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Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
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- Tue, 22 Mar 2016 04:20:21 PST

Study: Passage Of State Medical Marijuana Laws Doesn't Influence Youth Use

"There is no evidence of a differential increase in past-month marijuana use in youth that can be attributed to state medical marijuana laws"

New York, NY: The enactment of state laws permitting physicians to authorize cannabis therapy to qualified patients has not stimulated increases in marijuana use by young people, according to findings published in The International Journal on Drug Policy.

A team of researchers from Columbia University in New York City reviewed federal data regarding rates of self-reported monthly marijuana use among 12 to 17-year-olds between the years 2002 and 2011.

While the study's authors acknowledged that many medical marijuana states have greater overall rates of youth cannabis use compared to non-medical states, they affirmed that these jurisdictions already possessed elevated use rates prior to changes in law, and that the laws' enactment did not play a role in influencing youth use patterns.

"While states with MML (medical marijuana laws) feature higher rates of adolescent marijuana use, to date, no major U.S. national data set, including the NSDUH (US National Survey on Drug Use in Households), supports that MML are a cause of these higher use levels," investigators concluded. "[W]hen within-state changes are properly considered and pre-MML prevalence is properly controlled, there is no evidence of a differential increase in past-month marijuana use in youth that can be attributed to state medical marijuana laws."

Their findings are similar to those of a 2015 study that assessed the relationship between state medical marijuana laws and rates of self-reported adolescent marijuana use over a 24-year period in a sampling of over one million adolescents in 48 states. The study's authors reported no increase in teens' overall cannabis use that could be attributable to changes in law, and acknowledged a "robust" decrease in consumption among 8th graders. They concluded, "[T]he results of this study showed no evidence for an increase in adolescent marijuana use after the passage of state laws permitting use of marijuana for medical purposes. ... [C]oncerns that increased marijuana use is an unintended effect of state marijuana laws seem unfounded."

Full text of the study, "Prevalence of marijuana use does not differentially increase among youth after states pass medical marijuana laws: Commentary on and reanalysis of US National Survey on Drug Use in Households data 2002-2011," is available from The International Journal of Drug Policy.


Study: Cannabis' Influence On Driving Performance Differs From That Of Alcohol

Baltimore, MD: Cannabis-influenced driving performance is significantly different than alcohol-induced driving behavior, according to driving simulator data published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology.

Investigators with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Iowa evaluated simulated driving performance in subjects following their consumption of vaporized cannabis, alcohol, or placebo.

Researchers reported that cannabis administration was associated with compensatory driving behavior, such as decreased mean speed and increased mean following distance, whereas alcohol administration was associated with faster driving. Investigators also reported that cannabis dosing in combination with low quantities of alcohol "mitigated drivers' tendency to drive faster with alcohol" - a finding that contrasts with prior data acknowledging that the two substances combined typically possess an additive adverse effect on psychomotor performance.

"THC concentration-dependent associations with decreased speed, increased time below the speed limit and increased following distance suggest possible awareness by drivers of potential impairment and attempts to compensate," authors concluded. "The compensatory behavior exhibited by cannabis-influenced drivers distinctly contrasts with an alcohol-induced higher risk behavior, evidenced by greater percent speed."

According to the findings of a recently published literature review of crash culpability studies, "[A]cute cannabis intoxication is related to a statistically significant risk increase of low to moderate magnitude [odds ratio between 1.2 and 1.4]." By contrast, a 2015 case-control study by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that driving with legal amounts of booze in one's system is associated with a nearly four-fold increased crash risk (odds ratio = 3.93).

Full text of the study, "Cannabis effects on driving longitudinal control with and without alcohol," appears in the Journal of Applied Toxicology.


Montana: Supreme Court Upholds Legislative Amendments To Medical Cannabis Law

Helena, MT: The Supreme Court has upheld a number of legislative amendments to the state's voter-approved medical cannabis law.

Lawmakers passed legislation in 2011 to roll back the program, which voters initially approved in 2004. Those changes have been subject to legal challenges ever since.

Specifically, the Court upheld state-imposed restrictions barring any commercial advertising of medical cannabis products and prohibiting marijuana consumption by those on probation. The Court also upheld provisions mandating a state review of physicians who recommend cannabis therapy to more than 25 patients annually, and permitting law enforcement to engage in "warrantless inspections" of the premises of marijuana providers.

The Court struck down language barring caregivers from receiving remuneration for their activities. However, a majority of justices upheld separate language restricting licensed caregivers to provide for no more than two patients at one time.

Over 12,000 patients are presently registered in the state's marijuana program.

The case is Montana Cannabis Industries Association et al v. Montana.


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