Cognition

Long-Term Cannabis Use Can Impair Learning

April 2, 2020 Cannabis, Cognition, Mental Health, Tobacco

Cognitive, physical, and mental health outcomes between long-term cannabis and tobacco users

In Summary

Researchers have recently compared long-term cannabis and tobacco users, finding that cannabis users had more difficulties learning but better health overall than tobacco users. This study compared tobacco and cannabis users after they had abstained from their chosen substance for 15 hours before running through a myriad of texts. Although it took cannabis users longer to acquire and recall novel information cannabis users reported better psychological, somatic, and general health than tobacco users, as well as lowered stress levels, more similar to controls. Tobacco users were also revealed to have more emotional problems than cannabis users and controls. This research may prove beneficial in the creation of programs that utilize cannabis to aid in the cessation of tobacco use.

This research, while highlighting the advantages of cannabis use over tobacco use, also emphasizes the negative impact of cannabis on individuals in school. Whether those individuals are enrolled in a high school or upper-level academic program, consistent use of cannabis may prove harmful to their overall performance. Patients should always discuss their concerns with their recommending physicians, and should be mindful of the current gaps in medical knowledge concerning cannabis. This information also does not apply to every cannabis-based product, like most topicals. Topicals, unless high-dose tetrahydrocannabinol patches, generally do not cause psychoactive effects and would, therefore, have no affect learning. More research is needed to fully understand which cannabinoids, doses, and frequency of doses, affect learning so that patients are well informed about their medications.

The study is available for review or download here

Cognitive-physical-and-mental-health-outcomes-between-long-term-cannabis-and-tobacco-users Download

View more studies like this in the CED Foundation Archive

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Medical Cannabis for Adults Over 50

December 22, 2019 Adult, Adverse Effects, Aging, Arthritis, Behavior change, Business of Cannabis, Cannabis, Cannabis Education, Cannabis Science, Case Study, Cognition, Dementia, Depression, Elderly, Future Medicine, Geriatrics, Mental Health, Pain, Pharmaceutical, Retail Cannabis, Seniors

In Summary:

As with all elements of the aging process, the human endocannabinoid system loses tone over time. Whether it is a reduction in the numbers of cannabinoid receptors or a slow waning of the machinery used to create the signaling molecules that bind to the receptors or the natural senescence of the system that supports all of these normal signaling processes, the fact remains that adults over 50 are best-suited for external support for the endocannabinoid system.

Indeed, the average age at dispensaries is surprising to most who are not familiar with the modern medical cannabis arena. Baby Boomers, perhaps more than any other age group, tend to dominate the medical cannabis dispensaries. This is no new phenomenon, however. Through the ages, across cultures and around the globe, cannabis has been consumed primarily by older adults. Whether by tribe elders, wise councilmen, spiritual leaders, or the educated elite, cannabis has been an integral part of human aging for as long as we have recorded history.

Here, a review out of Israel followed at 184 patients over 65 (average age was 81.2) beginning cannabis treatment. 63.6% were female. “After six months of treatment, 58.1% were still using cannabis. Of these patients, 33.6% reported adverse events, the most common of which were dizziness (12.1%) and sleepiness and fatigue (11.2%). Of the respondents, 84.8% reported some degree of improvement in their general condition.”

Appropriately, the authors advise caution for older adults related to those adults who may be consuming multiple pharmaceuticals, for potential medication interaction effects, as well as nervous system impairment, and increased cardiovascular risk for those who may quire the concern. Wisely, they recommend that “Medical cannabis should still be considered carefully and individually for each patient after a risk-benefit analysis and followed by frequent monitoring for efficacy and adverse events.”

Dr. Caplan and the #MDTake:

At CED Clinic, we have long seen that the average age of medical patients is over 50. Whether for concerns related to sleep, pain, mental or physical health, it seems as though Baby Boomers have either weathered enough politics to have developed a healthy cynicism for the misinformation campaigns of the 1930s and 1970s, or they have direct or indirect experience with cannabis to have learned of its safety and efficacy. Either way, it is quickly reclaiming its historical place in the care of older adults, although oddly… it seems to be a demographic skipped over by the marketing systems of most establishments in the cannabis arena, at least for now.

direction of action for cannabis treatments

bar of significant improvement with cannabis

View this review (yellow link) or download:

Medical Cannabis for Older Patients—Treatment Protocol and Initial Results Download

This paper is also stored here: http://bit.ly/2QbJ6yE inside the CED Foundation Archive

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Participants in Cannabis for Chronic Pain Study Describe Life-Changing Results

November 14, 2019 Adolescents, Adult, Adverse Effects, Anti-inflammatory properties, Anxiety, Cannabinoids, Cannabis, Cannabis Education, Cannabis Science, Case Study, Cognition, Future Medicine, Impairment, Memory, Pain

Restored Self: A Phenomenological Study of Pain Relief by Cannabis

In Summary:

In an Israeli qualitative study investigating the impact of cannabis use on chronic pain patients, all but one of the nineteen study participants experienced pain relief after cannabis use. Participants explained how cannabis allowed them to not just discontinue medications treating their pain, but also medications treating secondary outcomes of their pain, such as poor sleep and anxiety. Patients described feeling “a sigh of relief,” being “reborn” or being saved by cannabis use after years of debilitating pain and medication side effects.

