Vaping THC worse for teens' lungs than vaping nicotine; NFIA issues new infographic to download; Fox is not only in the henhouse, she rules it! More

View this email in your browser

EFFECTS

Evaluation of THC-related neuropsychiatric symptoms among adults aged 50 years and older
Latha Velayudhan and colleagues at King’s College London in the UK conducted a review of 30 randomized clinical trials involving people ages 50 or older who used THC products only or THC/CBD products compared to people who used neither.

They found that a higher THC dose was associated with a higher incidence of thinking disorder or perception disorder and dizziness or light-headedness, but no other adverse neuropsychiatric events, and no such association with those using THC/CBD combinations.

However, only four of the studies involved adults 65 or older. The researchers say because so few studies have been done with those 65 or older, the lack of further adverse events in this population cannot be inferred from their findings. Moreover, their results indicate that THC-containing medicines should be used cautiously in people over age 50 given that dizziness and light-headedness may increase the risk of falls in older adults.

Read JAMA Network Open abstract here.

Assessment of annual cost of substance use disorder in US hospitals
Cora Peterson and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted an economic evaluation of 124,573,175 hospital emergency room encounters and 33,648,910 hospital inpatient encounters. They found the cost of treating substance use disorders in both settings exceeded $13.2 billion in 2017. Costs ranged from $4 million for inhalant-related disorders to $7.6 billion for alcohol-related disorders.

They conclude that investments in prevention and treatment, especially in hospital settings, could significantly reduce these high medical costs as well as substance use disorders themselves.

Read full text of this JAMA Network Open article here.

Prevalence and co-occurrence of alcohol, nicotine, and other substance use disorder diagnoses among US transgender and cisgender adults
Jaclyn M. W. Hughto and colleagues from Brown, Boston, and other universities and academic institutions conduced the largest national study to date to document disparities in substance use disorder diagnoses among transgender and cisgender adults.

Transgender individuals had significantly higher rates of these diagnoses than cisgender adults across age groups and geographic areas. Research is needed to understand why transgender adults aren’t able to access treatment in order to develop novel public-health interventions for this population.

Read full text of this JAMA Network Open study here.

US Senate Drug Caucus releases cannabis report
The US Senate Drug Caucus is a bipartisan caucus co-chaired by Senators John Cornyn, Republican, and Dianne Feinstein, Democrat. The Caucus has released a report titled “Cannabis Policy: Public Health and Safety Issues and Recommendations.” The report makes five key findings and recommends ways to address them:

Removing barriers to research
Studying the impact of increasing THC levels
Impact of cannabis use on the developing brain
Unregulated products
Better detect cannabis impaired driving

The findings and recommendations are followed by an in-depth explanation of each of the five key issues. This document presents one of the most comprehensive, fact-based assessments of marijuana legalization problems. With 14 pages of footnotes, it is one of the most comprehensive resources on the health effects of marijuana available today. It should be on the electronic shelf of every library of organizations working in the fields of substance use prevention and treatment.

Download US Senate Caucus report here.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Medical marijuana is not regulated as most medicines are
Yesterday’s Science Times of The New York Times published an article by Jane Brody that highlights the problem spelled out in her title.

Experts “caution that what is now being legally sold as medicinal marijuana in dispensaries throughout the country is anything but the safe, pure substance Americans commonly expect when they are treated with licensed medications,” she writes.

Oregon, for example, requires recreational marijuana to be tested for pesticides, but not most medical marijuana. The state’s Health Authority does not require tests for heavy metals and microbes which could further sicken patients.

She quotes a number of medical specialists in a new book edited by pain management specialist Dr. Ken Finn titled Cannabis in Medicine: An Evidence-based Approach. Here are some of their quotations:

Pain Management – “Cannabis itself does not produce analgesia and paradoxically might interfere with opioid analgesia.”

Multiple Sclerosis – “In one of the largest and longest trials, the placebo performed better in treating spasticity, pain, and bladder dysfunction.”

Glaucoma – “To achieve therapeutic levels of marijuana in the bloodstream to treat glaucoma, an individual would need to smoke approximately six to eight times a day. The person would likely be physically and mentally unable to perform tasks requiring attention and focus like working and driving.”

Read Science Times article here.

Nikki Fried says THC caps would "tax" patients, marijuana industry
Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Nikki Fried, trashed a bill introduced last week to cap THC levels in flower at 10 percent, edibles at 15 percent, and concentrates at 60 percent.

“This would be a huge hit to the industry and the patients,” she said.

One of the state’s biggest medical marijuana businesses, Trulieve, agrees. “Forcing a limit on potency available in the medications patients rely on would not only set the medical market back years, it would force patients to buy more and spend more to achieve the same amount of relief available now,” says the company in an email urging people to sign a Florida for Care petition opposing the caps.

