Marijuana News -- ScienceDaily

8/11/2019 Marijuana News -- ScienceDaily

1/6

Marijuana News -- ScienceDaily

Marijuana News -- ScienceDailyMarijuana News -- ScienceDailySmoking cannabis doesn't make youmore creative, study suggestsWhat 20 years of research on cannabis use has taught usMarijuana useassociated with lower death rates in patients with traumatic brain injuriesAdolescent exposure to

THC may cause immune systems to go up in smokeThe dangers of teens using marijuanaMarijuanausers who feel low get high

Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 149 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in/var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454


Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 181 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in

/var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 181 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in/var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454




http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/marijuana/ Medical research on marijuana. How doesmarijuana affect the brain? What are some of the risks? Could ingredients in marijuana treatdisease? Read this and more. // via fulltextrssfeed.comhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/marijuana/https://reader010.{domain}/reader010/html5/0610/5b1d1bf7de5ee/5b1d1bf94b4bb.pnghttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/gKtrjA6sfL8/141008101406.htmhttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/gKtrjA6sfL8/141008101406.htm Wed, 08 Oct 2014 14:14:06 +0000

People often think that smoking cannabismakes them more creative. However, research by Leiden psychologists Lorenza Colzato and MikaelKowal shows that the opposite is true.

They published their findings on 7October in Psychopharmacology.

Strong cannabis doesn'twork

The findings show that cannabis with a high concentration of thepsychoactive ingredient THC does not improve creativity. Smokers who ingested a low dose of THC,or none at all (they were given a placebo), performed best in the thinking tasks that the testcandidates had to carry out. A high dose of THC was actually shown to have a negative effect on theability to quickly come up with as many solutions as possible to a given problem.

Increased creativity is an illusion

The research findings contradictthe claims of people who say that their thinking changes and becomes more original after smoking a joint. There's no sign of any increased creativity in their actual performance, according to Colzato.


2/6

'The improved creativity that they believe they experience is an illusion.'

Toomuch cannabis is counterproductive

Colzato said, 'If you want to overcomewriter's block or any other creative gap, lighting up a joint isn't the best solution. Smoking several joints one after the other can even be counterproductive to creative thinking.'

The research method

Colzato and her PhD candidate Kowal werethe first researchers to study the effects of cannabis use on creative thinking. For ethical reasons,only cannabis users were selected for this study. The test candidates were divided into three groupsof 18. One group was given cannabis with a high THC content (22 mg), the second group was givena low dose (5.5 mg) and the third group was given a placebo. The high dose was equivalent to three joints and the low dose was equal to a single joint. Obviously, none of the test candidates knew whatthey were being given; the cannabis was administered via a vaporizer. The test candidates then hadto carry out cognitive tasks that were testing for two types of creative thinking:
Divergent thinking: generating rapid solutions for a given problem, such as: "Think of asmany uses as you can for a pen?" Convergent thinking: Finding the only right answer to aquestion, such as: "What is the link between the words 'time', 'hair' and 'stretching'. (The answer is'long'.)
Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by UniversiteitLeiden. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/0y56AdNQK6Y/141007092449.htmhttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/0y56AdNQK6Y/141007092449.htm Tue, 07 Oct 2014 13:24:49 +0000
Date:

October 7, 2014

Source:

Wiley

Summary:

In the past 20 years, recreationalcannabis use has grown tremendously, becoming almost as common as tobacco use amongadolescents and young adults, and so has the research evidence. A major new review sets out thelatest information on the effects of cannabis use on mental and physical health.

A new article summarizes what scientists have learned over twenty

years of research about marijuana use, and its health and brain consequences.

Credit: Picture Partners / Fotolia


3/6

start in adolescence. Regular cannabis users double their risks of experiencing psychoticsymptoms and disorders, especially if they have a personal or family history of psychotic disorders,and if they start using cannabis in their mid-teens. Regular adolescent cannabis users havelower educational attainment than non-using peers but we don't know whether the link iscausal. Regular adolescent cannabis users are more likely to use other illicit drugs, but wedon't know whether the link is causal. Regular cannabis use that begins in adolescence andcontinues throughout young adulthood appears to produce intellectual impairment, but themechanism and reversibility of the impairment is unclear. Regular cannabis use inadolescence approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia or reportingpsychotic symptoms in adulthood. Regular cannabis smokers have a higher risk of developing chronic bronchitis. Cannabis smoking by middle aged adults probably increasesthe risk of myocardial infarction.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Wiley. Note: Materials may be edited for contentand length.

JournalReference:
Wayne Hall. What has research overthe past two decades revealed about the adverse health effects of recreational cannabisuse? Addiction, 2014; DOI: 10.1111/add.12703
Cite This Page:

Wiley. "What 20 years of research on cannabis use hastaught us." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 October 2014..

