Author Interviews, Cannabis / 24.05.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:   Tara M Lovestead, PhD, (She/her/hers) Group Leader | Fluid Characterization Group Applied Chemicals and Materials Division National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In 2012, when cannabis was decriminalized for adult recreational and medical use in Colorado, I started thinking about how a cannabis breathalyzer could work. I knew that an alcohol breathalyzer model would be pursued for a field sobriety test, but also knew that THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, was a completely different animal, chemically speaking, than ethanol, the intoxicant in alcohol. I began by measuring the vapor pressure of THC and determined that it is a million times less volatile than ethanol. This is why the main strategy for measuring THC in breath is based on collecting breath aerosols with filters (ethanol is measured as a vapor in breath and does not need to be “collected”). My colleague, Dr. Kavita Jeerage and I began working together to design a study using a simple device that samples breath aerosols that hadn’t been used before. We designed this as a small study to piggyback on a larger study with our collaborator Prof. Cinnamon Bidwell at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Bidwell’s experience studying the effects of legal market cannabis product use on psychology and behavior was leveraged to launch the pilot study. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Pharmacology, Tobacco Research / 08.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philip Lazarus, PhD Boeing Distinguished Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Professor, Dept of Pharmaceutical Sciences College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Washington State University Spokane, WA 99210   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Smoking and tobacco use remains a major health issue. Smokers use cigarette over the course of the day because the levels of nicotine, the addictive agent in cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, dimmish with time in the bloodstream due to the breakdown of nicotine by enzymes in the body. By inhibiting the breakdown of nicotine in smokers, one would expect that the levels of nicotine would remain higher after smoking a single cigarette, and that these individuals may not require lighting up another cigarette so quickly, reducing the number of cigarettes smoked over the course of a day. This could have a profound effect on reducing the overall harm incurred from smoking or from using other forms of tobacco. In a single previous study, smokers who used a CBD inhaler exhibited a 40% reduction in cigarette use. In addition, while cannabis users are often smokers, previous studies have indicated that they smoke less cigarettes than non-cannabis-using cigarette smokers. In previous studies published in 2021, we found that major cannabinoids present in cannabis like THC and CBD inhibit major metabolizing enzymes in our body, including several that are important in drug metabolism. We hypothesized that CBD and its major active metabolite, 7-hydroxy (OH)-CBD, may also be inhibiting one or more of the enzymes important in the metabolism (or breakdown) of nicotine. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 27.12.2022

You might have heard good things about CBD oil. You heard that it can assist with numerous conditions and symptoms. However, what you heard might have been simply hearsay and not necessarily proven fact. What you want to know is the science-backed health benefits about CBD oil from actual studies and research, which we provide below.
  1. Alleviate Stress & Anxiety
Stress is something we all experience at some point in time. The worse it gets, the more debilitating it can be and the more it can, in turn, affect our daily lives. A study found that use of CBD oil can not only help one combat excess stress, but it’s also effective for those who struggle with anxiety. (more…)
Addiction, Alcohol, Author Interviews, Cannabis, Education, JAMA, Pediatrics, Social Issues, UCLA / 06.10.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mitchell Wong, MD PhD Professor of Medicine Executive Vice Chair for Research Training Department of Medicine Executive Co-Director, Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program Director, UCLA CTSI KL2 Program UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Los Angeles, CA 90024 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is estimated that social factors like poverty, education, and housing have a large impact on health. Yet, there are few interventions that exist to directly address those issues.  Schools are a promising solution since society already invests heavily in education and schools are an everyday part of most children’s lives. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics / 07.01.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Myran, MD, MPH, CCFP, FRCPC Family and Public Health and Preventive Medicine Physician CIHR Fellow, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Department of Family Medicine Innovation Fellow University of Ottawa MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Canada legalized recreational, or non-medical, cannabis in October 2018. Canada took phased approach to legalization initially only allowing flower-based cannabis products and oils and after one year permitting the sale of commercial cannabis edibles (e.g. THC containing candies, baked goods, and drinks). In this study we took advantage of this phased roll out of legal cannabis to understand the impact of legalization on cannabis exposures or poisonings in children aged 0-9 years and the contribution of different types of cannabis products to these events. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Neurology, Pediatrics / 15.12.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rayyan Raja Zafar BSc. MSc. MRSB. Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP) PhD Candidate Centre for Psychedelic research & Neuropsychopharmacology Division of Psychiatry Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Professor David Nutt DM, FRCP, FRCPsych, FSB, FMedSci Faculty of Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences The Edmond J Safra Chair in Neuropsychopharmacology Imperial College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Since 2018 medical cannabis prescription has become legal in the UK for patients to access. In spite of this legal change less than 3 NHS prescriptions have been made available and access to whole-plant medical cannabis products has been restricted largely to private prescriptions with very few clinicians prescribing such products. There has been a lot of anecdotal and real world evidence of the value of whole-plant medical cannabis in children suffering with treatment resistant epilepsy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Fertility / 30.11.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kanako Hayashi PhD Associate Professor Associate Director, Center for Reproductive Biology Washington State University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There have been several correlative reports showing statistical associations between cannabis use and low sperm counts, dysregulated menstruation, abnormal placentation, preterm birth, stillbirth and offspring psychosis etc. However, the long-term consequences of cannabis use on reproductive functions and how it might impact the next generation have not been examined. In the present study, we examined the generational effects of cannabis vapor exposure on male reproductive function. Vaporization is the most common route of cannabis administration in humans. Therefore, in order to understand the generational effects of cannabis exposure on male reproductive functions, the present study was performed using an inhalation method as an administration route, by which adult male mice were exposed to dry cannabis plants to assess the toxicological effects of cannabis on F0, F1 and F2 male reproductive functions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics / 25.10.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carmen Lim BSc(Hons), MSc, CStat PhD Candidate National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland Brisbane Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This review has systematically summarized the trends and products used for cannabis vaping using 17 studies published globally between Jan 1, 2003 and August 19, 2020. The pooled prevalence has increased for lifetime use (6.1% in 2013 to 13.6% in 2020), past-year use (7.2% in 2017 to 13.2% in 2020) and past-month use (1.6% in 2013 to 8.4% in 2020). Adolescents' preference for cannabis products may be shifting from less potent products (e.g., herbal cannabis) to highly potent vape oil and concentrates. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 17.09.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sam Craft Addiction and Mental Health Group (AIM), Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King’s College London, London UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs, also known as Spice or K2) are a group of synthetic drugs originally produced to mimic the effects of cannabis. As they are often more accessible or cheaper and cannot be detected on drugs tests, SCRAs may be used as an alternative to cannabis. However, although they act on the same receptors – cannabinoid receptor type 1 and 2 (CBR1; CBR2) – SCRAs are far more potent than cannabis which may make them more addictive and increase the severity of withdrawal (unpleasant symptoms experienced after cessation of a drug which has been used in large amounts for a long period of time) As part of the Global Drug Survey, in this study we asked participants who use both SCRAs and cannabis to compare their effects across different measures which indicate how likely a drug is to result in long-term harm. For example, how severe withdrawal symptoms are and how long the effects last. We also asked participants which withdrawal symptoms they experienced when attempting to stop.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA / 07.09.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mark Anderson, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics Montana State University, IZA, and NBER  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In a previous study that was published in JAMA Pediatrics, we used Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data and found that the adoption of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) was associated with an 8% decrease in the odds of marijuana use among high school students.  This earlier study, however, had pre-legalization and post-legalization data from only 7 states and pre- and post-recreational sales data from only 3 states, calling into question the generalizability of our findings. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics / 28.05.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daimei Sasayama, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry Shinshu University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing worldwide. A 2016 US survey reported a prevalence of 1.85% in 8-year-olds, and a birth cohort study in Denmark reported that the future cumulative incidence of ASD could exceed 2.8%. Our recent regional cohort study in Japan reported an even higher cumulative incidence of 3.1%. So we examined whether the cumulative incidence in our regional cohort represents the nationwide incidence in Japan.  (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis, CMAJ / 06.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah Windle, MPH PhD Student in Epidemiology Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health McGill University (Montréal, Québec, Canada) MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Concerns have been raised about the potential for increases in impaired driving following the legalization of recreational cannabis use in Canada in October 2018. Data from Statistics Canada suggest that cannabis use in the previous three months increased among adults (15 and older) from 14% before legalization in 2018 to 17% in 2019. Among those users with a driver’s license, 13% reported driving within two hours of cannabis use. While this proportion remained the same before and after legalization, this indicates that the absolute number of individuals who reported driving within two hours of use has increased following legalization (due to an increase in the number of users). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 08.