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10/25/2023

Today’s Topic: Cannabis

Article Excerpt: Although lawmakers in New Hampshire won’t pass a bill to legalize recreational cannabis this year, they are grinding away at plans that might gain traction next year. They gave a study commission until Dec. 1 to recommend a path forward, with an implied mission to satisfy the demands of Governor Chris Sununu, who dropped his opposition to legalization in May. Sununu, a Republican, signaled support for a model that would give the state control over marijuana distribution, marketing, and more… Jacob T. Borodovsky, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, said Sununu seems to have the right idea about striking a balance to protect public health. While the blanket criminalization of cannabis has been harmful and should end, a purely laissez-faire approach to drug policy would be harmful as well for individuals and society alike, Borodovsky said. “There’s no correct answer. There’s only trade-offs,” he said. “And the trade-offs that you’re willing to accept depend on the values of the community that is making these decisions.”

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/3m6uh95j

Article Source: Boston Globe New Hampshire Morning Report

Posted in: Regulation & Policy // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
08/01/2023

Recreational Cannabis Has Arrived in Minnesota. What Are Its Health Benefits, Risks?

Article Excerpt: Despite its use in medicine, cannabis is a cause for concern for some clinicians, especially when they consider the developing brains of children and young adults. It is also an understudied substance, due in part to its federal classification as a Schedule 1 drug, limiting what we know, scientifically, about its potential benefits and harms on the human body. “Cannabis is not one drug,” said Jacob Borodovsky, a senior research scientist at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “The cannabis plant itself, we’ve identified over 150 cannabinoid compounds that are present in the cannabis plant. THC and CBD are just two of those 150 or more identified compounds.” So, what do we know about cannabis and its health impacts?

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2nu3xj5a

Article Source: Post Bulletin

Posted in: Epidemiology, Regulation & Policy // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
06/01/2023

How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain? Psychological Researchers Examine Impact on Different Age Groups Over Time

Article Excerpt: Although scientists are working to answer important questions about consuming cannabis, one of the gaping holes in the field is a reliable method of quantifying how many milligrams of THC are in the multitude of products available, said Dartmouth College’s Alan Budney, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and biomedical science who specializes in cannabis research… Budney is now preparing to launch a survey of 15,000 users who will report not only the detailed information about their cannabis consumption but also how the products are affecting them in terms of depression, anxiety, cannabis use disorder symptoms, and quality of life.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/42zuuxms

Article Source: American Psychological Association

Posted in: Methodologies & Analytics, Regulation & Policy // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
04/24/2023

Cannabis Experts Weigh in On Benefits and Drawbacks of Marijuana Use

Article Excerpt: With medical cannabis coming to Kentucky in less than two years following bill passage earlier this month, the timing of the Substance Use Research Event (SURE) at the University of Kentucky felt appropriate. On Monday, scientists and medical experts from around the region converged on the Gatton Student Center for a full day of presentations and discussions about the benefits and drawbacks of marijuana use. Experts also used the time to dispel some possible myths about the drug… “We ran some studies and it turned out cannabis withdrawal looks like tobacco withdrawal, and a good percentage of these people who use a lot of cannabis end up with the same withdrawal symptoms,” said Dr. Alan Budney of Dartmouth College

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/ybsp7kp4

Article Source: NBC Lex18

Posted in: Uncategorized // Tagged: ; ; ; ;
01/30/2023

Feasibility and acceptability of using smartphone-based EMA to assess patterns of prescription opioid and medical cannabis use among individuals with chronic pain

Anderson Goodell EM, Nordeck C, Finan PH, Vandrey R, Dunn KE, & Thrul J. (2021). Feasibility and acceptability of using smartphone-based EMA to assess patterns of prescription opioid and medical cannabis use among individuals with chronic pain. Internet Interventions: the Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health, 26, 100460–100460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2021.100460