Read Florida Politics article here.

The fox is not only in the henhouse, she rules it
Nikki Fried is Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture. She is also an avid proponent of recreational marijuana.

Tallahassee Reports has just published an explosive report that reveals how tied Ms. Fried is to the marijuana industry and to a lawmaker who has the power to legalize the drug for recreational use. Only medical use is legal in Florida.

Ms. Fried’s fiancée is Jake Bergmann, who founded Surterra in Atlanta but left the company when chewing gum magnate Beau Wrigley, Jr. bought it and changed its name to Parallel.

Mr. Bergmann has since created a web of companies involved in the marijuana and hemp industries. One is registered at Ms. Fried’s personal residence, according to the report. Another of Mr. Bergmann’s companies is registered at the address of The Rubin Group, which donated $5,000 to Ms. Fried’s PAC in 2018 when she ran for Commissioner. The Rubin Group is the registered legislative lobbyist for Surterra/Parallel.

Public records show that Mr. Bergmann also formed a marijuana related business with Ms. Fried’s father, Ronald Fried, and Hali Utstein, the wife of David Silvers – a Florida state representative, the report says.

After her election, Ms. Fried began sharing her home with Mr. Bergmann, who is married but engaged in divorce proceedings.

Read Tallahassee Reports investigative report here.

LEGALIZATION

Alaska marijuana operation accused of using pesticides, falsifying records in rare criminal case
The state filed criminal charges against an Alaskan marijuana company for allegedly spraying potentially toxic pesticides on its plants. The charges were filed against Ron and Lacey Bass who own the cultivating business, Calm N Collected LLC, and the retail outlet Houston Grass Station LLC.

The case began in October 2019 when former employees told investigators that Calm N Collective’s marijuana plants had mold or fungus and Mr. Bass told them to regularly spray pesticides on them. Surveillance footage captured instances of employees dressed in Tyvek suits and respirator masks.

Lab tests showed four pesticide ingredients in Calm N Collective’s plants, including myclobutanil, which, when heated past 400 degrees, releases toxic hydrogen cyanide and hydrochloric acid gases. Disposable lighters burn at about 3,600 degrees, according to the article.

Alaska does not require marijuana growers to test their plants for pesticides, although they are required to tell the state and place on labels the names of any pesticides used during cultivation. Clam N Collective did neither.

The charges brought by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are misdemeanors, but the charging documents indicate the Basses may also be charged with falsifying business records, a felony.

Read Anchorage Daily News article here.

FTC approves final administrative consent orders against sellers of deceptively marketed CBD products
After a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission approved administrative consent orders against six companies that made false medical claims about their CBD products. The companies had claimed CBD could treat serious health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. Specific claims made by each company can be read here.

FTC sent them warning letters in December 2020. Each company agreed to the consent orders which prohibit the illegal conduct laid out in the warning letter each received. Several paid fines to FTC as well.

Read FTC News announcement here.

Association of cannabis retailer proximity and density with cannabis use among pregnant women in northern California after legalization of cannabis for recreational use
Kelly C. Young-Wolff and colleagues at Kaiser Permanente Northern California and the Public Health Institute conducted a cross-sectional study that assessed the association between marijuana retail density and marijuana use by pregnant women. The women were served by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system during 2018, the first year of the state’s initiation of recreational marijuana sales.

The health system universally screens pregnant women for marijuana use via self-report and urine testing upon entrance for prenatal care. The total sample of 35,195 pregnant women included 12,711 non-Hispanic White women, 9,472 Asian or Pacific Islanders women, 9,329 Hispanic women, and 2,185 Black women. The median number of dispensaries within a 15-minute drive was two; some 208 qualified for the study.

The researchers found that greater retail availability was associated with higher odds of marijuana use by pregnant women. These results were consistent with a dose-response association, they say. They note that despite potential harms, dispensaries often recommend prenatal marijuana use, package warnings often appear in the required 6 pt. font – too small for many to read, and in-store warnings about prenatal use are not required in California.

Read this Research Letter in JAMA Network Open here.

CO lawmaker wants to change new marijuana delivery program
Marijuana home delivery is less than a year old in Colorado, but a lawmaker there wants to change the law that made it legal. Last week, Representative Marc Snyder introduced HB 1159, which proposes several modifications to the home delivery law passed for medical marijuana last year and recreational marijuana this year.

The bill requires delivery services to come from operating dispensaries -- as opposed to those that hold a license but don’t operate. Dispensaries that deliver must be open for at least five days a week for five hours a day. The bill would also limit delivery to products sold in the store at the same price. Finally, it prohibits customers from holding pre-paid accounts and waives the application fee for social equity applicants to obtain a transporter license to deliver marijuana from one business to another.