Dr. Caplan and the #MDTake:

The pathway through which cannabis works to combat pain is different from the usual pathways doctors have used for the last 90 years. Prior to the 1930s, cannabis was used routinely, just about everywhere, but political and social agendas kidnapped the medicine and hid it away from most of the mainstream and from routine medical education.

Patients often describe typical pain relievers as adjusting the impact of the pain. Reducing or quieting the pain, softening discomfort, allowing the sufferer to perform previously typical tasks without debilitation or dysfunction. Cannabis, on the other hand, is sometimes described as “taking the sufferer away from the pain,” rather than the other way around. The effects that cannabis can have on the reduction of inflammation, attention, memory, and relaxation, provide a new type of opportunity for relief.

Still, other patients describe the effects of cannabis through a lens of mental focus. Whereas in daily use we typically open a standard set of drawers, some have said, the use of cannabis allows the consumer to open up a different set of draws, and through this adjusted lens, to see discomfort from a different perspective.

For those suffering with chronic pain, years upon years of discomfort, suffering that, when paired with modern medicines, has only met frustration and further discomfort, cannabis is frequently seen as a welcome “sigh of relief.”

Sample of text discussing lack of adverse side effects of cannabis

This paper is also stored here: http://bit.ly/32FZkUU inside the CED Foundation Archive

View this review (yellow link) or download:

Restored Self: A Phenomenological Study of Pain Relief by CannabisDownload

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Adolescent Cannabis Use Linked to Sleep Disturbances

September 9, 2019 Adolescents, Adverse Effects, Behavior change, Cannabis Dependence, Cannabis Science, Case Study, Cognition, Gender, Impairment, Legislation, Mental Health, Pediatrics, Sleep, Social Equity, Stigma, Stress

Sleep Disturbances, Psychosocial Difficulties and Health Risk Behavior

Summary info:

A Dutch study investigated sleep disturbances in adolescents. Sleep disruption was linked to cannabis use, psychosocial difficulties, health risk behavior, and increased suicidality. Additionally, gender disparity in results suggests that girls may be more susceptible to sleep disturbances than boys , a result consistent with past recognition of some gender discrepancies in cannabis activity. These results highlight the importance of discouraging haphazard cannabis use, during adolescence, and the need for further gender-focused research surrounding sleep habits and cannabis use.

Dr Caplan, CED Foundation, and the #MDTake:

There are a few important issues that converge in this review. Generally, the question of adolescents’ use, (as an alternative way of describing the question of effects on a developing brain.) Also, this paper raises valuable questions about how cannabis may be interacting with sleep hygiene, for better or for worse. Psychosocial impact and risky behaviors are very complex topics to engage, even with a fairly large population sample of (n=16,781.) There are lots of intercorrelated topics assessed, analyzed, and discussed in the review, and it is all-too-easy to want to find causal patterns that are not apparent, again for better or worse, unless one chooses to construe the results or interpretation with causation in mind. Realistically, it is very likely to find overlap in a population of adolescents who have psychosocial difficulties, engage in risky behaviors, have increased risk of suicidality, and consume cannabis. To point to one of the components, arbitrarily, as the primary cause of the others is to unnecessarily and unjustly oversimplify a complex set of circumstances. The essential tenet, different genders seem to react differently with cannabis, is an excellent take-away, and also that we have much more still to learn.

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Sleep Disturbances, Psychosocial Difficulties and Health Risk BehaviorDownload

This paper is also stored here: http://bit.ly/314TsEC inside the CED Foundation Archive

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The Cannabinoid System Provides Target for Novel Alzheimer’s Treatment

August 28, 2019 Alzheimer's Disease, Cannabinoids, Cannabis Science, Cognition, Dementia, Elderly, Future Medicine

Discovery of novel benzofuran-based compounds with neuroprotective and immunomodulatory properties for Alzheimer’s disease treatment

A recent study has revealed that novel therapeutic methods that modulate the endocannabinoid system may help to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers have isolated two compounds that provide neuroprotective benefits regulated by the endocannabinoid system. This treatment is specifically thought to slow the progression of the disease as it provides anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects that would prevent the aggressive degradation of the cholinergic system. Further research will hopefully continue to expand on findings such as these, toward the development of much-needed medications.

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This paper is also stored here: http://bit.ly/2HreN39 inside the CED Foundation Archive

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Natural & Cannabinoid Changes in Dopamine: A key to the psychosis question?