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Erica M. Wymore, MD MPH Assistant Professor, Neonatal- Perinatal Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology University of Colorado School of Medicine Children's Hospital Colorado Maya Bunik, MD, MPH  |  Professor, Pediatrics Medical Director, Child Health Clinic, Primary Care  |  Breastfeeding Management Clinic Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS) School of Medicine| University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Children's Hospital Colorado MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Marijuana legalization has been increasing in the United States, with increasing consumption of marijuana products. Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) do not recommend marijuana use during pregnancy or lactation due to concerning though limited data on the effects of perinatal marijuana exposure. As there has been increasing prevalence of women using marijuana during pregnancy due to legalization and perceptions of safety, we sought to determine the duration of THC excretion in breast milk among women who had evidence of marijuana use at delivery and abstained post-partum.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Cannabis / 10.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ran Abuhasira MD, PhD student Cannabis Clinical Research Institute and Clinical Research Center Soroka University Medical Center, and Faculty of Health Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer Sheva, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? cannabis marijuana weed pot Response: The background for the study is the steady rise of cannabis use as a therapeutic in Israel and in many countries around the world. This largest increasing population of patients treated with medical cannabis is the older adults. However, very little data was published about cannabis treatment in older adults, and specifically about the cardiovascular and metabolic implications. T he main finding of the study is that cannabis treatment for 3 months was associated with a reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values, as measured by consequent 24-hours ABPM tests. In addition, no significant changes were found in blood lipids profile, hemoglobin A1C, fasting insulin, C-reactive protein, kidney function tests, electrolytes, anthropometric measurements, and ECG parameters. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 03.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Benjamin J. Warnick, PhD Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Carson College of Business Washington State University Vancouver MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Popular culture has perpetuated a notion that cannabis users are more creative. Along these lines, some successful CEOs and entrepreneurs—like Steve Jobs, for example—have claimed that cannabis use has benefitted their creativity at work. Despite such claims and increased legalization and use of cannabis, the implications of cannabis use for entrepreneurs’ creativity has yet to be rigorously tested. My coauthors and I were very intrigued to dive into the implications of cannabis use for entrepreneurs, whether good or bad. This seemed all the more relevant given the increasing legalization, destigmatization, and use of cannabis.  (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Cannabis, Opiods, Yale / 29.01.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Balázs Kovács PhD Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior Yale School of Management MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our study looks at the association between the prevalence of legal cannabis stores, called “dispensaries”, and opioid-related mortality rates in the U.S.  We find that higher cannabis dispensary counts are associated with reduced opioid-related mortality rates.   We find this relationship holds for both medical dispensaries, which only serve patients who have a state-approved medical card or doctor’s recommendation, as well as for recreational dispensaries, which sell to adults 21 years and older.  The statistical associations we find appears most pronounced with the class of opioids that includes fentanyl and its analogs.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, UCSF / 15.01.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eric R. Pedersen, Ph.D. Adjunct Behavioral Scientist, RAND Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In November of 2016, CA voted to legalize cannabis for sale and possession to adults 21 and older for recreational use. It wasn’t until January of 2018 that stores in most parts of LA County (we call these “outlets”) were legally able to begin selling recreational cannabis. We were collecting data from about 2,500 young adults in LA County as part of a longitudinal study (Principal Investigator Elizabeth D’Amico at RAND) and were able to look at cannabis use and intentions assessed at a period prior to the opening of the recreational cannabis outlets (pre-January 2018) to a period when those outlets were open (after January 2018). It has been suggested that once cannabis was more available for recreational purchase (and not just for medical purposes among those enrolled in CA’s medical marijuana program), use of cannabis among young adults would increase.  (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA / 24.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Li Li, MS, PhD Candidate Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Ohio State University Graduate Research Associate, Center for Injury Research and Policy The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Marijuana use impairs cognitive abilities necessary for safe driving, including reaction time, road lane-tracking ability, and attention maintenance. Given increasing legalization of marijuana use in the US, our study aimed to estimate marijuana-impaired driving among teens at a national level and help to identify the current prevalence to guide future intervention programs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Ophthalmology, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues / 09.