Marijuana

Marijuana 'gateway' theory strengthened by study of twins

A new study of 311 sets of same-sex twins in which only one twin had smoked marijuana before age 17 has bolstered the fiercely debated "gateway theory" that pot can lead to harder drugs. The study included 136 sets of identical twins who shared the same genetic makeup and all the participants were 30 years of age, on an average, when they were asked about their teenage drug use. The researchers f...

Marijuana Use Could Result In Psychosis

Adolescents and young adults who frequently use marijuana may be increasing their risk for psychotic symptoms later in life //, say researchers based on findings of a recent study. The study involved 2,437 young people between ages 14 and 24 for four years. Participants were examined for substance use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms. Results showed a moderate incre...

Wife May Determine Husband’s Marijuana Use

In the first year of marriage a wife may be able to control how much a husband indulge in drinking //or substance abuse like the use of marijuana. However the reverse may not always be true. Researchers said data collected showed that in the first year of marriage for 20-somethings, husbands were more likely to start or resume smoking marijuana if their wives smoked marijuana. Husbands...

E-Mail Affects Brain More Than Marijuana

Today’s technology has replaced the smoking pot and cigar of the 70s. If you want to kill your brain //cells in true 21st-century style, just stay on your cell phone and check your e-mail multiple times over the course of an afternoon. A study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard shows that today's dependency on daily technology, including e-mail and cell phones, can be slightly more detrim...

Marijuana-Derived Drug Promises Hope In Treating Bladder Infection

Interstitial cystitis is primarily a disease of middle-aged women and is characterized by recurring discomfort or pain in the bladder and surrounding pelvic region. Symptoms vary and can include a combination of mild to severe pain, pressure and tenderness in the bladder and pelvic area; and an urgent and/or frequent need to urinate. // Additionally, the bladder wall may become scarred or irrita...

Adolescent Marijuana Smokers Face Risk Of Developing Schizophrenia

Time and over again, debates have been raised against the link between drug abuse and Schizophrenia. A recent study done by scientists at North Shore University // has found out that use of marijuana could infact aggravate genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a form of mental disorder that usually appears in late adolescence in males. On the contrary, females tend...

Rhode Island legalizes use and possession of Marijuana

Rhode Island is situated in the heart of New England and the Rhode Island House and senate has passed the bill giving permission to patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other chronic // diseases the use and possession of Marijuana to ease pain in these patients. The new bill allows patients to have possession of Marijuana under medical prescription, as earlier the possession of ma...

Smoking Marijuana Increases The Risk Of Bladder Cancer

Smoking marijuana causes bladder cancer to appear very early in life. Dr. Martha Terris, urologist at the Medical College of // Georgia in Augusta said that according to the study it was found that several younger patients developed transitional cell carcinoma, all shared a history of marijuana smoking. She conducted her study on 52 men, aged 44 to 60, suffering from trans...

Marijuana Compound Offers Hope In Diabetic Retinopathy Prevention

A compound in marijuana has been found to offer protection against diabetic retinopathy, an eye related complication, seen in diabetic individuals// Retina represents a light sensitive tissue behind the eye. Diabetes damages tiny blood vessels in the retina, eventually leading to blindness. Diabetic retinopathy that affects more than 16 million Americans is one of the leading causes of blindness...

Marijuana Causes The Brain To Lose Its Ability

A new study has found that using marijuana for a long term will make the brain to lose its ability, gradually leading to learning disability and memory loss. // Researchers led by Lambros Messinis at the University Hospital of Patras in Greece tested the mental abilities of 20 long-term users who had taken marijuana heavily. They smoked at least four joints a week for an average of 15...

Bladder Pain Suppressed By Marijuana-Derived Drug

IP 751, a derivative of Marijuana has been found to suppress bladder pain associated with interstitial cystitis (IC) in animal models//. The synthetic drug is a analog of a metabolite of THC, the principal component of marijuana. The results of the new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association highlights that the drug can be used in the treatment of hypersensiti...

Cancer Patient to Appeal to SC, Demanding Right to Use Marijuana

Every time the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on medical marijuana, concerns have been raised by justices regarding allowing terminally ill patients to use the drug// to improve the symptoms and perhaps even prolong life. A federal appeals court in California would hear arguments in the recent round of legal wrangling over the issue, this week. The so-called right to life theory claims...

