alcohol

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Title
Marijuana increases alcohol consumption in Canadian study
11/24/2019

In a recent cohort study of alcohol consumption in Canada, marijuana use was found to increase demand for alcohol. In other words, those who reported marijuana and alcohol use consumed significantly more alcohol than those who reported only alcohol use. The mechanism for this association is not entirely clear. However, these findings have important implications for treatment and prevention, particularly in the context of changes in marijuana legalization. In the USA, greater alcohol consumption can only mean increases in traffic fatalities and injuries, violent crime, and all the other negative population-wide outcomes and costs associated with alcohol and marijuana use. Interestingly, in Colorado, where marijuana has been legal for recreational use since 2014, all these negative indicators have been on the rise along with a conspicuous increase in alcohol consumption.


Canada, alcohol
Beer vs. Pot: Why Catholics Should Oppose Legalization of Marijuana
06/12/2019

Alcohol is rapidly expelled from the system and is addictive only in large doses — at least to those … whose genetic make-up has been influenced by the millennia of winemaking.” Furthermore, “the effects of cannabis remain for days, and it is both more addictive and more radical, leading not just to temporary alterations of the mind but to permanent or semi-permanent transformations of personality, and in particular to a widely observed loss of moral sense.” 

It also has many physical effects, such as greater carcinogenic harm than smoking cigarettes. Unlike consuming a foodstuff in moderation, the consumption of cannabis immediately affects the functioning of the brain, an effect compounded over time, especially for adolescents. In fact, marijuana usage can permanently alter the brain, leading to a great risk of psychosis, psychological problems, and lower I.Q. scores. Further, one of the most frightening discoveries shows that consuming marijuana alters DNA, creating harmful mutations that will be passed down to children and future generations. 


alcohol
Freshman Year Alcohol and Marijuana use Prospectively Predict Time to College Graduation and Subsequent Adult Roles and Independence.
06/19/2017

Abstract

Objective This study examined how freshman year substance use prospectively predicted time to college graduation, and whether delayed graduation predicted postponed adoption of adult roles and future substance use. Participants Participants were part of a longitudinal study that began in 2004. The first analyses focused on freshman year (N = 2,050). The second analyses corresponded to a subset of participants at age 27 (N = 575). Methods Measures included self-reported substance use, adult role adoption, and university reported graduation dates. Results Results indicated that frequent binge drinking and marijuana use during freshman year predicted delayed college graduation. Those who took longer to graduate were more likely to have lower incomes and were less likely to obtain a graduate degree. Taking 5-6 years to graduate was associated with greater likelihood of alcohol-related problems. Conclusions Findings support the importance of interventions during freshman year of college to decrease substance use and promote timely graduation.

 


college graduation, alcohol
Say no to booze in groceries
04/14/2017

Ask any Florida legislator if their phone has been ringing off the hook from constituents who can't get enough vodka or rum, and they would have to say "no." Then why are they pushing hard liquor into our grocery stores without public input or backing?
 
It appears the driving force behind this change are corporate executives at big box stores who will profit greatly. They don't care about Florida families and are too cheap to spend money building a separate entrance. The current separate entrance policy allows for ID verification at the door along with cameras monitoring every corner, provides an avenue to prevent underage drinking, and protects our friends in recovery from making an impulse purchase. Does anyone want our children growing up with liquor as part of the food shopping experience?
 
Binge drinking or excessive alcohol use is responsible for 88,000 deaths in our nation, and Florida is ranked third in the nation for fatal DUI crashes. Only 16 other states allow this type of distribution. Thirty-four states do not allow hard liquor to be mixed with grocery items.
 
Other than creating a one-stop shopping experience that includes alcohol, I can't think of any reason for passing this bill. Our state doesn't need it and the public, the few who are aware of this proposed change, don't want it.
 
