Study: Occasional Cannabis Use During Adolescence Not Associated With Cognitive Decline
Porto, Portugal: Subjects who engage in the occasional use of cannabis during their teens exhibit no significant changes in cognitive functioning in young adulthood, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
Portuguese researchers assessed reward-related brain activity, psychopathology, and cognitive functioning in a cohort of cannabis consumers and controls. Subjects in the study were all cannabis naïve at age 14. Investigators then conducted follow-up investigations when subjects were 19 and 22 years of age.
Researchers did not identify any significant cognitive differences at age 22 between occasional cannabis consumers and abstainers.
“After cannabis use initiation, light CAN [cannabis users] and CON [controls] did not differ in internalizing psychopathology, cognitive functioning, or brain activity,” the study’s authors concluded. “Overall, future longitudinal studies should oversample participants with higher frequency of cannabis use and follow them through midlife to re-evaluate this pattern of findings.”
Other studies have similarly failed to identify significant changes in either brain morphology or IQ specifically attributable to adolescents’ cannabis use.
Full text of the study, “Light cannabis use and the adolescent brain: An 8-years longitudinal assessment of mental health, cognition, and reward processing,” appears in Psychopharmacology.
Review: Detection Of THC In Bodily Fluids Not Correlated With Impairment
Davis, CA: Neither the detection of THC nor its metabolites in blood, breath, urine, or saliva is predictive of behavioral impairment, according to a literature review published in the Journal of AOAC (the Association of Official Analytical Chemists) International.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California at Davis affirmed that there is “no direct relationship between impairment and THC concentrations” in subjects’ bodily fluids – a finding that is consistent with the opinions of numerous traffic safety groups, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Automobile Association.
The investigators further acknowledged, “Current methods that focus on THC and/or metabolite concentrations in blood, saliva, urine, or exhaled breath can lead to false-positive results for recent use due to the persistence of THC well outside of the typical 3-4-hour window of potential impairment following cannabis inhalation.”
Consequently, the study’s authors determined that per se traffic safety laws adopted in several states that criminalize drivers who test positive for trace levels of THC in their blood are “not supported by science,” and that they risk “wrongly accusing” motorists who are neither impaired nor have recently consumed cannabis.
Five states – Illinois, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington – impose various per se limits for the detection of trace amounts of THC in blood while ten states (Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wisconsin) impose zero tolerant per se standards. In these states, it is a traffic safety violation to operate a vehicle with detectable levels of THC in blood – even absent any demonstrable evidence of psychomotor impairment.
NORML has long opposed the imposition of per se THC limits for motorists and has alternatively called for the expanded use of mobile performance technology like DRUID. In a peer-review paper published by the Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano wrote: “The sole presence of THC and/or its metabolites in blood, particularly at low levels, is an inconsistent and largely inappropriate indicator of psychomotor impairment in cannabis consuming subjects. … Lawmakers would be advised to consider alternative legislative approaches to address concerns over DUI cannabis behavior that do not rely solely on the presence of THC or its metabolites in blood or urine as determinants of guilt in a court of law. Otherwise, the imposition of traffic safety laws may inadvertently become a criminal mechanism for law enforcement and prosecutors to punish those who have engaged in legally protected behavior and who have not posed any actionable traffic safety threat.”
Full text of the study, “Complexity of translating analytics to recent cannabis use and impairment,” appears in the Journal of AOAC International.
Poll: Voters Strongly Support Letting States Make Their Own Marijuana Laws
Washington, DC: Voters favor permitting state governments to establish their own marijuana policies free from federal interference, according to polling data compiled by FTP Insights on behalf of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR).
Pollsters surveyed likely voters’ attitudes in three states: Missouri, Ohio, and Wyoming.
Respondents in all three states – including majorities of Democrats and Republicans – strongly supported allowing states to set their own policies.
“The polling is straightforward – midwestern voters want autonomy to develop policies that work best for them,” said CPEAR’s Executive Director Andrew Freedman in a press release. “Voters understand the importance of having the right to choose what cannabis policies work best for them without interference from the federal government.”
He said the polling results show strong support among voters for proposed federal legislation, HR 6673, which exempts legal cannabis states from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The bill, sponsored by Ohio Republican David Joyce, currently has nine co-sponsors.
The poll’s results are consistent with those of prior surveys, which found that supermajorities of Americans believe that states should “be able to enact their own marijuana laws without interference from the federal government.”
Analysis: Labels of Hemp-derived Products Often Provide Misleading Information
Chicago, IL: The contents of hemp-derived cannabinoid products seldom match the information advertised on the products’ labels, according to a laboratory analysis conducted by the University of Chicago.
Of the 17 different hemp-derived flower products analyzed, fifteen contained lesser quantities of advertised cannabinoids (e.g., delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, CBD). One sample contained no detectable level of cannabinoids.
Of the eight edible products analyzed, three contained no detectable levels of advertised cannabinoids. One product contained lower levels of advertised cannabinoids, while three contained higher quantities.
The findings are consistent with those of other studies reporting discrepancies in the contents of unregulated hemp-derived products.
“Most of the edible and plant cannabinoid products do not match their packaging and labeling,” the study’s author concluded. “This, in conjunction with the absence of regulations and safety testing, is a cause for concern for public safety as people (and minors) consume these products.”
Delta-8 THC and other cannabinoids present in commercially available hemp-derived products are typically produced following a chemical synthesis. Those engaged in manufacturing these products are not regulated and may use potentially dangerous household products to facilitate this process. Lab analyses of these unregulated products have repeatedly found that they contain lower levels of cannabinoids than what is advertised on the products’ labels. Some products have also been found to possess heavy metal contaminants and unlabeled cutting agents.
In 2022, NORML issued a report on delta-8 THC and other novel, synthetically derived cannabinoids that cautioned consumers to avoid these unregulated products because they are untested and may contain impurities.
The full text of the study, “The public safety risk of hemp products sold at unlicensed retailers,” appears in the Journal of Toxicology Current Research.