Fertility Treatment Can Be Affected By The Use Of Marijuana

The use of marijuana’s by couples, or any one partner before fertility treatment could greatly reduce the success of the procedure. This was found according to new studies when compared to couples that did not use it, marijuana is also popularly called as grass. // Dr Hillary Klonoff-Cohen of the University of California stated that if the studies were confirmed with further investigat...

FDA Not In Favor Of Legalizing Medical Marijuana

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has categorically ruled out endorsing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.// This decision contradicts an Institute of Medicine report in 1999, which had said that marijuana, also called as pot, was useful in certain conditions like AIDS wasting, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting and cancer cachexia. In a statement issued on Thursda...

Marijuana may be Helpful in Lowering Blood Pressure

A chemical compound found in cannabis, also known as hashish or marijuana, may help lower blood pressure, say scientists after testing it on rats //. Yehoshua Maor, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, has created a synthetic version of a minor cannabis constituent named cannabigerol, which has been shown to help in lowering blood pressure, reported science port...

Marijuana Abuse Responds to Psychotherapy, Overall Is Hard to Treat

Marijuana dependence and abuse can be moderately improved by various psychotherapy treatments — but reduced use rather than abstinence may be the best clinicians// can hope for at this time, a new review finds. One-on-one cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is most effective, but other counseling approaches also help users to cut down or improve social problems associated with their m...

Marijuana Use Can Compromise Pregnancy

A woman who uses marijuana at the time of conception or in early pregnancy can compromise the outcome of her pregnancy according to a new study in mice.// The author of the study Sudhansu Dey, Dorothy Overall Wells professor of pediatrics, cell and developmental biology and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, published his findings in the August issue of the Journal of...

Marijuana aids therapy for Hepatitis C

According to a recent study, marijuana enhances the efficacy of drug treatment for hepatitis C. Over 3 million Americans are affected by this fatal viral infection. The findings of this study support// the idea that pot can offer medical benefits in certain situations. Two strong drugs: interferon and ribavirin are used for hepatitis C therapy. This treatment prolongs for months and has...

Marijuana Holds Promise for Alzheimer’s Sufferer

A key component, THC in marijuana may soon be used in a new generation of drugs to protect the brain form the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease according to a new study//. Lab studies by researchers from the Scripps Research Institute, showed that THC blocked enzymes that lead to the formation of Alzheimer’s plaques in sufferers’ brains more current Alzheimer’s drugs. Alzheimer's...

The Dope on Alzheimer's – Does Marijuana Halt the Progress of Alzheimer's

Marijuana may assist in cutting down the risk of Alzheimer's disease by reducing inflammation in the brain, U.S. researchers said in a recent communiqué. The finding// holds a clue as to the why people who regularly smoked marijuana in the 1960s and 1970s are at a lesser chance of developing Alzheimer's disease, as compared to others of their age. Investigation on rodents showed that...

Teen Marijuana Use Does Not Predict Drug, Alcohol Abuse

A 12-year long study by University of Pittsburgh has suggested that Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse.//Moreover, the study’s findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades and caused many a parent to panic upon discovering a bag of pot in their child’s bedroom. <...

Cannabis(Marijuana) Linked to Mental Health – a Repor

A major report released by former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer, has found evidence on the long-suspected link betwenn cannabis and mental disorders//. The report says that the use of cannabis, especially by youngsters, could trigger psychosis, substantially increasing the risk of mental illness and worsening existing mental health conditions. The Mental Health Council of A...

Medical Marijuana Not Legal, Say Authorities

This raid is one that has left its victims stoned. Federal agents of Los Angeles’ Drug Enforcement Administration raided eleven //medical marijuana producing establishments Wednesday. The raids are the biggest raids to ever be reported in the county, with agents seizing more than 5000 pounds of pot (marijuana), as well as pot-laced food such as ice cream and chocolate bars. Ac...

Youngsters- Beware of Marijuana!

A recent study concludes that quitting drugs like marijuana is not easy as it results in withdrawal symptoms. Risk of addiction// depends on how early in life the usage started. Marijuana, a mixture of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, is smoked as a cigarette or in a pipe. THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main active chemical present in it...

