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Study: Marijuana Use Has Increased In Pregnant Women

Mike Adams
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Study: Marijuana Use Has Increased In Pregnant Women

Pregnant women are smoking marijuana more than ever before, a study suggests.

In a recent analysis from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which consisted of 200,000 women between the ages of 18 and 44, researchers found a 62 percent increase over the past 12 years in the rate for which women admitted to smoking marijuana during pregnancy.

The study, which was published in the journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the fashionably relaxed attitude regarding the safety of marijuana may be to prompting more pregnant women to throw caution to the wind when it comes to smoking cannabis.

It is important to point out, however, that while this increase is certainly significant, there are not that many women in the U.S. opting to smoke weed after learning of a bun in the oven.

In fact, the study shows that in 2014, only around four percent of the nation’s soon-to-be-mothers smoked marijuana – up, of course, from the 2.5 percent that responded to the survey in 2002.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were around 4 million women who gave birth in 2014.

Although four percent “is not high,” according to researchers, “the increases over time and potential adverse consequences of prenatal marijuana exposure suggest further monitoring and research are warranted.”

The study authors suggest that perhaps women should stop and consider the grey areas surrounding the effects of cannabis before choosing to use the herb during pregnancy.

“Although the evidence for the effects of marijuana on human prenatal development is limited at this point, research does suggest that there is cause for concern,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Federal health officials have acknowledged that more science is needed in order to determine whether marijuana actually has a negative impact on a baby’s development and overall future health.

Previous studies from NIDA indicate that a wealth of serious issues could arise in children as a result of a mother’s prenatal pot consumption, but the majority of this research fails to touch on other crucial details, such as a mother’s diet and her use of other substances.

The primary takeaway here is that all expecting mothers should do everything in their power, from maintaining a healthy diet to restricting the use of intoxicating substances, to ensure their child is healthy when he or she enters the world.

The Fresh Toast Marijuana Legislative Roundup: Oct 2

Alec Engber
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The Fresh Toast Marijuana Legislative Roundup: Oct 2

Last week’s marijuana news was a mixed bag for advocates. In Maine, which voted for legalization last November, implementation continues to drag and the law continues to be watered down. A Vermont task force met for the first time to study the issue. And in Colorado, regulations for edible marijuana went into effect. Find out more in our weekly marijuana legislative roundup.

Maine: 

On Thursday, members of the Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation approved a bill to dramatically change the recreational marijuana law approved by voters in November. The bill would add a 10 percent weight-based excise tax onto the voter-approved 10 percent sales tax. Towns that host cannabis businesses would receive 5 percent of the state taxes collected from each facility located within their boundaries. Each town that hosts such businesses would also receive 1 percent of the state’s total marijuana tax revenue.

Owners would be allowed to grow up to 12 plants on their property, but municipalities could increase the cap to 18 plants. The bill also allocates some tax revenue to law enforcement and youth prevention, and imposes zoning requirements on marijuana businesses, among other provisions. The legislature is expected to convene a special session to vote on the measure in October.

However, lawmakers fear that Governor Paul LePage, a fierce critic of legalization, will veto the legislation. If lawmakers are unable to obtain a two-thirds majority, the ballot measure approved by voters will become law in January. The implementation of recreational sales has already been pushed back to February 2018 at the earliest.  

 Vermont: 

On Thursday, the commission tasked with studying recreational marijuana in Vermont convened for the first time to discuss the challenges associated with legalization. In May, the Vermont legislature became the first in the nation to pass a cannabis legalization measure. However, Governor Phil Scott vetoed the legislation, citing public safety concerns.

Scott created the Marijuana Advisory Commission to study legalization implementation in other states, and present a report to the governor by January 2018 detailing how the state may address the public health and safety challenges presented by legalization. The Commission will present another report in December 2018 outlining how the state should regulate and tax a future recreational cannabis market. 

 Colorado: 

On Sunday, new rules came into effect that restrict the shape of edibles and the way they are packaged in Colorado. Edibles may no longer be shaped like humans, animals, fruit, or other shapes commonly associated with children’s candy. Additionally, potency information will have to be displayed more prominently on packaging. Colorado has come under criticism for failing to adequately regulate the production and labeling of edibles, which have emerged as a popular means to consume legal cannabis in the state. 

