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For 30 years, Dr. Libby Stuyt, a recently retired addiction psychiatrist in Pueblo, Colorado, treated patients with severe drug dependency. Typically, that meant alcohol, heroin, and methamphetamines. But about five years ago, she began to see something new.
“I started seeing people with the worst psychosis symptoms that I have ever seen,” she told me. “And the worst delusions I have ever seen.”
On Wednesday, Aug. 31, 1,303 purple flags were placed on the lawn of the San Diego County Administration Center to commemorate the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and colleagues that San Diegans lost in 2021 to overdose.
NIDA News - NIH supported study found past-month vaping levels rebound after early pandemic. Data for the 2021 survey were collected online from April 2021 through October 2021.
Key findings in the young adult group include:
- Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults reached all time-high in 2021.
- Past-year, past-month, and daily marijuana use (use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days) reached the highest levels ever recorded since these trends were first monitored in 1988.
- Past-month marijuana vaping, which had significantly decreased in 2020, rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
- NIH-supported study also found past-month nicotine vaping levels rebound after early pandemic drop
Higher concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC -- the part of the marijuana plant that makes you high -- are causing more people to become addicted in many parts of the world, a new review of studies found.
Compared with people who use lower-potency products (typically 5 to 10 milligrams per gram of THC), those who use higher-potency cannabis are more likely to experience addiction and mental health outcomes, according to the study published Monday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
A new USC Schaeffer Center white paper shows how state-level cannabis regulations have weak public health parameters compared to other countries, leaving consumers vulnerable. Federal legalization is an opportunity to implement regulations that better protect consumers and promote reasonable use. Regulations policymakers should consider include placing caps on the amount of the main intoxicant (THC) allowed in products sold in the marketplace and placing purchase limits on popular high-potency cannabis products, like edibles and vape cartridges, as has been done in other legalized jurisdictions abroad.