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Analysis: Few Changes in Patients’ Cognitive Performance Following Their Use of Medical Cannabis Products
Brisbane, Australia: Patients’ cognitive performance is largely unaffected following their consumption of either medical cannabis oil or flower, according to data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.
Australian researchers assessed the acute effects of either vaporized cannabis or the ingestion of cannabis oil on cognitive functions relevant to driving in a cohort of 78 patients. (Australian physicians may prescribe cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional prescription treatments.) Participants’ performance was tested at baseline and then again 15 minutes following the vaporization of herbal cannabis and 90 minutes following the ingestion of cannabis oil.
Consistent with prior studies, subjects exhibited tolerance to the acute effects of cannabis dosing. Specifically, participants’ cannabis use “did not measurably affect information processing speed, divided and sustained attention, or inhibitory control performance.”
By contrast, investigators reported that cannabis may negatively influence patients’ “mental flexibility” (the capacity for switching attentional focus) and “visuomotor attention” skills. However, researchers said it is unclear “whether such changes would translate into temporary functional changes to driving capacity.”
The study’s authors concluded: “The absence of measurable change on multiple measures of attentional processing, reaction time, and simple information processing speed suggests that tolerance to THC may mediate the known acute effects of cannabis on neurocognitive function in medicinal cannabis patients. … As the use of medicinal cannabis continues to expand globally, research investigating the acute effects of prescribed THC remains a high priority.”
Full text of the study, “Elucidating the acute effects of medically prescribed oral and vaporized delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on cognitive functions important for driving,” appears in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Study: Cannabis Use Has No Significant Adverse Impact on Sperm Motility
Boston, MA: Men who use cannabis do not have lower sperm counts, according to data published in the scientific journal Andrology.
Researchers affiliated with Boston University’s School of Public Health assessed semen samples from a representative cohort of 921 male subjects, 23 percent of whom currently consumed cannabis.
Investigators reported no significant differences in sperm concentration, volume, or motility in cannabis consumers versus non-consumers.
“In this North American preconception cohort study, current cannabis use was not appreciably associated with semen quality,” the study’s authors concluded.
Studies assessing the potential impact of cannabis use on male reproductive health have yielded inconsistent results. For instance, a 2019 Harvard study linked cannabis use with higher sperm concentrations, while a 2015 review paper cautioned that heavy cannabis use could pose detrimental effects on male reproductive potential. More recent papers have concluded that a history of cannabis use likely doesn’t have any significant adverse effects on either male sexual function or fertility rates.
Full text of the study, “A North American preconception cohort study of cannabis use and semen quality,” appears in Andrology.
Study: FDA-Approved CBD Formulation Significantly Reduces Seizure Frequency in Young People With Refractory Epilepsy
New Orleans, LA: Nearly half of pediatric patients prescribed CBD in the form of Epidiolex achieve a ≤25 percent reduction in seizures, according to clinical trial data published in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior.
Investigators affiliated with Tulane University’s School of Medicine assessed the adjunctive use of Epidiolex in 208 patients with treatment-resistant childhood epilepsy.
Researchers reported a significant decrease in seizure frequency across all diagnostic categories, with an overall median reduction in monthly seizures from 30 to eight. Forty-nine percent of patients experienced a greater than 25 percent reduction in seizure frequency following CBD treatment. Twenty-one percent of participants experienced a 51 to 75 percent reduction in seizures.
“Our study demonstrates that cannabidiol offers significant benefits in reducing seizure frequency across a variety of epilepsy etiologies in pediatric patients with medically refractory epilepsy,” the study’s authors concluded. “While CBD’s efficacy in conditions like Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet Syndrome is well-documented our findings underscore CBD’s broader potential in managing other types of DEEs [developmental and epileptic encephalopathies], focal/multifocal epilepsy, and primary generalized epilepsy.”
In 2018, regulators at the US Food and Drug Administration granted market approval to Epidiolex, a prescription medicine containing a standardized formulation of plant-derived cannabidiol for the explicit treatment of Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, two rare forms of childhood epilepsy.
Full text of the study, “Adjunctive use of cannabidiol for pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy: A retrospective multicenter analysis,” appears in Epilepsy & Behavior.
Austin, TX: Austin police officers are unlikely to begin citing or arresting minor marijuana violators, despite a recent appellate court ruling striking down the city’s voter-approved depenalization ordinance.
“For now, we’re still going with the way we were policing before,” acknowledged Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.
Austin is one of several Texas cities that have approved citizen-sponsored ordinances prohibiting local law enforcement from making low-level marijuana-related arrests. (Voters in Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos have also approved marijuana depenalization measures.) However, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued to nullify those laws. In March, the newly formed Fifteenth Court of Appeals ruled that state law preempts the adoption of Austin’s and San Marcos’ ordinances.
State law defines marijuana possession of two ounces or less as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, and a criminal record.
In addition to the Attorney General’s legal efforts, Texas lawmakers are moving forward with legislation prohibiting localities from placing any future marijuana-related measures on the ballot. Senate lawmakers recently approved SB 1870, which forbids voters from deciding upon local ordinances that seek to decriminalize marijuana. The measure also prohibits cities and towns from adopting policies that do not “fully enforce” the state’s criminal marijuana laws.
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