Not Your Father’s Marijuana

After decades of lingering in the shadows of legal society, cannabis is experiencing an eruption in public support. A Pew Research Center poll released in April shows a 52% majority of Americans now favor legalization of marijuana, with 45% opposed. Support for legalization is up 11% since 2010, according to Pew. It’s a stunning turn in public opinion from 1991, when only 17% said it should be legal, with 78% opposed.

Medical marijuana is perhaps the largest driver in this shift. Since 1998, 18 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws permitting possession of marijuana for medical purposes. In a survey commissioned by Fox News released May 1, although a slim majority within the poll’s margin of error opposes legalization, backing for medical marijuana is another matter. More than eight in 10 respondents think adults should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician prescribes it.

Views on the subject fall along age and political lines in the Fox poll. Sixty-two percent of those under age 35 advocate legalization, while 63% ages 65 and older are opposed. Sixty-two percent who identify as liberals favor legalization; 62% of conservatives oppose.

Research regarding marijuana’s medicinal benefits is ongoing, such as at the University of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Meanwhile, across all demographics, about half of the Fox News survey’s participants believe most people who smoke medical marijuana just want to smoke marijuana and don’t truly need it for medical purposes. An official with the Washington State Liquor Control Board reportedly testified in March he believed more than 90% of medical marijuana purchased in the state was for recreational use.

Is medical marijuana a backdoor legalization scheme? It seems to serve as such for many judging by the more than 26 million websites generated by the search engine query “what to tell doctor to get marijuana.”

Not so fast say University of Florida addiction medicine specialists Scott Teitelbaum, MD, and Michael Nias, JD, LCSW, who are not on board with the rush toward relaxed attitudes about marijuana. In their new book, Weed: Family Guide to Marijuana Myths and Facts, they question the perceived safety of marijuana, noting today’s strains are up to seven times higher in the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is what makes users feel “high.”

“This isn’t your father’s marijuana,” said Teitelbaum, medical director of the UF & Shands Florida Recovery Center and associate professor of psychiatry in the UF College of Medicine. “The higher THC concentration is associated with more psychiatric problems and more dependence.”

Noting studies showing approximately 15% of eighth-grade students have already been exposed to marijuana, Teitelbaum said marijuana can be particularly risky for adolescents.

“Introducing drugs with neurotoxic effects during this time, while the brain is still developing, can be very damaging,” he said. “It’s similar to a pregnant woman drinking alcohol.”

We live in times of fast-changing social standards. Despite warnings from people like Teitelbaum and Nias, it sure looks like marijuana is among the next taboos set to fall. It remains to be seen if that’s a good thing.

posted by Rich Krisher

POSITION STATEMENT: OPPOSES Ballot Question 3: Medical Use of Marijuana

In November, voters will have the opportunity to vote on Ballot Question 3, Medical Use of Marijuana. WaylandCares is opposed to Question 3.
As a community coalition working to prevent youth substance abuse, an essential priority is to reduce teen marijuana use through environmental strategies that decrease access to marijuana and increase perception of harm of the drug. Marijuana is a schedule I controlled substance and remains a federally illegal drug; it has not been approved as medicine by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Medicines are determined through rigorous study,
research and clinical trial, not through popular vote. Also, medicines are dispensed through the highly regulated pharmaceutical system. Circumventing the existing processes and infrastructure to determine and distribute medicine
risks public exposure to fraudulent and/or unsafe medicine.

Current research shows:
• States that have legalized marijuana as medicine are experiencing widespread use and abuse of marijuana. States with “medical” marijuana laws have higher marijuana abuse and dependence rates – almost twice as high than states without such laws.1
• Medical marijuana is being diverted to youth through increased supply and easy access. The 2008-2009 State Estimates of Drug Abuse show that four of the top five states, and 14 of the 18 states with the highest percentage of past month marijuana users ages 12-17 are states with “medical marijuana” programs.2 A 2012 study shows that among adolescents in substance
abuse treatment in Denver, Colorado, 74% had used someone else’s medical marijuana a median of 50 times.3
• Marijuana is addictive. The National Institutes of Health found that the earlier marijuana use is initiated, the higher the risk for drug abuse and dependence. Those who begin using the drug in their teens have approximately a one-in-six chance of developing marijuana dependence.4 In fact, children and teens are six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana than for all other illegal drugs combined.5 Addiction rates among 12-17 year olds are among the highest levels nationally in states that have “medical marijuana” programs.6
• Marijuana use harms adolescent brain development. A study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the National Institute on Mental Health, found that adolescents and young adults who are heavy users of marijuana are more likely than non-users to have impaired brain development. Researchers found abnormalities in areas of the brain that interconnect brain regions involved in memory, attention, decision-making, language and executive functioning skills. A new, 2012 longitudinal study indicates an average eight-point drop in IQ among teens who use marijuana.7
• “Medical” marijuana initiatives increase youth access to and acceptability of marijuana, and make pot look safe to kids. States that have “medical” marijuana programs have among the lowest perceptions of harm among youth in the nation.8 The 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that 22.7 percent of U.S. high school seniors thought that there was a great risk of harm from smoking marijuana occasionally, down from 26.6 percent in 2003.9 Efforts to pass “medical” marijuana initiatives further normalize marijuana use among youth and thereby lessen the perceptions of its dangers and negative effects, which will result in increases in youth marijuana use.
• Marijuana use negatively impacts academic achievement. The more a student uses drugs such as marijuana, the lower their grade point average is likely to be and the more likely they are to drop out of school.10
• Marijuana use negatively impacts employability. More than 6,000 companies nationwide and scores of industries and professions require a pre-employment drug test, according to The Definitive List of Companies that Drug Test (available at www.testclear.com). 6.6% of high school seniors already smoke marijuana on a daily basis would fail any required preemployment drug test at the more than 6,000 companies that require it. “Medical” marijuana initiatives lead to increased teen use and exacerbate this problem.
• States that have approved “medical marijuana” use have experienced costly highway safety issues. 20% of crashes in the U.S. are caused by drugged driving.11 Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug detected in impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims. The Colorado Department of Transportation found that after passing “medical marijuana”
legislation in the state, drivers who tested positive for marijuana in fatal car crashes DOUBLED between 2006 and 2010. In 2010, six cities in California conducted nighttime weekend voluntary roadside surveys and found that the percentage of drivers who tested positive for marijuana (8.4%) was greater than the percentage that were using alcohol (7.6%).12 Massachusetts’ youth smoke marijuana at a rate 30% higher than the national average, where one in three high school students currently smoke marijuana. Our local youth marijuana use rates reflect these state numbers. Ballot Question 3 to legalize marijuana as medicine would increase both access to marijuana, and social acceptability of the drug – and the research clearly shows that these two variables have direct causal link to increased teen marijuana use. The risks of medical marijuana laws outweigh the benefits. Therefore, Ballot Question 3 would cause more harm than good and we are against it.
1 Cerda, M. et al. (2011). Medical marijuana laws in 50 states: investigating the relationship between state legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use, abuse and dependence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Found at http://www.columbia.edu/~dsh2/pdf/MedicalMarijuana.pdf; and Wall, M. et al (2011). Adolescent Marijuana Use from 2002 to 2008: Higher in States with Medical Marijuana Laws, Cause Still Unclear, Annals of epidemiology, Vol 21 issue 9 Pages 714-716

