Articles

06/29/2015

Trespass grows are large-scale operations, with plant counts numbering anywhere from 1,000-80,000, and they are largely funded and operated by drug trafficking organizations. They are uniformly conducted with flagrant disregard for environmental and social well-being.
The use of these chemicals causes toxic contamination in all aspects of the ecosystem. After these chemicals are dispersed from grow sites and leeched into the soil and water supply, they slowly make their way through the entire food chain. From insects to scavengers to birds, smaller animals to bigger ones, evidence of chemical contaminants from trespass grows is being discovered.

06/25/2015

Studies show that children exposed to marijuana in utero have lower scores on tests of visual problem-solving, visual and motor coordination, and visual analysis, compared with children not exposed to the drug, the report states. Prenatal marijuana exposure also has been associated with decreased attention span and behavioral problems. The nervous system of a human fetus can respond to the chemicals in marijuana within 14 weeks of gestation, and studies have shown that 14-year-olds are more likely to be marijuana users if their mothers used the drug during pregnancy.

06/24/2015

Peer-reviewed journal Clinical Pediatrics, found that between 2006 and 2013, the marijuana exposure rate rose 147.5 percent among children age 5 and under. In that same period, the rate rose nearly 610 percent in states that sanctioned medical marijuana before 2000, the year Colorado followed suit.

Employers, law enforcement officials, educators and addiction treatment providers say Colorado has cooked up a poorly regulated THC-food fiasco that crisscrosses the country with the ease of exporting gummy bears in glove compartments, pockets and handbags. For taxpayers, the growing edibles market means an array of social costs — including hospitalizations, traffic accidents, school dropouts and lost work productivity — that state and federal officials haven’t fully investigated, estimated and made public.

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 

06/23/2015

"We've seen children that have had rather severe reactions while on medical marijuana products," said Amy Brooks-Kayal, M.D., a Colorado pediatrician who is president of the American Epilepsy Society. "We don't know if that's from the medical marijuana product or something else, because it wasn't done in a controlled setting."
Dr. Brooks-Kayal supports the clinical trials underway now across the country, and advises parents not to treat their sick children with cannabis oil until clinicial trials are complete.
"Just because a single child or person or even a few may respond well to a treatment, that doesn't mean that the majority of them will," she said.

06/23/2015

"But what we've found out is that as alcohol-impaired driving is going down, drug-impaired driving is going up." 

• THC moves more rapidly than alcohol out of the bloodstream and into the body, making it harder to detect accurately with a blood test.

06/20/2015

A systematic review of the benefits and adverse events (AEs)
 
A total of 79 trials (6462 participants) were included; 4 were judged at low risk of bias. Most trials showed improvement in symptoms associated with cannabinoids but these associations did not reach statistical significance in all trials. Data about AEs were reported in 62 studies (127 reports).
 
There was an increased risk of short-term AEs with cannabinoids, including serious AEs. Common AEs included dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, somnolence, euphoria, vomiting, disorientation, drowsiness, confusion, loss of balance, and hallucination.
 
Four (5%) trials were judged at low risk of bias, 55 (70%) were judged at high risk of bias, and 20 (25%) at unclear risk of bias (eAppendix 13 in Supplement 2) The major potential source of bias in the trials was incomplete outcome data. More than 50% of trials reported substantial withdrawals and did not adequately account for this in the analysis.
 
Common AEs included asthenia, balance problems, confusion, dizziness, disorientation, diarrhea, euphoria, drowsiness, dry mouth, fatigue, hallucination, nausea, somnolence, and vomiting.
 
There was no clear evidence for a difference in association (either beneficial or harmful) based on type of cannabinoids or mode of administration. Only 2 studies evaluated cannabis.  There was no evidence that the effects of cannabis differed from other cannabinoids.
 
An additional limitation of many included studies was their very small sample sizes.
 
Future studies should assess patient-relevant outcomes (including disease-specific end points, quality of life, and AEs) using standardized outcome measures at similar time points to ensure inclusion in future meta-analyses.
 
Future trials should adhere to the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) reporting standards197 and ensure that appropriate methods are used for randomization, allocation concealment, patient and outcome assessor blinding, handling of withdrawals, and avoiding selective outcome reporting.

06/19/2015

06/15/2015

Finally, from a public health standpoint, it is crucial that we begin to address regulatory standards for this industry given that it is in the early stages; we have a unique opportunity to shape the industry practices as legislation continues to evolve. This could help decrease potentially numerous problems similar to those that have occurred with both alcohol and tobacco advertising.

06/10/2015

Researchers found that more kids are being exposed to marijuana—by the age of 5, they report in Clinical Pediatrics. Between 2006 and 2013, the marijuana exposure rate rose 147.5 percent among kids 5 and under, according to a press release—and it rose nearly 610 percent during that period in states that legalized medical marijuana before the year 2000 (by our count, five).

06/09/2015

The study, conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, showed a 147.5% increase in marijuana exposure among children younger than 6 years old between 2006 and 2013. That rate spiked by 610% over the same period in states where marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes before 2000.

