Category: Addiction News

Bees May Become "Addicted" To Pesticides, Study Claims

The possibility for an addictive response underscores the concern over global use of the controversial insecticide.

Researchers in London have found that bumblebees may develop a preference for food that is laced with pesticide that can echo the addictive effects of nicotine on humans.

The study looked at a class of pesticide from the neonicotinoid family, a controversial form of insecticide used in farming that some scientists have claimed can be harmful to bees. When offered options for food—one with the pesticide and one without—bees initially preferred the latter, but upon consuming the chemically-treated food, they returned to it with greater frequency.

The possibility for an addictive response underscores concern over global use of neonicotinoids, which were banned by the European Union in 2018.

The study, conducted by researchers from London’s Imperial College and Queen Mary University, was intended to reproduce real foraging behavior by bumblebees, including social cues used in that activity.

To determine if the introduction of neonicotinoids into the bees’ food sources, 10 colonies of bees were introduced to several sucrose feeders, each containing a solution with varying degrees (in parts per billion) of a neonicotinoid called thiamethoxam.

Over a period of 10 days, the researchers found that bees initially preferred what IFL Science called the “pure” solution, which contained no pesticide. But once a bee consumed a solution that contained thiamethoxam, it would return to that solution more regularly and avoid the pure solution. Changing the position of the feeders also appeared to have no impact on the bees’ preference for the pesticide-laced solution.

The researchers’ comparison between the bees’ reaction to the neonicotinoid and human response to nicotine is not accidental: as study lead author Richard Gill noted in a statement: “neonicotinoids” target nerve receptors in insects that are similar to receptors targeted by nicotine in mammals.”

As Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension Service posted on its site, the term “neonicotinoid” is translated literally as “new nicotine-like insecticide.”

Though agriculturalists and scientists are split on how neonicotinoids affect bees, they cause paralysis and eventual death in the bugs they are intended to repel, such as aphids or root-feeding grubs. Unlike contact pesticides, they are absorbed by the plant and transported through its system, and will remain in the plant for many weeks.

And while studies have shown that the pesticide class is less harmful to birds and mammals, others have suggested that it can affect a variety of crucial foraging skills for bees, including motor functions and navigation.

Some have even linked the increase in the population of bees in the city over those located in rural areas to the use of such pesticides. The potential for harm to bees is among the key reasons why the European Union chose to ban the use of neonicotinoids in agriculture, save for permanent greenhouses, in 2018.

However, in his statement, Gill wrote, “Whilst neonicotinoids are controversial, if the effects of replacements on non-target insects are not understood, then I believe it is sensible that we take advantage of current knowledge and further studies to provide guidance for using neonicotinoids more responsibly, rather than necessarily an outright ban.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
Frats To Ban Hard Liquor After Pledge Deaths

Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the new alcohol policy.

The party scene on many college campuses could be changing, after a governing body that oversees more than 6,000 fraternities around the nation banned its members from serving hard alcohol beginning next fall.

The North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) policy means that frats will only be allowed to serve hard liquor (over 15% alcohol) if they do so using a licensed third-party vendor.

“At their core, fraternities are about brotherhood, personal development and providing a community of support. Alcohol abuse and its serious consequences endanger this very purpose,” Judson Horras, NIC president and CEO, said in a statement. “This action shows fraternities’ clear commitment and leadership to further their focus on the safety of members and all in our communities.”

The policy change received near-unanimous support, the statement said. Some campuses already have restrictions in place around hard alcohol and report that the policies led to positive change.

“Our IFC and member fraternities eliminated hard alcohol from facilities and events on our campus several years ago and have seen a positive shift in our culture when it comes to the health and safety of our members and guests,” said Seth Gutwein, Purdue University IFC President. “With all NIC fraternities implementing this critical change, it will provide strong support for fraternities to move as one to make campus communities safer.”

The changes come after a series of high-profile deaths caused by alcohol consumption at frats around the country. One of the most well-known cases was the death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, who died during a hazing ritual at Penn State in February of 2017. Since then, Piazza’s parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, have been advocating for stricter laws against hazing.

Tim’s father, Jim Piazza, told USA Today the new alcohol policy is “a good start.” He added that he and other family members have been talking to the NIC, and “they’ve been listening to us.”

“It should make a meaningful difference,” Piazza said. “There are other reforms they need to put into place, and there’s still work to do. But this is a beginning.”

Overall, Piazza said that a college culture that emphasizes drinking and partying is dangerous and needs to change. “Our aim is to make overall college life safer,” he said.

Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the policy, which the NIC says is just one piece of an ongoing effort to make fraternity life safer and reduce hazing.

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
Is It Possible To Overdose On Caffeine?

A new article delved into the potential risks of ingesting too much caffeine.

Though caffeine is technically a “drug,” its effects are relatively benign.

The naturally-occurring stimulant can be found in certain plants, nuts, seeds, and food products like sodas, teas, and chocolates.

The normal daily serving of caffeine—per the U.S. government’s dietary guidelines—is up to 400 mg of caffeine, or 3-5 8-ounce cups of coffee. The effects range from alertness and a faster heart rate, to anxiousness, dehydration, and headache.

Caffeine will begin to affect the body at a concentration of 15 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in the blood. Most of the time the effects are benign and do not cause lasting harm.

However, while a fatal or even life-threatening overdose of caffeine is quite rare, consuming large amounts of caffeine can be harmful.

According to Medical News Today, a concentration of 80 to 100 mg/L of caffeine in the body can be fatal.

A death resulting from too much caffeine is typically caused by ventricular fibrillation—a rapid, inadequate heartbeat that prohibits the heart from pumping blood and leads to cardiac arrest.

Symptoms of a caffeine overdose include a fast/irregular heartbeat, shakiness, nausea or vomiting, confusion, and a panic attack. Treating a caffeine overdose may include receiving intravenous fluids, supplements, or activated charcoal.

According to a 2018 review of scientific journal articles dating back to when online databases began, there have been 92 total reported deaths from caffeine overdose—researchers believe that about one-third of these deaths were “likely to be suicide,” according to Medical News Today.

Coffee and tea typically do not pose a risk of caffeine overdose, but the risk is higher with dietary supplements and caffeine tablets, which contain higher concentrations of caffeine.

Purified caffeine powder poses the highest risk of an overdose. According to Medical News Today, it is “highly dangerous and much more likely to cause an overdose.”

One teaspoon of caffeine powder can be equivalent to 28 cups of coffee, according to the Food and Drug Administration; each teaspoon can contain 3,200-6,400 mg of caffeine.

Mixing caffeine with alcohol can carry its own set of risks. Having caffeine with alcohol, a depressant, can “mask the effect” of alcohol by making a person feel more alert and believe they can drink more than they normally would.

Recently the long-held belief that coffee can sober you up from a night of drinking was debunked.

“We know from wider research that coffee isn’t an antidote to alcohol,” said Professor Tony Moss of London South Bank University. “Taking coffee as a stimulant that will reverse that feeling of being slightly tired as your blood alcohol is coming down.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
Are Chocolate Chip Cookies As Addictive As Cocaine?

Researchers examined the ingredients in chocolate chip cookies to determine why they are so addictive for some.

Science has turned in a humdinger: studies indicate that sugar and sweetness can induce reward and craving that are comparable to those induced by cocaine.

Research giving laboratory rats rewards of sugars and sweets shows that these goodies can not only replace a drug, but can even surpass the drug in the rats’ preference.

CNN reports there are a variety of reasons for this powerful effect, including an emotional connection to good memories of baking. Kathleen King, founder of Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, New York, and maker of a top-rated chocolate chip cookie, shared with CNN, “If I’m celebrating, I can have a couple of cookies, but if I’m sad, I want 10 cookies. While the cookie is in your mouth, that moment is happiness—and then it’s gone, and you’re sad again, and you have another one.”

The study shows that at a neurobiological level, the qualities of sugar and sweet rewards are apparently stronger than those of cocaine. The study indicates evolutionary pressures in seeking foods high in sugar and calories as a possible reason for this.

In addition, according to CNN, chocolate contains trace amounts of the compound anandamide. Anandamide is also a brain chemical that targets the same cell receptors as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. So there may be another chemical basis for the intense pleasure that many people get from a chocolate chip cookie.

This also explains the insane popularity of “marijuana brownies” which combines THC and the chemical hit of chocolate. These chewy treats are so beloved that guru Martha Stewart even has a recipe for pot brownies.

Salt is an important element to the chocolate chip cookie’s addictive quality.

“It is what adds interest to food, even if it’s a sweet food, because it makes the sugar and other ingredients taste better and come together better,” Gail Vance Civille, founder and president of Sensory Spectrum, told CNN. “A pinch of salt in cookies really makes a difference, and it enhances sweetness a little bit.”

