Written by Steve Blechman
24 April 2018

Cali-Gone-to-Pot-slider

CALI HAS GONE TO POT

Marijuana Mecca, Not Bodybuilding!!

 

 

California is the number one state for recreational and medical marijuana sales in the United States! Marijuana is quickly becoming legal for medical or recreational use throughout the country. Nine states— California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, Washington and Washington D.C.— have legalized marijuana. Marijuana for medical use is legal in 29 states. Today, more than 60 percent of Americans believe pot should be legal, according to January 2018 poll by Pew Research Center. “Medical and recreational cannabis sales will hit $11.7 billion this year, predicts cannabis analytics from New Frontier Data, increase by 25 percent in 2019 and hit $25 billion in seven years,” as reported in USA Today on April 20, 2018.

 

Increasing access will lead to increased abuse. The state of California leads the projected sales in the United States in 2018, according to New Frontier Data. The common perception is that smoking pot is a harmless drug with minimal side effects. The National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Maryland says acute effects include impaired short-term memory, disturbed motor coordination and altered judgment. In high doses, the drug can trigger paranoia and psychosis. Long-term use can lead to addiction, altered brain development, cognitive impairment, chronic bronchitis and increased risk of schizophrenia and cancer!

 

Exposure to marijuana smoke may also increase the risk of cancer. Smoking pot contains many of the same chemicals and carcinogens as tobacco smoke. Also, marijuana use is associated with a threefold risk of death from hypertension, according to research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. On the flip side, research has shown that marijuana can ease ocular pressure in glaucoma and prevent nausea during chemotherapy. It can also increase appetite in HIV and cancer patients; reduce chronic pain and inflammation and improve quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

 

In April 2018, an expert panel unanimously recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve Epidiolex or cannabidiol (CBD) for epilepsy. Its manufacturer is GW Pharmaceuticals. If the FDA approves CBD as a drug for epilepsy, it may restrict CBD from being sold over-the-counter in the U.S. in all 50 states! CBD is a component of cannabis that is non-psychoactive and does not make people high. If approved by the FDA, it would be the first drug medication made from marijuana with legalization and decriminalization.

 

Chronic marijuana use reduces the brain’s reactivity to dopamine— according to a study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism in Rockville, Maryland. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter in the brain that is involved in the perception of reward. Dopamine increases memory, focus, alertness, creativity, confidence, mood, motivation, libido and weight control. Users of marijuana also showed lower positive and higher negative emotional scores compared to control subjects. Marijuana users showed lower levels of motivation and less sensitivity to rewards but increased reaction to emotional stress and irritability. Additionally, according to a study recent published in The Review of Economic Studies, access to legal marijuana may significantly reduce academic performance. This research suggests that marijuana interferes with dopamine release in the brain.

 

Sixty percent of Americans believe the time has come to decriminalize marijuana. Recently, President Donald Trump signaled that the federal government would not crack down on nine states that have legalized recreational use of marijuana. Most recently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he would introduce legislation to legalize recreational use of marijuana in New York State. Medical marijuana use is already approved in New York. Schumer said, “If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal?” In states where it has become legal, pot is providing an increase in sales and billions of dollars in new tax revenue. The downside is the potential health side effects! Increased legalization and access will lead to increased use and abuse, which will result in increased health care costs.

 

Men who like smoking weed often suspect that marijuana might cause an increase of estrogen and man boobs often referred to as bitch tits, called gynecomastia. “Gyno” is caused by a decrease in testosterone compared to estrogen. Animal studies have shown that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in marijuana, can decrease testosterone levels and testicular size. Lower testosterone levels have been reported in chronic pot smokers, but not all studies support this. Many plastic surgeons today are telling their patients with gynecomastia to stop smoking pot, even though the association of smoking pot hasn’t been conclusively proven. If a link to smoking pot and gynecomastia does exist, we should see an increase in gynecomastia treatment in those states that legalized pot. If you already have man boobs, it might be best to stop smoking weed now! So, put out that joint!

 

References:

 Scott JC, Slomiak ST et al. Association of Cannabis With Cognitive Functioning in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online April 18, 2018.

 

 Kolodny R, Masters W et al. Depression of Plasma Testosterone Levels after Chronic Intensive Marijuana Use. New England Journal of Medicine 1974; 290: 16, 872-874.

 

 Olivier M and Zölitz U. “High” Achievers? Cannabis Access and Academic Performance, The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 84, Issue 3, 1 July 2017, Pages 1210-1237.

 

Thistle JE, Graubard BI et al. Marijuana use and serum testosterone concentrations among U.S. males. Andrology 2017, 5: 732-738.

 

Volkow N, Baler R et al. Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use, New England Journal of Medicine 2014, 370, 23, 2219-2227.

 

 Volkow N, Wang G et al. Decreased brain DA reactivity in marijuana abusers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jul 2014, 201411228.

 

Yankey B, Rothenberg R et al. Effect of marijuana use on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality: A study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked mortality file. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2017; 204748731772321.

 

European Society of Cardiology. Marijuana associated with three-fold risk of death from hypertension. ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 August 2017.

 

Panel recommends FDA approval of epilepsy drug derived from marijuana. Andrew Joseph April 19, 2018. www.statnews.com/2018/04/19/fda-epilepsy-drug-marijuana

 

Industry growing like weeds. Trevor Hughes, USA Today. April 20-22, 2018.

 

Schumer has bill to legalize pot. Michael Gormley, Newsday. April 21, 2018.

 

 

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