CDC Shows Progress Curbing Tobacco Usage
November 21st, 2008 by Perry
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control showed fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes than ever before.
The number of legal-aged residents smoking dropped below 20 percent of the population for the first time in more than 200 years of crusty lungs and smoky lounges.
The CDC actually points out the significant of its accomplishment thusly; in the past 40 years tens of millions of Americans have voluntarily quit smoking a legal, yet highly addictive intoxicant. They took a measured, informative approach that worked.
Comparatively, the government’s campaign against marijuana is failing. There are an estimated 2.5 million new users every year…
You’d think the incoming administration would notice the trend that truth sways people more affectively than scare tactic propaganda and adjust accordingly. Or, legalize and tax the damn plant so we can get some availability for adults and revenue for our economy.
Cannabis Linked to Aiding Alzheimer’s Patients
November 20th, 2008 by Perry
Recent experiments have shown cannabis was recently linked to help delay the effects of Alzheimer’s. As reported by The Mail, scientists are working on developing a THC pill, which is helping to fight the disease.
When elderly rats were given the drug for three weeks, it improved their memory, making it easier for them to find their way round a water maze, the Society for Neuroscience’s annual conference heard yesterday (WEDS).
Researcher Professor Gary Wenk said:
When we’re young, we produce neurons and our memory works fine. When we age, the process slows down, so we have a decrease in new cell formation through normal aging. You need these cells to come back and help form new memories and we found that this THC-like agent can influence the creation of these cells.
Gotta say, I never thought I’d see the day where marijuana is used to fight memory loss, but there you go, never failing to surprise me.
Pot + Sea Urchins = Super Drug?
November 17th, 2008 by Alex
Mmmm, tasty.
Filed under the ’strange but true’ category, it turns out that chemists have been experimenting with the hybridization of two different substances that bind to cannabinoid receptors.
The first the substance, which we all know and love, is THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol if you’re being specific). The second substance is called anandamide and is commonly found in sea urchin eggs.
Organix, the firm behind the research, plans to use its findings to better understand the endocannabinoid system. Cannabinoid receptors, which both these chemicals stimulate, are largely linked to pleasure areas of the brain. This isn’t just true for humans, but also for other mammals, birds, fish and reptiles.
So why combine those two? Anandamide works much faster than THC, but is also used up by the body more quickly. THC, on the other hand, takes longer to get going, but once it does the feelings last for several hours. Matching these together might mask each others weak point and create one hell of an effective drug.
Tail-flick assay tests on mice seem to prove that this combo-drug might be leading us down a very promising path. Just don’t expect your local dealer to have any in the near future…
LSD Tested on Cancer Patients in Maryland
November 14th, 2008 by PerryDr. Roland Griffiths, a Maryland area doctor, got rare government permission to test whether psychedelic drugs could aid cancer patients.
He conducts research at John Hopkins not with the goal of making patients physically better, but mentally better.
This is not a cure for cancer, but it is an intervention that back in the 60s people found very helpful for terminal cancer patients. [...] These are not drugs that can be used lightly.
In this video, Dr. Derek Valcourt examines whether drugs that cause hallucinations could actually make a difference.
If unsupervised, hallucinations can be an obvious danger. To some, they may induce acute flashbacks, intense fear and panic that in the worst case lead to suicide. On the flip side, 60% of Dr. Griffiths patients reported an almost spiritual feeling and said these mental trips brought on long-lasting positive changes.
The second part of “LSD Medical Research Used For Terminal Cancer,” after the jump.
Spain, U.K. Lead Euro Drug Consumers
November 10th, 2008 by Perry
A report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction showed recently the United Kingdom earned the crown as biggest European drug market for the fifth year in a row.
The annual figures show that 7.7 percent of Britons aged 15-64 have taken cocaine – rising to 11.2 percent for the 15-24 age group and 12.7 percent for the those aged between 15 and 34.
The study also showed the U.K. to have the highest proportionate use of amphetamine usage among adults in the world. Cannabis use is still much more prevalent than any other “narcotic,” 71 million Europeans say they have tried it – about one in four citizens. In the UK, 30.1 percent of the 15-64 age group say they have used cannabis, exceeded only by France (30.6 percent) and Denmark (36.5 percent).
The problem with comparable U.S. figures is that most of the time I don’t believe them, but you can find them here anyways.
No Link Found Between Lung Cancer and Cannabis
October 27th, 2008 by Alex
A recent study reports that there is no increase in the likelihood of lung cancer from marijuana consumption, even among heavy smokers. Scientists who conducted the study seemed surprised by the results because marijuana contains up to 50 percent more of the carcinogenic chemicals which are believed to be the cause of cancer in smokers.
Researcher Donald Tashkin, MD, of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine tells WebMD:
We know that there are as many or more carcinogens and co-carcinogens in marijuana smoke as in cigarettes. [...] But we did not find any evidence for an increase in cancer risk for even heavy marijuana smoking.
There are a lot of factors that could lead to the assumption that marijuana smoke accelerates cancer risks:
- high concentration of chemicals linked to lung cancer
- most marijuana smokers breathe deeper and hold smoke in longer
- the large variance of chemicals in different grades and strains of marijuana
So why isn’t the link there? Scientists believe it has something to do with the properties of our favorite isomer - THC. Cellular studies of THC suggest it might have antitumor properties and can encourage the death of genetically damaged cells.
This is great news. Now, all I need is for THC to be able to cook a decent meal and keep an apartment clean, then I’m marrying it.
Rx Drugs Aren’t All Fun & Games
October 22nd, 2008 by Alex
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has issued a report about the increasing dangers of reactions to prescription drugs.
In the first three months of 2008, a record number of serious problems and deaths linked to medications has been reported to the government.
The FDA has received reports of around 21,000 serious drug reactions, that number includes over 4,800 deaths. The total of 20,745 cases, from January ‘08 to March ‘08, is a full 38% higher than the same period of 2007. Scary.
Thomas J. Moore, a senior scientist with ISMP, had this to say:
We believe that one of the most important tools to promote is to monitor trends on a regular basis. Knowing which drugs are causing injuries and how many people are being hurt is the raw material we need to fashion sound measures to promote patient safety.
As someone who recently went to a 24 year old girl’s funeral, with evidence of medication as the cause of death, please be careful about what prescriptions you take.
Always let your doctor know what you’re currently taking before something new is prescribed, and if you feel funky, don’t hesitate to head on down to emergency care.
Be safe people.
Potential Herbal Cure for ADHD
October 21st, 2008 by Perry
A recently published medical study may have found helpful effects in treating the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with marijuana use. It also gave knowledge to recent debates over marijuana’s ability to effect those prone to psychosis.
Per Bruce Mirken @ Marijuana Policy Project Blog:
There was a correlation between signs of mental health disturbance and marijuana use for the group of siblings at genetic risk for psychosis, but not for the other groups. This suggests that marijuana may worsen the prognosis of those with a predisposition to psychosis but does not make healthy people psychotic.
In the ADHD group, the results suggested marijuana may be beneficial: In several of the tests, there was a trend toward better functioning among the marijuana using ADHD patients than among the non-users. In the article, the researchers discuss a possible mechanism by which marijuana “could attenuate some of the behavioral symptoms of ADHD.” This is an area that cries out for more research.
Makes perfect sense if you look at some of the associated symptoms, it makes you wonder why this hasn’t been tried earlier.
