Tag: cannabis

Study: Lifetime Cannabis Use Not Associated With Cognitive Decline or Dementia Risk in Older Adults

Cannabis use by older adults is not associated with either accelerated cognitive decline or greater risk of dementia, according to findings published in the journal BMJ Mental Health.

Investigators affiliated with Yale University and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom assessed cognitive performance in lifetime cannabis consumers and non-users across various domains — including memory, intelligence, and problem solving. Data was drawn from two large nationally representative cohorts (the UK Biobank and the US Million Veteran Program), consisting of several hundred thousand participants.

Researchers reported that those with a history of cannabis use “demonstrated significantly better cognitive performance,” a finding that is consistent with prior studies. Cannabis use “was not associated with increased risk of dementia” and researchers found “no supporting evidence of a causal link with [longitudinal] cognitive decline in later life.”

The study’s authors concluded: “This study represents one of the largest observational investigations to date examining the relationship between cannabis use, cognitive function and dementia risk in older adults. … Our findings are broadly consistent with prior population-based longitudinal studies that have not observed accelerated age-related cognitive decline associated with cannabis use. … Clinicians can consider that occasional or prior cannabis use may not be a major contributor to cognitive aging in this population.”

Commenting on the findings, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “These results contradict one of the more prominent and longstanding stereotypes about cannabis and cannabis consumers. It is unfortunate that these stereotypes often go unchallenged in the media and elsewhere. It is even more unfortunate that studies refuting these long-held stereotypes seldom receive the type of mainstream attention they deserve.”

Several other recent studies have reported similar results. For example, an Israeli study of over 67,000 older adults reported that participants with a history of cannabis use “performed better across all cognitive domains: attention, executive function, processing speed, visual and working memory. … Additionally, past use was associated with a slower decline in executive function.”

A Danish study similarly concluded that cannabis consumers experienced “significantly less cognitive decline” over their lifetimes than did non-users.

Most recently, a study published in January in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs concluded: “Greater lifetime [cannabis] use was also associated with better performance on cognitive tasks assessing learning, memory, processing speed, and task switching, aligning with growing evidence of potential neuroprotective effects of cannabis in aging populations. … This study adds to a growing body of evidence that cannabis use may be associated with greater brain volume and cognitive performance in aging adults, especially in regions rich in cannabinoid receptors.”

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Cannabis timeline pushed to 20,000+ years

New research suggests cannabis use may date back 20,000 years or more, far earlier than previously thought.

Most scholars agree cultivation of cannabis began in Asia between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, during the advent of farming following the last ice age. But a 2023 morphometric study of ancient cannabis seeds suggests it may have begun far earlier — 20,000 years ago or more — in what is now Western China and the Tibetan Plateau.

The study looked at the size of seeds, which began to change as people started using them thousands of years ago.

People have been living in the Tibetan Plateau for up to 38,000 years, and in Central Asia for up to 50,000 years, so it is plausible cannabis has been used up to that long.

Cannabis has been around for millions of years, and the oldest plant material discovered so far is seeds dated to 8000 BC, found in Okinoshima, Japan at a neolithic site linked to the Jomon people. The seeds were likely used as food and to make oil.

Pottery found at an ancient archaeological site in Taiwan and dated to the same period, around 8000 BC, has impressions made with hemp cord, meaning cannabis was used widely across Asia by that time.

Along with using it as a source of food, the 2023 study suggests that by 6000 BC, cannabis was being cultivated for its fibre — what we now call hemp. It was around 3000BC that people began selecting cannabis for its trichomes, which contain the medicinal and psychoactive compounds.

Those findings align with a 2021 genomic study that also places domestication around 10000 BC, with a slightly different timeline — hemp selection beginning around 4000 BC, and medicinal/psychoactive use emerging around 3000 BC. Cannabis also appears to have reached the Indian subcontinent from China around that time.

“The first users were probably nomadic peoples,” explains Barney Warf, a professor of geography at the University of Kansas. “We know this from burial mounds of chieftains.”

Warf authored the 2014 paper High Points: An Historical Geography of Cannabis, which traces the spread and use of cannabis from ancient to modern times.

Several nomadic tribes are thought to have been the main conduit for bringing cannabis from Central Asia into India, the Middle East, Northern Africa and Europe between 4000 BC and 2000 BC, says Warf, along routes that would later become known as the Silk Road.

