“At the 2022 International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Danish researcher Carsten Hjorthøj, (an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen and research leader at Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health), presented the following data. The International Congress is the annual conference of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which oversees the practice of psychiatry in Great Britain suggested that cannabis might be responsible for 25 percent of new cases of schizophrenia in young men.

This figure is far higher than previous estimates, which generally ranged from 5 to 10 percent. It would translate into tens of thousands of additional cases of new-onset schizophrenia annually in the United States and Europe.

To put a 25 percent figure in context, genetic factors are generally said to account for about half of the risk of schizophrenia. This estimate would imply that cannabis use now carries roughly half as much as risk overall as a genetic predisposition to the illness.

Schizophrenia is among the most serious mental illnesses, causing lifelong unemployment and disability in many patients and reducing their life expectancy by about 15 years on average. Untreated schizophrenia is also a high risk factor for extreme violence.” (Source: Cannabis may now cause one in four new cases of schizophrenia in men (substack.com))

Hospitalization for psychosis associated with cannabis use and cannabis legalization in the United States Submit to: Psychiatry Research

• Hospitalizations for psychosis/cannabis use more likely in areas where cannabis legalized.
• Recreational cannabis legalization associated with greater rate of hospitalization for psychosis associated with cannabis use.
• Findings warrant future longitudinal studies to evaluate psychosis in U.S. states

Abstract: The 2017 National Inpatient Sample database was utilized to investigate the association between cannabis legalization in the United States and hospitalizations for psychosis associated with cannabis use. We compared the odds of hospital discharges for psychosis associated with cannabis use in adults between the Pacific census division (where most states legalized recreational cannabis use) and other divisions using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for confounders…There was a significant correlation between the cannabis legality score and proportion of hospital discharges for psychosis associated with cannabis use (r = 0.67, p<0.05). In conclusion, we observed a higher proportion of hospital discharges for psychosis associated with cannabis use in areas with more liberal cannabis legalization laws. (For complete research https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178122000014 )

When Cannabis Use Goes Wrong: Mental Health Side Effects of Cannabis Use That Present to Emergency Services – Canada

Cannabis use is a modifiable risk factor for the development and exacerbation of mental illness. The strongest evidence of risk is for the development of a psychotic disorder, associated with early and consistent use in youth and young adults. Cannabis-related mental health adverse events precipitating Emergency Department (ED) or Emergency Medical Services presentations can include anxiety, suicidal thoughts, psychotic or attenuated psychotic symptoms, and can account for 25–30% of cannabis-related ED visits. Up to 50% of patients with cannabis-related psychotic symptoms presenting to the ED requiring hospitalization will go on to develop schizophrenia.

With the legalization of cannabis in various jurisdiction and the subsequent emerging focus of research in this area, our understanding of who (e.g., age groups and risk factors) are presenting with cannabis-related adverse mental health events in an emergency situation is starting to become clearer. However, for years we have heard in popular culture that cannabis use is less harmful or no more harmful than alcohol use; however, this does not appear to be the case for everyone. It is evident that these ED presentations should be considered another aspect of potentially harmful outcomes that need to be included in knowledge mobilization. In the absence of a clear understanding of the risk factors for mental health adverse events with cannabis use it can be instructive to examine what characteristics are seen with new presentations of mental illness both in emergency departments (ED) and early intervention services for mental illness. In this narrative review, we will discuss what is currently known about cannabis-related mental illness presentations to the ED, discussing risk variables and outcomes both prior to and after legalization, including our experiences following cannabis legalization in Canada. We will also discuss what is known about cannabis-related ED adverse events based on gender or biological sex. We also touch on the differences in magnitude between the impact of alcohol and cannabis on emergency mental health services to fairly present the differences in service demand with the understanding that these two recreational substances may impact different populations of individuals at risk for adverse events.

The demands of cannabis users on emergency services both ED and EHS are one of the more unmet needs of research on how cannabis impacts healthcare systems and are of pressing importance as more jurisdictions move toward legalization. (For complete Research https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.640222/full )

Full Research Hospitalization_for_psychosis_associated_with_cannabis_use_and_cannabis_legalization_in_the_US.pdf

Dalgarno Institute Research & Communication Team 

Pro-cannabis promotors declared unwaveringly and repeatedly that,

• The illegal market would almost certainly disappear.
• Massive savings in law enforcement costs.
• Revenue streams so vast that it would not only pay for any unlikely (or very low) dependency issues, but the excess would also build parks and schools.
• Minimal impact to health services and no real increase in service demands. (Even though the repeated mantra from the pro-drug activists is that drug use is ‘not a criminal issue, it’s a health issue!’

Of course, anyone not caught in the smoke-bank of weed-mania (or perhaps better labelled, neo-reefer madness?) knew none of these promised outcomes would emerge. However, the very cashed up pro-pot lobby and their propaganda juggernaut overwhelmed the underprepared lawmakers and politicians – or perhaps weary and willing ones? Regardless,  the ‘experiment’ not only is failing, but has failed, and is continuing to increase harms to our communities the longer it runs.

