“Marijuana use by adolescents and young adults with IBD is common and perceived as beneficial.”
Marijuana Use by Adolescents and Young Adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
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Association of Cannabis With Cognitive Functioning in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
“Question Is frequent or heavy cannabis use associated with cognitive dysfunction in adolescents and young adults?
Findings This systematic review and meta-analysis of 69 cross-sectional studies of 2152 cannabis users and 6575 comparison participants showed a small but significant overall effect size for reduced cognitive functioning in adolescents and young adults who reported frequent cannabis use. However, studies requiring abstinence from cannabis for longer than 72 hours had a very small, nonsignificant effect size.
Meaning Although continued cannabis use may be associated with small reductions in cognitive functioning, results suggest that cognitive deficits are substantially diminished with abstinence.
Conclusions and Relevance Associations between cannabis use and cognitive functioning in cross-sectional studies of adolescents and young adults are small and may be of questionable clinical importance for most individuals. Furthermore, abstinence of longer than 72 hours diminishes cognitive deficits associated with cannabis use. Although other outcomes (eg, psychosis) were not examined in the included studies, results indicate that previous studies of cannabis in youth may have overstated the magnitude and persistence of cognitive deficits associated with use.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29710074
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2678214?redirect=true
“Cannabis harm to teenagers’ brains ‘overstated’, finds study” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-marijuana-legalisation-harm-brain-intelligence-development-mental-health-a8311126.html
“Weed doesn’t make stoners permanently slow – study” http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2018/04/weed-doesn-t-make-stoners-permanently-slow-study.html
“Marijuana’s effects on young brains diminish 72 hours after use, research says” https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/health/marijuana-cognitive-effects-study/index.html
Medical Marijuana Use in Older Adults.
“Symptom management in older adults, including pain and distressing non-pain symptoms, can be challenging. Medications can cause side effects that worsen quality of life or create other symptoms, and polypharmacy itself can be detrimental in older adults.
Cannabinoids may offer a way of managing selected symptoms with fewer side effects.
Medical marijuana is an important area of study for older adults because of the side effects of other medications. It is also important for Baby Boomers, who are likely to have more experience with marijuana than older adults of previous generations. Therefore, geriatricians should understand medical marijuana’s clinical indications, adverse effects, and legal context.
This article reviews the evidence regarding indications for and risks of medical marijuana use in older adults.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29668039
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jgs.15346
“Our study finds that the therapeutic use of cannabis is safe and efficacious in the elderly population.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29398248
“Medical cannabis significantly safer for elderly with chronic pain than Opioids” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180213111508.htm
Ajulemic acid: potential treatment for chronic inflammation.
“Ajulemic acid (AJA, CT-3, IP-751, JBT-101, anabasum) is a first-in-class, synthetic, orally active, cannabinoid-derived drug that preferentially binds to the CB2 receptor and is nonpsychoactive.
In preclinical studies, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, AJA showed a favorable safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic profile. It also demonstrated significant efficacy in preclinical models of inflammation and fibrosis. It suppresses tissue scarring and stimulates endogenous eicosanoids that resolve chronic inflammation and fibrosis without causing immunosuppression.
AJA is currently being developed for use in 4 separate but related indications including systemic sclerosis (SSc), cystic fibrosis, dermatomyositis (DM), and systemic lupus erythematosus. Phase 2 clinical trials in the first 3 targets demonstrated that it is safe, is a potential treatment for these orphan diseases and appears to be a potent inflammation-resolving drug with a unique mechanism of action, distinct from the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and will be useful for treating a wide range of chronic inflammatory diseases.
It may be considered to be a disease-modifying drug unlike most NSAIDs that only provide symptomatic relief. AJA is currently being evaluated in 24-month open-label extension studies in SSc and in skin-predominant DM. A Phase 3 multicenter trial to demonstrate safety and efficacy in SSc has recently been initiated.”
“Ajulemic acid, a synthetic cannabinoid acid, induces an antiinflammatory profile of eicosanoids in human synovial cells.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18840450
“Ajulemic acid (CT3): a potent analog of the acid metabolites of THC.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10903396
The Endocannabinoid System, Aggression, and the Violence of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use, Borderline Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Other Psychiatric Disorders
“While most human research has concluded that the active ingredient of marijuana, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, tends to dampen rather than provoke aggression in acute doses, recent evidence supports a relationship between the ingestion of synthetic cannabinoids and emergence of violent or aggressive behavior.
To summarize, this paper will draw upon basic and clinical research to explain how the endocannabinoid system may contribute to the genesis of aggressive behavior.”
Non-Dependent and Dependent Daily Cannabis Users Differ in Mental Health but Not Prospective Memory Ability.
“Research suggests that daily cannabis users have impaired memory for past events, but it is not clear whether they are also impaired in prospective memory (PM) for future events.
The present study examined PM in daily cannabis users who were either dependent or non-dependent, and compared them with non-using controls.
