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Development of cannabis use disorder in medical cannabis users: A 9-month follow-up of a randomized clinical trial testing effects of medical cannabis card ownership
Background: Evidence for long-term effectiveness of commercial cannabis products used to treat medical symptoms is inconsistent, despite increasingly widespread use.
Objective: To prospectively evaluate the effects of using cannabis on self-reported symptoms of pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and cannabis use disorder (CUD) after 12 months of use.
Conclusions: Frequency of cannabis use was not associated with improved pain, anxiety, or depression symptoms but was associated with new-onset cannabis use disorder in a significant minority of participants. Daily or near-daily cannabis use appears to have little benefit for these symptoms after 12 months of use.
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Epidemiology of Δ8THC-Related Carcinogenesis in USA: A Panel Regression and Causal Inferential Study
Abstract: The use of Δ8THC is increasing at present across the USA in association with widespread cannabis legalization and the common notion that it is “legal weed”. As genotoxic actions have been described for many cannabinoids, we studied the cancer epidemiology of Δ8THC. Data on 34 cancer types was from the Centers for Disease Control Atlanta Georgia, substance abuse data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, ethnicity and income data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and cannabinoid concentration data from the Drug Enforcement Agency, were combined and processed in R. Eight cancers (corpus uteri, liver, gastric cardia, breast and post-menopausal breast, anorectum, pancreas, and thyroid) were related to Δ8THC exposure on bivariate testing, and 18 (additionally, stomach, Hodgkins, and Non-Hodgkins lymphomas, ovary, cervix uteri, gall bladder, oropharynx, bladder, lung, esophagus, colorectal cancer, and all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer)) demonstrated positive average marginal effects on fully adjusted inverse probability weighted interactive panel regression. Many minimum E-Values (mEVs) were infinite. p-values rose from 8.04 × 10−78. Marginal effect calculations revealed that 18 Δ8THC-related cancers are predicted to lead to a further 8.58 cases/100,000 compared to 7.93 for alcoholism and −8.48 for tobacco. Results indicate that between 8 and 20/34 cancer types were associated with Δ8THC exposure, with very high effect sizes (mEVs) and marginal effects after adjustment exceeding tobacco and alcohol, fulfilling the epidemiological criteria of causality and suggesting a cannabinoid class effect. The inclusion of pediatric leukemias and testicular cancer herein demonstrates heritable malignant teratogenesis.
Keywords: cannabis; cannabinoid; Δ8THC; teratogenesis; oncogenesis; carcinogenesis; cancer; cancerogenesis
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Recreational cannabis legalization alters associations among cannabis use, perception of risk, and cannabis use disorder treatment for adolescents and young adults
Abstract
Objective: This research investigates whether associations among adolescent and young adult perception of risk of harm from cannabis use, prevalence of past-month cannabis use, and rate of CUD treatment admissions changed following recreational cannabis legalization in the US, 2008–2019.
Results: Following recreational legalization: 1) adolescent and young adult past-month cannabis use prevalence increased; 2) among both adolescents and young adults, the association of lower perception of risk of harm with higher cannabis use prevalence was strengthened; 3) among adolescents, the association of higher cannabis use prevalence with higher CUD treatment admissions was suppressed; and 4) among young adults, an association of higher cannabis use prevalence with lower CUD treatment admissions emerged.
Conclusions: Recreational legalization is likely to increase cannabis use among adolescents and young adults who perceive cannabis as less harmful, while at the same time reduce rates of CUD treatment utilization. These trends portend an increase in unmet need for CUD treatment for age groups particularly vulnerable to the development and negative consequences of CUD.
(Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460322003185?s=03)
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While classical laboratory and animal data have long established cannabinoid genotoxicity, it is only recently, with the application of modern analytical techniques, that the scale of epidemiological disease that may be attributable to cannabinoid exposure has been revealed. The importance and urgency of this work is heightened by the increased cannabis use that is accompanying the relaxation of legislation around cannabis use in many places, the widespread global movement toward cannabis legalization, and the general increase in the cannabinoid potency of available strains.
Data: DNA Damage – Ageing – Congenital Anomalies
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A very limited study concluded that Smoking cannabis doesn't carry the same COPD risk as tobacco ??
Ah, but for starters it didn’t include vaping, the now preferred insufflation delivery method for nicotine and any other substance. And it was limited to a small cohort.
Vaping will carry an even higher risk than smoking. We don’t have the long-term continuous use of smoking that people are doing now. Many smoke cannabis like cigarettes (multiple times a day) - this will catch up.
- Marijuana and Lung Health
- CDC: Marijuana and Public Health – Lung Health
- How Long Term Cannabis Use Damages Lungs
Although the effects of cannabis were detrimental, the pattern of lung function changes was not the same. The research found that prolonged cannabis use led to over-inflated lungs and increased the resistance to airflow to a greater extent than tobacco," he says.
"It was also found that cannabis use may also impair the ability of the lungs to extract oxygen from the breath. This is a known consequence of smoking tobacco, but has not been demonstrated with cannabis until now.
Respiratory doctors recognise that some patients who smoke a lot of cannabis have a distinct form of lung damage -- a very severe form of emphysema that is sometimes called bong lung -- but little is actually known about this condition.
Inhaling any marijuana product can also expose the user to chemicals and pesticides contained in available products. How these substances affect the proper function of the lung is unknown. No method of inhaling marijuana, smoked or not smoked, can therefore be considered safe until further studies are done.
In a recent Radiology journal study, researchers report chest computed tomography (CT) findings that the lungs of marijuana smokers exhibit more significant levels of airway inflammatory markers and emphysema as compared to those of tobacco-only smokers.
Vaping only ramps this up…The results seem to be that the damage will occur earlier and be more severe. Vaping can lead to E.V.A.L.I. - which causes permanent lung damage and irreparable lung damage.
It is vital we place more than one limited study before young people.
Dr Karen Randall – D.A.R.Team.