Facts in a little more Depth
Facts really do matter. Science and fact should replace the current raft of ideology and myth. The latest science does a very good job of demystifing the plant and elucidating the truth. Here we have some of the latest research on important topics to do with the use of cannabis.
(Kindly note this page is ever evolving as new and relevant science becomes freely available)
Cannabis Use and Affects on the Brain
Effect of Cannabis Legalisation in Canada on the Incidence of Psychosis Consultations in Quebec City’s Psychiatric Emergency Services
21 February, 2024
Studies investigating the relationship between cannabis legalisation and psychosis are limited and have yielded mostly inconclusive results. A nationwide study in the United States observed no significant increase in psychosis diagnoses in states where cannabis was legalised. A study in Alberta and Ontario observed such an increase but interrupted time series analyses suggested that this was not due to cannabis legalisation as it was the continuation of a trend antedating legalisation. In Quebec, an observational study at Sherbrooke revealed a significant increase in cannabis use following legalisation but no significant difference in consultations for psychosis. The present study observed no increase in the proportion of ED consultations for a psychotic episode in which evidence for cannabis consumption was obtained before and after legalisation, which is in line with previous studies stating that legalisation had no significative impact on ED’s consultations for psychosis.
Effects of acute cannabis inhalation on reaction time, decision-making, and memory using a tablet-based application 
03 February, 2024
Consistent with prior research, study authors concluded that the occasional use group performed slower (reaction time task) or less accurately (memory task) from before to after smoking, as compared to daily use and no-use groups. This is consistent with daily cannabis use resulting in tolerance to the acute effects of cannabis. In the gap acceptance task, the daily use group took longer to complete the task after smoking cannabis, while at the same time increasing their success ratio.
“Taken together, the findings are consistent with acquired tolerance to certain acute ’drug’ effects. The increase in time that the daily use group required to complete the gap acceptance task may nonetheless indicate an acute effect of cannabis among those in the daily use group, who prioritised accuracy over response time. Psychomotor and cognitive assessment batteries, such as the one used in this study, hold promise for providing an objective measure of cannabis impairment”.
Brain Anatomical Alterations in Young Cannabis Users: Is it All Hype? A Meta-Analysis of Structural Neuroimaging Studies
06 February, 2023
Researchers found no detectable group differences in any of the global brain volumes (intracranium, total brain, total white matter and total grey matter) and regional brain volumes (i.e., hippocampus, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex and total cerebellum). Age and cannabis use level did not predict (standardised mean) volume group differences. Contrary to evidence in adult samples (or in samples mixing adults and youth), previous single studies in young cannabis users and meta-analyses of brain function in young cannabis users, this early evidence suggests nonsignificant volume differences between young cannabis users and nonusers.
Neuroscience of Addiction and Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
Age- and Sex-Related Cortical Grey Matter Volume Differences in Adolescent Cannabis Users: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Morphometry Studies
01 December 2021
Findings suggest that grey matter volumes (GMV) differences between cannabis using and typically developing youth, if present, are subtle, and may vary as a function of age, cumulative cannabis exposure, and sex in young people. Whether age- and sex-related GMV differences are attributable to common predispositional factors, cannabis-induced neuroadaptive changes, or both warrant further investigation.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Is Cannabis a Gateway to Hard Drugs?
First use of cannabis compared to first use of alcohol and tobacco: Associations with single and poly-substance use behaviour 
1 July, 2023
Alcohol is overwhelmingly tried before either tobacco or cannabis. Cannabis initiation at an earlier age than alcohol and tobacco is un-common. Those who initiated cannabis before alcohol and tobacco appeared less likely to have a wide constellation of substance use and mental health vulnerabilities compared to those who tried cannabis at the same age as they tried at least one other substance.
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Trends in Alcohol, Cigarette, E-Cigarette, and Nonprescribed Pain Reliever Use Among Young Adults in Washington State After Legalisation of Nonmedical Cannabis
09 May, 2022
This study assessed, (1) trends in alcohol, nicotine and nonprescribed pain reliever use, and (2) changes in associations of cannabis use with these other substances among young adults in Washington State (USA) after nonmedical cannabis legalisation. …Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, implementation of legalised nonmedical cannabis coincided with decreases in alcohol and cigarette use and pain reliever misuse. The weakening association of cannabis use with the use of other substances among individuals ages 21-25 requires further research but may suggest increased importance of cannabis-specific prevention and treatment efforts.