06/05/2015

Marijuana use for medical conditions is an issue of growing concern. Some Veterans use marijuana to relieve symptoms of PTSD and several states specifically approve the use of medical marijuana for PTSD. However, controlled studies have not been conducted to evaluate the safety or effectiveness of medical marijuana for PTSD. Thus, there is no evidence at this time that marijuana is an effective treatment for PTSD. In fact, research suggests that marijuana can be harmful to individuals with PTSD.

06/05/2015

Marijuana has a complex composition, containing 60 known cannabinoid compounds. Study of these compounds is ongoing, and it may well be that one or more of these compounds will become a valuable method of glaucoma treatment. At the present, however, despite public fascination with the concept, smoking marijuana as a way to treat glaucoma is not practical, useful and may be a dangerous option.

06/05/2015

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, in their 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary, noted,“Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) and criminal groups will increasingly exploit the opportunities for marijuana cultivation and trafficking created in states that allow ‘medical marijuana’ grows and have legalized marijuana sales and possession.“ Meaning that marijuana legalization may well increase criminal gang activity.

06/05/2015

In March of this year plants at several growing facilities in the Denver area had to be quarantined because of the misuse of “pesticides.” The pesticides, it turns out, were improvised concoctions of chemicals, including some unidentifiable mixtures. Cannabis growers have been left to improvise since no commercial pesticides are labeled for legal use on cannabis plants.
In 2014 and 2015, nearly $6 million in pot revenues have been distributed to local governments. But the cost of increased law enforcement, drugged driving incidents, fatal crashes, loss of productivity and a huge spike in gang-related crime bring into question the cost-benefit of those dollars. Teen drug-relatedschool expulsions are also on the rise. And the notion that prisons filled with minor drug offenders would be relieved of overcrowding—a selling point of legalizing marijuana—has been blown to smithereens. Denver’s homeless population has exploded since Amendment 64 went into effect. And there are indications that finite tourist dollars are going more to pot and less to Colorado’s iconic natural wonders.

06/03/2015

In Chapel Hill this week, four students were taken to the hospital after apparently overdosing.

One of the teens told ABC11 they thought they were using liquid marijuana but instead drank liquid ecstasy.

"You go to the drug store and buy Sudafed, you know exactly what's in it. When they get ecstasy or liquid marijuana, they don't know how much THC is really in that particular item. They don't know if it's mixed with something else," said Rebecca Wheeler, who is a substance abuse prevention health educator with the Poe Center for Health Education.

Liquid marijuana, or the chemical THC, can be bought in cartridges or extracted from marijuana plants.

It is often used in a vaporizer and can appear odorless and colorless making it easy for teens to conceal.

05/26/2015

Nationally, the average price of an ounce of weed is $324. But in four states that have legalized or decriminalized pot – Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Alaska -- the price of an ounce of weed has fallen below $300. Oregon is the cheapest, where an ounce of high-quality marijuana goes for only $204, almost half the cost in North Dakota, the most expensive state.  

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.

05/20/2015

Boys who smoke marijuana go through puberty earlier but grow more slowly than those who have never smoked the drug according to a study presented today at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, Ireland. The findings will lead to a better understanding of the dangers of drug abuse on growth and development of children.

05/18/2015

Daniel Juarez, an 18-year-old from Brighton, died Sept. 26, 2012 after stabbing himself 20 times. In an autopsy report that had never been made public before, but was obtained by CBS4, his THC level — the active ingredient in marijuana — was measured at 38.2 nanograms. In Colorado, anything over 5 nanograms is considered impaired for driving.

05/17/2015

Five legal standards are:

1. Does marijuana have a known and reproducible drug chemistry?
2. Does marijuana have adequate safety studies?
3. Are there adequate and controlled studies showing marijuana’s efficacy?
4. Are marijuana’s therapeutic benefits accepted by qualified experts?
5. Are scientific data available for scrutiny?

To sustain the view that marijuana should remain in Schedule I, the prosecution team also had to show that marijuana has:

1. A high potential for abuse,
2. No currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and
3. Unacceptable safety standards for its use under medical supervision.

05/13/2015

Among the 137 people who completed the study, the number of seizures fell by an average of 54 percent, according to a team led by Dr. Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in New York City.
 Keep in mind that Epidiolex is VERY different than the so-called low THC strains of marijuana (also known as Charlotte’s Web) that are being grown and sold in several states.  Unlike Epidiolex, the strains of marijuana are  not cloned and the end products vary widely.  Most importantly, these strains contain varying levels of THC whereas Epidiolex is virtually pure CBD.

05/12/2015

ou are now more likely to encounter a drugged driver on the roads than a drunk driver, according to a recently released study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

05/09/2015

Pot advocates have long claimed that legalization would reduce crime by suppressing illicit trade and increase government revenue all in one fell swoop.
Neither claim has proven true. Revenues from marijuana taxes in Colorado from the first full fiscal year since legalization are projected to be only 58 percent of what was expected. And there has not been a drop off in violent crime either; the state's homicide rate rose 21 percent the year after voters agreed to legalize pot, and in Denver, gang-related murders are up this year, too. 

