Study: Autism Patients Show Clinical Improvements Following Use of CBD-Rich Cannabis
Tel Aviv, Israel: The administration of CBD-rich cannabis is associated with clinical improvements in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to data published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Israeli researchers evaluated the efficacy of cannabis treatment in a cohort of 82 young people (ages 5 to 25) with ASD. Subjects in the trial consumed whole-plant cannabis extracts (oils with a CBD:THC ratio of 20 to 1) adjunctively over a period of six months. Investigators used a variety of standardized clinical assessments to evaluate patients’ symptoms prior to and immediately following treatment.
They reported, “Our results revealed significant improvements in [the] overall … scores of the ASD participants who completed the 6-month treatment protocol with CBD-rich cannabis. Overall changes were mostly driven by improvements in social communication skills.
“[T]hese findings suggest that treatment with CBD-rich medicinal cannabis can lead to significant improvements in social communication skills of some ASD individuals, particularly those with more severe initial symptoms,” authors concluded. “These positive findings motivate further double-blind placebo-controlled studies for determining the efficacy of treatment with specific cannabis strains and/or synthetic cannabinoids.”
The researchers’ findings are consistent with those of numerous other studies demonstrating that the use of either CBD-dominant cannabis or oral extracts is associated with symptom mitigation in adolescents with ASD.
Full text of the study, “Children and adolescents with ASD treated with CBD-rich cannabis exhibit significant improvements, particularly in social symptoms: An open label study,” appears in Translational Psychiatry.
Analysis: Adoption of Adult-Use Legalization Associated with Decrease in State-Level Obesity Rates
Fargo, ND: States that license adult-use marijuana sales may experience a decrease in state-level obesity rates, according to data published in the journal Health Economics.
Researchers affiliated with North Dakota State University compared obesity rates in Washington state following legalization to those of a synthetic control state.
They reported, “Our primary experiment revealed recreational marijuana legalization, which allowed for recreational marijuana dispensaries to open, resulted in decreases in obesity rates for Washington State” as compared to their synthetic control.
Authors concluded, “As more states gravitate to decriminalization, expanded medicinal use, and legalized recreational use of marijuana, our findings provide important insights into contemporary drug policy.”
Case control studies have consistently reported that those with a history of marijuana use are less likely than abstainers to be obese or to suffer from type 2 diabetes. Studies have also previously linked cannabis use to greater rates of physical activity.
Full text of the study, “Assessing the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on obesity,” appears in Health Economics.
Canada: Most Health Care Providers Unfamiliar with Topics Related to Medical Cannabis
Montreal, Canada: Despite the federal government having legalized patients’ access to marijuana two decades ago, most Canadian health care providers acknowledge that they possess little knowledge about medical cannabis and almost none report having received any training about it while in medical school.
Survey data published in the journal BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies reported that 56 percent of respondents felt either “uncomfortable or ambivalent regarding their knowledge of medical cannabis,” and that only six percent of medical professionals received any formal training about it while attending medical school. (By contrast, 60 percent of respondents said that they had attended either a workshop or a conference on the topic.) Fewer than one-in-three (27 percent) acknowledged being familiar with the regulations surrounding patients’ access to medical cannabis products.
The results are consistent with numerous other surveys from the United States and abroad finding that health professionals seldom receive any formal training about cannabis and that most lack sufficient understanding of the subject.
Authors concluded: “The majority of HCPs [health care practitioners] received little, if any, formal training in cannabinoid-based medicine in medical school or residency, … and nearly one-third were unfamiliar with the requirements for obtaining CMP [cannabis for medical purposes] in Canada. Respondents endorsed discomfort with their knowledge of MC [medical cannabis.] …. These findings suggest that medical training programs must reassess their curricula to enable HCPs to gain the knowledge and comfort required to meet the evolving needs of patients.”
Full text of the study, “Healthcare practitioner perceptions on barriers impacting cannabis prescribing practices,” appears in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.
Analysis: Blacks Disproportionately Drug Tested for Marijuana During Labor
St. Louis, MO: Patients ordered to undergo marijuana-specific drug screening during the labor and delivery process are disproportionately Black and are also likely to be on subsidized health insurance plans, according to data published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Researchers affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis assessed drug screening practices in a labor and delivery unit of an urban hospital over a one-year period (January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020).
Investigators reported that hospital personnel ordered marijuana-related drug tests for 753 patients during this period. (Doctors performed just under 4,000 total deliveries.) Of those tested, over 70 percent were Black. Those tested for marijuana were also more likely to be younger and on public insurance.
Most of those who underwent drug screening tested negative for the presence of cannabis or other controlled substances. Of those who did test positive for cannabis, 90 percent were mandatorily reported to child abuse services.
There were no statistically significant differences in preterm birth rates, Apgar scores, or infant birth weight for patients who underwent urine drug screening for marijuana versus those who did not.
Authors concluded: “Isolated marijuana use was a poor predictor of other substance exposure in our cohort, but a urine drug screening test result positive for marijuana exposed a historically underserved population that is already subject to pervasive systemic racism in the medical field to further stigmatization without changing outcomes. The utility of using isolated marijuana use as a criterion for urine drug screening appears limited in benefit but rife with inequitable potential to harm and should be carefully reconsidered in labor and delivery units for necessity.”
The study’s findings are consistent with those of others reporting that patients of color and their newborns are disproportionately drug screened for cannabis exposure during labor and delivery.
Data assessing the relationship between in utero cannabis exposure and various neonatal outcomes, such as birth weight, is inconsistent. However, longitudinal data indicates that cannabis exposure is rarely independently linked with adverse neurodevelopmental consequences, finding, “Although there is a theoretical potential for cannabis to interfere with neurodevelopment, human data drawn from four prospective cohorts have not identified any long-term or long lasting meaningful differences between children exposed in utero to cannabis and those not.” Nonetheless, in some states, such as in Oklahoma and Alabama, mothers are arrested and criminally prosecuted for the use of cannabis during their pregnancy.
Full text of the study, “Urine drug screening for isolated marijuana use in labor and delivery units,” appears inObstetrics & Gynecology.
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