Research is always slow to catch up, due to both time and money, but another emerging and important piece has just been published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. This study only scratches the surface of the why of the subject matter, as anecdata continues to bring up the fact that not only is illegal product cheaper and easier to get, but still a revenue stream for anyone who wants to grow and sell their own.

Of course, ‘policing’ around this now three market arena has taken on a new look. New regulations come in and policing is required. And, of course, we now have an entire new bureaucracy that needs an every increasing funding.

Hmmm, who knew?

Again, only the community caring, best-practice pursuing and family building actors, who care more for people than for ‘getting high’ and making a fast buck on the back of an addiction for profit industry.

Reasons for Purchasing Cannabis from Illegal Sources in Legal Markets: Findings Among Cannabis Consumers in Canada and U.S. States, 2019–2020

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 83(3), 392–401 (2022). Published Online: May 23, 2022

Abstract

Objective: Nonmedical cannabis is legal in Canada and several U.S. states. Displacing the illegal market is a primary goal of legalization; however, there are little data on factors that predict consumers’ transition from the illegal to the legal market. The current study aimed to examine reasons for purchasing illegal cannabis and, thus, potential barriers to purchasing legal cannabis among consumers in Canada and U.S. states.

Method: Data are from the 2019 and 2020 International Cannabis Policy Study, a repeat cross-sectional survey conducted among 16- to 65-year-olds. Reasons for purchasing illegally in the past 12 months were asked of male and female cannabis consumers in Canada and U.S. legal states (n = 11,659). Changes over time in reasons for illegal purchasing were tested. Analyses among Canadians also examined associations between reasons for illegal purchasing and objective data on cannabis prices and retail density.

Results: In both years, the most commonly reported barriers to legal purchasing were price (Canada: 35%–36%; United States: 27%) and inconvenience (Canada: 17%–20%; U.S.: 16%–18%). In 2020 versus 2019, several factors were less commonly reported as barriers in Canada, including inconvenience (17% vs. 20%, p = .011) and location of legal sources (11% vs. 18%, p < .001). Certain barriers increased in the United States, including slow delivery (5% vs. 8%, p = .002) and requiring a credit card (4% vs. 6%, p = .008). In Canada, consumers in provinces with more expensive legal cannabis were more likely to report price as a barrier, and those in provinces with fewer legal retail stores were more likely to report inconvenience as a barrier (p < .001).

Conclusions: Higher prices and inconvenience of legal sources were common barriers to purchasing legal cannabis. Future research should examine how perceived barriers to legal purchasing change as legal markets mature.

For complete research https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.2022.83.392

Further Reading:

Then There were Three – Marijuana Markets

'The legal stuff is garbage': why Canada's cannabis black market keeps thriving

How Legal Marijuana Is Helping the Black Market

 California Cannabis Industry Sending SOS To State Leaders as Black Market Continues to Thrive

Video: Kevin Sabet Addresses the United Nations INCB, May 2022 – Cannabis

By Communications Team

The environmental disaster that is cannabis cultivation has an ever-burgeoning narrative of harm that is being largely over-looked by environmental groups…We wonder why?

Interest in growing cannabis for medical and recreational purposes is increasing worldwide. This study reviews the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation. Results show that both indoor and outdoor cannabis growing is water-intensive. The high water demand leads to water pollution and diversion, which could negatively affect the ecosystem. Studies found out that cannabis plants emit a significant amount of biogenic volatile organic compounds, which could cause indoor air quality issues. Indoor cannabis cultivation is energy-consuming, mainly due to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting.

Energy consumption leads to greenhouse gas emissions. Cannabis cultivation could directly contribute to soil erosion. Meanwhile, cannabis plants have the ability to absorb and store heavy metals. It is envisioned that technologies such as precision irrigation could reduce water use, and application of tools such as life cycle analysis would advance understanding of the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation. (click here)

Power Hungry Pot

Did You Know?

• Indoor growing systems, using fans and lights, sometimes operate 24 hours a day.
• Pacific Power in Portland experienced seven blackouts traced to marijuana production facilities the summer after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana.
• Forty-five percent of Denver’s “load growth,” or increase in energy demand, is for electricity to power marijuana facilities (click here)
• Pot is power hungry: why the marijuana industry's energy footprint is growing (click here)
• Off-grid: how soaring cannabis markets are forcing an energy rethink (click here)
• Indoor Cannabis Grow Centers Draining Electricity (click here)
• An inconvenient truth (about weed) Marijuana has never been more popular in the U.S. — and its carbon emissions have never posed a bigger threat to the climate.

America’s patchwork approach to legalizing weed has helped make cannabis cultivation one of the most energy-intensive crops in the nation. And as states increasingly embrace marijuana, a growing source of greenhouse gases is going essentially unnoticed by climate hawks on Capitol Hill. (click here)

Water Wasting Weed

The other massive distress this ‘product’ places on our ever-fragile ecosystems in with cannabis insatiable thirst for water.