• Do you think increased marijuana use among teenagers and adults is good for the future of our country?
• Would you want your son or daughter to become involved in using marijuana?
• Do you want more impaired drivers on our interstates and roadways?
• If you were an employer, would you want to hire an employee who uses marijuana? As an employee, do you want to work with drug users who put you at risk and run up healthcare costs?
• Do you think this higher intoxicant level in marijuana is a positive factor for the health and safety of Americans?

05/08/2015

 Russell admitted he had smoked marijuana at lunch and again as he drove to pick up his children in Brodhead, the criminal complaint indicates.“All I did was smoke a bowl of marijuana. It's not like I am high,” Russell is quoted as saying in the criminal complaint.“The defendant did not seem to understand that smoking marijuana and driving were illegal,” the complaint states

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.

05/03/2015

Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals. The primary psychoactive chemical is delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and is the component of marijuana principally responsible for the “high” experienced by pot smokers. Along with the high, users exhibit slower reflexes and decreased coordination. Marijuana also impairs judgment. Slower reaction times, impaired judgment, and problems responding to signals and sounds equal dangerous drivers. No wonder those who drive within three hours of smoking marijuana are twice as likely to be involved in a major car crash.

05/03/2015

.03%  or  93,200 children in the U.S. have severe forms of epilepsy and do not respond to current treatments of the population 320,000,000.  
 
Charlotte's Web results....Dr. Chapman and colleagues at Colorado Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado reviewed cases of 58 children with severe epilepsy who came into their care while using artisanal CBD. Parents reported seizure reduction of 50% or more in only one-third of patients, but except for two children there was no improvement in their EEGs. Adverse effects occurred in 47% of patients: 21% experienced increased or new seizures; 10% suffered developmental regression with one patient needing intubation; one patient died.  

04/30/2015

04/29/2015

04/24/2015

04/22/2015

04/19/2015

04/14/2015

Among the 137 people who completed the study, the number of seizures fell by an average of 54 percent, according to a team led by Dr. Orrin Devinsky, of New York University Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in New York City.
Keep in mind that Epidiolex is VERY different than the so-called low THC strains of marijuana (also known as Charlotte’s Web) that are being grown and sold in several states.  Unlike Epidiolex, the strains of marijuana are  not cloned and the end products vary widely.  Most importantly, these strains contain varying levels of THC whereas Epidiolex is virtually pure CBD.

04/10/2015

Let us provide a rational answer to a nonsensical question. It is a nonsensical question because blood is never impaired by THC. Never. Alcohol doesn’t impair blood either. These drugs only impair the brain, not the blood.

04/05/2015

04/04/2015

04/03/2015

04/02/2015

03/30/2015

The "gold standard" in medical research is "peer-reviewed, randomized, double-blind" studies, which all medicines are subjected to before the Food and Drug Administration will allow them to be prescribed by doctors to their patients, said Mikaya, who added that none of those studies have been conducted on medical marijuana. In the case of medical marijuana, those studies would show, among other things, whether medical marijuana "is effective as a medicine" and "whether its benefits outweigh its risks," Mikaya said.

03/30/2015

03/30/2015

03/26/2015

03/26/2015

03/23/2015

More than 40 states have reported seizures of Colorado marijuana and THC products, according to the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The federally funded task force also reports that seizures involving Colorado marijuana bound for other states have risen nearly 400 percent, from 58 incidents in 2008 to 288 in 2013 — the year before Colorado’s marijuana retail stores opened. That is consistent with Denver police records showing a nearly 1,000% spike in the amount of marijuana officers have seized — 937 pounds in 2011 compared to a little more than 4 tons last year.

03/22/2015

A study by a team from Children's Hospital Colorado that was presented during the AES Annual Meeting in December 2014 and has recently been accepted for publication in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior, found that artisanal "high CBD" oils resulted in no significant reduction in seizures in the majority of patients and in those for whom the parents reported improvements, these improvements were not associated with improvement in electroencephalograms (EEGs), the gold standard monitoring test for people with epilepsy.

Additionally, in 20% of cases reviewed seizures worsened with use of cannabis and in some patients there were significant adverse events. These are not the stories that you have likely 

heard in your public hearings, but they are the reality of practitioners at Children's Hospital Colorado who have cared for the largest number of cases of children with epilepsy treated with cannabis in the U.S.

03/17/2015

A teen accused of killing 16-year-old Broomfield High School student Chad Britton in a November car accident near the school was driving under the influence of marijuana, according to police.
He got behind the wheel of his car after smoking weed, even though a friend tried to persuade him not to drive, police officers testified at a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
The 17-year-old driver, who authorities have not identified because he is a minor, is accused of killing Britton by hitting him with the car. The teen is suspected of smoking marijuana before the crash, and had only had his drivers license for six days, police testified.

03/15/2015

03/12/2015

The study is among the first to say the hippocampus is shaped differently in heavy marijuana smokers and the different looking shape is directly related to poor long-term memory performance.
The study also found that young adults with schizophrenia who abused cannabis as teens performed about 26 percent more poorly on memory tests than young adults with schizophrenia who never abused cannabis.