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua Uhr MD Ophthalmologist Philadelphia, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Disparities in American society have been at the forefront of the public consciousness in recent months. As part of the larger discussion about inequality, disparities in health outcomes have received much attention. In light of the renewed recognition that these disparities are stark and widespread, we felt it important to evaluate disparities in our own field, ophthalmology. Previous studies have shown disparate outcomes for individual eye conditions, such as glaucoma, cataract, and retinal detachment. Although the common and relevant endpoint of these is visual impairment, few prior studies have examined disparities in visual impairment more broadly. Our aim was to provide an updated analysis of disparity in visual impairment among adults in the United States based on race and socioeconomic status.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 21.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carrie Cuttler, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Washington State University Department of Psychology Pullman, WA, 99164-4820  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: While many studies have examined the acute effects of cannabis on other mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychosis there is almost no research on acute effects of cannabis on symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in humans.  Nevertheless, we have previously found that acute cannabis intoxication is associated with reductions in anxiety as well as with reductions in the intrusive thoughts characteristic of PTSD. Further previous research using a rodent model of compulsive behavior has provided pre-clinical evidence that cannabidiol (CBD) - which is the second most common constituent in the cannabis plant - reduces compulsive behavior. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 09.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christopher Kaufmann, PhD Co-first author of the study and assistant professor Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology in the Department of Medicine UC San Diego  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We examined cannabis use by older patients seen in our geriatrics clinic at the University of California San Diego. We surveyed patients who came to our clinic for routine care, and found that 15% of those surveyed had used cannabis within the past 3 years. Half of users reported using cannabis regularly and most used for medical purposes. The most common targeted conditions were pain, problems sleeping, and anxiety, and patients found cannabis to be helpful in treating these conditions. We also found that 61% had initiated cannabis use after age 60, and these new users engaged in less risky consumption practices than current users who also used earlier in life.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Tobacco Research / 07.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Isabella Lanza, PhD Associate Professor of Human Development California State University, Long Beach   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This is the first study to examine both nicotine vaping and cannabis vaping trajectories across adolescence and young adulthood, which allowed us to assess whether poly-substance vaping is common among adolescents and young adults. Poly-substance vaping (nicotine and cannabis vaping) was reported among a significant proportion of participants in the study (25% were identified as poly-substance vapers). For those that either escalated to frequent nicotine vaping use in adolescence or initiated frequent nicotine vaping use in young adulthood, the probability of engaging in cannabis vaping was very high (85%+).    (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Pediatrics / 02.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Heather Breeze Clayton, PhD, MPH Senior Scientist, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia now have policies in place legalizing marijuana for medical or adult use. While the health effects of marijuana use continue to be studied, substantial evidence suggests that a number of health risks – including cognitive and mental health outcomes- are made worse by earlier initiation of marijuana, and heavier use patterns. Scientific knowledge about the association between marijuana use and other health and risk-taking behavior in youth is still evolving. Accordingly, we sought to use nationally representative data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to assess what the relationship is between different patterns of marijuana use in youth (more established use vs. non-established use patterns) and a number of risk-taking and violence related behaviors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 25.09.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah E. Paul, BA , Graduate Student and Ryan Bogdan, PhD, Associate Professor BRAIN Lab Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 63130 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Sarah Paul: This study was motivated by several trends in cannabis use, its legal landscape, and people's perception of risk. As more states legalize recreational cannabis use, cannabis has become more accessible as well as more potent. Over the past couple of decades, the percentage of adolescents and adults who think that cannabis use is risky or harmful has fallen substantially. Cannabis dispensaries have been reported to actually recommend cannabis to pregnant women for the treatment of pregnancy-related nausea. And finally, between 2002/2003 and 2016/2017, the percentage of women reporting cannabis use during their pregnancies rose 106%. Given these trends and the mixed literature regarding the potential consequences associated with prenatal cannabis exposure, we aimed to comprehensively examine a range of outcomes in a large, representative sample while accounting for a host of important potentially confounding covariates. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Cognitive Issues, Memory, Pediatrics / 04.09.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jarrod Ellingson PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry Anschutz Medical Campus University of Colorado Denver  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We know that cannabis use is associated with many negative outcomes, but there could be many of reasons for that. For example, socioeconomic factors and peer influences both affect adolescent cannabis use and poorer cognitive functioning. To account for some of those risk factors, we studied nearly 600 sibling pairs with moderate to heavy cannabis use. We found that, as a person uses more cannabis than their sibling, they tend to have worse memory recall than their sibling. (more…)