Centre for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviours, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Multnomah County Health Department and Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, Portland, Oregon, United States.
Cannabis Cannot Kill – Opioids Can, and Do
Earlier this year, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a 252-page report stating that cannabis is safe. The health authority further noted that cannabis has true potential as a medicine that can help with symptomatic conditions for at least 15 medical indications. After decades of assertions that there is not enough evidence cannabis is safe and valuable as a medicine, this news is truly transformational for the industry.
The report from the HHS clearly states that cannabis is a safer alternative to opioids, as it is less addictive and has a far lower chance of overdose and adverse reactions than any opioid. No matter what personal bias a lawmaker might have, no matter what social or religious beliefs may have prevented people from advocating for cannabis, this report is a clear sign that cannabis is an alternative to dangerous opioids like oxycodone.
The HHS document reports that 30,000 physicians in the US recommend cannabis, and 6,000,000 patients report positive results. These statistics do not include the millions of adult-use consumers and the countless unregulated market customers in the US. These consumers provide the most significant subset of evidence that cannabis can help individuals in myriad ways.
Further reading: NORML – Relationship Between Marijuana* and Opiods
Costs of Prohibition
How Strong is Today’s Cannabis?
Acute effects of high‑potency cannabis flower and cannabis concentrates on everyday life memory and decision making
2021
This is the first study to examine acute effects of cannabis on prospective memory, temporal order memory, resistance to framing and sunk cost biases, under/overconfidence and consistency in risk perception. Despite the use of high-potency products, we failed to detect any significant effects on any of these outcomes. It is possible that this reflects a true absence of effects of cannabis on these aspects of cognition. Indeed, the null findings on tests of non-normative decision making are consistent with the conclusions of some previous literature which has demonstrated minimal or mixed acute effects of cannabis on decision making. The availability of more potent cannabis products is not a new phenomenon. In fact, higher potency products, like hashish, have always been available to consumers. Typically, when consumers encounter higher potency products, they consume lesser quantities of them. This self-regulatory process is known as self-titration.
Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Washington, United States.
Does Legalisation Lead to Increased Use?
Cannabis Use Among Students in Grades 8, 10, and 12, by Sex — King County, Washington, 2008–2021
18 January, 2024
Data collected during seven 2008–2021 survey periods by the Healthy Youth Survey (Washington State Department of Health), restricted to King County students in grades 8, 10 and 12 were analysed. The observed overall decreases in cannabis use among students in grades 8, 10 and 12 might be associated with changes in the availability of cannabis among persons aged ≥21 years as well as limited opportunities to engage in use. The period 2012–2014 includes legalisation of nonmedical cannabis in Washington in 2012. Researchers studying the association of cannabis laws with cannabis use among high school students (grades 9–12) have observed similar declines in cannabis use after legalisation of nonmedical cannabis. The legalisation of nonmedical cannabis for adults aged ≥21 years in Washington with licensed dispensaries requiring proof of age might have affected availability of cannabis to younger persons as well as their opportunities to engage in its use. This, in turn, might have had an impact on use prevalence.
Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention; Assessment, Policy Development & Evaluation Unit, Public Health — Seattle & King County, Washington, United States.
Cannabis Use Frequency and Cannabis-Related Consequences in High-Risk Young Adults Across Cannabis Legalisation
27 September, 2023
This study examined changes in cannabis use and consequences following recreational cannabis legalisation in Canada in a sample of high-risk young adults, addressing the common concern that legalisation may precipitate increases in use, particularly in this age group. Rather than detecting increases, however, the results revealed decreases overall, which is broadly consistent with substance use trajectories that might be expected among this age group in the absence of any policy change.
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research/Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, McMaster University/St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, and, School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Problems With Current Drug Driving Laws
Drive Change
Medical Cannabis and Driving in Australia
- If you take cannabis (containing THC) medicine as prescribed you cannot legally drive.
- 350k = The approximate number of active legal medical cannabis patients in Australia.
- 70% = The number of medical cannabis patients that have some THC in their medication and therefore cannot drive, legally.
