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Colorado, Washington, Nevada, and Massachusetts Post Increases in Youth Use Over Previous Year
(Alexandria, VA) - Today, state-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), finds that marijuana use in "legal" states among youth, young adults, and the general population continued its multi-year upward trend in several categories.
Additionally, use rates in "legal" states continue to drastically outstrip the use in states that have not legalized the drug. Highlights include:
- Past-month marijuana use among young people aged 18-25 in "legal" states has increased 8 percent in the last year (30.94% versus 28.62%). Use in this age group is 50 percent higher in "legal" states than in non-legal states (30.94% versus 20.66%).
- Past-month youth use (aged 12-17) in states with commercial sales continued its recent upward trend. Since last year, "legal" Washington experienced the largest surge in past month youth use with an 11 percent increase (9.94% versus 8.96%). Colorado experienced a four percent increase (9.39% versus 9.02%).
- Massachusetts overtook Colorado as the top-ranking state for overall first-time use, which is now number two.
- Past-month youth use in "legal" states is 40% higher than in non-legal states (8.92% versus 6.26%). Past-year youth use in "legal" states is roughly 30% higher than in non-legal states (15.82% versus 12.10%).
- First-time youth use in "legal" states is 30% higher than non-legal states (6.96% versus 5.38%)
"This data show the marijuana industry is achieving its goal of hooking our kids on today's highly potent marijuana," said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration. "As we learned just this week from the Monitoring the Future survey, the number of young people who perceive marijuana as being harmful is at a historic low. Given the recent data linking high potency marijuana with serious mental health issues, addiction, and future substance abuse, this is extremely concerning. We call on Congress and the President now to stop helping the pot industry and commence a science based information campaign about the dangers of today's marijuana products."
Research has shown that the adolescent brain - particularly the part of the brain that regulates planning for complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making and social behavior - is not fully developed until the early to mid-20s. Developing brains are especially susceptible to all of the negative effects of marijuana and other drug use. Given the drastic increase in marijuana use we are witnessing in this age group in "legalized" states, there should be great cause for concern.
"This data, combined with yesterday's Monitoring the Future study, and the statements from the overwhelming majority of doctors, educators, substance abuse professionals and parents, must be our guide to changing the current discourse," continued Dr. Sabet. "We cannot allow Big Marijuana to continue to deceive the American people for their bottom line."
Dr Kevin Sabet
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This early study isn't conclusive, but its findings could have grave implications.
Sports leagues, state legislators, and universities are changing the way they treat and punish marijuana use largely because the drug is increasingly perceived as harmless. But preliminary research suggests cannabis may have a dangerous side effect on one critical organ: the heart.
The new study, which evaluated the health of 3,407 people in the United Kingdom, suggests a link between regularly using marijuana — defined as daily or weekly use within the past five years — and changes to the heart’s structure and functions. It was published Wednesday in the journal JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.
Researchers observed that the study participants who used cannabis regularly had larger left ventricles and showed early signs of impaired heart function.
Partial abstract: Conclusions: Regular cannabis use was independently associated with adverse changes in left ventricular size and subclinical dysfunction compared to rare/no cannabis, whereas previous regular cannabis use was not. Findings should be interpreted with caution and further research is required to understand the potential pathophysiology, dose-response effects of cannabis use and the long-term implications of regular use on the cardiovascular system. Health care professionals and policy makers may need to advise caution on regular recreational cannabis use until such systematic research is availabe.
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Am J Case Rep 2019; 20:1874-1878 DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.919545
CASE REPORT: We report a death of an 11-day-old white female neonate due to acute marijuana toxicity. She died of extensive necrosis and hemorrhage of the liver and adrenals due to maternal use of marijuana.
CONCLUSIONS: This case is unique in that other possible causes of death can be eliminated. With growing use of marijuana by pregnant women and increases in newborn drug screening of umbilical cord homogenate, more cases of neonatal death due to acute marijuana toxicity could be discovered.
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St. Michael's Hospital Patients with active cannabis dependence and abuse were nearly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack after surgery, according to a study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto.
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This is just the beginning, pulmonary researchers caution.
By Alexandra Pattillo on December 4, 2019
After using a marijuana vape pen for just six months, a 49-year-old retired dog trainer went to the doctor coughing and wheezing, reporting shortness of breath upon exertion. The woman had smoked off and on through her teens and twenties, but was healthy — other than her worrying throat symptoms.
Her doctors gave her a rare and surprising diagnosis: hard-metal pneumoconiosis — a lung disease known as “cobalt lung.”
Until now, this lung condition was most often seen in one particular group of people: metal workers. Typically, people who sharpen tools, polish diamonds, or make dental prosthetics are at risk of developing “cobalt lung,” not dog trainers.
So what caused the woman’s lung condition? Worryingly, it was probably her marijuana vape pen.
That’s the conclusion of a case study on the woman, published this week in the European Respiratory Journal.
Researchers analyzed the vape liquid from her “ZenPen,” finding toxic metals in the juice like nickel, aluminum, lead, and, you guessed it, cobalt. They also have a theory for how those metals might make their way from the vape into the woman’s airways in the first place — it may be to do with the way marijuana vape pens work.
“Exposure to cobalt dust is extremely rare outside of a few specific industries,” Rupal Shah, paper co-author and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco said in a statement.
“This is the first known case of a metal-induced toxicity in the lung that has followed from vaping and it has resulted in long-term, probably permanent, scarring of the patient’s lungs.”
What is cobalt lung?