Mythbusters: 5 Medical Cannabis Beliefs That Are Completely Wrong

Maria Loreto
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Mythbusters: 5 Medical Cannabis Beliefs That Are Completely Wrong

We’re living through a transition period where people are evolving and their opinions are changing when it comes to marijuana. After many years of debate and struggle, it’s beginning to feel like cannabis is finally accepted and understood, even though the plant still hasn’t crossed the line into the “legitimate” side.

Medical cannabis is legal in a lot of states (29 to be precise), but there’s still a lot of ignorance that surrounds the medicinal use of the drug.

Here are 5 myths that people have regarding medical cannabis:

It Hasn’t Been Studied Enough

While it’s true that medical cannabis needs more research so that we can understand how it works, studies has been conducted on the plant since the ’60s. Currently, the US is financing several researches in Israel that’ll improve our knowledge on the plant. 

Thousands of patients have also proven with their stories that medical marijuana has treated their symptoms. Most importantly, marijuana hasn’t lead to any deaths or has produced dangerous side effects.

It Has No Proven Medical Use

The web is peppered with accounts and videos of patients from all over the world, vouching for cannabis and its therapeutic properties. Also, the fact that 29 states throughout the US have functioning medical marijuana programs makes it clear that the plant is doing something for large amounts of people. 

It Leads To Drug Abuse

Many people claim that cannabis is the main “gateway drug” and that its existence and usage tempts people to try out other more dangerous substances, which is completely untrue. In fact, medical marijuana is being used to treat people with opioid addiction, and many researchers and scientists believe that the plant can be used to replace opioids altogether, eliminating a string of severe side effects and deaths. 

It’s Just An Excuse To Get High

Another big no, patients of medical cannabis suffer from different diseases that are hard to treat where, in some cases, cannabis becomes their only source of relief. There are also plenty of strains that are high on CBD and that don’t give the user the feeling of being “hig,h, simply providing relief.

It Leads To Crime

What? No. Many believe that the ongoing legalization of cannabis will eliminate silly offenses and charges, and that it’ll allow law enforcers to focus on the real troubles and crimes that their country faces.

Medical Marijuana May Treat Rheumatism Better Than Opioids

Kent Gruetzmacher
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Medical Marijuana May Treat Rheumatism Better Than Opioids

Rheumatism is an umbrella term, often used interchangeably with the term “arthritis,” which denotes a number of physical ailments including: lupus, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. All of these rheumatic diseases are characterized by like symptoms that exhibit as soreness, rigidity and inflammation in joints, muscles, and tissues. Rheumatism is one of the most widely-spread physical ailments in the United States—studies report that 53 million people in the nation suffer from the disease. While different sub-categories of rheumatism, like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, may have slightly different symptoms and manifestations in the human body, treatments for the conditions are quite similar.

There are a variety of causes for rheumatism including excessive physical exertion, aging and immune disorders—there is no known cure for the condition. As seen with many illnesses that feature chronic pain, doctors generally treat rheumatism patients with opioids. However, besides the obvious addictive drawbacks of opioid medications, they also come with a venerable quiver of debilitating side-effects, including: liver failure, overdose danger, kidney destruction, heart irregularities, and stomach issues. For these reasons, forward-thinking doctors and industrious patients alike are looking to medical marijuana as a possible medication for the incapacitating effects of rheumatism.

As seen with many medical conditions relating to treatment with marijuana, research into the benefits of the herb’s uses concerning rheumatism is still in its infancy. However, there have been a few rather interesting studies to date. For starters, the Journal of Opioid Management reported in 2009 that a majority of medical cannabis patients were medicating for some form of chronic pain—a condition which plagues rheumatism sufferers. Also, Dr. Jason McDougall, a pharmacology professor in Halifax, Canada, postulates that cannabis can aid in the mending of damaged arthritic joints. McDougall states: “What we hypothesize is that by locally administering…cannabis-like molecules to those [damaged] nerves, we’d actually be able to repair them and reduce the pain of arthritis. A majority of McDougall’s hypotheses have to do with the use of CBD and the molecular interactions of the endocannabinoid system, in which foreign CBD can actually connect themselves to damaged nerve endings. In theory, these foreign CBD molecules can then aid the control points of the nervous systems in damaged joints.

