Marijuana

The Drug Enforcement Administration has given approval for a study that will evaluate the effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to The Denver Post.

A group of scientists in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia is warning about the potential mental health consequences of marijuana use, The Guardian reports. They say frequent use of marijuana increases the risk of psychotic disorders in vulnerable people.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 15- Thursday, April 21, 2016.

Efforts to legalize marijuana in New England are stalling in the face of the region’s opioid epidemic, The New York Times reports.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said this week it will decide in the first half of 2016 whether marijuana should be reclassified under federal law. The agency gave no indication what its decision will be, according to The Huffington Post.

A new poll finds 43 percent of Americans say they have a relative or close friend with a substance use issue, and 62 percent say at least one type of substance use is a serious problem in their community, the Associated Press reports.

An increasing number of veterans are treating their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with marijuana, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a lawsuit brought by Nebraska and Oklahoma over Colorado’s system of legalized recreational marijuana, according to NPR. Nebraska and Oklahoma said they are having trouble protecting their borders from the increased flow of marijuana.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, March 11- Thursday, March 17, 2016.

Almost six million American adults experienced marijuana use disorder in the past year, according to a study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Houston are seeing an increasing amount of a type of high-potency marijuana known as “shatter,” ABC7NY reports.

A growing number of “marijuana tourists” in Colorado are ending up in the emergency room, a new study finds.

A new study suggests marijuana smokers may be significantly more likely to develop an addiction to other drugs and alcohol than people who don’t use marijuana.

Several new companies have started to help marijuana businesses deal with their cash, according to The New York Times. Most banks will not open accounts for marijuana businesses, and Visa and MasterCard will not process transactions for dispensaries.

It is very difficult to test whether a driver has been using marijuana. The reason is that the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, dissolves in fat, experts tell NPR.

Sales of legal marijuana jumped 17 percent to reach $5.4 billion last year, according to a new report. Sales could grow 25 percent this year, to $6.7 billion, according to the marijuana industry investment and research firm ArcView Market Research.

Drug traffickers are moving to Colorado to grow marijuana and ship it to other states, the Associated Press reports. Their findings come from interviews with law enforcement officials and a review of court records.

A new study finds marijuana use in the first year of college can lead to students missing classes. The more frequently a student uses marijuana, the more they tend to skip class, earn lower grades, and graduate later.

Teens are likely to try alcohol before they try either tobacco or marijuana, a new study concludes. The findings come from a study of 2,835 U.S. high school seniors, The Washington Post reports.

Billionaire Sean Parker, the former president of Facebook, has donated $500,000 to promote an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana for adults in California, Forbes reports.

While marijuana, both recreational and medical, is legal in a growing number of states, some states remain unlikely to legalize the drug any time soon, according to USA Today. These include states in the South, West and Midwest.

The federal government this week advised the Supreme Court to avoid weighing in on a lawsuit brought by Nebraska and Oklahoma over Colorado’s system of legalized recreational marijuana, according to USA Today.

A new report finds the rate of prescription painkiller use among American teenagers is declining. The 2015 Monitoring the Future survey finds the rate of teen use of cigarettes, alcohol and synthetic marijuana is also decreasing, The New York Times reports.

Managers in states where marijuana is legal are toughening up their drug policies, according to a new survey. Many employers in these states say they will not hire employees who smoke marijuana on their own time, Bloomberg Business reports.

The number of teens and young adults who drive under the influence of alcohol or a combination of alcohol and marijuana is declining, a new study finds.