunger, even when you are full. It fools the brain’s central feeding system.”
Previous studies have found that a group of brain cells called pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons play key roles in preventing you from overeating. Researchers suspect that the signals that promote feeding must result in a reduction of POMC neuronal activity -- turns out, it’s not so clear cut.
To monitor the brain circuitry that promotes eating, Horvath and an international team of researchers manipulated the pathway that mediates marijuana’s actions on the brains of mice. Unexpectedly, the hunger-suppressing neurons showed enhanced activity during the mice's cannabinoid-induced feeding. "By observing how the appetite center of the brain responds to marijuana," Horvath explains, "we were able to see what drives the hunger brought about by cannabis and how that same mechanism that normally turns off feeding becomes a driver of eating."
The feeding signals triggered by CB1R activation, they found, promote the activity of POMC neurons, causing them to release chemicals that are different than those taht are normally produced to promote satiety, that feeling of being full.
Feeding behavior driven by these neurons is just one mode of action that involves CB1R signaling, Horvath adds, and his team is looking into whether this mechanism is also the key to getting high. Understanding why we become hungry when we’re comfortably satiated could also help researchers who are looking for a ways to suppress hungriness as well as to stimulate it -- for example in patients who lose their appetite during treatment.
A new study out of Emory University in Atlanta, however, could challenge what has become the fundamental argument for maintaining the plant’s designation as a Schedule 1 drug.
“Lifetime marijuana use up to 20 joint-years is not associated with adverse changes in spirometric (exhalation strength) measures of lung health,” the study, featured in the medical journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, concluded.
In an effort to measure marijuana’s impact on lung function, researchers from the National Health and Nutrition Examination used surveys to conduct a cross-sectional analysis measuring participants’ forced expiratory volume — defined as the amount of air one can forcibly exhale in one second. They found that adults between the ages of 18 and 59 who smoke one marijuana cigarette, also known as a joint, per day had the same expiratory volume as someone who didn’t partake in the plant.
The data collected suggests that it’s unlikely that prolonged marijuana use would cause respiratory diseases in a way that smoking tobacco would. While researchers at Emory University found that marijuana users who smoked joints reported coughing and having a sore throat — symptoms of bronchitis — they attributed that to the use of rolling papers, especially since those who used vaporizers reported similar problems less often.
The results of the Emory University study bear a striking similarity to previous research about marijuana’s effects on lung function. In 2012, government researchers found that people who smoked pot daily for seven years didn’t damage their lungs in a manner similar to that of tobacco smokers. A 2013 study conducted by Donald Tashkin, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles who has led long-term studies on the effects of tobacco inhalation, also confirmed that marijuana use alone
didn’t cause significant abnormalities to the lungs.
“The distinction the Emory University study makes is not new,” Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, told ThinkProgress. “It’s ripe with citations from Donald Tashkin who has spent more than 40 years trying to answer the question of what happens to people when they smoke tobacco and marijuana. This new study took things further; today these products aren’t being smoked [in a way] that the product is carbonized and there’s ash. Putting marijuana in your lungs is not the healthiest decision you can make but it’s stark compared to the damage done by tobacco.”
While these findings could be used to further support decriminalization and legalization efforts, issues about other health consequences of pot use — and particularly how it affects long-term brain function in adolescents and fertility in men — remain unsettled, especially in light of research published on these matters.
That’s why lawmakers in states that have either decriminalized or legalized the sale and use of marijuana have expressed a desire to further study its medical benefits and the long-term effects of inhalation. Proponents of additional pot research say that these lingering questions have stalled efforts to shape public policy that reflects empirical data rather than lawmakers’ biases.
This move for more research is out playing in Colorado, a state where the sale of marijuana has been legal for more than two years.
While a panel of medical professionals in the state recently applauded state lawmakers for approving an $8 million grant for medical marijuana research, they said that the dollar amount doesn’t suffice in filling conspicuous information gaps.
The panel pointed out that scientists know little about pot use among young adults, especially those between the ages of 18 and 25.
Questions about the degree to which Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — marijuana’s active ingredient — would impair skiers have also surfaced. During its meeting earlier this month, the panel, which included doctors, toxicologists, and an addiction specialist agreed that physicians needed more information about pot’s effects on pregnant women.