This paper described the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data collection tool among people who use multiple substances and suffer from chronic pain. Forty-six participants were recruited through targeted Facebook and Instagram advertisements and completed screening via the link in the ads. Eligible participants had an opioid medication prescription, current opioid use, a pain disorder, and a referral for medical cannabis. Participants completed prompted EMA surveys on a mobile app for 30 days. Surveys included questions about opioid medication use, medical cannabis use, and pain symptoms. Participants were prompted to respond to four randomly timed surveys (assessing the past hour) and one daily diary per day. A subsample of 10 participants completed qualitative interviews. On average, participants responded to 70% of past-hour surveys and 92% of daily diaries. During qualitative interviews, participants reported an overall positive experience, but identified some issues related to smartphone notifications, redundant questions, or being prompted to complete assessments when they do not feel well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility and general acceptability of using this methodology for examining patterns of medical cannabis and prescription opioid medication use among individuals with chronic pain. Engagement with the digital tool over the 30-day duration was comparable to previous work. This study has implications for informing larger-scale epidemiology studies, interventions, and assessments on a wider geographic scale.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
01/23/2023

“I got a bunch of weed to help me through the withdrawals”: Naturalistic cannabis use reported in online opioid and opioid recovery community discussion forums

Meacham MC, Nobles AL, Tompkins DA, Thrul J (2022) “I got a bunch of weed to help me through the withdrawals”: Naturalistic cannabis use reported in online opioid and opioid recovery community discussion forums. PLoS ONE 17(2): e0263583. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263583

This study investigated cannabis-related posts in two online communities on the Reddit platform to compare naturalistic cannabis use by people actively using opioids versus people in recovery from opioid misuse. Researchers extracted all posts mentioning keywords related to cannabis from an opioid use subreddit and opioid recovery subreddit on Reddit from December 2015 to August 2019. Cannabis-related posts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify the most frequently used phrases and then compared between the two subreddits. Cannabis-related posts were twice as prevalent in the recovery subreddit (N=908, 5% of posts) than the active opioid use subreddit (N=4224, 2.6% of posts). The most frequent phrases in the recovery subreddit referred to time without opioid use and using cannabis as treatment. The opioid use subreddit most frequently referred to concurrent use of cannabis and opioids. The primary reason for cannabis use among persons in recovery was to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms and among active opioid users to achieve the “high” in conjunction with opioids. This study of naturalistic cannabis use reported on an online community platform provides insight into the motivation behind cannabis use among people who actively or previously used opioids. Findings have implications for cannabis policy and its potential impact on opioid use in the context of unmet treatment needs for opioid use disorder. Future research is needed to understand the role of cannabis for treating opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ;
11/14/2022

Dependence & Measurement w/ Dr. Alan Budney

Article Excerpt: Dr. Alan Budney joins Marcel and Erica on this episode of The CannaPod. Dr. Budney is a professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and serves as Director of the Treatment Development & Evaluation Core of Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2w77c57n

Article Source: CannaPod Podcast

Posted in: Dissemination & Implementation // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
04/07/2022

Science Update: Digital Tool to Increase Youth HIV Testing Shows Promise in NIH-Funded Study

Article Excerpt: Youth aged 13 to 24 years who were offered HIV testing by a digital health tool on a tablet computer were as likely to accept as those who were offered testing face-to-face, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, among study participants aged 19 and younger who previously declined HIV testing, those who used the digital tool were 1.7 times more likely to agree to an HIV test, compared to those who received a face-to-face offer. Findings from the study, which was conducted in a New York City hospital emergency department, appear in Cureus. The Mobile Augmented Screening tool, or MAS, was developed and evaluated with funding from NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Ian David Aronson, Ph.D., of Digital Health Empowerment and New York University, led the work.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/67nnmsu7

Article Source: NICHD

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
03/02/2022

What Euphoria Gets Right—and Wrong—About Teen Drug Use and Addiction

Article Excerpt: The show (Euphoria) has sparked controversy over how it portrays teen drug use. In January, D.A.R.E.—the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program—criticized the show for “glorify[ing]” high school drug use and making it seem “common and widespread in today’s world.” But drug use is not uncommon among high school students today. In the U.S., about 1.6 million kids ages 12 to 17—6.3% of the adolescent population—had substance use disorder in 2020, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). “That’s a huge problem,” says Dr. Lynn Fiellin, professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Child Study Center, who is trained in addiction medicine and behavioral health (and who is a fan of the show). The problem seems to be growing, too; in 2020, millions more kids tried drugs for the first time. “Euphoria depicts exactly what is going on,” she says.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4dszsv8b

Article Source: Time

Posted in: Uncategorized // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;