Thus far, only seven medical marijuana delivery permits and only two recreational delivery permits have been issued in the state.

Read Westword article here.

Alaska Marijuana Control Board is considering doubling the amount of THC allowed in edibles
Alaska authorities may double the allowable amount of THC in marijuana edibles from 5 milligrams to 10 milligrams and the allowable amount of THC per package from 50 milligrams to 100 milligrams.

Alaska and Oregon have the lowest allowable THC amounts in edibles of the rec legal states. Still, many oppose this move out of concern it will increase health and safety harms.

“A study of Alaska and Oregon Poison Control Center data between December 2015 and April 2017 found that in that time, 253 people were ‘acutely exposed to cannabis.’ Eight were admitted into intensive care units and three of those people were intubated. One died.”

Others are concerned that the rate of Alaska’s marijuana-related car crashes will increase. Traffic fatality investigator Steve Dunn testified that about 30 percent of traffic fatalities and serious collisions in 2019 were marijuana-related.

Read Anchorage Daily News story here.

VAPING

Vaping pot worse than vaping tobacco for teens' lungs: study
A survey taken between December 2016 and January 2018 shows that adolescents who vape marijuana are more likely to wheeze and cough than those who smoke cigarettes or vape nicotine.

The federally funded Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study surveyed nearly 15,000 teens. It showed that vaping marijuana increased the risk of wheezing or whistling in the chest by 81 percent compared to a 15 percent increased risk from cigarettes and a 9 percent increased risk from nicotine e-cigarettes. Vaping marijuana also increased teens’ risk of:

sleep disturbed by wheezing by 71 percent,
speech limited due to wheezing by 96 percent,
wheezing during or after exercise by 33 percent, and
dry coughing at night by 26 percent.

These are all signs of significant injury to the lungs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 4 out of 5 patients with the serious lung disease called EVALI had vaped marijuana, versus only about 16 percent who said they were only vaping nicotine. Vitamin E acetate was found in the lung fluids of all EVALI patients.

The researchers in this study were surprised to learn that lifetime use of vaping marijuana was associated with a far greater number of symptoms and a higher likelihood of having each symptom, says lead researcher Carol Boyd. Professor Emerita Boyd is co-director of the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, and Health.

Read Healthday article here.
Read Journal of Adolescent Health abstract here.

SHORT TAKES

Placebo effect may explain reported benefits of psychedelic microdoses
The largest placebo-controlled trial of psychedelics to date suggests that the reported psychological benefits of microdosing are likely explained by the placebo effect. Read eLife article here.

Pot producer Green Thumb partners with Gwyneth Paltrow-backed beverages brand
Celebrity investor Gwyneth Paltrow and Green Thumb Industries have partnered to make and distribute nationwide Cann, a THC- and CBD-infused sparkling water after the brand’s early success in California. Read Reuters story here.

New infographic from National Families in Action
Past-Month Marijuana Use, 2018-2019. Download here.

Your donations to National Families in Action support the production and distribution of The Marijuana Report, which is free and published weekly except for holidays.
Thank you!

Parenting got a lot harder with legal marijuana
Are you in yet?
Take the "I'm In" pledge to join Parent Movement 2.0! To sign, click here.

The Marijuana Report Staff

Executive Editor, Sue Rusche. Editor, Nicole Carter. Proofreading, Harry Rusche, Professor Emeritus. IT Consultant, Lee Clontz. Social Media Coordinator, Margarita Eberline.

National Families in Action Board of Directors
William F. Carter, Chairman of the Board, Coldwell Banker Atlanta. Sue Rusche, President and CEO, Atlanta. Richard L. Brown, Secretary, Attorney (Ret.), Founder & Chairman, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association, Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Jeannine F. Adams, Director, President and CEO, J. Addams & Partners, Atlanta. Jack L. Arbiser, MD, PhD, Director, Thomas J. Lawley Professor of Dermatology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta. LLP, Atlanta. Debbie Berndt, Director, Parent Movement 2.0, Walnut Creek, California. Margarita Eberline, Director, Strategy Director, Ultim Marketing, Atlanta. Robert Margolis, PhD, Director, Founder, Caron Solutions Intensive Outpatient Program, Roswell, Georgia. Shannon Murphy, MD, FAAP, Director, Birmingham, Alabama.

Senior Adviser
Kent “Oz” Nelson, Chairman and CEO (Ret.), United Parcel Service, Atlanta.

National Families

The MJ Report

Note: If someone forwarded this to you, please do not unsubscribe. Clicking the Unsubscribe button will end that person's subscription. Instead, please ask the person who forwarded this to you to take you off his or her forwarding list. Thank you!