Abuse/Addiction

According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, white youth are more likely to abuse hard drugs than blacks of the same age group, shattering a common racial stereotype.

Researchers at Northwestern University interviewed 1,829 young people between the ages of 10 and 18 who were detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago between 1995 and 1998. Researchers then interviewed the participants over a twelve-year period, contacting some of them as many as 9 times during that period.

Lead image via Wikimedia Commons

All of America was troubled by the video of Chicago airline police assaulting United Airlines passenger David Dao last week. Sadly, incidents like these seem to be more and more common across the country. This is only one of many egregious and ridiculous overreaches by police since President Trump took office in January. The self-proclaimed “law and order candidate” has gone so far as to name some of his executive orders after the “blue lives matter” movement.

While cannabis has been proven to be medically beneficial in a number of ways, the most recent advantage to emerge is in the looming fight against prescription pill abuse. There have been a handful of studies that show marijuana is a viable treatment for opioid addicts, so much so that it's even convinced the most conservative states to spearhead medical reform. 

Recent findings also show that cannabis has value by replacing other highly addictive prescription pills such as popular benzodiazepine tranquilizers. Canabo Medical Inc., the largest owner of medical marijuana referral clinics in Canada, has partnered with external medical

Two experts with opposing views squared off on the hotly debated topic of how best to control the exploding opioid epidemic in the U.S.- with increasing regulation of physician prescribing practices or by better educating patients and doctors. The fascinating and informative discussion is published in a Point/Counterpoint article in the peer-reviewed, open access journal Healthcare Transformation.

In the article entitled "Point/Counterpoint: Opioid Abuse in the United States," Moderator Antonia Chen, MD, MBA, Associate Editor of Healthcare Transformation, led a lively, straight-talking conversation between Jane C.

House Bill 2020, introduced to Congress on Thursday, would finally remove cannabis from its current standing as a Schedule I narcotic, and reclassify it as Schedule III drug with an accepted medical value.

According to the DEA, Schedule III drugs are those with “a potential for abuse less than substances in Schedules I or II and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.”

Current Schedule III substances include Tylenol with Codeine, ketamine and anabolic steroids.

The rescheduling bill is the brainchild of Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and Democratic Rep. Darren Soto.

Despite what the Trump administration tells you, marijuana can actually help put an end to America’s addiction to painkillers.

A new study has found that the rate of hospitalization related to opioid painkillers dropped at an average of 23 percent in states that allow medical marijuana, reports Reuters.
The study, which was published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence report, also observed a 13 percent drop in the average of opioid overdoses in said states.
In order to find their conclusions, researchers from the University of California San Diego analyzed hospitalization records from 27 states — nine of which

Credit: Human Brain Project
A natural signaling molecule that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain plays a critical role in stress-resilience—the ability to adapt to repeated and acute exposures to traumatic stress, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The findings in a mouse model could have broad implications for the potential treatment and prevention of mood and anxiety disorders, including major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they reported in the journal Nature Communications.
"The study suggests that deficiencies in natural cannabinoids could result in a predisposition to developing PTSD and depression," said Sachin Patel, M.D.

LOS ANGELES — Nine days after Nikolas Michaud’s latest heroin relapse, the skinny 27-year-old sat on a roof deck at a new drug rehabilitation clinic here. He picked up a bong, filled it with a pinch of marijuana, lit the leaves and inhaled.All this took place in plain view of the clinic’s director.“The rules here are a little lax,” Mr. Michaud said.In almost any other rehab setting in the country, smoking pot would be a major infraction and a likely cause for being booted out.

Passed by the New Mexico legislature last Friday, a new bill could make dramatic changes to the state’s medical marijuana law. Allowing for the inclusion of opioid addiction as a qualifying condition for NM’s MMJ program, Gov. Susan Martinez might soon make history with one simple signature.
In addition to adding reciprocity and opioid addiction to the list of qualifying conditions, HB 527 would protect New Mexico’s lawful MMJ participants from interference by Child Protective Services.

Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Veterans who have drug or alcohol problems are more than twice as likely to die by suicide as their comrades, a new study finds. And women veterans with substance use disorders have an even higher rate of suicide—more than five times that of their peers, the research shows.

The risk of suicide differs depending on the type of substance the veteran has problems with, according to the study.
The highest suicide risks are among those who misuse prescription sedative medicines, such as tranquilizers.