#the science of marijuana

[thcscout]

What Happens When You Quit Marijuana?

What Happens When You Quit Marijuana?

When you stop smoking weed, your body changes. This is what happens in the first 28 days of quitting. Quitting Marijuana Podcast: https://youtu.be/bJ726lxPwvc FOLLOW US! Instagram: https://instagram.com/asapscience​ Facebook: https://facebook.com/asapscience​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/asapscience​ TikTok: @AsapSCIENCE Written by: Greg Brown Edited by: Luka Šarlija Clipart by:…

[mindblowingscience]

Using cannabis may cause changes in the human body's epigenome, a study of over 1,000 adults suggests. The epigenome functions like a set of switches, activating or deactivating genes to change how our bodies function. "We observed associations between cumulative marijuana use and multiple epigenetic markers across time," explained epidemiologist Lifang Hou from Northwestern University when the research was published in 2023.

Continue Reading.

[thebotanicalarcade]

[djlechat]

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Reefer Madness Lives

This is not such a hot paper, and the peer review process where it was published is not so hot either. Peer review in general is... Let's be charitable and say it's more for money and prestige than scientific rigor. But, just for basic integrity, you need to operate with a double-blind. CMAJ is single-blind, so their reviewers know if they're up against anyone famous or well-connected who might bring them a lot of attention. And their primary criteria is "importance and novelty." Less delicately, if it looks like it will get a lot of clicks and cites, they'll be pleased to publish it. This is not all that out-of-the-ordinary for science journals, and that's kinda bad.

But a paper saying that pot is gonna poison your children and give people schizophrenia will get a shitton of clicks and cites. It's the number one trending story on CBC right now! And there are live comments!

I need CBD and THC to deal with my PTSD and sleep problems. It's possible that, after being under-treated for decades, I will eventually deal with my underlying health issues enough to sleep unassisted, but I ain't there yet. And ya know what makes it really hard to make it to go to doctor's appointments and get care? Not being able to sleep!

I had a medical marijuana card before, and I could probably qualify for one again if I had to. But A) Do you really want me taking up a doctor's time for this when there aren't enough doctors for everyone right now? and B) Legalized recreational use keeps availability convenient, variety and quality-control reasonable, and prices low. If you are going to inflict capitalism on me, don't kneecap what little benefit a free market is able to provide.

Now, we don't want to get people high without their consent, and children cannot consent to getting high (although some of them do need cannabis products for medical reasons), so for fuck's sake store your shit carefully if you've got kids. But "cannabis poisoning" as they put it, means, "I feel awful and maybe I threw up but I won't die, even if I'm super paranoid and feel like I might." Most people who wind up in the hospital are adults screwing around with edibles who don't know what to expect, and all they need is a nice, patient friend who'll tell them they're fine. This "poison" doesn't kill people. Unlike, say, antifreeze, or children's Tylenol. (Although, I hear Willie Nelson's friend had a bale of pot fall on him one time, so it's not as safe as they say!)

And the schizophrenia thing... People with mental health issues self-select for these studies by choosing to self-medicate. You might also say cannabis use has a strong correlation with PTSD flashbacks - because people with PTSD know it helps and they freaking well try it, and sometimes they still have flashbacks. A psychedelic is not the best choice for schizophrenia, god no, but if you're having associated depression and sleep issues and you haven't been diagnosed yet, you might give it a try. Better mental healthcare and better, earlier diagnoses and treatment will address this issue more effectively than yet another moral panic.

But a certain portion of the population is really invested in "drugs are bad" and "drug users are addicts and addicts are bad" narrative. Like, literally invested. It keeps them in political power and gets money for studies like this and "public health" campaigns that are really thinly-veiled, outdated DARE propaganda.

Even this study, which specifically excluded medical marijuana use, found social benefits to not criminalizing drug use and drug users. No shit. People don't get addicted to something because addiction is fun; they have severe, unaddressed problems and they're doing whatever they can to cope with them, whether that's staying stoned all the time or blowing their retirement fund on Funko Pops. And most people who use drugs don't get addicted. (Also most people who buy Funko Pops, one assumes.) Removing them from society and giving them all criminal records doesn't help anyone.

Harm reduction should be the goal here, as in most things. You will never get it perfect, but you need to take steps towards improving the general situation as much as possible. Sending the War on Drugs (really, the War on Your Own Population) into extra innings after decades of failure is... Ha-ha, well, it's self-destructive addict behaviour, y'all. Maybe you could use some social services to help you deal with your problems in a better way.

[thecittiverse]

After Midori accidently spills the beans on Yandere-chan's latest scheme, Kokona tries to give Kizana a heads up in Dank Midori #213.

Kizana's a real meanie! No wonder her appearances in this comic are rare!