That consensus hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from acting punitively against marijuana users, particularly those with child. Officials in Colorado introduced a bill requiring pot shops to post warnings about marijuana use by pregnant women.
The legislation, if enacted, would also prohibit doctors from recommending medical marijuana to expectant mothers. With little information available about how marijuana affects the fetus, Republicans trying to pass the bill in a majority-Democratic legislature face a tough road ahead of them, further reaffirming the panel’s concerns about the lack of scholarship on the issue of marijuana.
Efforts to learn more about marijuana’s health effects, however, may be thwarted by the current federal restrictions on cultivation and the types of research that scientists can conduct. Those who want the government’s approval to study marijuana can only do so only to determine the amount of bodily harm its causes.
Once they jump that hurdle, scientists have to secure approval from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to obtain and transport large quantities of the plant from the government’s lone research repository at the University of Mississippi, a process that can add months and years to their research timeline.
Even when researchers finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel, they may find out that the federal government doesn’t have the strains of marijuana pertinent to their research. While lowering pot’s substance classification could lift barriers to research, the DEA has stubbornly maintained its position that the plant poses a significant danger to the public and has no accepted medical use.
“If we’re serious public policy people, we would let the scientists figure this out,” St. Pierre told ThinkProgress. “Does one set of vegetative matter produce a certain range of carcinogens? If so, to what degree and amount? How do people consume it? This entire discussion should be based on science.
But the laughable thing is that the government is against this type of research. All we have are anecdotes but we need science that meets the standards of a proper peer review.”
A new study suggests that legalizing medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities. The authors noted that legalizing marijuana reduces alcohol consumption, and people are more wary of driving high than drunk. Which drug is actually more dangerous on the road?
Alcohol, and it’s not even close. It’s hard to directly compare alcohol and marijuana, because driving impairment depends on dosage and the two drugs tend to affect different skills. (Pot makes drivers worse at mindless tasks like staying in a lane, while alcohol undermines behaviors that require more attention like yielding to pedestrians or taking note of stop signs.) Nevertheless, Yale psychiatrist Richard Sewell reviewed the academic literature on driving while intoxicated in a 2009 article, and found that alcohol is significantly more dangerous. Real-world data from auto accidents indicate that a drunk driver is approximately 10 times more likely to cause a fatal accident than a stoned driver. In most studies, smoking one-third of a joint or less has virtually no impact on a driver’s performance. A couple of studies even suggest that pot smokers are less likely to cause an accident than sober drivers.
It’s a little surprising that THC has such a small effect on driving. In experiments testing the skills required for driving—coordination, visual tracking, and reaction time—rather than driving itself, subjects under the influence of pot fare significantly worse than sober people. But when you put them behind the wheel of a driving simulator, tokers perform okay. Those who have taken in a moderate dose of the drug show minimal impairment, and very experienced smokers show almost no deficit at all. (Interestingly, habitual stoners are also better at driving drunk than ordinary people.)
No one’s entirely sure how to explain these results. The dominant hypothesis is that people are more likely to be aware of—and, more importantly, compensate for—their intoxication when high than when drunk. Participants in one study who smoked one-third of a joint perceived themselves as being impaired, even though the experiment suggested they were not. By contrast, subjects who had two drinks thought they were fine, despite performing poorly in driving tests. In the driving simulators, pot smokers drove significantly slower than the drunk drivers, even with researchers reminding them to speed up. They also gave the car in front of them a lot more room and were less likely to pass. Alcohol, on the other hand, increases risk-taking behavior. Drunk drivers drive faster, tailgate, and pass recklessly.
Driving while high can be dangerous, though. At larger doses of THC, problems emerge. Very high drivers can’t stay in a lane, react more slowly to yellow lights and unexpected obstacles, and are unaware of their speed. Epidemiological studies show that drivers with a blood THC level of more than 10 ng/mL—about one-half of a joint—are far more likely than sober drivers to cause an accident. It’s more difficult to estimate your blood THC concentration than your blood alcohol concentration, because of inhalation irregularities and the metabolism patterns of the drug, which aren’t as well understood as those of alcohol.
The most consistent result of the driving studies is that taking marijuana and alcohol together creates a much greater hazard than taking either one alone. Drivers who are drunk and high seem to suffer from the worst effects of both drugs: They meander, pass recklessly, drive too fast, take unnecessary risks, and are unaware of their incapacity.