Due to the nascence of medical marijuana research in the United States, rheumatism patients who have experimented independently (of sanctioned medical practices) with the herb can be valuable resources for information. For example, Katie Marsh, a rheumatic arthritis patient in Maine, reports profound results concerning the use of medical cannabis in treating her condition. To illustrate, March began “juicing” entire marijuana plants into smoothie-like drinks and ingested them on a regular basis. Amazingly, she reported a rapid improvement of her symptoms within days, and after a year the disease was in remission.

Marijuana Arrests Higher Than Murder, Robbery And Rape Combined

Brendan Bures
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Marijuana Arrests Higher Than Murder, Robbery And Rape Combined

Crime data released by the FBI showed that more people were arrested in 2016 for marijuana possession than all other crimes the agency deems “violent.”

Though the Trump administration makes it harder to track marijuana arrests, Tom Angell crunched the numbers over at Forbes to learn marijuana arrests are actually on the rise. Now, these figures should be regarded as estimates as not all law enforcement agencies deliver detailed reports to the FBI. The annual statistics do however illustrate that overall marijuana possession arrests are down from their peak in the mid-1990s, though really that should be expected.

Marijuana possession still accounts for over 5 percent of all arrests. That means there were more marijuana possession arrests last year than for aggravated assault, rape, murder, and robbery combined. The Washington Post estimates that there is more than one marijuana possession arrest every minute.

“Criminalizing drug use has devastated families across the US, particularly in communities of color, and for no good reason,” Maria McFarland Sánchez Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement. “Far from helping people who are struggling with addiction, the threat of arrest often keeps them from accessing health services and increases the risk of overdose or other harms.”

None of this appears to be changing anytime soon. Last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to double down on his battle against the cannabis industry. He reminded everyone that marijuana remains federally illegal, despite state-approved marijuana rights. This staunch War on Drugs is how we got to such watershed figures in the 1990s, though Sessions’ efforts appear to be neutralized in Washington.

Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Still Have Not Met Beyonce’s Twins; Rob Kardashian Is Broke

Naughty Gossip
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Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Still Have Not Met Beyonce’s Twins; Rob Kardashian Is Broke

“Beyonce wants nothing to do with them. After Kanye went after her in public she told Jay that it was over. Kim has not met the twins and they have no plans to introduce Kim and Kanye to the new family members any time soon,” sources tell NG. “They were never close but they once pretended to be friends. Now they are NOT even pretending.”

We’ve known for quite some time, but Kim Kardashian has finally confirmed that she and Kanye West are expecting their third child via surrogate.

As expected, the news was revealed in a teaser for the upcoming season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

In the clip, Kim is on Facetime with Kourtney and shares the exciting news.

“What happens every time I say, ‘Guess what?’” Kim asks.

“Pregnant, or a person’s pregnant,” Khloe responds.

“We’re having a baby!” Kim exclaims.

And now we know! Kylie and Kourtney — you’re next!

Rob Kardashian Is Broke

“Rob Kardashian doesn’t have any money. In fact, he’s so broke that the $20,000 a month he agreed to pay Blac Chyna for child support is coming from his family,” sources tell NG.

“He spends too much money and doesn’t have a job. He doesn’t work hard like Kim and his sisters but he spends as much money as them. He quit the reality show and his sock business is a joke. He needs to make some money fast.”

via TMZ:

TMZ broke the story, Rob has agreed to pay Chyna $20k a month in support, although some of the money is going directly to nannies. We’re told Rob’s primary motivation — he loves baby Dream and wanted to make sure he’d get 50/50 custody.

Chyna was holding a domestic violence restraining order over his head — which could ruin his chances of getting 50/50 custody — and part of the deal was that she’d drop it in return for getting the cash. The Kardashians felt all along Chyna’s motivation was money.

Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!

Which State is Going To Miss Its Deadline For Cannabis Licenses?

Mary Schumacher
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Which State is Going To Miss Its Deadline For Cannabis Licenses?

Health officials in Florida are unable to meet a Tuesday deadline, mandated by legislature, to give out five new medical cannabis licenses, said the head of state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use.

Executive Director Christian Bax said that the delays were due to Hurricane Irma along with a pending challenge to a newer law that made the Department of Health rise the number of medical cannabis licenses.

