Study shows link between maternal marijuana use and low birth weight
Women who used marijuana while pregnant were almost three times more likely to have an infant with low birth weight
LAWSON HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE - LONDON, ON - 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.
US Adult Illicit Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and Medical Marijuana Laws1991-1992 to 2012-2013
Deborah S. Hasin, PhD1,2,3; Aaron L. Sarvet, MPH1,2; Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH4; et alKatherine M. Keyes, PhD1,3; Malka Stohl, MS2; Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH5; Melanie M. Wall, PhD1,2,6
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online April 26, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0724
Question Are US state medical marijuana laws one of the underlying factors for increases in risk for adult cannabis use and cannabis use disorders seen since the early 1990s?
Findings In this analysis using US national survey data collected in 1991-1992, 2001-2002, and 2012-2013 from 118 497 participants, the risk for cannabis use and cannabis use disorders increased at a significantly greater rate in states that passed medical marijuana laws than in states that did not.
Meaning Possible adverse consequences of illicit cannabis use due to more permissive state cannabis laws should receive consideration by voters, legislators, and policy and health care professionals, with appropriate health care planning as such laws change.
Kicking Pot to the Curb: Cannabis and Alzheimer’s?
“It is beyond epidemic proportions. There truly is a tidal wave of Alzheimers disease", says, Dr. Fortanasce. An estimated 200,000 people in the United States un rage 65 are living with younger onset Alzheimers disease. And hundreds of thousands more are coping with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimers and other dementia. Through his research, Dr. Vincent Fortanasce, a clinical professor of neurology in Southern California, believes that there may be a link between chronic use of marijuana, especially when started at a young age - and Alzheimers.
National wastewater drug monitoring program
report 1, 2017
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission 26 March 2017
The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program will provide leading-edge, coordinated national research and intelligence on illicit drugs and licit drugs that can be abused, with a specific focus on methylamphetamine and 12 other substances.
This Lifesaving Opioid Addiction Treatment Is Putting Kids At Risk
More kids are ingesting buprenorphine, a medication usually used by addicts trying to get clean
REUTERS By Ethan Harfenist Mar 20, 2017 at 4:29 PM ET
Although buprenorphine, the main ingredient in opioid replacement medications such as Suboxone and Subutex, has helped countless addicts wean themselves off more deadly opioids, a new study has found that the medication is increasingly finding itself in the hands of children — with dangerous results.
In a new study set to publish online in the journal Pediatrics, researchers analyzed more than 188,000 calls to poison control centers made between 2005 and 2015 that dealt with child exposure to opioid substances in kids under the age of 20. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first few years of the study saw an increase of 86 percent of opioid exposures to children. After 2009, researchers recorded a decline of almost 32 percent, barring one exception: buprenorphine. Instead, buprenorphine exposures increased from 2014 to 2015 after declining from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, children aged zero to five years accounted for almost 90 percent of buprenorphine exposures during the study.
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THE DRUG ADVISORY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS
More detoxification & rehabilitation that gets illicit drug users drug free.
Court ordered and supervised detoxification & rehabilitation.
Less illicit drug users, drug pushers and drug related crimes.