Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.)最新文献

Objectives: States that are legalizing cannabis for adult use are increasingly focused on equity, with the goal of repairing some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs. This study explains and describes the emphasis states are placing on equity and assesses whether public education can be used to increase public support for equity-focused cannabis policies.

Methods: We conducted an online survey of 893 New Jersey adults in August and September of 2021, just as state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission was publishing the first set of regulations for the legal sale and use of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. The study included an experimental design, in which half of respondents viewed an educational message about equity-focused cannabis policies before answering survey questions, and the other half did not.

Results: Few participants (24.9%) were familiar with the concept of equity in cannabis policy, and a substantial proportion-from about 20% to 35%-provided a "neutral" or "don't know" response when asked about support for specific policies. Exposure to an educational message was associated with greater perceived importance of equity in cannabis policy (p < 0.05) and greater support for equity-focused policies. Specifically, participants who saw an educational message had greater agreement that New Jersey should provide priority licensing (p < 0.01) and grants (p < 0.001) to people who have been arrested for cannabis, and who now want to participate in the legal cannabis industry.

Conclusions: Cannabis regulators, public health professionals, and people working to advance racial justice may be able to advance state equity goals and remedy some of the harm from the War on Drugs by expanding public education campaigns to include equity messages.

Objective: This paper evaluated a novel, tablet-based neurocognitive and psychomotor test battery for detecting impairment from acute cannabis smoking using advanced quantitative methods. The study was conducted in a state with legal, recreational cannabis use and included participants who use cannabis occasionally or daily, and a no use comparison group.

Methods: Participants completed a tablet-based test assessing reaction time, decision making, working memory and spatial-motor performance. The test was completed before and after participants smoked cannabis (or after a rest period in the case of controls). An Exploratory Factor Analysis approach was implemented to reduce dimensionality and evaluate correlations across the four assessed domains. Linear regression models were utilized to quantify associations between factor scores and cannabis use groups (daily vs. occasional vs. no use).

Results: Seven factors were identified explaining 56.7% of the variance among the 18 measures. Regression models of the change in factors after cannabis smoking indicated those who use cannabis daily demonstrated poorer performance on a latent factor termed Displaced and Delayed (standardized coefficient 0.567, 95% CI: 0.178, 0.955; P = 0.005) compared to those with no use. Those who use cannabis occasionally exhibited a decline in performance on a latent factor termed Recall and Reaction (standardized coefficient 0.714, 95% CI: 0.092, 1.336; P = 0.025) compared to no use.

Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates an innovative, quantitative approach to study how cannabis consumption affects neurocognitive and psychomotor performance. Results demonstrated that acute cannabis use is associated with changes in neurocognitive and psychomotor performance, with differences based on the pattern of occasional or daily use.

Background: Chronic pain (CP) is experienced by as many as 50 million Americans and can negatively impact physical and mental health. Prescribing opioids is the most common approach to address moderate to severe CP though these potent analgesics are associated with a significant number of side effects. One alternative some Americans are turning to for CP management is cannabis. In addition to serving as an alternative, many individuals with CP use cannabis in addition to using prescription opioids. This study examined individuals with CP who enrolled in the state of Illinois' opioid diversion program, the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program (OAPP), which offers individuals aged 21 and older a separate pathway to access medical cannabis if they have or could receive a prescription for opioids as certified by a licensed physician.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 450 participants. We described participants and compared those who use only cannabis with those who use cannabis and opioids.

Results: While 16% of the respondents were cannabis-only users, 84% of the respondents were co-users of opioids and cannabis. Both groups considered opioid use risky (100% cannabis-only, 89% co-users,). The majority (73%) of respondents sought to completely stop or never start using opioids for CP. Cannabis-only users reported lower levels of pain compared to co-users. Co-users (85%) were more likely to have their routine provider as a cannabis certifying physician than cannabis-only users (69%).

Conclusion: With increasing clinical evidence, legalization and acceptance, researchers should continue to examine how cannabis may be a viable alternative to reduce the risk of prescription opioid side effects, misuse, or dependence. Our findings also inform health care providers and state policymakers who increasingly are being asked to consider how cannabis may reduce the potential for harmful outcomes among persons with CP who use prescription opioids.

Novel cannabinoids require systematic research to inform policies and practices. There is a growing interest in semi-synthetic cannabinoids by consumers, manufacturers, and regulators. However, there is a scarcity of research on these substances. Online discussion forums can provide guidance for research questions when current knowledge is scarce. The current project investigates the topics and issues covered in a social media forum devoted to THC-O-acetate (THCO), a semi-synthetic cannabinoid with rapidly rising popularity. Reddit comments posted on the THCO subreddit from June 2021 through November 2021 were coded for major and minor themes by a team of five coders and a supervisor. Major themes were established and clarified through group discussions. A second round of coding confirmed major themes and identified minor themes. The analysis identified several future research topics for THC-O-acetate, including the extent of variation in product composition, the characteristics of user experiences and comparisons with other substances, whether THC-O-acetate produces psychedelic effects, concerns and adverse experiences, and user harm reduction practices. As an acetate ester, THC-O-acetate may break down when heated and release toxic ketene gas. Although several users expressed safety concerns regarding THC-O-acetate, some explicitly mentioning ketene risk, the most common administration method reported was heated inhalation.

