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Survey shows marijuana use disorder linked to substance use/mental disorders and disability.
Marijuana use disorder is common in the United States, is often associated with other substance use disorders, behavioral problems, and disability, and goes largely untreated, according to a new study conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The analysis found that 2.5 percent of adults — nearly 6 million people — experienced marijuana use disorder in the past year, while 6.3 percent had met the diagnostic criteria for the disorder at some point in their lives. A report of the study, led by Bridget Grant, Ph.D., of the NIAAA Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biometry, appears online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
“...Marijuana use can lead to harmful consequences for individuals and society.”
—George F. Koob, Ph.D., Director, NIAAA
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A new study on cannabis has found that users with mental illness present an increased risk of violent behaviour.
The research conducted by the Institut en Santé Mentale de Montréal (Montreal Institute of Menal Health), studied 1,136 patients – from 18 to 40 years of age – with mental illnesses who had been seen five times during the year after discharge.
And while previous research has already shown a link between cannabis and aggressive behaviour, this new study found that users who continued to smoke at each follow-up appointment increased their risk of violence by 144 per cent.
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None of WA’s 10,679 doctors have applied to prescribe medical cannabis since it was legalized in November.
According to the AMA WA, the lack of interest is because doctors do not believe there is evidence to prescribe medical cannabis for anything other than in paediatric epilepsy and MS.
https://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/latest-news/wa-doctors-shun-medical-cannabis
AMA cautious about medicinal cannabis
But the Australian Medical Association of WA said it remained cautious about the use of medicinal cannabis.
AMA WA president Omar Khorshid said it was important rules around the use of medicinal cannabis remained strict, as its efficacy was still being tested.
"The AMA is certainly not supportive of shortcuts, and instead of avoiding all the regulatory steps, we should be investigating cannabis-based products, how good they are, how safe they are, and once that's been done, they should available just like any other drug," he said.
"The AMA is calling for more research on cannabis-based drugs so that we know what's in them, how well they work, and how safe they are, and once that's done, we'll be able to prescribe to prescribe better drugs for patients to manage these conditions."
Ms Neville said there was international research to show cannabinoid-based products were safe and efficient.
The Department of Health said an application was yet to be received from Ms Neville's doctor, and the department had contacted this doctor to provide information and regulatory assistance.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-07/families-struggling-to-access-to-medicinal-cannabis/8685712
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Published 14 September 2017 By Catharine Paddock PhD
Canadian researchers have found that they might be able to reverse the schizophrenia-like symptoms associated with prolonged teenage marijuana use. Scientists have identified a mechanism in the brain that seems to explain how long-term marijuana use in the teenage years might lead to schizophrenia and other similar psychiatric diseases in adulthood.
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Wow! Check this out! These people are just openly admitting that they will sell to the black market in CA. Do these people expect us to feel sorry for them that decades long businesses of growing and selling pot ILLEGALLY (clearly drug dealers!!!) is going up in smoke because of legalization???? This is so amazingly absurd that it’s hard to believe it’s real. They cry when marijuana is illegal and now they are complaining that making it legal is too much of a hardship for them to follow through on.
Legalizing Weed creates three markets, now - ‘legal’ - ‘Grey’ - ‘Illegal’ (unregulated)… so much for ‘legalizing marijuana will stop the illegal trade!' mantra!
From the Article
“It’s putting us in a situation where if we’re not able to sell to that market any more we’re having to find new, illegal channels in a saturated market,” says June. “We would either have to shut down or find new avenues of sale on the black market or the unregulated market.”
“It’s been a lot more difficult than we thought,” says Shivawn Brady, operations director for an Illinois-based medical cannabis company called Justice Grown that operates a farm in Sonoma County. She urges financial assistance to be given to smaller-scale growers, noting a single permit can cost $10,000 to $20,000 – not to mention land use requirements that can compel people to relocate. “It’s hurting a lot of people,” she says.
Brandon Levine, director of a dispensary called Mercy Wellness, says he doubts 10 per cent of the hundreds of growers he currently works with will be able to get licensed.
“There won’t be legal outlets for all the people that cultivate and have gone to dispensaries, so the black market is going to explode,” Levine says, calling the situation “hugely urgent”.
Suppressing the black market was a central argument for proponents of legalisation, who argued that legal outlets would undercut the illicit trade. While it is an open secret in marijuana country that the black market absorbs some of what is grown, many cultivators have embraced legalisation as a way to come out of hiding and grow conscientiously, touting environmental protections and a way to finally jettison the ever-present threat of prosecution.
But some of them won’t be able to get their products into the regulated market, and “people who work with dispensaries and can’t get permitted aren’t going to stop growing,” says Sonoma cultivator Julie Terry, voicing a widely shared sentiment.
“Many, many people will not be in that regulated market,” says Sam Magruder, a Sonoma County grower who has sunk millions into obtaining properly zoned land and getting it up to code for his growing operation.