Comparative risk assessment of alcohol,tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach
The original paper can be found at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311234/pdf/srep08126.pdf 1Epidemiological Research Unit, Technische Universita¨t Dresden, Klinische Psychologie & Psychotherapie, Dresden, Germany,2Chemisches und Veterina¨runtersuchungsamt (CVUA) Karlsruhe, Germany, 3Social and Epidemiological Research (SER)Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Canada, 4Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto(UofT), Toronto, Canada, 5Dalla Lana School of Public Health, UofT, […]
This is your brain on marijuana
In plain English: No brain shrink from the ganja. The mainstream media last year was nearly in hysterics to report structural changes to the brain due to marijuana. They were following a study conducted at Northwestern University and sponsored by the always truthy Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). A headline in the Los […]
The War on Drugs Is Burning Out
Leading at the ballot box from Alaska to Washington, D.C., Americans are charting a path to a saner national drug policy The conservative wave of 2014 featured an unlikely, progressive undercurrent: In two states, plus the nation’s capital, Americans voted convincingly to pull the plug on marijuana prohibition. Even more striking were the results in […]
How marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington is making the world a better place
No pressure, Colorado and Washington, but the world is scrutinizing your every move. That was the take-home message of an event today at the Brookings Institution, discussing the international impact of the move toward marijuana legalization at the state-level in the U.S. Laws passed in Colorado and Washington, with other states presumably to come, create […]
After California decriminalized marijuana, teen arrest, overdose and dropout rates fell
A new report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice adds to the growing body of evidence that legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana does not lead to any number of doomsday scenarios envisioned by legalization opponents. Looking specifically at California, where full marijuana decriminalization went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, the report finds that […]
No, marijuana use doesn’t lower your IQ
A 2012 Duke University study made international headlines when it purported to find a link between heavy marijuana use and IQ decline among teenagers. Other researchers questioned the findings almost immediately: Columbia University’s Carl Hart noted the very small sample of heavy users (38) in the study, leading him to question how generalizable the results […]
Marijuana’s long-term effects on the brain demonstrated
The effects of chronic marijuana use on the brain may depend on age of first use and duration of use, according to researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas. In a paper published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers for the first time comprehensively […]
Extremely stoned Sarah Silverman makes veggie pot pie in ‘My High Kitchen’
In the video embedded below, comic Sarah Silverman joined YouTube sensation Hannah Hart of “My Drunk Kitchen” fame for a special edition of the show in which Silverman and Hart got stoned instead of drinking, then went on to show how to make a vegetable pot pie. “Sarah Silverman and Hannah Hart,” said Hart early […]
Michigan Court Overturns Medical Marijuana Conviction Because of Prosecutor’s Closing Rant
Last month, a Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of a man charged with cultivating marijuana for medical purposes. During the original trial, the prosecutor used her closing arguments to viciously criticize Michigan’s medical marijuana program. The prosecutor’s closing argument was clearly and thoroughly improper. The prosecutor embarks on a political commentary, and a […]
Federal Report: Problems with Weed DUI
A new paper issued by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) advises against the imposition of per se impairment levels for THC. Per se DUI laws, which exist nationwide for alcohol and are imposed for THC and/or the carboxy THC metabolite in more than a dozen states, criminally prohibit the operation of […]
