Marijuana •

Mixing Caffeine and Marijuana: Is It a Good Idea?

Several companies are already selling cannabis-infused coffee, but researchers say that combining two psychoactive substances could lead to some problems.

Dr. Scott Krakower, the assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York, said that the effects of using caffeine and marijuana in combination have not been studied that much.

Previous researches have implied that the two substances might mix neuro-chemically, according to Dr. Krakower. That means that caffeine and marijuana may have different effects when used together, and not the effects that each compound has when used on its own.

A person’s working memory can become worse when consuming a combination of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) – the chemical found in marijuana that is responsible for most of the drug’s psychological effects – and caffeine, Dr. Krakower explained. Even though caffeine has cognitive-enhancing properties, when the two chemicals are taken together, they appear to work against people’s health, according to the study.

Taking a depressant (marijuana) and a stimulant (caffeine) at the same time may also not be such a great idea. The user will probably feel both tired and wired due to the unusual combination. It is also a mistake to think that one can get high and then use caffeine to sober up, Dr. Krakower noted. Researchers are concerned about the potentially harmful cognitive effects of caffeine and marijuana combined.

According to Dr. Krakower, more research is needed to figure out the exact effects that the substance mix might have in humans.

Edible marijuana products are becoming more popular in the United States – as of June, 23 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana use in some form ( recreational marijuana use is fully legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia). Those products might make users consume more THC than they usually do, because when the drug is ingested, the effects of the drug kick in slower than when it is smoked. That raises some concerns among experts.

Moreover, some labels that list the THC levels of a product are inaccurate. In a 2015 study, researchers found that only thirteen out of seventy-five edible marijuana products had accurate labels on the THC levels. The study was published in the journal JAMA.

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Verbal Memory May Be Affected by Marijuana

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People’s verbal memory – which refers to memory of words or the ability to remember various words – may be affected by long-term marijuana use, according to a new study.

Researchers found that for every additional five years of marijuana use, about one out of two people could remember one word fewer from a total of 15 words that were presented to them.

However, other cognitive functions did not decrease significantly due to long-term marijuana use, the findings suggested.

For the new study – published Monday (Feb. 1) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine – the researchers looked at the effects of marijuana use among people who were already enrolled in a study, called the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA).

More than 5,000 adults who were ages eighteen to thirty took part in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. During follow-up visits, the participants would report whether they had used marijuana in the previous month. They took cognitive tests at the 25-year follow-up, which were meant to observe the verbal memory, executive function, and processing speed of the study participants.

The results showed that long-term marijuana use decreased the performance of people on all three tests. However, when the researches accounted for other factors – like depression and use of other substances – they found that the only statistically significant connection was the one between verbal memory and long-term marijuana use. The other two associations may have been due to chance.

According to the researchers, the more marijuana a person used, the higher the effects on their verbal memory were.

One explanation as to why marijuana use affects verbal memory, is that THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) – the the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis and the chemical responsible for most of the psychological effects triggered by marijuana – may impact the way in which the hippocampus processes information.

A previous study conducted in New Zealand over a longer period, found that long-time marijuana users appeared to have a greater decline in IQ scores, compared with individuals who had stopped using marijuana, or those who had never used it.

On the other end of the spectrum, another study conducted earlier the year found quite the opposite: marijuana use was not linked with a decrease in IQ (intelligence quotient) in teenagers.

So far, no cause and effect was found between decline in cognitive abilities and long-term marijuana use, but researchers still advise people to be aware of the potential harms associated with this drug.

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8 Dispensaries Will Use Marijuana For Medical Purposes In New York

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On Thursday the official use of marijuana for medical purpose was launched in the state of New York. This means that New York will join the other 23 states which have already started using programs for medical marijuana use.

Marijuana for medical purposes is used to ease the pain of patients who suffer from serious conditions such as cancer and AIDS. New York has opened 8 dispensaries where one can find concentrates made from weed, vapors and tinctures.

The CEO of Columbia Care, a dispensary from Manhattan, said that marijuana is a medication and it represents a great way to treat patients that have not found the treatments which they need. He also mentioned that the New York mandate will change the situation in this industry.

At the dispensary in Manhattan patients who want to use medical marijuana have to undergo numerous layers of security tests before they are allowed to get in. If they pass the tests the patients will have their own pharmacist, who is specially trained to supply tinctures, oils and capsules made out of marijuana.

