Gender and the Politics of Marijuana

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“The objectives of this study were to understand why, even though women are more liberal than men on a broad range of issues, when it comes to the increasingly prominent issue of marijuana legalization, the direction of the gender gap is reversed, with women more conservative than men.

We find that women’s role as mothers cannot explain this gap, and that mothers are in fact no different from those without children in terms of their support for marijuana policy, as well as their reported use of marijuana. The greater religiosity of women does play a prominent role in the gender gap on marijuana policy, but does not account for the full difference of opinion between women and men. Our findings suggest that men’s greater propensity relative to women to use marijuana is a major driver behind the gender gap.

Conclusions

Not only are attitudes on marijuana legalization likely to continue to liberalize, but as marijuana legalization and marijuana use become normalized, rather than viewed as immoral and dangerous behavior, the existing gender gap should shrink.”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ssqu.12558

“Drug use, religion explain ‘reverse gender gap’ on marijuana”  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181126134251.htm?fbclid=IwAR072Y-SGz0PElUfNtQCTe56kzRC5ZBDoBMmlW2oTagAOy-IOcT_8UxVCEI

Assessment of Efficacy and Tolerability of Medicinal Cannabinoids in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“Are medicinal cannabinoids effective and well tolerated in the treatment of multiple sclerosis? Findings  In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 17 randomized clinical trials including 3161 patients, cannabinoids were significantly associated with efficacy for subjective spasticity, pain, and bladder dysfunction compared with placebo. Cannabinoids had a higher risk of adverse events and withdrawals due to adverse events, with no statistically significant differences found for serious adverse events. Meaning  Cannabinoids appear to be safe regarding serious adverse events, but their clinical benefit may be limited. Cannabinoids have antispastic and analgesic effects. The results suggest a limited efficacy of cannabinoids for the treatment of spasticity, pain, and bladder dysfunction in patients with MS. Therapy using these drugs can be considered as safe.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2706499

“MEDICAL MARIJUANA USES: CANNABIS MAY EASE SYMPTOMS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS” https://www.newsweek.com/medical-marijuana-may-ease-symptoms-multiple-sclerosis-1170416

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Marijuana Use and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The Stroke Prevention in Young Adults Study

“The association between marijuana use and ischemic stroke (IS) risk remains controversial. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of marijuana use on the risk of young-onset IS among Caucasians and African-Americans. Having a history of marijuana/hashish use was not associated with IS in the overall sample or any gender-/ethnic-specific subgroup. Our data does not demonstrate a risk of ischemic stroke as associated with marijuana use.” http://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/S55.003

“No Link Between Marijuana Use and Stroke Risk. There was no evidence that marijuana use was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke in adolescents and young adults.”  https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aan/45577

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Chemometric Analysis of Cannabinoids: Chemotaxonomy and Domestication Syndrome

Scientific Reports “Cannabis is an interesting domesticated crop with a long history of cultivation and use. Strains have been selected through informal breeding programs with undisclosed parentage and criteria. The term “strain” refers to minor morphological differences and grower branding rather than distinct cultivated varieties. The “sativa” and “indica” lineages used to describe cannabis throughout the industry are based on postulation that sativa strains originated from European hemp cultivars, while indica are from potent, resinous Indian cannabis but given the use and trade of the plant in ancient times, the exact origin is unknown and these may not be distinct species. Comparisons of cannabinoid contents of these classifications have shown that the THC content can be identical between these two classification groups.”   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-31120-2