Findings suggest that when carefully matched on baseline variables, and not differing in premorbid IQ or alcohol use, young, near-daily cannabis users do not differ from non-using controls in PM performance.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29636705
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00097/full
Crime and the legalization of recreational marijuana
“First-pass evidence is provided that the legalization of the cannabis market across US states is inducing a crime drop. We exploit the staggered legalization of recreational marijuana enacted by the adjacent states of Washington (end of 2012) and Oregon (end of 2014). Combining county-level difference-in-differences and spatial regression discontinuity designs, we find that the policy caused a significant reduction in rapes and property crimes on the Washington side of the border in 2013–2014 relative to the Oregon side and relative to the pre-legalization years 2010–2012. The legalization also increased consumption of marijuana and reduced consumption of other drugs and both ordinary and binge alcohol. Four possible mechanisms are discussed: the direct psychotropic effects of cannabis; substitution away from violence-inducing substances; reallocation of police effort; reduced role of criminals in the marijuana business.”
“LEGAL POT IS LINKED TO LESS CRIME. A new study suggests it also decreases other types of drug use, including binge drinking.” https://psmag.com/news/it-is-high-time-we-reduced-crime
The therapeutic effects of Cannabis and cannabinoids: An update from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report
“The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine conducted a rapid turn-around comprehensive review of recent medical literature on The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.
In the Therapeutics chapter reviewed here, the report concluded that there was conclusive or substantial evidence that Cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of pain in adults; chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. Moderate evidence was found for secondary sleep disturbances. The evidence supporting improvement in appetite, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy and a variety of neurodegenerative disorders was described as limited, insufficient or absent. A chapter of the NASEM report enumerated multiple barriers to conducting research on Cannabis in the US that may explain the paucity of positive therapeutic benefits in the published literature to date.
The 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report, like the 1999 Institute of Medicine publication before it, did conclude that there is evidence to support the therapeutic effect of Cannabis and cannabinoids in a number of conditions. Although it is well appreciated that the plural of anecdote is not evidence, it must also be remembered that in the case of evaluating the therapeutic effects of Cannabis as published in the medical literature, the absence of evidence is not necessarily indicative of evidence of the absence of effectiveness. ”
http://www.ejinme.com/article/S0953-6205(18)30003-7/fulltext
“Researchers claim that medicinal cannabis is safe and effective for pain relief, and are calling for the treatment to be properly established in our modern medical arsenal” https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/30737/medicinal-cannabis-safe-effective/
“Medicinal cannabis is safe and effective – it’s time to reboot research” https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/medicinal-cannabis-is-safe-and-effective-its-time-to-reboot-research
No Acute Effects of Cannabidiol on the Sleep-Wake Cycle of Healthy Subjects: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study
“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a component of Cannabis sativa that has a broad spectrum of potential therapeutic effects in neuropsychiatric and other disorders. However, few studies have investigated the possible interference of CBD on the sleep-wake cycle.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a clinically anxiolytic dose of CBD on the sleep-wake cycle of healthy subjects in a crossover, double-blind design.
The drug did not induce any significant effect.
Different from anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs such as benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, acute administration of an anxiolytic dose of CBD does not seem to interfere with the sleep cycle of healthy volunteers. The present findings support the proposal that CBD do not alter normal sleep architecture.
Cannabidiol may play a therapeutic role in sleep regulation.
We found no differences between CBD and placebo in respect to polysomnographic findings or cognitive and subjective measures in a sample of healthy subjects. Unlike widely used anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs such as benzodiazepines and SSRIs, the acute administration of an anxiolytic dose of CBD does not appear to interfere with the sleep cycle of healthy volunteers. Future studies should address the effects of CBD on the sleep-wake cycle of patient populations as well as evaluate the chronic effects of CBD in larger samples of patients with sleep and neuropsychiatric disorders.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29674967
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00315/full
Accuracy of Patient Opioid Use Reporting at the Time of Medical Cannabis License Renewal.
“The decision to authorize a patient for continued enrollment in a state-sanctioned medical cannabis program is difficult in part due to the uncertainty in the accuracy of patient symptom reporting and health functioning including any possible effects on other medication use.
We conducted a pragmatic convenience study comparing patient reporting of previous and current prescription opioid usage to the opioid prescription records in the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) among 131 chronic pain patients (mean age = 54; 54% male) seeking the first annual renewal of their New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program (NMMCP) license.
Seventy-six percent of the patients reported using prescription opioids prior to enrollment in the NMMCP, however, the PMP records showed that only 49% of the patients were actually prescribed opioids in the six months prior to enrollment.
Of the 64 patients with verifiable opioid prescriptions prior to NMMCP enrollment, 35 (55%) patients reported having eliminated the use of prescription opioids by the time of license renewal.
PMP records showed that 26 patients (63% of patients claiming to have eliminated the use of opioid prescriptions and 41% of all patients with verifiable preenrollment opioid use) showed no prescription opioid activity at their first annual NMMCP renewal visit.”