I do not own Yandere Simulator, this is only a fan parody.

Like Dank Midori? Read 'em all here!

[awinchestershell]

Listen science side of tumblr, I got a weird one for ya. Say someone ingested a forbidden fruit (weed gummies) and was high. But they were very confused by this high sensation because they had no memory of ingesting said gummy. But there was a gummy missing from the bag. But they definitely didn’t feel high enough to have lost a whole chunk of time.

And say that person were to consent to a cannabis test at their local clinic, whom they are a frequent flyer of and no longer judged by because let’s face it, this is not the worst thing they’ve seen this person do.

Could said cannabis teat tell this gummy person when said gummy was ingested? Or could it only confirm whether or not said gummy was even real or not?

Thanks in advance for any science hullabaloo you provide. 👍🏻

[daydreamerdesignzz]

[silphiumextracts]

Understanding the Role of pH in Nutrient Absorption: Soil vs. Hydroponics.

Hey there, fellow cannabis enthusiasts! Welcome back to Silphium Extracts, your go-to resource for all things related to cannabis cultivation. Today, we’re diving into the fascinating world of pH and its crucial role in nutrient absorption for your cannabis plants, whether you’re using soil or hydroponics. So let’s get started! pH, or “potential of Hydrogen,” refers to the measurement of acidity…

[thekushcoast]

[doesgodexist]

Effects of THC on the Human Brain

The human brain is the most complex computer in the world. In one study trying to understand brain health and disease, scientists identified 3,313 different types of neurons in the brain, but there is much more to learn. Other studies have examined the effects of THC on the human brain. THC is the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana (cannabis) plants.One study of teen health in Australia…

[nando161mando]

Nixon Admitted Marijuana Is ‘Not Particularly Dangerous’ In Newly Discovered Recording

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/nixon-admitted-marijuana-is-not-particularly-dangerous-in-newly-discovered-recording/

[stevensaus]

With the Biden administration preparing to recommend a change in classification of marijuana, the fearmongering is coming out of the woodwork. There's a new study making the rounds through the news organizations with headlines saying that teens who use THC are more likely to have psychotic episodes (with varying levels of fearmongering and exaggeration). I've personally seen a number of news outlets tie this story together with another recent study indicating that daily THC users now outnumber daily drinkers among adults in the US. 1 Sadly, a lot of them do not actually link to the study (here it is again), and they also bury a couple of really important facts that are right there in the study. The study did find a correlation between cannabis use during adolescence (ages 12-19) and having a psychotic disorder. However, in a gender-specific model, "the effect of cannabis was only statistically significant for males during adolescence." The study "found no evidence of association between cannabis use and risk of psychotic disorder during young adulthood (ages 20–33 years)." The study examined whether or not someone had reported cannabis use with the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and had sought health services for psychotic disorders2. It's important to note the limitations of that last point. It is not the fault of the researchers; it is a limitation of doing this kind of research. They did not -- and could not -- separate those who had an undiagnosed mental health condition who sought THC as a way to self-medicate from those who potentially had a mental health condition brought on by the use of THC. It is quite plausible (and demonstrated!) that THC -- just like alcohol, or ADHD medications, or any number of substances -- has an effect on developing brains. We should take that risk seriously. Y'know, by having it be illegal for teens. So it's also important to note that having THC legal for adults does not mean that more teens use cannabis. In fact, one researcher found "that fewer minors reported having used cannabis in the previous month in states where the drug had been legalized. But they also found that in the 18 states that had both legalized cannabis and allowed retail sales of the drug, some adolescents who were users of the drug used it more frequently. The net effect was a flat or slight decline in cannabis use among adolescents." (NY Times link, full text here) But worse -- to me, at least -- is that there's a non-zero, but unknown number of children who are self-medicating because they aren't getting the mental health support they need. Given the crisis with teen's mental health and our country's messed up way of handling mental healthcare, that needs to be the focus, not frantically covering when they're doing things they aren't allowed to do as if it has relevance to what adults do. We're already finding out that some of our stereotypes about those who use THC are ... well, just wrong. We should examine the science carefully and deliberately, while making sure that we avoid our cultural assumptions (that were largely informed by racism). We would do far more for our children if we took care of their mental health needs, regulated THC appropriately, and avoided using children as a sensationalist anti-marijuana tool. 1 I continue to maintain that if you had to choose between the two, it would be healthier for people to choose THC than booze. 2 They explicitly excluded those who had sought treatment in the six years prior to first completing the CCHS. Featured Image by Nicky ❤️????????????❤️ from Pixabay https://ideatrash.net/2024/05/its-easier-to-scare-folks-about-pot-than-treat-teens-mental-illness-a-look-at-the-news.html?feed_id=61&_unique_id=6650c54611da7