Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 13 Oct 2015 04:20:21 PST
Study: Patients Substitute Cannabis For Booze, Prescription Drugs
Victoria, Canada: Patients who possess legal access to cannabis frequently substitute it in place of alcohol and prescription drugs, according to survey data published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.
Investigators from the University of Victoria in British Columbia assessed the influence of medical marijuana access on other drug-taking behaviors in a cohort of 473 Canadian adults licensed to engage in cannabis therapy.
"Substituting cannabis for one or more of alcohol, illicit drugs or prescription drugs was reported by 87 percent of respondents, with 80.3 percent reporting substitution for prescription drugs, 51.7 percent for alcohol, and 32.6 percent for illicit substances," they reported.
Substitution rates were highest among respondents between the ages of 18 and 40. Pain patients were most likely to use cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs.
Authors concluded, "The finding that cannabis was substituted for alcohol and illicit substances suggests that the medical use of cannabis may play a harm reduction role in the context of use of these substances, and could have implications for substance use treatment approaches requiring abstinence from cannabis in the process of reducing the use of other substances."
Evaluations of subjects enrolled in state-specific medical marijuana programs, including those in Arizona, California, and Rhode Island, yield similar results - finding that patients are particularly likely to substitute cannabis for opioids. According to a recently published National Bureau of Economic Research report, states that permit qualified patients to access medical marijuana via dispensaries possess lower rates of opioid addiction and overdose deaths as compared to states that do not.
A previously published paper in the journal Addiction Research and Theory concluded, "[A] growing body of research on cannabis-related substitution suggests that for many patients cannabis is not only an effective medicine, but also a potential exit drug to problematic substance use."
Full text of the study, "Substituting cannabis for prescription drugs, alcohol and other substances among medical cannabis patients: The impact of contextual factors," appears in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Fewer Teens Using Marijuana, Younger Adolescents More Likely To Voice Disapproval
Baltimore, MD: Self-reported use of marijuana by high-school students is significantly lower today than it was 15 years ago, according to an analysis of CDC data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore assessed data compiled by the US Center for Disease Control's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey for the years 1999 to 2013. The Survey is a biennial school-based evaluation of more than 100,000 high-school students nationwide.
Investigators reported that lifetime use of cannabis fell during this period. The percentage of respondents reporting monthly marijuana consumption and/or any use of cannabis prior to age 13 also declined.
"People have been very quick to say that marijuana use is going up and up and up in this country, particularly now that marijuana has become more normalized," study leader Renee M. Johnson, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School said in a press release. "What we are seeing is that ... the rates of marijuana use have actually fallen."
The result echoes those of previous studies concluding that changes in state marijuana policies are not associated with increased marijuana use by young people.
The results of a separate study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin further conclude that growing percentages of younger teens disapprove of the plant's use. Investigators reported "a significant increase in the proportion of youth (age 12 to 14) reporting 'strong disapproval' of marijuana use initiation over the last decade." Similar to the findings of prior studies, the paper also reports that teens' lifetime and past year use of marijuana has declined significantly over the past decade.
Full text of the study, "Past 15-year trends in adolescent marijuana use: Differences by race/ethnicity and sex," appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Full text of the study, "Trends in the disapproval and use of marijuana among adolescents and young adults in the United States: 2002-2013," appears in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
IBD Patients Likely To Report Using Cannabis
Philadelphia, PA: Subjects with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are more likely to have used cannabis as compared to matched controls, according to an evaluation of population data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Investigators at Temple University assessed marijuana use patterns among two million subjects with IBD and a nearly equal number of controls. Subjects with IBD were more likely than controls to have consumed cannabis and were also more likely to have initiated their use at an earlier age. Subjects with IBD also reported using greater quantities of cannabis per day.
Previous surveys have reported that IBD patients commonly use cannabis for symptom relief. In a recent placebo-controlled trial, cannabis inhalation was associated with a significant reduction in Crohn's disease symptoms in subjects with a treatment-resistant form of the disease.
Full text of the study, "Patterns of cannabis use in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A population based analysis," appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
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