One possible origin for the word ‘Cannabis’ is the Scythian word, ‘Kanab,’ which itself may have come from the Assyrian word ‘Qunubu’. The Scythians were a nomadic group dated to between 900 BC and 200 BC and the Assyrians were in Mesopotamia between 2000 BC and 600 BC.

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Researchers ‘surprised’ by the brain benefits of cannabis usage in adults over 40

Pass the pot to Grandma — her brain might thank you.

A new study is challenging long-held assumptions about cannabis, finding that middle-aged and older adults who use the drug may actually see some brain and cognitive benefits.

The twist comes as cannabis use is climbing among older Americans. Research shows that nearly 1 in 5 people ages 50 to 64 reported using marijuana in the past year, along with 5.9% of those 65 and older.

That’s notable because research on cannabis and the brain has historically zeroed in on adolescents, not aging adults.

“More older adults are using cannabis. It’s more widely available and is being used for different reasons than in younger folks — such as for sleep and chronic pain,” Dr. Anika Guha, a clinical psychologist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

“Plus, people are living longer. We have to ask, ‘What are the long-term effects of cannabis use as we continue to age?’”

To dig deeper, Guha and her colleagues analyzed data from 26,362 adults ages 40 to 77, with an average age of 55, all living in the UK.

Participants answered detailed questions about their cannabis use, underwent MRI scans to assess their brain structure and completed a series of cognitive tests.

The researchers zeroed in on brain regions packed with CB1 — a cannabinoid receptor they theorized would be especially affected by cannabis.

One key focus was the hippocampus, which contains a high concentration of these receptors and plays a critical role in memory as we age. It’s also a brain region closely linked to dementia.

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Alabama Lawmakers Pass Bill To Increase Penalties For Smoking Marijuana In A Car Where A Child Is Present

The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill that prohibits smoking or vaping marijuana in a car with children.

HB 72, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, would make it a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail,  for those who smoke marijuana in a car with a child under 19.

The bill passed 77-2 after an unusual debate largely limited to the 29 Democrats in the 105-member chamber over potential unintended consequences. Most Democrats abstained from the vote. Four voted in favor; Reps. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham and TaShina Morris, D-Montgomery, voted against the bill.

“It’s about protecting the children, protecting every single child in the state of Alabama,” Sellers said after the meeting. “And that’s the motivation behind making sure that every child has the 100 percent ability to learn in the best environment that they can and keep them safe.”

Under the bill, individuals who are found to have smoked marijuana in the car with a child would be required to go through an educational program conducted by the Department of Public Health and would be reported by law enforcement to local county human resources departments.

Several Democrats who spoke on the measure cited the toll that harsh drug laws had taken on minority communities.

“It goes back to the heart of criminalization of marijuana in certain communities,” Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said after the meeting. “And those are communities that are communities typical of people of color.”

Givan also said House Democrats had wanted to work with Sellers on the bill.

“The Democratic Party, on several attempts, said that this is a bill that we might need to sit down and curate,” she said. “I’m not sure why the sponsor of the bill did not do that.”

Morris raised concerns about the bill’s definition of a child during debate.

“So we’re making a parent responsible for an 18-year-old who has a marijuana smell on them,” she said. “We know at the ages of 16 and 17, especially with the influence of walking outside and going different places, that they are smoking, maybe without the parent even knowing.”

Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, said during debate that parents don’t know everything that their child does.

“As a parent you may not know, and here I don’t know if the counselor or the principal can call you in to say ‘Hey this is what we smelled on your kid’s jacket, how are we gonna handle this?’ But instead you got me going to a class for something I don’t even know about,” she said.

When asked after the meeting about Morris’ concerns about the bill’s language regarding age, Sellers said parents should “stop making excuses” for their children.

“You know whether or not your child is smoking marijuana. If someone lives in your house, you know they’re smoking marijuana because you can smell it. It’s a distinct smell,” he said.

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Ancient Cannabis Enzymes Reveal How THC and CBD First Evolved

Scientists are taking a deeper look at the origins of cannabis chemistry by reconstructing enzymes from ancient plants, offering new insight into how cannabis first developed the ability to produce compounds like THC and CBD.

In a recent study published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, researchers at Wageningen University & Research rebuilt molecular structures that existed millions of years ago, revealing that ancient forms of cannabis enzymes were more flexible and robust than those found in modern plants.

The team behind the research says they have successfully traced the evolution of cannabinoid chemistry and identified molecular tools that could improve the biotechnological production of modern medicinal cannabinoids.