Wiley. (2014,October 7). What 20 years of research on cannabis use has taught us. ScienceDaily.Retrieved October 7, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141007092449.htm

Wiley. "What 20 years of research on cannabis use has taught us." ScienceDaily.www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141007092449.htm (accessed October 7, 2014).
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/u48KEudcGQU/141002123722.htm
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/u48KEudcGQU/141002123722.htm Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:37:22 +0000

Surveying patients with traumatic braininjuries, a group of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) researchers reportedtoday that they found those who tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, weremore likely to survive than those who tested negative for the illicit substance.

The findings, published in the October edition of The American Surgeon, suggestTHC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, may help protect the brain in cases of traumatic brain injury, theresearchers said. The study included 446 patients who suffered traumatic brain injuries andunderwent a urine test for the presence of THC in their system. The researchers found 82 of thepatients had THC in their system. Of those, only 2.4% died. Of the remaining patients who didn't

have THC in their system, 11.5% died.

"Previous studies conducted by other researchershad found certain compounds in marijuana helped protect the brain in animals after a trauma," saidDavid Plurad, MD, an LA BioMed researcher and the study's lead author. "This study was one of thefirst in a clinical setting to specifically associate THC use as an independent predictor of survival


4/6

after traumatic brain injury."

The researchers noted that the timing of their study was"pertinent" because of current efforts to decriminalize marijuana and other research that has shownTHC can increase appetite, reduce ocular pressure, decrease muscle spasms, relieve pain andalleviate symptoms associated with irritable bowel disease. But they noted that their study has somesignificant limitations.

"While most -- but not all -- the deaths in the study can be attributedto the traumatic brain injury itself, it appears that both groups were similarly injured," Dr. Pluradsaid. "The similarities in the injuries between the two groups led to the conclusion that testingpositive for THC in the system is associated with a decreased mortality in adult patients who havesustained traumatic brain injuries."

StorySource:

The above story is based on materials provided by Los Angeles BiomedicalResearch Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed). Note:Materials may be edited for content and length.
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/ZrhncgJ7HuI/140930113117.htmhttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/ZrhncgJ7HuI/140930113117.htm Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:31:17 +0000
When it comes to using marijuana, newresearch, involving mice and published in the October 2014 issue of the Journal of LeukocyteBiology, suggests that just because you can do it, doesn't mean that you should. That'sbecause a team of Italian scientists have found that using marijuana in adolescence may do seriouslong-term damage to the immune system. This damage may result in autoimmune diseases andchronic inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease andrheumatoid arthritis in adulthood.

"I hope that the knowledge that earlyexposure to marijuana is associated with immediate and long-term deleterious effects on the immunesystem may reach adolescents and their families," said Paola Sacerdote, Ph.D., a researcher involvedin the work from the Universit degli Studi di Milano in Milano, Italy. "The increased risk of getting sick in adulthood may hopefully be a deterrent for marijuana abuse among youngindividuals."

To make this discovery, scientists injected "adolescent" mice with THC, themain active component of marijuana, for 10 days. This period in the mouse lifecycle corresponded tothe adolescence period in humans (approximately ages 12-18). A second group of adolescent micereceived only a placebo. At the end of treatments, both groups of animals were left undisturbed forapproximately two months, until they reached full adulthood. The activity of the immune system was

then evaluated, taking into consideration several important measurements, such as the ability of leukocytes to produce cytokines to mount an antibody response to vaccination or the capacity of macrophage to phagocyte particles. The group of mice treated with THC in adolescence had severealterations of immune responses in adulthood, characterized by a clear switch toward a pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic phenotype.

"The immune system is characterized by animpressive ability to 'remember' previous exposures and changes during the period of immunesystem development especially early in life can have important long-term consequences," said JohnWherry, Ph.D., Deputy Editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. "These studies not only point toadolescence as a key phase of immune system sensitivity, but also highly the dramatic and long-lasting negative effects that a common recreational drug abused by teenagers may have on immune

function."

Story Source:

Theabove story is based on


5/6

target="_blank">materials provided by Federation of AmericanSocieties for Experimental Biology. Note: Materials may be edited for contentand length.
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/RSdVLoSWELo/140925150606.htmhttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/RSdVLoSWELo/140925150606.htm Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:06:06 +0000
Whether states should legalize marijuanafor recreational and medical use is a hot topic across the country. As the debates continue apotentially dangerous environment is being created where more preteens, teens and young adult arebeginning to use the substance with the feeling that it is safe. In fact, 36 percent of all seniors inhigh school and 7 percent of eighth-graders report using the drug in the past month, according to arecent study. Though public perception is that marijuana is a harmless drug, research is showing itcan have a damaging impact on developing brains and may lead to life-long addiction.

