PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Five years of legal cannabis in Canada: mixed success

2023-10-10
(Press-News.org) Five years after cannabis legalization in Canada, it appears to be a mixed success, with social justice benefits outweighing health benefits, write authors in a commentary published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230808.

Cannabis use was legalized in Canada in October 2018, with the goal to improve cannabis-related public health and safety, and reduce youth access and illegal activities related to cannabis. There was concern among some health professionals that legalization could lead to adverse health effects in Canadians.

"Limited evidence exists to support benefits as they relate to the original stated policy objectives of improving cannabis users' and public health," writes Dr. Benedikt Fischer, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, with coauthors. "At this stage, cannabis legalization in Canada appears not to have been the public health disaster anticipated by some of its opponents, but it cannot be described as a comprehensive or unequivocal success for public health either."

Evidence indicates that cannabis use, cannabis-related emergency department visits and admissions, and cannabis-related impaired driving have stayed the same or increased. On the other hand, most cannabis consumers now obtain their cannabis from legal, rather than illegal, sources, and cannabis-related arrests, along with personal burdens from stigma and possible criminal records among adults and youth have decreased substantially. The authors assert these are important social justice benefits that may have indirect positive health effects.

"These major societal benefits of legalization must be included in any systematic assessments of the policy reform's impacts," write the authors.

Ongoing monitoring of cannabis use in adults, youth and high-risk people, and major health harms such as cannabis use disorder, cannabis-related injuries, hospital admissions or emergency department visits, and related crime and other socioeconomic indicators is needed to better understand the impact of legalization.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Mental health issues in Latinx middle schoolers may increase risk of sleep problems, obesity and unhealthy behaviors

2023-10-10
WASHINGTON (Oct. 10, 2023)--Latinx kids who experienced depression, anxiety or other mental health issues in middle school had a greater chance of developing sleep problems, unhealthy weight gain and sedentary behavior in high school, according to a study out today.   The research, led by a team at the George Washington University, suggests that unhealthy behaviors linked to mental health issues may start early in life and trigger obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other serious health problems.   “Our study suggests signs of depression ...

THE LANCET NEUROLOGY: Stroke could cause nearly 10 million deaths annually by 2050, mostly in LMICs, and cost up to US$2 trillion per year, new report warns

THE LANCET NEUROLOGY: Stroke could cause nearly 10 million deaths annually by 2050, mostly in LMICs, and cost up to US$2 trillion per year, new report warns
2023-10-10
Peer-reviewed / Modelling, Review, and Opinion / People New World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission forecasts future epidemiological and economic impacts of stroke, identifies evidence-based recommendations for improving the four pillars namely: surveillance, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Epidemiological analysis projects stroke deaths will increase from 6.6 million in 2020 to 9.7 million in 2050, with an ever-widening gap between low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). In 2050, 91% of stroke deaths are projected to be in LMICs compared to 9% in HICs, up from 86% in LMICs and 14% HICs ...

International team of scientists says identifying some foods as addictive could shift attitudes, stimulate research

International team of scientists says identifying some foods as addictive could shift attitudes, stimulate research
2023-10-10
Researchers from the United States, Brazil, and Spain, including scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, published an analysis in a special edition of the British Medical Journal with a timely and controversial recommendation: It’s time for an international shift in the way we think about ultra-processed food. “There is converging and consistent support for the validity and clinical relevance of food addiction,” said Ashley Gearhardt, the article’s corresponding author and a psychology professor at the University of Michigan. “By acknowledging that certain types of processed foods have the properties of addictive substances, ...

History of parental infertility associated with small increased risk for birth defects among children conceived through fertility treatment

2023-10-09
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 9 October 2023 Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet @Annalsofim Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. ---------------------------- 1. History of parental infertility associated ...

What is the impact of predictive AI in the health care setting?

What is the impact of predictive AI in the health care setting?
2023-10-09
Models built on machine learning in health care can be victims of their own success, according to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine and the University of Michigan. Their study assessed the impact of implementing predictive models on the subsequent performance of those and other models. Their findings—that using the models to adjust how care is delivered can alter the baseline assumptions that the models were “trained” on, often for worse—were detailed in the October 9 online issue of Annals of Internal Medicine: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-0949. “We wanted to explore ...

Space weather disrupts nocturnal bird migration, study finds

2023-10-09
Graphics It's well-known that birds and other animals rely on Earth's magnetic field for long-distance navigation during seasonal migrations. But how do periodic disruptions of the planet's magnetic field, caused by solar flares and other energetic outbursts, affect the reliability of those biological navigation systems? University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues used massive, long-term datasets from networks of U.S. Doppler weather radar stations and ground-based magnetometers—devices that measure the ...

Long-term lizard study challenges the rules of evolutionary biology

Long-term lizard study challenges the rules of evolutionary biology
2023-10-09
Charles Darwin said that evolution was constantly happening, causing animals to adapt for survival. But many of his contemporaries disagreed. If evolution is always causing things to change, they asked, then how is it that two fossils from the same species, found in the same location, can look identical despite being 50 million years apart in age? Everything changed in the past 40 years, when an explosion of evolutionary studies proved that evolution can and does occur rapidly — even from one generation to the next. Evolutionary biologists were thrilled, but the findings reinforced the same paradox: If evolution can happen so fast, then why do most species on Earth continue to ...

No lizard is an island

2023-10-09
Many species experience little to no change over long periods of time. Biologists often fall back on the same explanation for why this is true: that natural selection favors individuals with more moderate characteristics. Individuals with more extreme features — longer limbs, for example — have a disadvantage, while more moderate or average individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on their common features. But new research from Washington University in St. Louis and the Georgia ...

Nature is inventive - the same substance is produced differently by plants

Nature is inventive - the same substance is produced differently by plants
2023-10-09
Maize plants form special compounds derived from indole, the so-called benzoxazinoids. They are considered ecologically important because they act against a wide range of herbivores and reduce their feeding. Benzoxazinoids also exhibit antimicrobial properties and are thought to be involved in mediating plant-plant interactions. Their biosynthesis in maize has been known since the 1990s. Meanwhile, their biosynthetic pathway has been described in several grasses, but benzoxazinoids have also been found in other plant species. Their distribution is peculiar: While specialized metabolites often occur in specific evolutionary related plant species, benzoxazinoids ...

AI language models could help diagnose schizophrenia

2023-10-09
Scientists at the UCL Institute for Neurology have developed new tools, based on AI language models, that can characterise subtle signatures in the speech of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The research, published in PNAS, aims to understand how the automated analysis of language could help doctors and scientists diagnose and assess psychiatric conditions. Currently, psychiatric diagnosis is based almost entirely on talking with patients and those close to them, with only a minimal role for tests such as blood tests and brain scans. However, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] Five years of legal cannabis in Canada: mixed success