Research

Credit: Georgia State University
When young people consider the potential harm of tobacco and marijuana products, their assessment may be based on mistaken beliefs about the risks of various ingredients and methods of ingesting the substances, according to a study led by a tobacco researcher from the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.

The study participants "gauged harms in nuanced ways, with criteria for judging harm differing between tobacco and marijuana products and comparing them with alcohol, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals," the researchers said in the article "Perceived harms and benefits of tobacco, marijuana and electronic

Despite NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spending his offseason to denounce marijuana use, the league’s players association are now working to allow players to use medical cannabis.

In an appearance Tuesday on ESPN’s Outside the Lines, union executive director DeMaurice Smith said the NFLPA plans to discuss the current marijuana policy with league officials.
Smith said the NFLPA wants to pursue a “therapeutic approach” to players testing positive for pot use:
“We intended to present a proposal to the league that has probably more of a therapeutic approach to those who test positive for marijuana.

Many people have experienced the mental health benefits of marijuana. Using marijuana can decrease symptoms of several mental health issues, which demonstrates just one of the mental health benefits of marijuana. It gives those with mental health disorders the relief they need after experiencing even the most severe symptoms of their condition. Studies have shown that marijuana usage has several benefits, including the following from Mental Health Daily:It can give you a much-needed mood boost.When you smoke or ingest marijuana, your brain releases anandamide and dopamine. This means that it serves as an antidepressant and relaxes you.

At the Center for BrainHealth, Dr. Xiaosi Gu and Dr. Francesca Filbey are taking a new approach to addiction research with a focus on quantifying craving in the brain. Credit: Ashton Miller
A new article in JAMA Psychiatry details the first step in revealing how craving works in the brain. Scientists at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas are the first to propose a systematic and quantitative model for drug addiction research. The model focuses on craving: the intense, urgent feeling of needing or wanting drugs.

The New York State Assembly voted 131-8 in favor of a bill that would add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the state’s list of qualifying medical marijuana conditions.
Bill A 7006 now heads for a Senate vote before hopefully heading to the Governor’s desk to become a law. If you live in New York, MPP and Marijuana.com urge you to contact your Senators and tell them why New Yorkers with PTSD need access to medical cannabis.

ALBANY — When the State of New York approved the use of medical marijuana in 2014, the applicants to dispense the drug were vetted and reviewed by a panel of experts said to have deep backgrounds in several fields.The identities of the panel’s members had been a mystery since.

Sonia Minnes.

(HealthDay)—Medical marijuana laws are associated with a decline in the number of prescriptions filled for Medicaid enrollees, according to a study published in the April issue of Health Affairs.


Ashley C. Bradford and W.

Credit: CC0 Public Domain
In a new study, researchers in London, Ontario found that women who used marijuana while pregnant were almost three times more likely to have an infant with low birth weight than women who did not use marijuana.

The study analyzed data from perinatal and neonatal databases at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and is the first large-scale study in Canada to show this association between marijuana use among pregnant women and low birth weight infants.
It was conducted by researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute, Western University and Brescia University College.
Maternal amphetamine use, chronic

A new study published this month in the Journal of Psychopharmacology reports that even small doses of MDMA can enhance emotional empathy towards others. Researchers in the Netherlands and Switzerland conducted six double-blind studies on a total of 118 participants. Each individual ingested a 75mg MDMA pill, a 125mg MDMA pill, or a placebo pill, and then completed an empathy test.

The researchers found that the drug enhanced emotional empathy, meaning a person's affective response to another person's emotional state.