"Teens are seeing marijuana as a safe substance, but its effects on the adolescentbrain can be dangerous, especially if there is heavy use. As the stigma of marijuana use becomesless the number of teens using the drug has increased. More high-schoolers in the U.S. now smokemarijuana than they do cigarettes," said Garry Sigman, MD, director of the adolescent medicinedivision at Loyola University Health System and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at LoyolaUniversity Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Marijuana is an addictive substance and,according to Sigman, adolescents are 2-4 times more likely to become dependent on the drug withintwo years after first use compared with adult users.

"Marijuana is the most commonsubstance addiction being treated in adolescents in rehabilitation centers across the country. Likeall addictive substances, marijuana is used to lessen uncomfortable feelings like anxiety anddepression. Because the type of addiction is seen as less 'intense' in comparison to other substancessuch as cocaine or heroin, many people don't realize that marijuana can cause dependence and has awithdrawal syndrome," Sigman said.

Some adolescents use marijuana only occasionallybecause of peer pressure at a party or in a social setting, but others self-medicate with marijuana tocope with emotions and stress. One of the signs of a substance-use disorder is when drugs are usedoften to cope with uncomfortable feelings.

Addiction isn't the only hazard for adolescentswhen it comes to smoking marijuana. Research shows that heavy use can lead to neurotoxicity andalternations in brain development leading to: Impairment in thinking Pooreducational outcomes and perhaps a lower IQ Increased likelihood of dropping out of school Symptoms of chronic bronchitis Increased risk of psychosis disorders in those whoare predisposed.

"Parents should inform themselves about the scientific facts relating to

marijuana and the developing brain and be able to discuss the topic calmly and rationally. They needto explain that the dose of the drug in a 'joint' is three to four times higher than in years past, andthat if the parents occasionally used during their lives, they now know that the risk is present if usedbefore adulthood," Sigman said.

StorySource:

The above story is based on materials provided by Loyola University

Health System. Note: Materials may be edited for content andlength.
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/LlK0Ai-aGG8/140915083853.


6/6

htmhttp://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana/~3/LlK0Ai-aGG8/140915083853.htm Mon, 15 Sep 2014 12:38:53 +0000

Adolescents and young adults who smokemarijuana frequently may attempt to manage negative moods by using the drug, according to astudy in September's Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

"Young people who use marijuana frequently experience an increase in negative affect in the 24hours leading up to a use event, which lends strong support to an affect-regulation model in thispopulation," says the study's lead author Lydia A. Shrier, M.D., M.P.H., of the division of adolescentand young adult medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.

She notes that using marijuana asa coping technique for negative affect may make it harder for people to stop using the drug.

"One of the challenges is that people often may use marijuana to feel better but may feel worseafterward," she says. "Marijuana use can be associated with anxiety and other negative states.People feel bad, they use, and they might momentarily feel better, but then they feel worse. Theydon't necessarily link feeling bad after using with the use itself, so it can become a viciouscircle."

For the study, Shrier and colleagues recruited 40 people, ages 15 to 24, who usedmarijuana at least twice a week, although their average was 9.7 times per week. They were trainedto use a handheld computer that signaled them at a random time within three-hour intervals (four tosix times per day) for two weeks. At each signal, participants were asked about their mood,companionship, perceived availability of marijuana, and recent marijuana use. Participants were alsoasked to report just before and just after any marijuana use. They completed more than 3,600reports.

The researchers found that negative affect was significantly increased during the24 hours before marijuana use compared with other periods. However, positive affect did not vary inthe period before marijuana use compared with other times.

Also, neither the availabilityof marijuana nor the presence of friends modified the likelihood that chronic users would usemarijuana following a period of negative affect.

The study is unique in that it collected datain real time to assess mood and marijuana use events. The study thus was able to identify mood thatwas occurring in the 24 hours before marijuana use and compared it with mood at other times,Shrier reports.

"There are a host of limitations with retrospective assessments, such asasking people 'the last time you used marijuana, why did you use it?'" according to Shrier. "Weweren't asking people to predict anything or to recall anything -- we were just asking them to give usreports about how they were feeling right now. We were able to put under a microscope theassociation between those feelings and subsequent marijuana use."

Shrier says it could bebeneficial for clinicians and counselors to help their patients identify patterns of negative affect andto implement alternative mood-regulation strategies to replace marijuana use.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Journal of Studies on Alcoholand Drugs. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


http://fulltextrssfeed.com/feeds.sciencedaily.com/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana
http://fulltextrssfeed.com/feeds.sciencedaily.com/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuanahttp://fulltextrssfeed.com/feeds.sciencedaily.com/sciencedaily/mind_brain/marijuana

Marijuana News -- ScienceDaily

Documents

Transcript of Marijuana News -- ScienceDaily