- 600k = The approximate number of roadside tests for cannabis each year in Australia.
Presence does not correlate to impairment. Thousands of people
are disadvantaged by current drug driving laws. Drive Change
The right to drive and the right to work, Matt Henderson
“Is it too much to ask in 2023 for employers to trust their employees will only consume their meds in accordance with the detailed instructions provided in a properly set out doctor’s letter? This has been the standard course of action for opioids, benzos, gabapentinoids etc. No one cares about SSRIs because so many people are on/off them at one point in time or another that society would collapse if everyone had to come off them. With the exception of acute withdrawal phases, it’s fair to presume that they are not ordinarily deemed impairing (even if you lock your keys in the car a dozen times in three weeks and regularly lose things). SSRIs make people forgetful and foggy. To the extent they become a WHS risk? Perhaps one day we will find out”.
“Penalties for roadside drug testing for cannabis are far more severe than for drivers with a positive random breath test for alcohol.
Loss of a driving licence is a very severe penalty for people with serious health problems who require frequent medical care and people living in rural areas”.
Dr Alex Wodak AM. President, Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation
The Proposed Solution. Equal rights for legal medical cannabis patients.
The government implements Australia-wide uniform drug driving laws to allow for a complete defence to the presence of THC in a driver’s oral fluid or blood when:
- The driver has a valid doctor’s prescription for a medicine containing THC;
- The offence does not involve dangerous or reckless driving; and
- An officer cannot establish driver impairment.
Saliva – Poor Measure of Cannabis Impairment
Are blood and oral fluid Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and metabolite concentrations related to impairment? A meta-regression analysis
9 February, 2022
Study results indicate blood and oral fluid (saliva) THC concentrations are relatively poor or inconsistent indicators of cannabis-induced impairment. A cannabis-inexperienced person can ingest a large oral dose of THC and be completely unfit to drive yet register extremely low blood and oral fluid THC concentrations, whilst an experienced cannabis user might smoke a joint, show very high THC concentrations, but show little if any impairment.
University of Sydney, Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Science School of Psychology, Sydney, New South Wales; Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria; Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Indeterminacy of cannabis impairment and ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol levels in blood and breath
May 2022
Previous investigators found no clear relationship between specific blood concentrations of ∆9-THC and impairment, and thus no scientific justification for use of legal ‘per se’ ∆9-THC blood concentration limits. Analysing blood showed ∆9-THC concentrations that exceeded 5 ng/mL in subjects following a 12-hour period of abstinence in the absence of any impairment. In blood and exhaled breath samples collected from a group of 34 subjects at baseline prior to smoking, increasing breath ∆9-THC levels were correlated with increasing blood levels in the absence of impairment, suggesting that single measurements of ∆9-THC in breath, as in blood, are not related to impairment.
Cancer Immunotherapy Research Institute, Roseville, California, United States.
Does Cannabis Impair Driving (Like Alchohol Does)?
A semi-naturalistic open-label study examining the effect of prescribed medical cannabis use on simulated driving performance
08 February, 2024
Driving performance outcomes including standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), the standard deviation of speed (SDS), mean speed and steering variability were evaluated using the Forum8 driving simulator at baseline (pre-dosing), 2.5 h and 5 -h (post-dosing). Perceived driving effort (PDE) was self-reported after each drive. This semi-naturalistic study suggests that the consumption of medical cannabis containing THC (1.13-39.18 mg/dose) has a negligible impact on driving performance when used as prescribed.
Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn; Institute for Breathing and Sleep (IBAS), Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Risk of motor vehicle collision associated with cannabis and alcohol use among patients presenting for emergency care
24 January, 2024
Cannabis alone not associated with higher odds of motor vehicle collision (MVC), while acute alcohol use alone and combined use of alcohol and cannabis were both independently associated with higher odds of MVC. Stratifying by level of self-reported or measured cannabis use, higher levels were not associated with higher odds for MVC, with or without co-use of alcohol; in fact, high self-reported acute cannabis use was associated with lower odds of MVC. In the case-crossover analysis, alcohol use alone or in combination with cannabis was associated with higher odds of MVC, while cannabis use alone was again associated with decreased odds of MVC. Emphasis on actual driving behaviours and clinical signs of intoxication to determine driving under the influence has the strongest rationale.
