Colorado Springs, CO: The adoption of state-level marijuana legalization laws does not lead to any significant uptick in overall criminal activity, according to data published in the Journal of Drug Issues.
A pair of researchers affiliated with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and with Boise State University in Idaho compared crime data in Colorado and Washington to a synthetic control over a ten-year period (2010-2019). They reported that legalization was "generally not associated with changes in index crime rates."
Authors concluded: "These findings substantiate prior research. Increased crime rates should not be a primary concern as more states move to adopt recreational marijuana use legislation."
Prior evaluations have reported an association between adult-use legalization and improvements in police clearance rates, concluding that legalization "positively influences police performance."
Full text of the study, "Crime in a time of cannabis: Estimating the effects of legalizing marijuana on crime rates in Colorado and Washington using a synthetic control method," appears in The Journal of Drug Issues.
Boston, MA: Patients with moderate-to-severe anxiety experience symptom improvements and better cognitive performance following the daily administration of full spectrum CBD extracts, according to open-label trial data published in the journal Communications Medicine.
A team of investigators affiliated with Harvard Medical School assessed the safety and efficacy of CBD extracts in a cohort of anxiety patients over a four-week period. Trial participants consumed oral extracts three times daily. Extracts contained approximately 10mgs of CBD and less than one percent THC. Subjects in the trial had either no prior experience with cannabis products or had been abstinent from cannabis for at least one year.
Researchers reported significant improvements in patients' symptoms over the course of the trial. "Treatment response analyses revealed rapid onset of clinically significant reductions in anxiety with most patients achieving and maintaining treatment response after one week and all patients achieving and maintaining treatment response by week three," they determined. "Secondary outcome assessments demonstrated improvements on measures of mood, sleep disturbance, quality of life and executive functioning following treatment. ... Specifically, patients exhibited significantly faster performance with fewer errors on several tasks of executive function relative to baseline, while assessments of visual and verbal memory remained stable. These findings are consistent with data from observational investigations reporting long-term treatment with medical cannabis is associated with improved clinical state and executive functioning."
Authors reported that CBD doses were "well-tolerated with no serious adverse events and few side effects."
Although prior studies have similarly identified anxiolytic activities associated with CBD, patients in this study achieved a treatment response at comparably lower doses (30 mgs per day versus 300 mgs per day). Researchers theorized that the use of full-spectrum products is likely more efficacious than the administration of a single extracted CBD isolate. A 2019 study assessing the use of plant-derived CBD-dominant capsules similarly showed improvements in anxiety and sleep following the daily administration of low-dose (25mgs) products.
Investigators concluded: "Initial results from the open-label stage of this clinical trial demonstrated significant improvement of primary outcome assessments of anxiety, providing preliminary evidence that a full- spectrum, high-CBD product may be efficacious for treating anxiety with few side effects. ... A definitive assessment of the impact of this novel treatment on clinical symptoms and cognition will be ascertained in the ongoing double-blind, placebo-controlled stage."
Full text of the study, "Clinical and cognitive improvement following full-spectrum, high cannabidiol treatment for anxiety: open-label data from a two-stage, phase 2 clinical trial," appears in Communications Medicine.
Analysis: Young People No More Likely to Try Cannabis in States That License Retail Sales
Seattle, WA: Adolescents who reside in states where retail sales of cannabis are legal for adults are no more likely to consume cannabis than are young people in states where it isn't, according to data published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
A team of investigators affiliated with the University of Washington and with Colorado State University evaluated longitudinal data from three US states. In two of the states (Oregon and Washington), legal sales were permitted, while in the other state they were not.
Researchers reported: "Change in legalization status across adolescence was not significantly related to within-person change in the probability or frequency of self-reported past-year cannabis use. At the between-person level, youth who spent more of their adolescence under legalization were no more or less likely to have used cannabis at age 15 years than adolescents who spent little or no time under legalization."
They concluded, "[Our] findings are not consistent with changes in the prevalence or frequency of adolescent cannabis use after legalization. ... Taken together with previous studies, these findings add weight to the conclusion that adolescent cannabis use is holding steady in the wake of legalization."
The study's conclusions are consistent with those of numerous others, finding that adult-use regulations are not associated with either increased marijuana use or access among young people, or with any changes in young people's perceptions toward the substance.
Full text of the study, "Effects of cannabis legalization on adolescent cannabis use across 3 states," appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Study: Cannabis Use Associated with Greater Rates of Physical Activity in HIV+ Patients
Providence, RI: Cannabis use is associated with greater levels of physical activity in HIV+ positive patients, according to data published in the journal AIDS Care.
A team of researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island and Boston University's School of Public Health assessed the relationship between self-reported substance use and exercise engagement in a cohort of HIV+ patients.
Investigators reported that those who reported consuming cannabis were significantly more likely to be physically active than those patients who did not.
They reported, "The estimated mean rate of vigorous METs [Metabolic Equivalent of Task Units] was ... 6.25 times higher for people who used cannabis than non-users."
Researchers theorized that cannabis' ability to mitigate symptoms associated with HIV, such as pain, may facilitate greater engagement in physical activity.
The findings are consistent with several prior studies reporting a positive association between cannabis use and exercise, particularly among seniors.
Full text of the study, "The relationship between substance use and physical activity among people living with HIV, chronic pain, and symptoms of depression: A cross-sectional analysis," appears in AIDS Care.
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