August 25, 2019 Adolescents, Adult, Adverse Effects, Agitation, Anxiety, Behavior change, Cannabinoids, Cannabis, Cannabis Science, Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD), CB1, CED Foundation, Cognition, Dopamine, Psychosis, Schizophrenia

Comparing dopaminergic dynamics in the dorsolateral striatum between adolescent and adult rats- Effect of an acute dose of WIN55212-2

Brief summary:

A recent study has exposed an age-dependent mechanism within the dopaminergic system that relies on cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1). Adult and adolescent dopamine levels were examined in the presence of a CB1 agonist and increased levels of extracellular dopamine were found in adolescents. This study reveals the different effects cannabis-based medicine has depended on the age of the patient and warrants future research to ensure cannabis has the desired therapeutic effect on patients.

Dr Caplan Discussion Points:

This adds a helpful layer of insight to the way an animal model of dopamine changes over time, as well as its interaction with exogenous cannabinoids. This sheds light on the natural evolution of the dopamine control system (irrespective of how it interacts with endocannabinoids), and it also points to how cannabinoids may be involved.

This helps to educate the discussion about how psychosis and cannabis use may interact. There is a long-held understanding that dopamine abnormalities in the specific parts of the brain (mesolimbic and prefrontal brain regions) exist in schizophrenia. More recently, research has also strongly suggested that other neurotransmitters, including glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, and serotonin are also involved in schizophrenia (and, coincidentally, there is also interaction with these other neurotransmitters from various components of cannabis). Nonetheless, this study simply suggests that, by nature, basal dopamine levels increase during adolescence. Also, the study points out that some cannabinoids boost basal levels too. It seems logical to suggest that excessive dopamine may create a problematic force of additional tipping toward illness, within individuals for whom a congenital predisposition toward illness exists.

View this review (yellow link) or download:

Comparing dopaminergic dynamics in the dorsolateral striatum between adolescent and adult rats- Effect of an acute dose of WIN55212-2 Download

This paper is also stored here: http://bit.ly/2HpWqM5 inside the CED Foundation Archive

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Video: 5 Myths about Cannabis – DEBUNKED

August 10, 2019 Addiction, Adult, Adverse Effects, Anxiety, Behavior change, Cannabinoids, Cannabis, Cannabis Education, Cognition, Future Medicine, History, Impairment, Mental Health, Stigma, THC, Video

Video: 5 Religions that Preach Cannabis

August 9, 2019 Asia, Behavior change, Cannabis, Cannabis Education, CED Foundation, Cognition, History, India, Religion, Social Justice, Video

Video: Controversial Questions in Cannabis Today

August 2, 2019 Abuse, Addiction, Adult, Adverse Effects, Anxiety, Behavior change, Cannabis, Cannabis Education, CBD, CED Clinic, CED Foundation, CED In The News, Cognition, DIY, Dr Caplan, Edibles, Future Medicine, History, Impairment, Jobs, Law, Legislation, New York, Products, Reaction Time, Regulation, Testing, THC, Video

As cannabis finds its place back into modern human culture quickly, there is much still to be learned. As the science grows and adapts to modern need and expectations, the “can we” may be out-pacing the “should we.” On the other hand, there are circumstances where modern culture really “should be” and is handicapped by years of misinformed stigma.

Here, a few controversial questions about cannabis:

Should teachers be allowed to use cannabis around children?

Should spiritual leaders be allowed to use cannabis, as they have for millennia?

Should taxi drivers be allowed to use cannabis on the job?

Should pilots be allowed to use cannabis?

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New Developments of Cannabinoid-Based Drugs

August 1, 2019 Adult, Anti-inflammatory properties, Autoimmunity, Behavior change, Blood-Levels, Business of Cannabis, Cannabinoids, Cannabis, Cannabis Science, Case Study, CB1, CB2, CBD, CED Foundation, Cognition, Financial Projections, Future Medicine, Hemp, History, Impairment, Memory, Mental Health, Mood, Neuropathy, Occasional Use, Opiates, Pain, Regulation, Social Justice, Stigma, Synthetic Cannabinoids, Terpenes, THC

Title: Novel approaches in clinical development of cannabinoid drugs

A pamphlet has recently been published that highlights new approaches in the clinical development of cannabinoid-based therapies. The pamphlet begins with a look into how current cannabinoids affect patients based on gender, stress, physiological variations, and also delves into how cannabis works on the body in general.

A novel therapy that features an oral version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and a synthetic activator of cannabinoid-receptor-1 (CB1) is explored in this piece and frames it to be a promising future therapy. The pharmacological properties of these two novel therapies were optimized during development after various analysis techniques, forming medications that the authors hope to see in future clinical trials.

Although the authors remain hopeful that their cannabis-based therapies will reach clinical trials soon, trials featuring cannabinoids are difficult to test in a formal setting because of a dire lack of funding. The federal government still lists cannabis as a Schedule I substance, under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that the federal government does not support the idea that cannabis has any medical use. Considering the legal status of cannabis, only privately-funded studies are able to take place, and unfortunately, that leaves cannabis research in an area of complete bias and prohibitively underfunded. Considering the massive literature supporting a myriad of novel therapeutic benefits, this is a costly reality to the health and well-being of millions.