“In the context of cannabis legalization, an important question among clinicians, policymakers, and the public is whether availability of legal cannabis will significantly reduce consumption (demand) of illegal cannabis.
Using paradigms from behavioural economics, we tested the prediction that legal cannabis would be an asymmetrical substitute for illegal cannabis, with legal cannabis operating as a superior commodity based on its regulated status. In a sample of 289 adult cannabis users in Ontario, we found evidence of substitutability for both legal and illegal cannabis, but significantly lower substitutability of illegal for legal cannabis, a pattern that was also present for price elasticity (α) and Pmax.
Thus, the data indicated asymmetric substitution such that the availability of legal cannabis substantially decreased demand for illegal cannabis, but a significantly smaller effect in reverse.
These results suggest that the introduction of legal cannabis into the market may disrupt and reduce illegal purchases, contributing to the reduction of the potential harms associated with the illegal market.
However, in revealing price windows in which legal cannabis is preferred over the contraband alternative, these data also have significant implications for pricing policies.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30523535
https://link.springer.com/article/10.17269%2Fs41997-018-0160-4
“Mammalian ω3- and ω6-PUFAs are synthesized from essential fatty acids (EFAs) or supplied by the diet. PUFAs are constitutive elements of membrane-architecture and precursors of lipid signaling molecules. EFAs and long chain PUFAs are precursors in the synthesis of endocannabinoid-ligands of the Gi/o-protein coupled cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 in the endocannabinoid-system, which critically regulates energy homeostasis, as metabolic signaling system in hypothalamic neuronal circuits, and behavioral parameters. We utilized the auxotrophic fatty acid desaturase 2 deficient (fads2-/-) mouse, deficient in long chain PUFA-synthesis, to follow the age dependent dynamics of the PUFA pattern in the CNS-phospholipidome in unbiased dietary studies of three cohorts on sustained long chain PUFA-free, ω6-arachidonic and ω3-docosahexaenoic acid supplemented diets and their impact on the precursor pool of CB1 ligands. We discovered the transformation of eicosa-all cis-5,11,14-trienoic acid, uncommon in mammalian lipidomes, into two novel endocannabinoids, 20:35,11,14-ethanolamide and 2-20:35,11,14-glycerol, acting as ligands of CB1 in HEK293-cells. Labeling experiments excluded a Δ8-desaturase activity and proved the position-specificity of FADS2. The fads2 -/- mutant might serve as an unbiased model in vivo in the development of novel CB1-agonists and antagonists.”
“The Cannabis plant contains more than 100 currently known phytocannabinoids. Regarding the rising consumption of the non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) in people’s everyday life (e.g., beauty products, food and beverages), the importance of studies on the influence of CBD on healthy humans and rodents is evident. Therefore, the behavioral profile of CBD was investigated with a battery of behavioral tests, including motor, anxiety, and memory tests after prolonged CBD treatment. Adult C57Bl/6J wildtype (WT) mice were daily intraperitoneally injected with 20 mg/kg CBD for 6 weeks starting at two different points of ages (3 months and 5 months) to compare the influence of prolonged CBD treatment with a washout period (former group) to the effects of long term CBD treatment (current group). Our results show that CBD treatment does not influence motor performance on an accelerating Rotarod test, while it also results in a lower locomotor activity in the open field (OF). No influence of CBD on spatial learning and long term memory in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) was observed. Memory in the Novel Object Recognition test (NORT) was unaffected by CBD treatment. Two different anxiety tests revealed that CBD does not affect anxiety behavior in the Dark-Light Box (DLB) and OF test. Although, anxiety is altered by current CBD treatment in the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM). Moreover, CBD-treated C57Bl/6J mice showed an unaltered acoustic startle response (ASR) compared to vehicle-treated mice. However, current CBD treatment impairs prepulse inhibition (PPI), a test to analyze sensorimotor gating. Furthermore, prolonged CBD treatment did not affect the hippocampal neuron number. Our results demonstrate that prolonged CBD treatment has no negative effect on the behavior of adult C57Bl/6J mice.”
“The acute toxicity of organophosphorus-based compounds is primarily a result of acetylcholinesterase inhibition in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The resulting cholinergic crisis manifests as seizure, paralysis, respiratory failure and neurotoxicity. Though overstimulation of muscarinic receptors is the mechanistic basis of central organophosphorus (OP) toxicities, short-term changes in synapse physiology that precede OP-induced seizures have not been investigated in detail. To study acute effects of OP exposure on synaptic function, field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) were recorded from Schaffer collateral synapses in the mouse hippocampus CA1 stratum radiatum during perfusion with various OP compounds. Administration of the OPs paraoxon, soman or VX rapidly and stably depressed fEPSPs via a presynaptic mechanism, while the non-OP proconvulsant tetramethylenedisulfotetramine had no effect on fEPSP amplitudes. OP-induced presynaptic long-term depression manifested prior to interictal spiking, occurred independent of recurrent firing, and did not require NMDA receptor currents, suggesting that it was not mediated by activity-dependent calcium uptake. Pharmacological dissection revealed that the presynaptic endocannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) as well as postsynaptic M1 and M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors were necessary for OP-LTD. Administration of CB1R antagonists significantly reduced survival in mice after a soman challenge, revealing an acute protective role for endogenous CB1R signaling during OP exposure. Collectively these data demonstrate that the endocannabinoid system alters glutamatergic synaptic function during the acute response to OP acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.”
