“Social defeat leads to changes in the endocannabinoid system; an overexpression of calreticulin and motor impairment in mice… the aim of this study was to investigate the long-lasting effects of chronic psychosocial stress on motor coordination and motor learning, CB1 receptor expression, endogenous cannabinoid ligands and gene expression in the cerebellum. After chronic psychosocial stress, motor coordination and motor learning were impaired… The present study provides evidence that chronic stress activates calreticulin and might be one of the pathological mechanisms underlying the motor coordination and motor learning dysfunctions seen in social defeat mice.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26815100
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Impact of adolescent marijuana use on intelligence: Results from two longitudinal twin studies.
“The purpose of the present study was to examine the associations of marijuana use with changes in intellectual performance in two longitudinal studies of adolescent twins.
There was no evidence of a dose-response relationship between frequency of use and intelligence quotient (IQ) change. Furthermore, marijuana-using twins failed to show significantly greater IQ decline relative to their abstinent siblings.
Evidence from these two samples suggests that observed declines in measured IQ may not be a direct result of marijuana exposure but rather attributable to familial factors that underlie both marijuana initiation and low intellectual attainment.”
“Short-term cannabis use in adolescence does not appear to cause IQ decline or impair executive functions, even when cannabis use reaches the level of dependence. Family background factors explain why adolescent cannabis users perform worse on IQ and executive function tests.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28734078
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28734078
Medicinal Cannabis: In Vitro Validation of Vaporizers for the Smoke-Free Inhalation of Cannabis.
“Inhalation by vaporization is a promising application mode for cannabis in medicine.
An in vitro validation of 5 commercial vaporizers was performed with THC-type and CBD-type cannabis.
Temperature-controlled, electrically-driven vaporizers efficiently decarboxylate inactive acidic cannabinoids and reliably release their corresponding neutral, active cannabinoids.
Thus, they offer a promising application mode for the safe and efficient administration of medicinal cannabis.”
Hempseed as a nutritional resource: An overview
“The seed of Cannabis sativa L. has been an important source of nutrition for thousands of years in Old World cultures. Technically a nut, hempseed typically contains over 30% oil and about 25% protein, with considerable amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Hempseed oil is over 80% in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and is an exceptionally rich source of the two essential fatty acids (EFAs) linoleic acid (18:2 omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 omega-3). The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (n6/n3) in hempseed oil is normally between 2:1 and 3:1, which is considered to be optimal for human health. Hempseed has been used to treat various disorders for thousands of years in traditional oriental medicine.” http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10681-004-4811-6
Five-year follow-up of rural Jamaican children whose mothers used marijuana during pregnancy.
“This research provides data on the development of 59 Jamaican children, from birth to age 5 years, whose mothers used marijuana during pregnancy.
Approximately one-half of the sample used marijuana during pregnancy and were matched with non-users according to age, parity, and socioeconomic status. Testing of the children was done at 1, 3, and 30 days of age with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales and at ages 4 and 5 years with the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities. Data about the child’s home environment and temperament were collected from direct observations as well as from standardized questionnaires.
The results show no significant differences in developmental testing outcomes between children of marijuana-using and non-using mothers except at 30 days of age when the babies of users had more favourable scores on two clusters of the Brazelton Scales: autonomic stability and reflexes. The developmental scores at ages 4 and 5 years were significantly correlated to certain aspects of the home environment and to regularity of basic school (preschool) attendance.”
Prenatal marijuana exposure and neonatal outcomes in Jamaica: an ethnographic study.
“Exposed and nonexposed neonates were compared at 3 days and 1 month old, using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale, including supplementary items to capture possible subtle effects.
There were no significant differences between exposed and nonexposed neonates on day 3. At 1 month, the exposed neonates showed better physiological stability and required less examiner facilitation to reach organized states.
The neonates of heavy-marijuana-using mothers had better scores on autonomic stability, quality of alertness, irritability, and self-regulation and were judged to be more rewarding for caregivers.
CONCLUSIONS:
The absence of any differences between the exposed on nonexposed groups in the early neonatal period suggest that the better scores of exposed neonates at 1 month are traceable to the cultural positioning and social and economic characteristics of mothers using marijuana that select for the use of marijuana but also promote neonatal development.”
Abrupt Quitting of Long-term Heavy Recreational Cannabis Use is Not Followed by Significant Changes in Blood Pressure and Heart Rate.
“To shed more light on the role of heart rate and blood pressure during cannabis withdrawal.
Abrupt cessation of recreational long-term daily cannabis use was not followed by significant changes in heart rate, blood and pulse pressure.
Also, these measures were not significantly correlated with the severity of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome.
The cohort’s risk for CVD was moderate (all tobacco using, overweight in 9 of 35 patients and elevation of serum C-reactive protein in many patients).
Its metabolic risk for CVD was minor considering the mostly normal blood pressure, normal serum lipids and glucose.“
The emerging role of the cannabinoid receptor family in peripheral and neuro-immune interactions.
“The classical endogenous cannabinoid (CB) system is composed of the endocannabinoid signalling molecules, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) and anandamide (AEA) and their G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), CB1 and CB2 which together constitutes the endocannabinoid system (ECS).
However, putative, novel lipid-sensing CB receptors have recently been identified, including the orphan GPR55 and GPR18 receptors that are regulated by cannabinoid-like molecules and interact with CB system.
CB receptors and associated orphan GPCRs are expressed at high levels in the immune and/or central nervous systems (CNS) and regulate a number of neurophysiological processes, including key events involved in neuroinflammation.
As such, these receptors have been identified as emerging therapeutic targets for a number of brain disorders in which neuroinflammation is a key feature, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
This review will consider the role of the widercannabinoid receptor superfamily in mediating immune function with a focus on the immune processes that contribute to neuroinflammatory conditions.”
Marijuana: A Fifty-Year Personal Addiction Medicine Perspective.
“As of September 2015, the cultivation, possession, and/or use of marijuana is illegal under U.S. federal law as a Schedule I narcotic; however, it is legal in four states and Washington, D.C. Forty-six states allow some form of medicinal marijuana or decriminalization.
Marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years; Marijuana’s regulation by law enforcement in the U.S., rather than the medical community, led to an almost complete halt to academic and scientific research after the 1930s.
The late 1960s saw an upsurge in recreational marijuana use by middle-class youth, the majority of whom experienced minimal adverse effects aside from arrest and attendant legal complications.
Since the mid-1990s, the use of medicinal marijuana for certain conditions has gained increasing acceptance.
In the East, the feeling is primarily that marijuana continue to be proscribed. In the West, where clinicians must face the realities of medicalization, decriminalization, and/or legalization, as well as widespread recreational use, there is more of a movement to minimize adverse effects, particularly on youth.”
Are IQ and educational outcomes in teenagers related to their cannabis use? A prospective cohort study.
“We investigated associations between adolescent cannabis use and IQ and educational attainment in a sample of 2235 teenagers from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
After full adjustment, those who had used cannabis ⩾50 times did not differ from never-users on either IQ or educational performance.
Adjusting for group differences in cigarette smoking dramatically attenuated the associations between cannabis use and both outcomes, and further analyses demonstrated robust associations between cigarette use and educational outcomes, even with cannabis users excluded.
These findings suggest that adolescent cannabis use is not associated with IQ or educational performance once adjustment is made for potential confounds, in particular adolescent cigarette use.
Modest cannabis use in teenagers may have less cognitive impact than epidemiological surveys of older cohorts have previously suggested.”