Gary Wenk, director of neuroscience undergraduate programs at the Ohio State University and author of Your Brain on Food, notes that cookies high in fat and sugar will raise the level of anandamide in the brain regardless of what other ingredients are in the cookie.

“The fat and sugar combine to induce our addiction as much as does the anandamide,” Wenk told CNN. “It’s a triple play of delight.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
"Death Certificate Project" Helps Identify Doctors Who Overprescribe

The crackdown has spooked physicians, including some who say they’re now less inclined to treat complex patients.

Hundreds of California physicians are under investigation for their prescribing habits, as the state medical board cracks down on overprescribing.

Under the “Death Certificate Project,” the Medical Board of California is trying to take a proactive approach to identifying overprescribing behavior.

The board, a state agency that licenses/disciplines physicians, has reviewed death certificates that list a prescription opioid (or more) as the cause of death, then identify the provider(s) who prescribed the controlled substance to the patient “within three years of death, regardless of whether the particular drug caused the death or whether that doctor prescribed the lethal dose,” MedPage Today reports.

Prescribers were matched to patients through California’s prescription drug database, CURES (California Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System).

“Our goal is consumer protection… (to) identify physicians who may be inappropriately prescribing to patients and to make sure that those individuals are educated (about opioid guidelines), and where there are violations of the Medical Practices Act, the board takes (disciplinary) action,” said Kimberly Kirchmeyer, the medical board’s executive director.

So far, 462 physicians have been identified as “warranting an investigation of patients’ files,” according to MedPage. Of these cases, 223 have been closed for either insufficient evidence, no violation, their license was already revoked/surrendered, or the physician has died.

Nine physicians have been targeted in opioid-related prescribing accusations filed by the state Attorney General; four of them were already under scrutiny on “unrelated charges.”

The state’s crackdown has spooked physicians, including some who say they’re now less inclined to treat complex patients.

“When you hear a bunch of doctors all at the same time all getting the same letter, and you realize they’re going through the same thing, you see why some are saying [to patients], ‘Sorry, if you have a lot of medical conditions, we’re not going to take care of you,’” said Dr. Brian J. Lenzkes, a San Diego internist and one of the targets of the Death Certificate Project.

Last December, Lenzkes received a letter from the state medical board notifying him that there had been a “complaint filed against you” about a patient who had died of a prescription drug overdose in 2013.

According to Lenzkes, the patient’s severe condition required him to take a regimen of prescription drugs including painkillers.

After receiving the letter, however, Lenzkes says he’s more wary of taking on pain management, saying that he’ll refer patients to pain specialists instead. “I’m not taking any more. That’s just how I feel,” he said.

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
Christopher Kennedy Lawford Dies At 63

“He was the absolute cornerstone to my sobriety,” said his cousin, Patrick Kennedy.

Actor Christopher Kennedy Lawford has died, according to his family. The nephew of John F. Kennedy succumbed to a heart attack on Tuesday, according to his cousin, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy. He was 63.

Lawford was living in Vancouver, Canada with his girlfriend and working to open a recovery facility, according to the AP.

Lawford used his own drug issues to author several books about addiction and recovery—including Moments of Clarity (2008), Recover to Live (2013), What Addicts Know (2014), and When Your Partner Has an Addiction (2016).

Lawford—the son of English “Rat Pack” actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy—was candid about his recovery, and guided others on the same path.

“He was the absolute cornerstone to my sobriety, along with my wife. He was the one who walked me through all the difficult days of that early period,” said Patrick Kennedy, who battled his own drug issues and is now a vocal advocate for mental health and addiction recovery.

Lawford described using LSD in his youth while in boarding school. He stayed away at first, but began experimenting to cope with the trauma of his parents’ bitter divorce and the assassinations of his uncles John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.

“I had friends trying to get me to use LSD in seventh grade. I grew up with an ethic of trying to do good in the world, and I said no. Then my Uncle Bobby was shot. Next fall they asked me again and I said sure,” Lawford told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2016.

Things only got worse from there, as Lawford “graduated” to heroin and other opioids, according to the AP. In his memoir Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption (2005), Lawford described mugging women for money, panhandling in Grand Central Station, and getting arrested for drug possession.

Lawford finally went to rehab at the age of 30. And while his life was far from perfect, he said he has no regrets.

“There are many days when I wish I could take back and use my youth more appropriately. But all of that got me here,” he told the AP in 2005. “I can’t ask for some of my life to be changed and still extract the understanding and the life that I have today.”