Teresa Miller, Tampa


HB-81, alcohol, 2017 Legislation, miller
Excessive Alcohol Use Preventing a Leading Risk for Death, Disease, and Injury
12/31/2016

Excessive alcohol use accounts for 1 of 10 deaths among working-age adults in the United States.


alcohol, CDC
2015 Crash Report Florida
11/13/2016

2015 Stats: Hillsborough County reported 66 alcohol crash fatalities up from 56 in 2014 (17.86% increase) This is the highest number of fatalities in the state. #2 Orange and Duval both 55, #3 Miami Dade 53
Hillsborough also #1 in alcohol-related injuries: 993 and #1 alcohol related-crashes: 1,469
Let's compare next year when legal marijuana hits our highways!
 
 


alcohol
Alcohol and Pregnancy
09/13/2016

Alcohol use during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), which are physical, behavioral, and intellectual disabilities that last a lifetime. FASD is 100% preventable.


alcohol, Pregnancy
Mixing Alcohol and Marijuana
06/18/2016

What research there is suggests that using alcohol and marijuana together can intensify the effects of both. Alcohol has been shown to increase the level of marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient, THC, in the blood stream. (1)  With increased heart rate and lowered judgment, driving and other activities can be very dangerous. As a person consumes more of either pot or alcohol, they are less likely to think rationally about how much or what they are consuming. 


alcohol, Marketplace
Marijuana or Alcohol: Which is more harmful?
05/19/2016

PowerPoint Presentation comparing Marijuana & Alcohol,


alcohol, harm, Potency, Pharmacokinetics, powerpoint
Impacts of Alcohol and Marijuana on Driving
04/01/2016
AAA, alcohol, driving, Impairment
Alcohol and Cannabis
03/01/2016

Alcohol and Cannabis


AAA, alcohol, Metabolism, Impairment
AAA Marijuana, Alcohol and Driving
03/01/2016
AAA, driving, alcohol
Healthy Alcohol Market
02/18/2016
alcohol, Legislators
Persistent Cannabis Dependence and Alcohol Dependence Represent Risks for Midlife Economic and Social Problems: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
01/09/2016

Our data indicate that persistent cannabis users constitute a burden on families, communities, and national social-welfare systems. Moreover, heavy cannabis use and dependence was not associated with fewer harmful economic and social problems than was alcohol dependence. Our study underscores the need for prevention and early treatment of individuals dependent on cannabis. 


alcohol, addiction, Studies
Adolescent substance use and educational attainment: An integrative data analysis comparing cannabis and alcohol from three Australasian cohorts
11/01/2015


alcohol, youth usage
Adolescent substance use and educational attainment: An integrative data analysis comparing cannabis and alcohol from three Australasian cohorts
11/01/2015

Adolescent cannabis use increased the odds of non-progression with formal education.

  • Associations for adolescent alcohol use were inconsistent and weaker.
  • Cannabis use accounted for a greater proportion of the overall rate of educational underachievement than alcohol use.
  • Findings inform the debate about the relative harms of cannabis and alcohol use.

alcohol, adolescent
Where There’s Smoke …
08/22/2015

Marijuana use by kids between the ages of 12 and 17 is 58 percent higher in Colorado than the national average, according to the RHMIDTA. The rate of use among college-age adults is 54 percent above the national average. Drug-related suspensions from Colorado schools jumped 34 percent from the 2005-2009 period to the 2010-2014 period, while alcohol-related suspensions stayed flat.
 "Everything they said would happen has not," says Gorman. "They said alcohol use would go down. Alcohol use went up. They said it would eliminate the (marijuana) black market. We are the black market. The trends show that legalization is not working."
 


youth, Colorado, college, Potency, legalization, alcohol
The Futile Search for the “Right” THC per se Level
08/13/2015

THC is a large, fat-soluble molecule whose concentration in the blood rapidly drops as it is sequestered into the body’s fat stores, including the brain.  Immediately after smoking a joint, the THC level will be very high in the blood and very low in the brain.  The THC level in the brain climbs rapidly at the same time that as it is declining in the blood.  At some point, the concentrations cross, and the concentration continues to rise in the brain while it is still declining in the blood, since the brain acts like a sponge, soaking up the partially insoluble THC from the blood.  


