Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 24 Feb 2015 04:20:21 PST
Study: Marijuana Use Not Associated With Previously Reported Changes In Brain Morphology
Boulder, CO: Marijuana use is not associated with structural changes in the brain, according to imaging data published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Investigators from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Louisville in Kentucky assessed brain morphology in both daily adult and adolescent cannabis users compared to non-users, with a particular focus on whether any differences were identifiable in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and the cerebellum.
Investigators reported "no statistically significant differences ... between daily users and nonusers on volume or shape in the regions of interest" after researchers controlled for participants' use of alcohol.
"[T]he results indicate that, when carefully controlling for alcohol use, gender, age, and other variables, there is no association between marijuana use and standard volumetric or shape measurements of subcortical structures," researchers reported.
The study's results failed to replicate well-publicized findings reported in the same journal in 2014 purporting to associate cannabis use by young adults with changes in brain morphology. Authors of the new study theorized that the contradictory results were likely because of previous researchers' failure to adequately control for the effects of alcohol, which "has been unequivocally associated with deleterious effects on brain morphology and cognition in both adults and adolescents."
Researchers concluded, "[I]t seems unlikely that marijuana use has the same level of long-term deleterious effects on brain morphology as other drugs like alcohol. ... The press may not cite studies that do not find sensational effects, but these studies are still extremely important."
Full text of the study, "Daily marijuana use is not associated with brain morphometric measures in adolescents or adults," appears in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Risk Assessment Study: Cannabis' Purported Dangers Have Been Overestimated
Dresden, Germany: Health risks associated with the use of cannabis have likely been "overestimated" while the dangers associated with the consumption of alcohol "have been commonly underestimated," according to the findings of risk assessment study published in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports.
An international team of investigators from Germany and Canada performed a comparative risk assessment of various substances - including alcohol, tobacco, opiates cannabis, and cocaine - based on their level of toxicity following human exposure. Authors reported that cannabis possessed the lowest risk of any of the substances assessed while alcohol possessed the highest risk.
The results "point to a risk management prioritization toward alcohol and tobacco rather than illicit drugs," authors concluded, adding that cannabis' low risk categorization suggest a "strict regulatory approach rather than the current prohibition approach."
Full text of the study, "Comparative risk assessment of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach," appears online @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311234
Jamaica: Senate Passes Marijuana Depenalization Measure
Kingston, Jamaica: Members of the Jamaica Senate have approved legislation depenalizing minor marijuana possession offenses nationwide.
The legislation amends federal law so that the possession of up to two ounces of cannabis by an adult is reclassified as a non-criminal offense. Violators of the law would receive a ticket and would be mandated to pay a fine, but would no longer face criminal penalties. Public use of the substance would remain prohibited.
Separate provisions of the measure seek to establish regulations allowing for the licensed production of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Additional provisions of the bill provide broader legal protections for those who use the plant for religious purposes.
This past June, Justice Minister Mark Golding announced that a majority of lawmakers are ready to amend the nation's marijuana laws, calling the need to reform cannabis penalties "a serious human rights issue."
Members of the House are expected to begin debating the measure in mid-March.
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