Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2007.5.24

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Weekly News in Audio

May 24, 2007

Combined Use Of Cigarettes And Pot Associated With COPD, Study Says

Marijuana Intoxication Does Not Adversely Impact Decision Making, Study Says

NORML Remembers Dr. Tod Mikuriya

San Francisco, CA:
Combined Use Of Cigarettes And Pot Associated With COPD, Study Says

Individuals who regularly smoke cigarettes and marijuana have a greater likelihood of developing symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than do individuals who smoke cigarettes only, according to clinical data presented this week at the 2007 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society.

Investigators at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, reported that the combined use of tobacco and marijuana was associated with an increased risk of COPD among individuals age 40 and older. Researchers found that cigarette-only smokers were two-and-a-half times more likely than nonsmokers to develop COPD, while those subjects who reported smoking both substances were three-and-a-half times more likely.

Investigators did not report whether individuals who consumed only cannabis were at a higher risk for developing COPD compared to nonusers.

A recent meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that although chronic cannabis smoking is associated with an elevated risk of respiratory complications 窶� including an increase in cough, sputum production, and wheezing 窶� it is not associated with a decline in pulmonary function.

Authors of the Canadian study did not suggest whether vaporizing cannabis would reduce its adverse interaction with tobacco smoke.

Last month, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital reported that use of the Volcano vaporizing device significantly reduces cannabis consumers’ intake of gaseous combustion toxins, including carbon monoxide. A separate study conducted by investigators at the University of Albany reports that marijuana consumers who vaporize pot are less likely to suffer from respiratory symptoms than are those who do not vaporize, after controlling for subjects’ age, sex, and cigarette use.

Vaporization heats cannabis to a temperature where active cannabinoid vapors form (typically around 180-190 degrees Celsius), but below the point of combustion where noxious smoke and associated toxins (i.e., carcinogenic hydrocarbons) are produced (above 230 degrees Celsius).

New York, NY:
Marijuana Intoxication Does Not Adversely Impact Decision Making, Study Says

Experienced marijuana users perform tasks as accurately after having smoked cannabis as they do sober, according to clinical trial data published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.

Investigators at New York State’s Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University assessed the impact of acute cannabis intoxication on the decision-making abilities of 36 subjects, as assessed by the Iowa Gambling Task performance test. Volunteers completed the Gambling Task once sober and three times after smoking cannabis or placebo.

Though cannabis intoxication increased the time required for subjects to complete their tasks, volunteers’ accuracy was not adversely impacted by pot.

"[A]dvantageous card selection and money earned on the task were not disrupted by marijuana," authors concluded. "These data are consistent with previous findings that indicated that speed of performance on tests of executive function, but not accuracy, is disrupted in experienced marijuana users during marijuana intoxication."

Washington, DC:
NORML Remembers Dr. Tod Mikuriya

Tod Hiro Mikuriya, MD, one of the world's foremost authorities on the therapeutic use of cannabis, died on Sunday after a multi-year battle with cancer. He was 73-years-old.

Dr. Mikuriya spent more than four decades investigating the medical utility of pot, beginning with an appointment as the Director for Marijuana Research for the National Institute of Mental Health in 1967. In 1972, he published Marijuana: Medical Papers 1839 窶� 1972, a collection of essays documenting the historical use of medicinal cannabis in Western culture. He later became an outspoken advocate for marijuana law reform, and played a key role in persuading the California legislature to decriminalize pot possession in 1975.

Mikuriya gained prominence among modern marijuana activists by speaking in favor of the medical use of pot for a wide variety of psychosomatic indications, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and alcoholism. Dr. Mikuriya was a co-author of California's Proposition 215 initiative, and is credited with drafting the language that authorizes physicians to recommend cannabis for "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief," a clause which remains unique to California's medical marijuana law.

After Proposition 215’s passage in 1996, Dr. Mikuriya became one of the most prolific recommenders of medicinal cannabis 窶� a stance that made him a frequent target of both the California Medical Board and the federal government. In the decade since the law’s enactment, Dr. Mikuriya recommended marijuana to an estimated 9,000 patients.

In 2006, Mikuriya was a recipient of NORML’s "Lester Grinspoon Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Law Reform" in recognition of his life’s work in support of the legalization of medicinal cannabis.

"Tod was a true pioneer of cannabis medicine," said California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer. "At a time when its medical use had been abandoned, he rediscovered the forgotten medical literature on cannabis and agitated to restore it to the pharmacopoeia. Tod later campaigned to make this a reality by helping to draft Prop. 215, and after its passage, he went on to found the modern practice of cannabis medicine."

NORML expresses its sincere condolences to the friends and family of Tod Mikuriya.

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