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A preliminary rat study out of the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) points to the possibility that certain components in marijuana might be helpful in treating chronic stress-related depression.
The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, focused primarily on endocannabinoids — chemicals in the brain that are quite similar to the chemicals known as cannabinoids in marijuana. Endocannabinoids are involved in appetite, memory, mood, and pain sensations. They’re also involved in the psychoactive effects that cannabis has on us, as well as brain functions like cognition, behavior, and emotions.
The researchers found that in animal models, chronic stress reduced the production of endocannabinoids, which in turn led to depressive symptoms. “Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression,” said Samir Haj-Dahmane, a senior research scientist at RIA, in the press release. “Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression.”
But the authors are quick to note that the research is preliminary, and more evidence will be needed to back up their claims — not to mention they’d have to test this in humans for it to really be seen as effective.
Marijuana And Mental Health
The marijuana and depression debate has been going on for years now, and this study may add to the discussion but it doesn’t end it. It’s complicated. Every individual is different, and the matter is made even more complex due to the wide variety of marijuana strains available, each one affecting individuals uniquely. Depression treatments must be tailored to fit each person; one depressed patient might benefit from cannabis, while another might find their anxiety is heightened from the drug.
However, the limited research that does exist involving marijuana’s beneficial health effects has found that it might assist in battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, stress, and even chronic pain. A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) completed a study on weed and anxiety, finding that relief from stress was one of the main reasons why people use it.
“Cannabis and its derivatives have profound effects on a wide variety of behavioral and neural functions, ranging from feeding and metabolism to pain and cognition,” the authors wrote. “However, epidemiological studies have indicated that the most common self-reported reason for using cannabis is rooted in its ability to reduce feelings of stress, tension, and anxiety.”
So it’s true. Cannabis can target the endocannabinoid system, which is responsible for anxiety and fear in the human brain. But is cannabis the best way to get there and keep things in order? That’s a question that still hasn’t been answered. No one is saying marijuana is a cure for depression, but it’s certainly an area of research that should be further explored.
Source: Haj-Dahmane S, Shen R. Chronic Stress Impairs α1-Adrenoceptor-Induced Endocannabinoid-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2015.
Research has suggested that cannabis may be a promising treatment option for a number of different physical and mental health conditions, from post-traumatic stress disorder to chronic pain. A study released this week suggests that depression can be added to that list.
Neuroscientists from the University of Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions found that endocannabinoids -- chemical compounds in the brain that activate the same receptors as THC, an active compound in marijuana -- may be helpful in treating depression that results from chronic stress.
In studies on rats, the researchers found that chronic stress reduced the production of endocannabinoids, which affect our cognition, emotion and behavior, and have been linked to reduced feelings of pain and anxiety, increases in appetite and overall feelings of well-being. The body naturally produces these compounds, which are similar to the chemicals in cannabis. Reduction of endocannabinoid production may be one reason that chronic stress is a major risk factor in the development of depression.
Then, the research team administered marijuana cannabinoids to the rats, finding it to be an effective way to restore endocannabinoid levels in their brains -- possibly, thereby, alleviating some symptoms of depression.
"Using compounds derived from cannabis -- marijuana -- to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression," lead researcher Dr. Samir Haj-Dahmane said in a university press release.
Recent research around marijuana's effect on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder further bolsters the Buffalo neuroscientists' findings, since both disorders involve the way the brain responds to stress. A study published last year in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, for instance, found synthetic cannabinoids triggered changes in brain centers associated with traumatic memories in rats, preventing some of the behavioral and physiological symptoms of PTSD. Another study published last year found that patients who smoked cannabis experienced a 75 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms.
However, it's important to note that the relationship between marijuana and depression is complex. Some research has suggested that regular and heavy marijuana smokers are at a higher risk for depression, although a causal link between cannabis use and depression has not been established. More studies are needed in order to determine whether, and how, marijuana might be used in a clinical context for patients with depression.
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We aim to promote science based studies on the positive affects of marijuana for medical and recreational use. Currently their is only one admin. I use marijuana for medical purposes and know how amazing it is.
Daily we will update this blog with studies and papers found in various medical journals or other credible sources.
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States such as Oregon and Alaska also have voted to legalize recreational pot, and others where lawmakers face proposals to do so, are watching the Colorado results closely.