Oregon Health & Science University, and, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon; Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Centre, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, and, Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, California; Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, Virginia.
Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis: Impact of Combining Toxicology Testing with Field Sobriety Tests
25 May, 2023
Impairment is difficult to define because there is no universally agreed-upon task that can be used to define driving impairment. The relationship between blood ∆9-THC concentrations and crash risk is not established, but there is a clear understanding that ∆9-THC impairs driving performance in many, but not necessarily all, individuals.
Centre for Advanced Laboratory Medicine, Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, University of California San Diego; Vividion Therapeutics, San Diego; Santa Clara Valley Medical Centre, San Jose, California; Qualitox Labs, Pennsylvania, United States.
Medical cannabis and automobile accidents: Evidence from auto insurance
June 2022
Consistent with an improvement in traffic safety, the legalisation of medical cannabis leads to a decrease in auto insurance premiums. The effect is stronger in areas directly exposed to a dispensary, suggesting increased access to cannabis drives the results. In addition, relatively large declines in premiums seen in areas with relatively high drunk driving rates prior to medical cannabis legalisation. This latter result is consistent with substitutability across substances.
Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas; College of Business, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky, United States.
Cannabis and Mental Health
Effectiveness of Medical Cannabis for the Treatment of Depression: A Naturalistic Outpatient Study
11 January, 2024
Patients were 20–54 years old; 72.9% were male; one third reported times of regular cannabis consumption within the previous five years. Mean severity of depression decreased from 6.9 points at entry to 3.8 points at week 18. A treatment response (>50% reduction of the initial score) was seen in 50.8% at week 18. One third of patients complained about side effects, none was considered severe. Medical cannabis was well tolerated and dropout rate was comparable to those in clinical trials of anti-depressant medication. Patients reported a clinically significant reduction of depression severity.
University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen; Algea Care GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
August, 2023
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) treated with dried flower, oil-based preparations, or a combination of both cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs).
Improvements in anxiety, sleep quality and quality of life were observed at each time point. Patients receiving CBMPs had improvements in GAD-7 at all time points (1 month, 3 months, 6 months). Prescription of CBMPs in those with GAD is associated with clinically significant improvements in anxiety with an acceptable safety profile in a real-world setting.
Imperial College Medical Cannabis Research Group, Imperial College London; Department of Psychological Medicine, King’s College London and others including St George’s Hospital NHS Trust, and Sapphire Medical Clinics, London, United Kingdom.
Smoking Cannabis and Cancer
Cannabis For Medicinal Purposes?
Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol for Pain Treatment—An Update on the Evidence
29 January, 2024
Cannabinoids are an attractive pain management option due to their synergistic effects when administered with opioids, thereby also limiting the extent of respiratory depression. On their own, however, cannabinoids have been shown to have the potential to relieve specific subtypes of chronic pain in adults. Among these subtypes are neuropathic, musculoskeletal, cancer and geriatric pain. Another interesting feature is their effectiveness in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
Palliative Medicine Clinic, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
Fibromyalgia Patients Report Improved Symptoms Following Cannabis Use
Fibromyalgia (FM) patients frequently use cannabis therapeutically and most say it improves their disease symptoms, according to, “A cross-sectional survey study of cannabis use for fibromyalgia symptom management”, published in April 2024 in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Researchers affiliated with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota USA (legalised medicinal use in 2015) surveyed 1,336 patients withfibromyalgia.
Half (49.5%) acknowledged using cannabis following their diagnosis. Ninety-nine percent reported using cannabis for pain and 94% reported using it to mitigate stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Eighty-two percent said it reduced their FM-related pain and most respondents also rated cannabis as effective in mitigating other disease symptoms.
Authors acknowledged that cannabis use among FM patients is “widespread” and most patients perceive it to have a “favourable impact on pain, stress and sleep disturbances”. Recent observational trial data from Germany and the United Kingdom reports that FM patients typically reduce their use of other prescription medications following their use of cannabis products.
*Cannabis sativa is the correct botanical term. The term ‘marijuana’ is an American colloqualism, at best
Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and sea we all share, and pay respect to elders past, present and future, whose ongoing efforts protect and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.