After the death of his cousin David Kennedy (son of RFK) who fatally overdosed at the age of 28, Lawford said in 1991, “I never expected to make it to 30. I shouldn’t have. I just have to stay out of my own way, because I’ve got this capacity to screw things up.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
All My Friends Are Junkies
Once we switched our attention away from getting high and learned how to stay sober, we quickly realized that if we put at least one percent of the same effort it took to get trashed into other areas of our lives, the results were astronomical.

All of my friends—each and every last one of them—are junkies. I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill junkie. You know the one: steals your purse and helps you look for it. No not that kind. Not even the one that bangs four bags of boy then tells you five minutes later that they’re dopesick so you help them out by splitting your shit. Not that type of junkie. I mean yeah, they meet that criteria, but I’m talking about the other type, the been-there-done-that kind of junkie.

All of my friends have been to hell and back. They’re the type of junkie that society labels as hopeless. But for whatever reason, they’ve found a way out of their living hell and have begun living and pursuing a life worthwhile, a life greater than anything imaginable. Any goal they set, anything they dream of, it comes to fruition and then some! It’s unbelievable, very encouraging, and, from my experience, it’s very contagious. Words like: seductive, attractive, inviting, enticing, alluring and captivating come to mind.

They’ve entered into a lifestyle that appears to be nothing but hope to any outsider looking in. So much so, even “normies” wonder what the fuck my friends are on. It’s next-level type shit.

I bet you’re wondering why I still refer to my friends as junkies if they no longer get fucked up. It’s a valid question. Why would someone call their friend a junkie when they have years sober? Why would someone use a word that carries such a bad connotation when describing another individual that they themselves currently see as the opposite of that word? Why the hell does Walmart only keep two check-out aisles open on a Saturday afternoon?!

To answer that first question, let’s break down the word “junkie.”

According to Webster:

Junkie

noun | junk·ie | \ ˈjəŋ-kē \
1. a narcotics peddler or addict
2. a person who gets an unusual amount of pleasure from or has an unusual amount of interest in something
Okay, that first definition sounds about right. My friends sure as hell qualify as addicts/alcoholics. They also know how to acquire and distribute their drug-of-choice quite successfully until that dreaded day comes where they break the cardinal rule, “don’t get high on your own supply.” If you’re a junkie like me, then you know we have another term for that rule: “mission impossible.”

Now, let’s take a look at what good ol’ Webby had to say in that second definition: A person who gets an unusual amount of pleasure from or has an unusual amount of interest in something. Sexy, right? Did you hear it? Did you relate when the word “unusual” appeared twice in that definition? Did something deep inside you begin to stir when the words “pleasure” and “interest” hit your shot-out way of thinking?

I hope so. If you’re fucked up the way I am, then you felt something. I also know from a personal collective experience that once my friends and I got sober, the world became our oyster. What I mean by that is, once we switched our attention away from getting high and learned how to stay sober, we quickly realized that if we put at least one percent of the same effort it took to get trashed into other areas of our lives, the results were astronomical. It’s like a one thousand percent return on our investment. Crazy, right? Sure. Sounds like bullshit? Fuck yeah it does. It took me a while to grasp it, understand it, appreciate it and then cultivate it.

When I see the word “unusual” appear in that definition I can’t help but laugh. I know that my friends and I—or any junkie I know, for that matter—are far from normal. When I think about “pleasure” and “interest,” I think about all the dreams that I had shit on in the past as a result of the bridges I burned. Now, those dreams have come back, I have goals that appear to be attainable, relationships that bring my life an overwhelming amount of joy, and opportunities to take part in unimaginable endeavors. Sound good? Sign me up!

I geek out over music. Since my money ain’t going to the dope man anymore, I’ve been able to create some really dope recovery-based music. I’m a music junkie. And I got friends that have turned their attention to their physical health and wellness, and they’re seeing amazing results. They’re fitness junkies. I got this one friend who’s got the “lick” on all the best spots to eat around town. I mean you can pick an ethnicity, voice your preference and he’s got a spot for you. My little, hipster, foodie junkie. He’s adorable.

Do you get it now? My friends and I are still junkies. We find ridiculous amounts of pleasure doing the things we love and pursuing the things that interest us. We enjoy it so much that you might call it unusual. Crazy ass ex-dopefiends turned into super-cool people.

I know we all have a million stories of where we’ve been and what we’ve done to get high and stay high. I know what it’s like to be in rehab and exchange “war stories” with the guy next to me. After a while it gets old. If you’re a repeat offender like me, then you know it gets old really fast when you check back in and hear the same shit again. It’s the same story with a different face. I get it.