alcohol, driving, impaired
Mental Illness alcohol, drugs and gun violence
07/07/2015

These findings have profound implications for crafting policy to avert future tragedies. In the wake of mass shootings, politicians from both sides of the aisle often call for including better mental health records in background checks. Though a worthwhile sentiment, the evidence suggests that these efforts would be better spent focusing on alcohol abuse instead.


guns, alcohol
Official: Cannabis use impairs driving as much as alcohol says first of its kind study while drug's legality continues to spread
06/24/2015

A National Institute on Drug Abuse study tasked stoned participants with driving a highly sophisticated driving simulator.
 
Researchers found that after their blood levels of THC reached a certain point, the drivers weaved similarly to a driver with a BAC of .08
 
The study also found that combining cannabis and alcohol decreased motor skills even more than just one or the other 


car crashes, alcohol, impaired
Which is worse? Alcohol or Pot
06/05/2015
alcohol, Infographics
Research Shows That Any Dose of Alcohol Combined With Cannabis Significantly Increases Levels of THC in the Blood
05/25/2015

Experts agree, however, that the combination of cannabis and alcohol raises the chance of crashing more than either substance by itself. In a study of 1,882 motor vehicle deaths, the U.S. Department of Transportation found an increased accident risk of 0.7 for cannabis use, 7.4 for alcohol use, and 8.4 for cannabis and alcohol use combined.


alcohol, Research, vehicle
Alcohol and Marijuana- Infographic
05/06/2015
alcohol, Infographics
Emory study shows increased adult marijuana use and binge drinking in states that legalize medical marijuana
05/05/2015

Researchers from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health found an increase in adult marijuana use and binge drinking after the implementation of medical marijuana laws (MML) in ten states that permit marijuana use for medical purposes.


alcohol, binge drinking, Studies
Autopsy: Ulele server accidentally drowned in Mango Lake
04/04/2015

The autopsy showed Foster had a .098 milligrams-per-liter level of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the intoxicating ingredient of marijuana. Pearson said that is a significant level.
“That indicates very recent use,” she said. “I would say she used marijuana within a half-hour or an hour before she died.”

 


Death, car crashes 2, alcohol, Florida, tampa
Pot, alcohol found at scene of fatal teen wreck
02/15/2015

#no2pot


Teens, Fatalities, car crashes, Florida, impaired, alcohol
Behavioral Health Trends 2014 Survey
01/01/2015

Marijuana Use
As noted in the illicit drug use section, an estimated 22.2 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2014 were current users of marijuana. This number of past month marijuana users corresponds to 8.4 percent of the population aged 12 or older.  The percentage of people aged 12 or older who were current marijuana users in 2014 was higher than the percentages from 2002 to 2013. This rise in marijuana use among those aged 12 or older may reflect the increase in marijuana use by adults aged 26 or older and, to a lesser extent, increases in marijuana use among young adults aged 18 to 25 compared with the percentages of young adults who reported marijuana use in 2002 to 2009.


SAMHSA, health trends, alcohol, illicit drugs
August 2014- Legalization of MJ Impact Colorado
08/13/2014
Colorado-0, youth, car crashes 2, Death, exposure, alcohol
Comparing Alcohol and Marijuana: Seriously
07/27/2014
alcohol, Research, youth
Pot-Booze Combo More Dangerous for Teen Drivers Than Alcohol Alone
04/28/2014

Teens who drank and smoked pot at the same time were 90 percent more likely to get a ticket and 50 percent more likely to be in a wreck.
 


car crashes 2, alcohol, pot
Use of Alcohol, Cigarettes, and Marijuana Before Age 16 Associated with Higher Rates of Substance Use Dependence
02/24/2014

Furthermore, early users of all three substances were more than twice as likely to meet the criteria for marijuana dependence (21% vs. 8%).


alcohol, addiction
Driving Under the Influence, of Marijuana
02/18/2014

A highway safety official in Colorado, where marijuana is legal, said that “a lot of people don’t think D.U.I. laws apply.”