The newer law was passed during a June special session and is meant to facilitate a constitutional amendment in November that legalized medical marijuana across the board. And a big part of that law taking effect is the increased number of licensed producers in what could quickly be a burgeoning market.

Overall, the increase was supposed to be to ten licenses by October 3rd. Some licenses have already been awarded.

Bax sent a letter to legislative leaders on Friday that stated his office has, “worked diligently to implement” the new law’s requirements, but that issuing another five licenses by Tuesday would be an “extraordinarily challenging deadline.”

Aside from the deadline being challenging, Bax wrote that the department’s assets were all needed for two weeks due to Irma and no resources could be used toward garnering licenses.

Florida’s medical marijuana industry’s progression has been riddled with legal and legislative lumps since the inception of their low-THC laws in 2014, which had a limited number of patients.

Bax also pointed out that after the initial medical marijuana licenses were issued in 2015, 13 administrative challenges got filed. Two of the same challenges are still in litigation.

State Sen. Rob Bradley is a Fleming Island Republican who has been a key player in the enactment of the Florida’s medical cannabis laws, he gave Bax’s office great esteem for the revised selection system, but called the new delays a letdown.

“I’m pleased with the rule that set up the process for reviewing and approving applications. It’s a much better process than the low-THC process, and I think it will produce better results,” he told The News Service of Florida on Friday, “I’m disappointed that they didn’t complete their work in a timely manner regarding the approval of the five licenses that are subject to competitive applications. They need to finish their work by the end of the year and before session starts [January].”

At the same time, Bradley conceded, “I’d rather have them right than do it quick.”

How This Senior Dog Was Saved With Medical Marijuana

Trey Reckling
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How This Senior Dog Was Saved With Medical Marijuana

Sweet Georgia Brown, my 14-year-old dog, had a stroke. We were on our daily walk to the park when she suddenly couldn’t stand. Her back leg stiffened like a plank, she couldn’t focus her gaze and things got worse. She lost control of her bladder, her eyes darted side to side—I thought, this is it.

Georgia’s brain was severely swollen, and if the swelling wasn’t reduced it could have resulted in brain damage or … that really could have been it. Fortunately, being in marijuana-friendly Seattle, her veterinarian asked what we thought about an emergency intervention using medical marijuana. He could not prescribe it, but said, if we got the right dose, it may be more effective than any pharmacy grade medicine he could offer. 

He was right. Thanks to a selected cannabis extract, within 24 hours she regained her vision and motor control. My husband helped her to re-learn some basic motor functions, and now, 18 months later, she has a few age-associated challenges but is otherwise healthy and happy.  

Witnessing Georgia’s recovery made me think, as the news about medical marijuana and its efficacy in treating human ailments continues to spread, what about our furry friends? Does cannabis hold potential to make their lives better? And if so, what potential risks should be considered? 

We do know that all invertebrate animals have endocannabinoid systems, a group of receptors that interact with the naturally occurring cannabinoids our bodies produce. These systems affect pain, sleep, appetite, mood and memory. This is the reason that so many human patients are finding relief for their ills with medical marijuana — like pain, skin conditions, GI ailments, and inflammation­. Why would we not hold the hope that pets could gain relief just as humans do when it comes these ailments?

It does not come without risks whether the ingestion is planned or sneaky and opportunistic on the part of the pet. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ASPCA, dogs that consume cannabis can experience: “Prolonged depression, vomiting, incoordination, sleepiness or excitation, hypersalivaton, dilated pupils, low blood pressure, low body temperature, seizure, coma, death (rare).”  

The ASPCA does not distinguish between decarboxylated cannabis or raw/dry cannabis. “Decarbed” cannabis has been heated to make its THC bioavailable and ready for absorption. The THC in raw/dry cannabis has not been activated. This is one reason why an animal consuming “medibles” is so much more affecting than eating raw or dry cannabis.