Having said all that, I want to let you in on a little secret: I’ve solved my existential crisis that I’ve always run into when trying to stay sober. I never found my purpose before, that “something” that brings me an unusual amount of pleasure… until now.

It’s in these stories. It’s in the telling you, the reader, what my junkie friends and I have done, where we’ve been, what we’ve seen, what we’ve felt, how we’ve died, how we’ve lived, how we’ve found relief, how we’ve recovered, how we’ve relapsed, how we’ve come back and how we’ve survived one day at a time. If The Fix allows it, I’d love to share with you some of these “ghost stories,” as I lovingly refer to them these days. It would bring me an unusual amount of pleasure to get some of this shit off my chest and outta my head.

I want to let you into my world, tell you why “All My Friends Are Junkies” (and I’m pretty sure all your friends are, too). I want to take you through drug court, through my first time in “the rooms,” through my first love in recovery, through that heartbreak, through that first relapse after believing I’d be a one-chip-wonder. I want to take you through that probation violation, that geographical change I thought would help, and holy shit, I want to bring you to that six-month inpatient rehab I went to that turned into a 13 month stay, the place I “loved so much” that I went back for another six months. I want to tell you about the relationships I made in these places, the fun we had, the crazy cool road trips we took. I want to tell you about all the musical gigs and the junkies I met there. I feel like recovery has brought me around the world while my lifestyle of addiction brought me to the deepest darkest areas of Satan’s ass crack. I want to tell you about that too.

So for now, I’ll leave you with this: If no one told you today that they love you, fuck it, there’s always tomorrow.

Check back next week for the first Ghost Story, “A Dopeman’s Grocery List.”

View the original article at thefix.com
7 September 2018
Can Pre-Birth Opioid Exposure Lead To Learning Disorders?

A new study examined the potential link between pre-birth opioid exposure and developmental issues.

Children born to mothers using opioids may grow up to demonstrate difficulty learning, a new study has found.

The study examined the potential long-term issues for infants born to mothers who used opioids while pregnant, according to NBC News.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that one in seven children affected by a mother using opioids needed to be placed in special education classrooms for various issues, including developmental issues and speech delay. In comparison, one in 10 children who were not exposed to opioids before birth required the same.

About 7,200 children from Tennessee’s Medicaid program were involved in the study, ranging in age from 3 to 8 years old. Of those children, nearly 2,000 were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)—or, in simpler terms, withdrawal from opioids due to a mother’s use.

Tennessee has been greatly affected by the opioid epidemic, which is reflected in the number of infants exposed to opioids before birth. In 1999, it was one per 1,000 infants. But in 2015, it was 13 per 1,000.

Researchers said they took specific factors into account like birth weight and mother’s education and tobacco use, but that those did not change the results.

According to study co-author Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, the results make sense, as other studies have determined that there are brain differences in children affected by opioids while in utero.

Dr. Mary-Margaret Fill, lead author and a researcher with Tennessee’s health department, tells NBC News that affected children “are definitely not doomed. There are great programs and services that exist to help these children and their families. We just have to make sure they get plugged in.”

Because the study was focused in Tennessee, it’s not clear if the results are similar in other U.S. states, and no other studies with the same focus have been conducted in the country.

However, a similar study was conducted in Australia last year, and found that children exposed to opioids before birth had worse academic scores in seventh grade in comparison to others their age. The U.S. study did not examine academic performance.

Dr. Matthew Davis, co-chair of the Opioid Task Force at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, tells the Chicago Tribune that the study results should serve as a sign that opioid use affects a wide range.

“There’s a sense that the opioid epidemic is somebody else’s problem, but it affects more than those who take the drugs,” Davis said. “I hope the study is a wake-up call, so people understand that this epidemic is a community-level, multigenerational problem that will only grow if we don’t take the proper steps to address it.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 September 2018
How to help your teen, and you, log off

How to help your teen, and you, log off

Everyone with teenagers has witnessed the close relationship they have with their digital devices. Often, as a parent it can feel like a constant battle to separate your child from their screens.

Now it appears that teens themselves are becoming more aware of their overuse of devices. New research from America reveals that 54 per cent of teens (13 to 17-year-olds) feel they spend too much time on their phone, but when asked the same question only 36 per cent of their parents felt they needed to cut down on screen time!