The Origin of Cannabinoids

In modern cannabis plants, specialized enzymes are responsible for making individual cannabinoids like THC or CBD. Each enzyme is highly efficient at producing one specific compound. The new study shows that this precision is a recent development in cannabis evolution, rather than something that existed from the start.

Early ancestors of cannabis used versatile enzymes that could create several cannabinoids at once. These enzymes became more specialized over time as gene duplication occurred. This led to the distinct chemical profiles seen in cannabis plants today.

The research team provided direct evidence for this evolutionary process by reconstructing ancient cannabis enzymes in the lab. Their results show that the pathways for creating specific cannabinoids like THC appeared relatively recently and became more specialized over time through natural selection.

Rebuilding Lost Enzymes

The team relied on ancestral sequence reconstruction to study this evolutionary history. They compared DNA from modern cannabis and related species to determine what cannabinoid-producing enzymes looked like millions of years ago.

The researchers synthesized the predicted enzymes and tested their functions in the lab. Many of the reconstructed enzymes converted precursor molecules into several different cannabinoids, unlike the more specialized modern enzymes.

These experiments enabled the team to directly test evolutionary hypotheses that had previously relied solely on genetic comparisons.

Ancient Enzymes as Biotech Tools

The most immediate implications of the study are for biotechnology rather than evolutionary biology. When the researchers expressed ancient enzymes in microbial systems, they found that the reconstructed enzymes were often easier to use than those found in modern cannabis plants.

“What once seemed evolutionarily ‘unfinished’ turns out to be highly useful,” said Robin van Velzen, who led the study with colleague Cloé Villard. “These ancestral enzymes are more robust and flexible than their descendants, which makes them very attractive starting points for new applications in biotechnology and pharmaceutical research.”

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Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill To Ban Public Marijuana Smoking Ahead Of Possible Legalization Vote On The Ballot

A Florida Senate panel has advanced legislation to ban smoking or vaping marijuana in public places, a development that comes as an industry-funded campaign is seeking to place a recreational cannabis legalization initiative on the November ballot.

The Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Tuesday approved the bill, which defines a public place as “a place to which the public has access, including, but not limited to, streets; sidewalks; highways; public parks; public beaches; and the common areas, both inside and outside, of schools, hospitals, government buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, lodging establishments, restaurants, transportation facilities, and retail shops.”

The measure from Sen. Joe Gruters (R), who is also chairman of the Republican National Committee, would specify that marijuana cannot be smoked or vaped in customs smoking rooms at airports.

Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez (R) presented the bill, SB 986, on Gruters’s behalf at the committee hearing.

“There is currently no prohibition on smoking marijuana in public places if adult use is approved by the voters,” she said, according to Florida Politics. “By banning public smoking of marijuana, we are protecting community health and quality of life, as well as protecting certain outdoor spaces from marijuana smoke such as beaches and parks.”

Rep. Alex Andrade (R) is sponsoring a similar bill to ban public cannabis smoking in the House of Representatives.

The proposals are among a growing list of cannabis legislation that lawmakers are introducing for consideration next year.

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OSU study: Compounds in hemp block COVID-19 from entering human cells

Compounds found in hemp “show the ability to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells,” Oregon State University says.

New OSU research on hemp and COVID-19 was published Tuesday in the Journal of Natural Products.

Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center in the College of Pharmacy and Linus Pauling Institute, led the study.

According to OSU:

Hemp, known scientifically as Cannabis sativa, is a source of fiber, food and animal feed, and multiple hemp extracts and compounds are added to cosmetics, body lotions, dietary supplements and food, van Breemen said.

Van Breemen and collaborators, including scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, found that a pair of cannabinoid acids bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, blocking a critical step in the process the virus uses to infect people.

The compounds are cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, CBDA, and the spike protein is the same drug target used in COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapy. A drug target is any molecule critical to the process a disease follows, meaning its disruption can thwart infection or disease progression.

“These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and in many hemp extracts,” van Breemen said. “They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and have a good safety profile in humans. And our research showed the hemp compounds were equally effective against variants of SARS-CoV-2, including variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, and variant B.1.351, first detected in South Africa.”

OSU said those two variants are also known as alpha and beta.

According to OSU:

Characterized by crown-like protrusions on its outer surface, SARS-CoV-2 features RNA strands that encode its four main structural proteins – spike, envelope, membrane and nucleocapsid – as well as 16 nonstructural proteins and several “accessory” proteins, van Breemen said.