2 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), State Estimates from the 2008- 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health

3 Salomonsen-Sautel, S. et al (2012). Medical Marijuana Use Among Adolescents in Substance Abuse Treatment, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Vol 51, Issue 7, pages 694-702

4 Wagner, F.A. & Anthony, J.C. (2002). From first drug use to drug dependence; developmental periods of risk for dependence upon marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol. Neuropsychopharmacology, 26, 479-488.

5 The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. CASA white paper, Non-Medical Marijuana II: Rite Of Passage Or Russian Roulette? 2008.

6 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), State Estimates from the 2008- 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health

7 Mieir, Madeline, H., et al (2012). Persistent Cannabis Users Show Neuropsychological Decline from Childhood to Midlife. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Published on line at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/08/22/1206820109.abstract.

8 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), State Estimates from the 2008- 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health

9 Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (December 14, 2011). University of Michigan, 2011 Monitoring the Future Study

10 Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E.. University of Michigan, 2011. Monitoring the Future Study

11 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010.

12 Office of Traffic Safety, California, 2010. Press Release: “Drug Use Rises in California Fatal Crashes”.

Heavy, Frequent Cannabis Use Linked to Mental Illness

Heavy, Frequent Cannabis Use Linked to Mental Illness
http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/03/heavy-frequent-cannabis-use-linked-to-mental-illness/53369.html

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor

Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 3, 2013

A new study suggests people with mental illness are more than seven times as likely to use marijuana weekly than people without a mental illness.

Although some research has found links between cannabis use and mental illness, until now, the exact numbers and prevalence of cannabis use had not been investigated.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance globally, with an estimated 203 million people reporting use.

“We know that people with mental illness consume more cannabis, perhaps partially as a way to self- medicate psychiatric symptoms, but this data showed us the degree of the correlation between cannabis use, misuse, and mental illness,” said lead research Shaul Lev-ran, M.D.

“Based on the number individuals reporting weekly use, we see that people with mental illness use cannabis at high rates. This can be of concern because it could worsen the symptoms of their mental illness,” said Lev-ran.

Researchers also found that individuals with mental illness were 10 times more likely to have a cannabis use disorder.

In this new study, published in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry, researchers at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) analyzed U.S. data from face-to-face interviews with over 43,000 respondents over the age of 18 from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Using structured questionnaires, the researchers assessed cannabis use as well as various mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol use disorders and personality disorders, based on criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

Among those will mental illness reporting at least weekly cannabis use, rates of use were particularly elevated for those with bipolar disorder, personality disorders and other substance use disorders.

In total, 4.4 percent of individuals with a mental illness in the past 12 months reported using cannabis weekly, compared to 0.6 percent among individuals without any mental illness.

Cannabis use disorders occurred among 4 percent of those with mental illness versus 0.4 per cent among those without.

Researchers also noted that, although cannabis use is generally higher among younger people, the association between mental illness and cannabis use was pervasive across most age groups.

Experts believe the findings suggest those with mental illness may benefit from screening for frequent and problem cannabis use, so that targeted prevention and intervention may be employed as necessary.

Source: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

APA Reference

Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Heavy, Frequent Cannabis Use Linked to Mental Illness. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 3, 2013, fromhttp://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/03/heavy-frequent-cannabis-use-linked-to-mental-illness/53369.html

"Promoting Healthy Youth Decision Making"

Category Archives: Marijuana

Not Your Father’s Marijuana

Healthy, organic, locally grown. That’s how some Colorado teens described marijuana when a group of online news organizations investigated how the legalization of medical marijuana in 2000 has affected young people.

Their attitudes might change even more now that Colorado voters legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults over 21 years old.

“They took to heart that this was healthy. They told us they had aches and pains and marijuana helped them,” said Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, a reporter with the online news site Health Policy Solutions.

Read the full story: click here .

Read the full story: click here
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