DUI, Impairment, alcohol
Pot Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths
02/15/2014

Cannabinol, a remnant of marijuana, was found in 12.2 percent of those deceased drivers during 2010, (up from 4.2 percent in 1999). Pot was the most common non-alcoholic drug detected by those toxicology screenings.


car crashes 2, impaired, alcohol, Colorado-0
Six - State Study Finds Drugs Other Than Alcohol Increasingly Detected in Fatally Injured Drivers; Cannabinoids Most Prevalent Other Drug Detected
02/10/2014
alcohol, car crashes 2, traffic, Fatalities
Alcohol vs. Marijuana
01/28/2014
Chuck Norris, School, alcohol
Teen shoplifting, liquor a bad mix
12/09/2012

Several Capital High School students agreed with Graham’s assessment, " that teens are taking advantage of it being easier to shoplift liquor" than beer or wine.

“You’re not an automatic suspect when you walk in a grocery store,” said one student interviewed Tuesday in the school parking lot.

“We’re only catching a small percent of what’s happening,” Graham said. “We are not getting all of the alcohol-related incidents referred for criminal charges.”

School officials and police have said they are concerned that the store’s liquor is sold in the same aisle as soft drinks and energy drinks where students congregate.


alcohol
Doubly illegal: Qualitative accounts of underage alcohol access through theft
12/01/2011

In addition to 9% of respondents who reported stealing alcohol from commercial outlets themselves, a total of 26% respondents reported occasions when their close friends stole alcohol. Our findings unveiled that teens had a body of knowledge that some drew upon for stealing alcohol. Youths revealed detailed knowledge about store layout, theft protection devices and store policies. In particular, respondents disclosed knowledge about which aisles have blind spots, how to remove security tops on bottles, and no-chase policies.
 
As one 17 year old female described: “in a liquor store the cashier’s gonna be watching you and in a big supermarket it’s more open. [...] it’s just some open place and there’s no one around, you can just steal it more easily than in a small business.”
 
Youths also reported knowing the layout of large commercial stores, in particular the locations of security cameras and blind sports. Youths used blind spots to slip a bottle of alcohol into a pocket or backpack unnoticed. A 17 year old boy discussed how he and his friend strategized: “We had a whole system. As it turns out, the only aisle in every store that doesn’t have security cameras is the pet food aisle. So my friend looks really old, and I’d have the backpack. He’d go and he’d grab the handle [1.75 liter liquor bottle], walk into the pet food aisle, put it into my backpack and we’d walk out.”


alcohol, ncbi
Decriminalization would increase the use and the economic and social costs of drugs.
02/01/2010

In fact, the benefits of keeping marijuana and other illicit drugs illegal clearly outweigh the negative and predictable consequences of legitimizing these substances.
Our position is simple and evidence-based: both decriminalization and legalization of illicit drugs would increase their use, along with their associated health and social costs. Unless advocates of decriminalization or of outright legalization can establish that more drug use is a net good for society, both arguments are self-refuting.
Higher prices help hold down rates of usage.


legalization, usage, social costs, alcohol
THE EFFECT OF CANNABIS COMPARED WITH ALCOHOL ON DRIVING
09/17/2009

Cannabis and alcohol acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but the effects of cannabis vary more between individuals than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. 


alcohol, driving
Mixing Alcohol And Marijuana Increases Impairment In Drivers
07/22/1999

Marijuana, even in low to moderate doses, negatively affects driving performance in real situations. While previous research on alcohol effects alone show that alcohol at BACs around .10 is far more impairing than low or moderate THC doses alone, marijuana does impair driving performance. Drivers would be less than normally able to avoid collisions if confronted with the sudden need for evasive action. The effect of combining moderate doses of alcohol and moderate doses of marijuana resulted in a dramatic performance decrement and levels of impairment, as great as observed when at 0.14 BAC alone.


alcohol
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