“Any part of the infection and replication cycle is a potential target for antiviral intervention, and the connection of the spike protein’s receptor binding domain to the human cell surface receptor ACE2 is a critical step in that cycle,” he said. “That means cell entry inhibitors, like the acids from hemp, could be used to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and also to shorten infections by preventing virus particles from infecting human cells. They bind to the spike proteins so those proteins can’t bind to the ACE2 enzyme, which is abundant on the outer membrane of endothelial cells in the lungs and other organs.”

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Dutch scientists discover ancient cannabis enzyme with pain-relief potential

Researchers at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) reported a discovery that an ancient ancestor of the cannabis plant produced a compound with anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, opening potential new avenues for medical use.

The team investigated how compounds like THC, CBD, and CBC emerged in cannabis. To do this, they reconstructed extinct enzymes that were active millions of years ago in the plant’s ancestors. These enzymes are crucial in producing cannabinoid compounds.

“In modern cannabis plants, specific enzymes produce cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, and CBC,” WUR researcher Robin van Velzen told NU.nl. “But the ancestral enzymes could produce multiple cannabinoids simultaneously.”

These “ancestral enzymes” are simpler to produce in microorganisms, such as yeast, compared with their modern counterparts, making them easier to harness.

“These ancestral enzymes are more robust and flexible than their descendants, making them very attractive starting points for biotechnology and medicine,” Velzen said.

One enzyme of particular interest produces a high level of CBC, a cannabinoid known for anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects. “Currently, no cannabis plant produces high levels of CBC, so introducing this enzyme into a plant could lead to innovative medicinal varieties,” Van Velzen said.

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Marijuana Users Are Being Unjustly Jailed For Allegedly Driving Under The Influence, Government-Funded Study Shows

Laws aimed at preventing marijuana-impaired driving in almost 20 states are causing innocent people who show no signs of impairment to be criminalized and imprisoned for allegedly operating vehicles while under the influence, a new government-funded study shows.

Lawmakers and regulators aiming to reduce drug-impaired driving have long sought to apply a familiar strategy from alcohol enforcement: setting a numerical limit of THC in the bloodstream beyond which a driver is presumed to be impaired, commonly referred to as a “per se” amount.

But the new study suggests that approach may be badly misaligned with the science related to impairment from cannabis, the components and metabolites of which can remain in the body day or weeks after use—when impairment is no longer an issue.

“Many regular users of cannabis exceed zero tolerance and per se THC cutpoint concentrations days after their last use, risking legal consequences despite no evidence of impairment,” the study, which was published in the scientific journal Clinical Chemistry and partially funded by the National Institutes of Health and the State of California, found.

The findings echo earlier research showing weak or inconsistent links between THC blood levels and crash risk. Large epidemiological studies have found that while marijuana use may slightly increase collision risk, the effect is far smaller than that of alcohol use.

“One of the primary problems with using THC concentrations in per se legislation is that the pharmacokinetics of THC are much different from ethanol,” the researchers wrote.

The authors noted that alcohol generally cannot be detected 1 to 2 days after last ingestion, whereas THC can be measured up to 30 days after last use because of its lipophilic nature.

To generate the data, researchers studied 190 heavy consumers who were instructed to abstain for 48 hours. Following that several day period, the participants’ blood THC concentrations were measured both before and after cannabis consumption to establish baselines. They were also observed using a driving simulator.

“Current cannabis blood concentrations used to identify impaired drivers could land innocent people in jail,” the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine, which publishes the journal that the study appeared in, said in a press release.

“Cannabis blood limit laws lack scientific credibility and are not an accurate determinant of when drivers should face criminal charges or not.”

The authors of the study concluded that “more work needs to be done to address how to best identify drivers who are under the influence of cannabis and are unsafe to drive.”

“Despite evidence showing no correlation between the detection of THC in the blood and driving impairment, 6 states in the United States have per se laws using 2 or 5 ng/mL of THC as the cut-off point for driving under the influence of cannabis, while 12 have a zero-tolerance law,” the journal’s press release says.

The authors, affiliated with the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research cautioned that additional research is needed, saying “at present, the best protocol is a combination of observations in the field and toxicology testing.”

A separate study last year found “no support that marijuana legalization increased tolerant behaviors and attitudes toward driving after marijuana use.” Authored by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University, the study used data from a national traffic safety survey.

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