After a century of failed policies and “canna-bigotry,” the verdict is in. Legalization is a success, and the end of cannabis prohibition can’t come soon enough.
Tag: mental health
The establishment of a regulated market designed to keep cannabis products away from young people, and that provides clear warnings to those specific populations who may be more vulnerable to its effects — coupled with a policy of consumer education — is the best way to protect public health and mitigate consumers’ risks.
Investigators concluded, “High potency cannabis use, measured as THC concentration in cannabis and high potency cannabis preference, was not associated with increased symptoms of psychosis.”
“As a cannabis consumer, marijuana has changed my life for the better. … There is nothing that I want to do more than be part of an organization that supports initiatives that advocate on behalf of freedoms for cannabis consumers.”
The measure, which NORML opposed, was backed by a number of anti-cannabis organizations, including those opposed to the use of herbal cannabis as a therapeutic treatment in all situations.
Two new studies published online today in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Psychiatry provide little support for previous claims that cannabis exposure is significantly harmful to the developing brain.
Marijuana use by adolescents, including self-reported chronic use, is not associated with adverse health effects later in life, according to an assessment of longitudinal data published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Authors concluded, “Overall, data from this sample provide little to no evidence to suggest that patterns of marijuana use from adolescence to young adulthood … were negatively related to the indicators of physical or mental health studied.”
The administration of THC modulates emotional processing in healthy volunteers, according to placebo-controlled crossover trial data published online by the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology. Researchers concluded: “These results indicate that THC administration reduces the negative bias in emotional processing. This adds human evidence to support the hypothesis that the endocannabinoid system is involved in modulation of emotional processing. Our findings also suggest a possible role for the endocannabinoid system in abnormal emotional processing, and may thus be relevant for psychiatric disorders such as major depression.”