Research

Cannabis indica.

Teens should think twice if they believe the negative effects from misusing medication to treat ADHD are short-term. In fact, problems associated with prescription stimulant misuse can last through age 35, according to a new University of Michigan study.

But using medication to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as prescribed by doctors does not show long-term negative effects.
However, high school students who use prescription stimulant medication on their own—without a doctor's orders—are less likely to obtain a four-year college degree and more likely to develop a substance use disorder as adults.

Credit: CC0 Public Domain
People with intermittent explosive disorder (IED)—a condition marked by frequent physical or verbal outbursts—are at five times greater risk for abusing substances such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana than those who don't display frequent aggressive behavior, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago.

In the study, published Feb. 28, 2017 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Coccaro, MD, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 9,200 subjects in the National Comorbidity Survey, a national survey of mental health in the United States.

Credit: RTI International
Pot brownies may be a thing of the past as there are new edible marijuana products, or edibles, on the market, including chocolates, candies, and cookies.

Michael Vaughn, Ph.D., professor of social work at Saint Louis University, studies preventing and treating problem behaviors in adolescents. Credit: Saint Louis University
Despite reports about the increase in heroin use, more teens believed it was "probably impossible" to get heroin in 2014 than in 2002, according to a Saint Louis University study.

"Overall it's cautious good news," said Michael Vaughn, Ph.D., professor of social work at Saint Louis University and the lead author of the paper. "It's a nuanced picture.

Various pills. Credit: Wikipedia
Nearly 70 percent of prescription opioid medications kept in homes with children are not stored safely, a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds.

In a national survey of 681 adults who used opioid pain relievers in the past year and had children ages 17 and younger living with them, only 31 percent reported safely storing them away from their children.

Yet another study shows the potential usefulness of marijuana’s cannabinoids to treat ALS.
Cannabidiol Modulates Genes Linked with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is the partial title of a new article accepted for publication by the Journal of Cellular Biology.  ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a miserable neuromuscular condition, terribly disabling and nearly always fatal. Like other degenerative, inflammatory diseases, ALS is associated with a demon’s brew of “oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and excitotoxicity.”
Perhaps this century’s best know sufferer of ALS is physicist and cosmologist Steven Hawking.

Our body’s natural cannabinoid receptors may play an important role in reducing inflammation in Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
Parkinson’s disease patient showing a flexed walking posture pictured in 1892. Photo appeared in Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpètrière, vol. 5. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Once again, ground breaking cannabinoid research is announced by researchers at Madrid’s Complutense University. Chronic inflammation anywhere in our bodies is a destructive process; in the brain it is particularly insidious. “Inflammation is an important pathogenic factor in Parkinson’s disease (PD),” remind the Spanish researchers in this new study.

The draconian Schedule I status of cannabis in federal drug law for the last half century has been of one country’s most harmful deceits. For decades cannabis reformers have sought to have marijuana down scheduled from the totally restrictive Schedule I, to Schedule II. But any simple rescheduling still would leave cannabis an illegal federal drug. Much better, and now on the table, is  de-scheduling, removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (and the clutches of the DEA).

Will Smith – Concussion
Cannabis reduces traumatic brain injury!
Far too few know this benefit of medical marijuana use and treatment. The general public, the NFL, and coaches across the country may soon get that opportunity.
The SONY movie, “Concussion,” examining brain trauma in the NFL, presents a unique opportunity to educate about benefits of cannabis for traumatic brain injury.