Models of personality suggest that adolescent substance use may be associated with adolescent impulsive traits as well as changes in impulsive traits from adolescence into emerging adulthood. However, little research has focused on how adolescent alcohol and cannabis co-use, an increasingly popular and risky substance use pattern, may relate to adolescent impulsive traits as well as changes in impulsive traits from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Therefore, the current study tested patterns of adolescent co-use and their links with adolescent impulsive traits and changes in impulsive traits into emerging adulthood. Data come from the Add Health study and encompassed two timepoints spanning adolescence (age 13-18) and emerging adulthood (age 19-25). A combination of latent profile analysis, mean comparisons, and latent difference scores were estimated. Results suggested that four profiles of co-users and alcohol-only users emerged, and profiles differed in levels of adolescent personality and prospective personality change. Importantly, frequent adolescent co-users had higher levels of adolescent sensation seeking and impulsivity, but also reported the steepest decline in both traits into emerging adulthood. Findings are discussed in terms of personality theory and public health implications.

Cannabis is increasingly accessible and use is increasing rapidly among older adults as laws change and cannabis becomes more frequently prescribed in healthcare settings. Past research identified cognitive effects of cannabis use among adolescents and young adults that can persist for several weeks after intoxication, though little is known about how these effects generalize to older adults. Participants (N = 1348) were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and were categorized as current occasional users (up to once/week in the past year, n = 36), current frequent users (once per week or more in the past year, n = 92), past users (n = 334), and non-users (n = 886). Participant ages ranged from 50 to 98 (M = 67.25, SD = 10.68). Uncontrolled, one-way ANOVAs and controlled ANCOVAs were used to examine between-group differences on immediate and delayed wordlist memory and working memory (serial sevens). When controlling for age, gender, education, and minority status, current frequent users demonstrated significantly worse immediate memory performance compared to past and non-users. However, this difference could have been the result of acute, residual effects of past-month cannabis use among current users. In controlled analyses, there were no differences between groups on delayed or working memory. Findings indicate that greater than weekly cannabis use may result in attentional and short-term memory deficits. Further, these effects may be mitigated by sustained abstinence. Limitations including sample size and measures of cannabis use warrant future studies to replicate and build upon these findings.

Background: Research indicates separation from the military may result in increased risk of alcohol use. However, there is little data on cannabis use among military service members, particularly when examining the period after separation from military service. This research examines cannabis-related perceptions and use among U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard (USAR/NG) current and former soldiers.

Methods: Data come from Operation: SAFETY (Soldiers And Families Excelling Through the Years), an ongoing study examining health among male and female USAR/NG soldiers. The current sample was comprised of 401 current and former USAR/NG soldiers. Logistic regression models examined the associations between past-year cannabis use, military status (i.e., current versus former), attitudes towards recreational cannabis, perceived ease of access, and perceived risk of cannabis use, while controlling for age, problematic alcohol use, and current cigarette smoking.

Results: Overall, 7.4% of current and 20.3% of former military service members used cannabis in the past year. Favorable attitudes towards cannabis use and perceived ease of accessing cannabis were associated with increased odds of use among all soldiers. In adjusted models, former military members had greater odds (AOR = 5.28, 95% CI = 2.16, 12.87) of past-year cannabis use compared to current service members.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that separation from the military may be an important risk factor to consider when assessing cannabis use in the military. Additional research is needed to examine socioenvironmental factors (e.g., access to post-deployment support services and healthcare, state legalization laws, other behavioral health conditions) that contribute to former service members' cannabis use.

Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), we assessed momentary patterns of alcohol and cannabis co-use in college students and whether state-level and baseline reports of anxiety varied based on type of substance(s) consumed. Students (N=109) reporting regular cannabis use completed a baseline assessment and two-week signal-contingent EMA, with three random prompts/day. At each EMA instance, we categorized instances of substance "usage" as: 1) no use, 2) cannabis-only, 3) alcohol-only, or 4) co-use of alcohol and cannabis (i.e., reports of alcohol and cannabis use within the same prompt). Using temporal sequenced data, we explored how state-level anxiety varied before and after usage type using multiple multilevel structural equation models (MSEMs) and whether baseline factors (general anxiety, social anxiety, and sex) influenced the relation between usage type and state-level anxiety. Participants were 63.3% White, 58.7% female, used cannabis near-daily, and commonly reported co-use. Models examining whether usage type predicted subsequent state-level anxiety were predominantly significant, with the majority of relationships being more pronounced for participants with higher baseline general anxiety. In examining whether momentary state-level anxiety predicted usage type, in instances when participants reported higher levels of momentary anxiety, they were more likely to report no use compared to co-use and cannabis-only, with sex moderating some of the relationships. Social anxiety did not moderate any of the within-person associations between state-level anxiety and usage type. This study provides preliminary evidence that report of momentary anxiety varies based on substance type. Future research is needed to establish co-use related synergistic effects and correlates.

Health behavior theory establishes that exposure to media messages about a topic influences related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Marijuana-related messages proliferating on digital media likely affect attitudes and behavior about marijuana. Most research studying marijuana-related media effects on behavior relies on self-reported survey measures, which are subject to bias; people find it difficult to recall timing, frequency, and sources of messages. We calculated an exogenous measure of exposure to marijuana-related messages on digital media based on emerging public communication environment (PCE) theory. Aggregated online searches and social media posts related to marijuana for a given place reflect the marijuana-related PCE, where people are exposed to and engage with messages from multiple sources. Exogenous measures overcome bias in self-reported exposure and outcome data: simultaneity bias and endogeneity. The PCE reflects both potential exposure and relative importance of the topic in the local community, which may influence real-world marijuana use. Using 2017 Twitter and Google Search data, we measured the marijuana-related PCE to quantify where opportunities for exposure to marijuana-related posts were high and examined relationships between potential exposure and current marijuana use among youth and young adults in 2018. We found that marijuana-related online search and tweeting at the media market level are associated with offline marijuana use, controlling for demographics and state marijuana policy. The marijuana-related digital media environment may reflect and/or influence youth and young adult marijuana use. Social media and online search data offer platforms to monitor the marijuana-related PCE and supplement survey data to study media exposure and marijuana use behavior.