Clinical Trial: Hemp-Derived CBG Associated With Decreased Stress, Improved Memory
Pullman, WA: The consumption of the cannabinoid cannabigerol (CBG) is associated with reduced feelings of stress and anxiety, according to placebo-controlled data published in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports.
Researchers with Washington State University and the University of California, Los Angeles, assessed the use of a hemp-derived 20 mg CBG tincture versus placebo in 34 health volunteers. Most of the study’s participants had no prior experience with CBG.
Investigators reported that CBG, but not the placebo, was associated with significant enhancements in participants’ verbal memory as well as decreases in their feelings of stress and anxiety. CBG was not associated with either intoxicating or performance-impairing effects.
The study’s authors concluded: “The present study represents the first human clinical trial to examine the acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress, and mood. Results of this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over field trial indicate that 20 mg of hemp-derived CBG reduces subjective ratings of anxiety and stress in healthy cannabis-using adults in the absence of motor or cognitive impairment, intoxication, or other subjective drug effects (e.g., heart palpitations, dry mouth). Additional research is needed to corroborate these novel findings as well as to extend them to a clinical population of patients with anxiety disorders.”
In preclinical models, CBG has been shown to possess analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and blood pressure-reducing properties. Survey data published in 2021 reports that consumers who prefer CBG-dominant varieties of cannabis perceive it to be effective at managing anxiety, chronic pain, depression, and insomnia.
Full text of the study, “Acute effects of cannabigerol on anxiety, stress, and mood: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, field trial,” appears in Nature: Scientific Reports.
Study: Cannabis Use Inversely Associated With Metabolic Syndrome in Younger Adults
Miami, FL: Young adults who consume cannabis are far less likely than never users to suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), according to data published in the American Journal of Open Medicine. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors, including unhealthy cholesterol levels and abdominal fat, that are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and adult-onset diabetes, among other serious health consequences.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Miami assessed the relationship between cannabis use and MetS in a nationally representative cohort of nearly 4,000 young adults (ages 18 to 25).
Consistent with prior studies, current cannabis consumers had lower waist circumference and lower BMI compared to controls.
Overall, current cannabis consumers possessed 42 percent lower odds of having MetS. Non-Hispanic Blacks, who acknowledged consuming cannabis at higher rates than other subjects, were least likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome.
“Current cannabis users had a lower prevalence of MetS, predominantly noted among NHB [non-Hispanic Blacks], the group with the highest prevalence of current cannabis use,” the study’s authors concluded. “Future prospective studies are warranted to examine the role of specific cannabinoids on MetS by race/ethnicity.”
Observational studies have previously reported an association between cannabis use and lower blood pressure and decreased rates of obesity.
Full text of the study, “Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among emerging adult cannabis users by race/ethnicity: Analysis of the 2009-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys,” appears in the American Journal of Open Medicine.
Analysis: Nearly 50,000 People Have Been Deported for Violating Marijuana Laws
New York, NY: Nearly 50,000 non-citizens have been deported over the past decades for violating marijuana possession laws, according to data compiled by the advocacy groups Human Rights Watch and the Drug Policy Alliance.
Researchers analyzed federal deportation data for the years 2002 to 2021. During this time, they estimated that federal officials deported approximately 156,000 non-citizens whose most serious conviction was illicit drug possession. Nearly one-third of those offenders (47,000) were deported for violating marijuana possession laws.
The report’s authors further acknowledged that, in some instances, non-citizens are being deported for marijuana-related activities that are no longer criminalized by state and local jurisdictions.
“The US federal government has thus far been unwilling to revise federal immigration law to match current public sentiment on drugs,” authors wrote. “There is no statute of limitations in federal law on deportation after a criminal conviction. Many immigrants are still being deported for convictions from the late 1980s and early 1990s, sometimes for conduct that is no longer a crime under state law.”
In total, nearly one out of every five immigrants deported was removed from the country for a drug-related conviction.
The full text of the report, “Disrupt and Vilify: The War on Immigrants Inside the US War on Drugs,” is available from Human Rights Watch.
Physicians Group Calls for Cannabis Decriminalization
Washington, DC: The American College of Physicians, which represents the interests of more than 160,000 internal medicine physicians, has issued a new policy paper calling for the decriminalization of activities involving the personal possession of cannabis.
The organization recommends decriminalization “to help address systemic inequities and promote treatment-focused alternatives to criminal penalties for substance use disorders.”
Specifically, the ACP states, “[The] possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use be decriminalized.” It also calls for additional resources for agencies involved in regulating state-legal cannabis products and for greater training for doctors and other health professionals.
“Cannabis content should be incorporated into substance use curricula at all levels of physician education,” the group states. Healthcare professionals in the United States and abroad – including nurses, pharmacists, clinicians, and nurse practitioners -- consistently acknowledge that they are inadequately trained to counsel patients on matters specific to medical cannabis.
A complete list of the ACP’s recommendations appears in the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine.
Oklahoma: Medical Cannabis Use While Pregnant Doesn’t Constitute Child Neglect, Appellate Court Rules
Oklahoma City, OK: Authorized patients who consume medical cannabis while pregnant cannot be criminally prosecuted for child neglect, according to a ruling handed down last week by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
The Court’s majority determined that the felony crime of child neglect only applies to instances where a child is exposed to “illegal drugs.” Justices opined that the use of cannabis, when authorized by state-licensed physicians, does not meet the statutory definition of an illegal drug.
The medical use of cannabis has been legal in Oklahoma since 2018.
“The terms ‘controlled dangerous substance’ and illegal drugs are not synonymous,” justices wrote. “The former includes hundreds of prescription drugs which, like marijuana, are lawful to possess only with a prescription or other legal authorization. ... It is undisputed that [the defendant] had one. ... Hence, ... an expectant mother’s licensed possession and use of medical marijuana would not trigger an automatic finding of neglect for failure to protect her unborn child from exposure to illegal drugs because to her, marijuana, is not an illegal drug.”
They concluded: “Like it or not, in Oklahoma, marijuana, like all of these other controlled substances, may now be either a legal or an illegal drug, depending upon whether a person has legal authorization to possess and use it. … For us to find that [the defendant’s] marijuana use, fully authorized by her medical marijuana card, became illegal due to her pregnancy, would require us to rewrite the statute in a way we simply do not think is appropriate for courts to do.”
Two justices dissented in the case.
The majority’s opinion is consistent with that of a recent Arizona Appellate Court ruling, which similarly determined that a pregnant mother’s physician-authorized use of marijuana did not meet the statutory definition of child neglect. That decision was ultimately upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court.
In recent years, prosecutors in Alabama and Oklahoma have pursued criminal prosecutions of several women for engaging in the use of cannabis during their pregnancy.
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