Dr. Ahna Brutlag, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist with the Pet Poison Hotline said they have seen serious increases of pets consuming cannabis:

“Over the past 6 years, we’ve had a 448% increase in cases mostly in the US (some from Canada). The biggest shift, for us, has been the source of marijuana to which pets are exposed. Five to seven years ago, most of our consultations involved pets ingesting dried plant material/buds. Today, the majority of our cases involve pets ingesting edible marijuana products. As many of these ‘medibles’ also contain chocolate, this can pose an additional risk for poisoning, especially for dogs and cats. “

Any responsible pet owner should guard their cannabis like the medicine it is and prevent accidental ingestion by both pets and children. Pet owners should also work with a veterinarian for professional advice and guidance. It is best not to risk the well-being of our furry loved ones by allowing accidental ingestion or experimenting when it comes to appropriate products or dosage. You love them too much for that risk.

What You Should Know About Marijuana And Anorexia

Richard Faulk
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What You Should Know About Marijuana And Anorexia

Given the proven power of cannabis to promote weight gain in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, it’s reasonable to ask whether weed might help in cases of anorexia nervosa. The clinical evidence, though slight, is a resounding No! No, no, no, no, no. It is a bad idea. Terrible. Wretched. Did we mention it’s not so great?

The source of this alarm is a 1983 study of 11 subjects who added doses of THC to their standard anorexia treatment. None gained any weight, but three experienced “significant psychic disturbance,” including “paranoid ideations.” In other words, they had the dope fear, and they had it bad.

Munchies-induced eating can help some people who suffer from anorexia reexamine their loathing of food and even enjoy it again.

Unlike AIDS and chemo patients, who want to eat but are too nauseated or lack hunger signals, an anorexic’s identity is tied to the desire not to eat. That’s essentially the whole illness. Anorexia is about control—counting calories, disciplining appetites, compelling the body to fit the dictates of the will. Accordingly, while, in some cases, the intoxicant aspect of marijuana can ease that ironclad self-discipline and allow an anorexic to let go, in other instances, it poses a terrifying threat to the sense of self.

Similarly, munchies-induced eating can help some people who suffer from anorexia reexamine their loathing of food and even enjoy it again. With others, however, the postprandial remorse only intensifies the negative emotions associated with the disease. It can even lead to self-harm.

Anecdotally, marijuana has helped individual anorexics. But the clinical evidence suggests that more than a quarter of those who try the cannabis cure will have horrifically bad experiences. Those are not inspiring odds.

Cali Wants To Put Cancer Warning Labels On Coffee

Amy Hansen
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Cali Wants To Put Cancer Warning Labels On Coffee

Not to be a downer, but swinging into our fave coffee shop and enjoying that carefree feeling of pre-work euphoria may become a little stickier. California may soon be putting warning labels on their coffee. Nothing like a health warning to get you going in the morning.

The culprit? Acrylamide. It’s a cancer-causing chemical used mainly in certain industrial processes like food packaging and treating wastewater. It’s also a natural byproduct of the roasting (including coffee) process. And according to the American Cancer Society, it’s also not uncommon to find trace amounts of the carcinogen in many pantry staples.

Acrylamide can also form in some starchy foods during high-temperature cooking, such as frying, roasting, and baking. Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally in food; it does not come from food packaging or the environment.

Acrylamide doesn’t appear to be in raw foods themselves. It’s formed when certain starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures (above about 250° F). Cooking at high temperatures causes a chemical reaction between certain sugars and an amino acid (asparagine) in the food, which forms acrylamide. Cooking methods such as frying, baking, broiling, or roasting are more likely to create acrylamide, while boiling, steaming, and microwaving appear less likely to do so. Longer cooking times and cooking at higher temperatures can increase the amount of acrylamide in foods further.

It’s not even clear if acrylamide in food raises cancer risk. And according to the ACA, since acrylamide was first discovered in certain foods back in 2002, “there are currently no cancer types for which there is clearly an increased risk related to acrylamide intake.”

According to the LA Times, the lawyer taking on the coffee industry, Raphael Metzger, said the bigger picture is not to punish coffee shops, but to get the industry to remove the chemical from coffee completely.

“I’m addicted — like two-thirds of the population. I would like the industry to get acrylamide out of the coffee so my addiction doesn’t force me to ingest it.”

The Council for Education and Research on Toxics has been pushing for a state-wide mandate on coffee warning labels since 2010, even though it’s been proven that the low level of acrylamide in coffee does not pose any health risks, unless you drink 100 cups a day. As absurd as warning labels at Starbucks may sound, the coffee industry is actually on the losing end of this argument and needs to win this next round at trial, which resumed September 25.

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