U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain
The U.S. Surgeon General offers a statement on marijuana us and the developing brain: “I, Surgeon General VADM Jerome Adams, am emphasizing the importance of protecting our Nation from the health risks of marijuana use in adolescence and during pregnancy. Recent increases in access to marijuana and in its potency, along with misperceptions of safety of marijuana endanger our most precious resource, our nation’s youth.“ KNOW THE RISKS. TAKE ACTION. PROTECT OUR FUTURE. Click HERE to read the full article
Monitoring the Future 2017 Survey Results
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Resource on How to Talk to Teen About Marijuana
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids developed a guide for parents on how to have a difficult, but important conversation about marijuana.
Early Cannabis Use Connected to Adult Memory Problems
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 memory processes that appear to be affected by cannabis are ones that we use every day to solve common problems and to sustain our relationships with friends and family,” said senior author Dr. John Csernansky, the Lizzie Gilman professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals’ early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking…
2 More States Approve Recreational Marijuana Use
Voters in Washington, D.C. and Oregon have approved the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes.
Consequences of Teen Alcohol, Marijuana Use Studied
Now a new study asked high school seniors to indicate whether they experienced various adverse psychosocial outcomes resulting from use of each substance. The most alarming finding was that alcohol use was highly associated with unsafe driving, especially among frequent drinkers,” said Dr. Palamar, , PhD, MPH, a CDUHR affiliated researcher and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC). “Compared to non-drinkers, frequent drinkers were over 13 times more likely to report that their alcohol use has led to unsafe driving. Marijuana users, compared to non-users, were three times more likely to report unsafe driving as…
Cannabis Withdrawal Symptoms in Teens
Although cannabis — commonly known as marijuana — is broadly believed to be nonaddictive, a study has found that 40% of cannabis-using adolescents receiving outpatient treatment for substance use disorder reported experiencing symptoms of withdrawal, which are considered a hallmark of drug dependence. The current study enrolled 127 adolescents between ages 14 and 19 being treated at an outpatient substance use disorder clinic, 90 of whom indicated that cannabis was the substance they used most frequently. The commonly reported cannabis withdrawal symptoms reported were: anxiety, irritability, depression and difficulty sleeping. Of the 90 cannabis-using participants, 84% met criteria for cannabis…
‘Big Marijuana’ is like ‘Big Tobacco’
The National Conference on Addiction Disorders (August 25, 2014) was a natural venue for a forthright discussion about the impact of marijuana use in the two states that have legalized it (Colorado and Washington). Legalization, which was the result of a sophisticated strategy by companies with deep pockets, has taken the form of normalization of marijuana use. ‘Big Marijuana’ is like ‘Big Tobacco.’ They’re using the same strategies and tools that have been seen in activities by Big Tobacco. “The strategy,” says Andrea Grubb Barthwell, Medical Director, Encounter Medical Group, Director of the Two Dreams Facilities, Chicago, “is to normalize…
NC Senate Approves CBD Oil for Medical Treatment of Seizures
State lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure to allow the use of CBD oil for medical treatment of seizure disorders, sending the proposal to Gov. Pat McCrory. McCrory said Thursday evening that he would sign the measure into law. “This law will help ease the suffering endured by children from whom no other treatments are effective against their seizures,” he said in a statement. “I want to congratulate the General Assembly for crafting a bill that not only improves the lives of many North Carolina children and their parents, but also provides common-sense regulation and facilitates clinical research at our…
Updated Marijuana Resource
Two updated booklets about marijuana for teens and their parents will help families sort out marijuana myths from science-based facts. The revamped tools come from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Click HERE for more information.