This month sees the launch of Stop Staring At Screens written by Time to Log Off’s founder Tanya Goodin. In her new book, Tanya outlines ways you can help you and your teen to both log-off and find some digital balance. Here are four of Tanya’s top tips.

# Lead by example

So many of our worries about screen overuse seem focused on our children, teenagers in particular. Yet how many important family conversations and moments are we missing out on as parents because we’re looking at our smartphone, tablet, or laptop? We expect our teenagers to cut down on their screen use but don’t do it ourselves!

Remember as parents our children model our behavior. We lead by example, if we don’t want them to look at their mobile during a meal then we shouldn’t either. Agree on a set of screen rules for everyone, and remember everyone in the house needs to follow the rules. No exceptions (that means you too).

# Out of sight

Another good rule of thumb is that when talking to a teenager at home put your phone away, completely out of sight, and fully focus on them. This way you and your teenager will both feel engaged and present when you chat.

You could create a tech box in the kitchen where mobile phones are stored, or suggest that everyone leaves their phone on the hall table when they come home. This rule should cut down on mindless scrolling of the internet and social media for you and your teenager creating more free time to do things together like bake, go for a walk, do an exercise class or watch an old movie.

# Screen curfew

It’s a fact, the blue light that shines from screen devices disrupts our sleep. And no-one likes dealing with a grumpy, tired teen who’s had a bad night because they’ve been on their smart phone until the early hours. Or perhaps you’re just as guilty and watch Netflix on your mini-screen late into the night?

Either way, a screen curfew would benefit you both. Why not agree a house curfew for a time in the evening when all digital devices are switched off? Get everyone in the family relearning screen-free alternatives for relaxing in the evening such as reading a book or having a hot, non-caffeinated drink. It’s guaranteed, you will all sleep more a lot more soundly. And better sleep means less arguments.

# Stop the noise

Even if you have a rule at home that devices should be put away when everyone is together, the sound of gadgets pinging or vibrating can be very hard to ignore. Start by suggesting you turn off all sounds when you’re together as family. Even better, why not turn off your screens altogether?

If this rule sounds too radical start small, have one total screen free night a week as a family, say Friday night, and build it up gradually. Soon, you and your children will feel it’s more normal not to be constantly reaching for your phone. And less noise in your home will also give you and your children a host of added health benefits including better sleep, reduced stress and improved memory.

* Stop Staring At Screens by Tanya Goodin (ILEX, $12.99) is out now.

View the original article at itstimetologoff.com

6 September 2018
Marijuana's Pain-Relieving Properties To Be Studied By UCLA Researchers

“The public consumption of cannabis has already far outpaced our scientific understanding. We really desperately need to catch up.”

Thirty states and Washington D.C. have medical marijuana programs, but there has been little scientific research into the pain relieving properties of pot.

Now, however, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles are trying to change that, by conducting research into marijuana as a pain reliever.

“We’re not trying to do pro-cannabis research or anti-cannabis research,” Dr. Jeffrey Chen, director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative told NBC News. “We’re just trying to do good science.”

The initiative’s first goal will be to conduct a high-quality clinical research trial into pain relief. It will look at which types of cannabis products provide the most pain relief and whether cannabis may be able to replace opioid pain relievers for some patients.

Edythe London, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the UCLA school of medicine, designed the study to test different combinations of THC, the principal psychoactive component of marijuana, and cannabidiol, an anti-inflammatory component that does not give a high. She wants to measure which “produces the most good,” she said, in terms of reducing pain and opioid use.

Studies have shown that states with medical marijuana programs have fewer opioid overdose deaths. However, there haven’t been studies that show whether pain patients are switching from opioids to medical marijuana, or studies to see how effective medical marijuana is at treating pain in individuals.

Because of this, the proposed UCLA study is “much-needed research,” according to Yuyan Shi, a health policy analyst at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the health consequences of marijuana and opioid use.

The study still needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and more funding is needed.

However, Chen said that more organizations and individuals are realizing the importance of studying cannabis. Because of this, the research already has funds from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, federal and state sources, and private donors, he said.

“The public consumption of cannabis has already far outpaced our scientific understanding,” Chen said. “We really desperately need to catch up.”

Chen hopes that the pain relief study will just be the first step for the research initiative.

“While our priority is to study the therapeutic potential and health risks of cannabis on the body, brain, and mind, our mission is the interdisciplinary study of the wide-ranging health, legal, economic, and social impacts of cannabis,” he wrote in a message on the organization’s website.

View the original article at thefix.com

6 September 2018