People are allowed to use medical marijuana if they are diagnosed with a life threatening or debilitating disease. In addition they must also present a complication which makes their condition worse. The Compassionate Care New York program enumerates certain such diseases: cancer, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, spinal cord injury with spasticity and inflammatory bowel disease. Besides these conditions there are other illnesses which are under evaluation and might be eligible for medical marijuana. The potential list includes: rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, posttraumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.

Supplies of medical marijuana are kept safely and out of sight: they are stored in an underground vault. Medical experts consider this to be a good method of dispersing medical marijuana. In authorized dispensaries people can find only two types of medical marijuana: the first type has the equal ration of THC (etrahydrocannabino) to CBD (cannabidoil) and the second type has a low THC and a high CBD ration.

Compared to the state of California which has hundreds of dispensaries with marijuana programs, the New York medical marijuana program seems to be cheaper. The New York dispensaries have tight control when it comes to certain matters, like for example dosage and prescription. Experts believe that this will enable them to perform more extensive and accurate studies on the effectiveness of the drug in medical use.

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Medical marijuana may help children with debilitating illness

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The derivatives of marijuana should be allowed in some cases when children are suffering from certain debilitating sickness in order to ease their suffering, according to the updated 2004 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on marijuana legalization.

The group of pediatricians on Monday declared the change in position after releasing a statement while reaffirming its opposition to the marijuana legalization.

The updated policy will now include several exceptions for “compassionate use” in kids suffering from debilitating or life-limiting health conditions.

Cannabinoids, compounds found in marijuana or pot, have emerged as a method of barring seizures for epileptic kids.

“Given that some children who may benefit from cannabinoids cannot wait for a meticulous and lengthy research process, the Academy recognizes some exceptions should be made for compassionate use in children,” according to a statement by the organization.

The organization had stopped endorsing the practice openly and called for further detailed research into its effectiveness.

“While cannabinoids may have potential as a therapy for a number of medical conditions, dispensing marijuana raises concerns regarding purity, dosing and formulation, all of which are of heightened importance in children,” said William P. Adelman, policy statement co-author, in the press release.

In a press release, study author Seth D. Ammerman said, “Just the campaigns to legalize marijuana can have the effect of persuading adolescents that marijuana is not dangerous, which can have a devastating impact on their lifelong health and development.”

The organization continued with its resolute opposition against the recreational use of marijuana, arguing that giving nod to its use for adults is more likely to cause an increased use among teenagers.

Alcohol consumption, Marijuana drug use decline among American teens

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A latest national study released on Tuesday has found that only fewer teenagers in the United States are now smoking cigarettes or consuming alcohol in at least last 40 years, but the use of many illicit drugs remains steady among them.

The study was conducted by the researchers at the University of Michigan under the Monitoring the Future program, which is used by the federal health officials to keep a track on the data on youth substance abuse.

Highlighting about the study’s findings, principal investigator Lloyd Johnston, said, “There is a lot of good news in this year’s results, but the problems of teen substance use and abuse are still far from going away.”

For the study, the researchers involved around 40,000 to 50,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12 in 400 schools and surveyed them about their smoking, drinking and drug addiction habits.

Researchers believe a growing peer rejection is likely to be a top factor that triggered the drop in smoking and drinking this year.

Out of the total teenagers surveyed, only 41 percent said they consumed alcohol. The figure for this year was down from a peak of 61 percent reported in 1997. The study also found a sharp decline in binge drinking.

Similarly, only 8 percent of the participants said they smoked cigarettes. This was down from a peak of 28 percent in 1997.

Researchers noted that both the consumption of alcohol and cigarette smoking was at their lowest in the history of the survey that started in 1975.

The study also showed a drop in the use of some popular illicit drugs, like ecstasy and synthetic marijuana, among the teens. But the use of drugs like cocaine, heroin and crystal methamphetamine was found unchanged in the past two years.

The participants who were surveyed also gave mixed response about the prescription drugs abuse. While the use of narcotic painkiller OxyContin was reported less, the use of stimulants Adderall and Ritalin remained steady. Nearly 5.8 percent of high school seniors this year reported using marijuana on daily or near-daily basis. This is down from 6.5 percent reported last year.

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