• Cannabis and the Environment: What Science Tells Us and What We Still Need to Know (click here)
• Cannabis (Cannabis sativa or C. indica) agriculture and the environment: a systematic, spatially-explicit survey and potential impacts (click here)
• The quasi-legal challenge: Assessing and governing the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation in the North Coastal Basin of California (click here)
• High Time to Assess the Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation (link)
• Cannabis requires more water than commodity crops, researchers say (link)

The Toxicity of Touting THC

Last, but by no means least is the toxic footprint many cannabis grows contribute to environmental harms. Ironically, cannabis can be a useful Phyto-remedial plant, and is used to ‘soak up’ even radioactive toxins, (and so can sunflowers for that matter) but when it’s cultivated for recreational use, or even the very limited quasi-medicinal properties, it does the opposite to its potential environmental contribution.

• EFFECT OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER RATES ON INDUSTRIAL HEMP (Cannabis  Sativa L.) Biomass Production (link)
• Increasing cannabis use and importance as an environmental contaminant mixture and associated risks to exposed biota: A review  (link)

There is, and we must say – not unsurprisingly – a recent dearth of data on these incredible environmental harms in the past four to five years, despite the fact that the #cannabisindustry has grown significantly, along with its ever-destructive environmental footprint.

The ‘Green’ wave of environmental awareness is being undermined by the ‘green waive’ of the #addiction for profit ‘Weed’ movement.

Does anyone care?

Certainly not if they are basking in the a-motivational, haze of careless-ness that typifies the #cannabisculture just celebrated two days ago on #420 Weed Day!

Further Information:

• Celebrating Earth Day by…Cultivating Climate Destroying Cannabis??
• Cannabis Farms – Turning the Lights Out!
• Are Power Grids Ready for Legalized Cannabis?

Make it a Happy Earth Day 2022 and 

Stop the Pot!

For more go to Cultivating Disaster  and www.silentpoison.com

#EnvironmentalJustice

Research & Communications Team @ Dalgarno Institute

This now 7 year old World Health Organisation Overview on Cannabis Harms, whilst accurate and even predictive, is now looking a little 'light on' with data. 

The increasing bredth and depth of cannabis concern and carnage continues to grow and whilst pro-pot progagandist work tirelessly to bury this emerging data, the evidence of the short, medicum and long-term #harms of #cannabis continue to rise.

Excerpt 9.1.4 What do we know about the long-term effects of regular cannabis use?

We know the following:

• Regular cannabis users can develop dependence on the drug. The risk may be around 1 in 10 among those who ever use cannabis, 1 in 6 among adolescent users, and 1 in 3 among daily users.
• Withdrawal syndrome is well documented in cannabis dependence.
• The health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use
• Growing evidence reveals that regular, heavy cannabis use during adolescence is associated with more severe and persistent negative outcomes than use during adulthood.
• In a number of prospective studies there is a consistent dose−response relationship between cannabis use in adolescence and the risk of developing psychotic symptoms or schizophrenia.
• The association between cannabis use and psychosis or schizophrenia has been recognized for over two decades in at least five ways:

1. Cannabis produces a full range of transient schizophrenia-like positive, negative and cognitive symptoms in some healthy individuals.

2. In those harbouring a psychotic disorder, cannabis may exacerbate symptoms, trigger relapse and have negative consequences on the course of the illness.

3. With heavy cannabis use, susceptible individuals in the general population develop a psychotic illness which is associated with age of onset of use, strength of THC in the cannabis, frequency of use and duration of use.

4. Cannabis use is associated with lowering the age of onset of schizophrenia it is likely that cannabis exposure is a “component cause” that interacts with other factors to precipitate schizophrenia or a psychotic disorder, but is neither necessary nor sufficient to do so alone. Symptoms of schizophrenia increase with cannabis use and strength. The magnitude of the symptoms is associated with the amount used and the frequency of use.

5. Daily use in adolescence and young adulthood is associated with a variety of negative health and psychological outcomes. These include:

• early school-leaving
• cognitive impairment
• increased risk of using other illicit drugs
• increased risk of depressive symptoms
• increased rates of suicidal ideation and behaviour.

VIEW-PDF

Dalgarno Institute Research Team

Conclusion: Our data showed a significant increase in the number of cases since the legalization of cannabis in 2016, supporting the need for ED physicians to become more familiar with cannabis intoxication and its complications. The presentations of these patients can vary greatly. Common presentations include suicidal ideation, nausea/vomiting, AMS, and trauma with vital sign abnormalities including tachycardia and hypertension. Physicians should continue to consider cannabis use when evaluating these pediatric complaints. It may decrease the number of tests ordered in this patient population.

For complele research go to Cureus | Varied Presentations of Pediatric Patients With Positive Cannabinoid Tests