Long-term Marijuana Smoking Leads to Respiratory Complaints

Long-term exposure to marijuana smoke is linked to many of the same health problems as tobacco smoke, such as increased respiratory// symptoms like cough, phlegm and wheeze, according to a new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States, and abuse of the drug is on the rise. The study is published in today’s Arc...

Marijuana Relieves HIV Nerve Pain

Smoking marijuana effectively relieves chronic HIV-associated nerve pain, including aching, painful numbness, and burning//, according to a study. For the study, 50 people with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy, the most common HIV nerve disorder, were admitted to a California hospital and randomly assigned to smoke either marijuana or identical placebo cigarettes three times a day f...

Marijuana Beneficial in Fighting Lung Tumors, Study

New research has shown the benefits of a key ingredient in Cannabis, which may help fight lung cancer//. Early research had shown that cannabis could help fight brain, prostate and skin cancers. The compound called THC was found to inhibit lung tumor growth by 50%, during studies conducted on mice, suggesting that THC could be having a therapeutic effect. During the study...

Marijuana Helps to Combat Lung Cancer

An ingredient found in marijuana may help fight lung cancer, the most lethal of all cancers worldwide, say scientists//. In lab and mouse studies, the compound known as THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) cut lung tumor growth in half and helped prevent the cancer from spreading, said Anju Preet, a Harvard University researcher in Boston who tested the chemical. Earlier researches...

Marijuana can Trigger Psychotic Symptoms, New Study Finds

More evidence of the damaging impact of marijuana on humans has come to light. //It can trigger temporary psychotic symptoms in some people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, it has been found. In a recent study, one compound, cannabidiol, or CBD, made people more relaxed. But even small doses of another component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psych...

Medical Marijuana to Be Legalized

After years of debate, both houses of the Legislature are on the brink of legalizing medical marijuana in New York. The lead sponsor of the Assembly's bill is Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfried , who said, "There are thousands of New Yorkers who suffer from serious medical conditions who could have a better quality and longer life." Under the measure, to acquire marijuana a per...

Marijuana Worsens Breathing Problems in Current Smokers

Marijuana worsens breathing problems in current cigarette smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference. The study found that among people 40 and older, smokers were two-and-a-half times as likely as nonsmokers to develop COPD, while smoking cigarettes and marijuana together...

Vaporisers Make Marijuana Safe for Medicinal Use Compared to Smoking

Scientists at San Francisco based the University of California have demonstrated that vaporising cannabis leaves can release the drugs active ingredient just as effectively as burning them, while avoiding the harmful toxins inhaled through smoking it. The results of the pilot study are significant because marijuana is used medicinally as a pain reliever for multiple-sclerosis suffe...

Medical Marijuana Activist Drops Lawsuit

Angel Raich, the well-known activist, who had been crusading for the right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes has dropped her lawsuit against the federal government. "I've lost all faith in the judicial system, I don't understand how somebody can lose their constitutional right to life in this country," she said Thursday. "It's been really, really hard for me these last few mont...

Paris Hiltons Customary Marijuana Habit

It seems that Paris Hiltons lie about abstaining from drugs has been nailed . Hilton, who completed her 23-day jail sentence, recently told Larry King during her post-prison interview that she has not used drugs at all. However, multiple sources have confirmed the socialites customary marijuana habit, reports the New York Daily News. Hiltons pot smoking w...

Now, It's Possible to Trace Marijuana to Its Roots

Alaska Stable Isotope Facility scientists have claimed that they can trace marijuana to its roots, and are now working on ways to determine whether it was grown indoors or out . According to Matthew Wooller, the director of the facility, the researchers hope to have something more precise in the near future that could tell police where and under what conditions a sample of marijuana...

Kelly Clarksons legal Marijuana Cookie Experiment in Amsterdam!

American singer Kelly Clarkson was apparently smart enough to cash in on the Dutch laws. The former American Idol winner admitted that she nibbled on a marijuana cookie while touring in the Netherlands. "It was in Amsterdam. It is legal there, and it is not legal here. I don't ever do anything illegal here, People quoted her, as telling USA Weekend magazine....