New research conducted by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Toronto, reports that men who are prescribed opioid medications for chronic noncancer pain are twice as likely to escalate their dosage and to die as a result than are female patients. The study found that 1 in 45 men amplified their prescribed dosage to more than 200 mg of morphine or equivalent, compared to 1 in 70 women. This escalation was found in increase the risk of death by a factor of 24 times. The study appears in the journal PLOS ONE. Senior author David Juurlink, MD, PhD, FRCPC, termed the effort the first large-scale study to specify the likelihood of death from chronic opioid therapy.

Two new studies out today in JAMA Psychiatry highlight the persistent questions about how cannabis might affect brain development.

In one study, twins had similar brain volume even when one used recreational marijuana and the other didn't. But in the second study, high-risk male teens who used marijuana did have changes in brain volume.

Experts agree that much remains unknown and the new findings just "scratch the surface."

"We do not know nearly enough about effects of cannabis on the brain, especially the developing brain," said Dr. David Goldman of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Rockville, Maryland, in email to Reuters Health.

Boys genetically predisposed to schizophrenia who try cannabis before 16 experience changes in brain development according to a new study, in a finding that could help researchers understand why some people are more vulnerable to the effects of the drug.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, found that the boys developed a thinner cerebral cortex than their peers over time, which could signal that cannabis somehow interferes with the development of that part of the brain. The heaviest cannabis users experienced the most significant changes.

Medical marijuana has, in recent years, received more attention from voters, regulators, legislators and media than perhaps any pharmaceutical, and it has been approved for use in much of the nation.

Patients with cancer might therefore assume that doctors would thoroughly understand its benefits and drawbacks, and that the health care system would distribute it as efficiently as any other controlled treatment.

They would, however, be gravely mistaken.

Research within the United States on marijuana’s ability to control pain, combat nausea or stimulate appetite in patients with cancer ranges from thin to nonexistent.

A new study published in the Journal of Neurochemistry, and published online by theU.S. National Institute of Health, has found that cannabis may protect neurons and greatly improve motor recovery during an ischemic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by damage to the brain due to an interruption of its blood supply.

“Brain ischemia produces neuronal cell death and the recruitment of pro-inflammatory cells”, states the study’s abstract. “In turn, the search for neuroprotection against this type of insult has rendered results involving a beneficial role of endocannabinoid receptor agonists in the Central Nervous System.”

Iraq combat veteran Chris Whittenburg credits cannabis with saving his marriage and ending the PTSD-spawned anger and anxiety that were destroying his life.

The new O’Shaughnessy’s has a piece about Zenia Gilg’s lawsuit challenging the validity of marijuana being on Schedule 1. The federal government’s rationale was explicitly stated —it all comes down to potential for “abuse” as defined by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The DSM, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is often called “The Bible” of the profession. It assigns a definition and a number to every ailment of the mind and spirit for which psychotherapists provide treatment, MDs prescribe medication, and insurance companies reimburse. The double purpose of the DSM is to endow the field of Psychiatry with a facade of rigor while facilitating billing.

SAN FRANCISCO — The likelihood that California voters will be asked to legalize recreational marijuana next year is prompting lawmakers to make a serious run at reining in the state's vast medical marijuana industry — a job they have deferred for nearly two decades.

A pair of bills pending in the California Legislature would create the first statewide regulations for medical marijuana growers, manufacturers of pot-infused products, and distributors such as storefront dispensaries and delivery services.

California authorized marijuana use for health purposes with a 1996 ballot measure that allows doctors to recommend the drug for any ailment, deliberately leaving the specifics for how it should be produced and sold for another day.