http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Marijuana use among American adolescents has increased gradually over the past two years (three years among 12th-graders) following years of declining use, according to the latest Monitoring the Future study, which has tracked drug use among U.S. teens since 1975. http://www.physorg.com/news180038399.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:10:03 EST news180038399 Substituting cannabis in place of more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance misuse. Research published in BioMed Central' open access Harm Reduction Journal features a poll of 350 cannabis users, finding that 40% used cannabis to control their alcohol cravings, 66% as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26% for other, more potent, illegal drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news178868015.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:10:03 EST news178868015 (PhysOrg.com) -- A research team has shown that blocking the degradation of two naturally occurring cannabinoids in the endocannabinoid signaling pathway of the brain produces marijuana-like behavioral effects in mice, according to new findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news178389839.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:59:31 EST news178389839 Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug by adolescents, with almost 42% of high school seniors admitting to having experimented with it. Continued marijuana use may result in a number of serious consequences including depression, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer. As such, it is critical to prevent marijuana use by adolescents and numerous behavioral and medical scientists have been trying to establish the best means of prevention. http://www.physorg.com/news177603743.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:40:05 EST news177603743 (AP) -- Pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that allow medical marijuana, prosecutors were told Monday in a new policy memo issued by the Justice Department. http://www.physorg.com/news175165582.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:43:50 EST news175165582 New research by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers looks at the specific ways parents and peers influence teenagers to smoke, drink and use marijuana in combination. Among their findings: attitudes toward smoking influenced teenagers' use of multiple drugs (smoking, drinking and marijuana), and that this manifested itself differently in boys and girls. http://www.physorg.com/news173537637.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:54:52 EST news173537637 In a first step toward engineering a drug-free Cannabis plant for hemp fiber and oil, University of Minnesota researchers have identified genes producing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana. Studying the genes could also lead to new and better drugs for pain, nausea and other conditions. http://www.physorg.com/news172230067.html Biology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:20:02 EST news172230067 The prevalence of anxiety, depression and substance dependency may be twice as high as the mental health community has been led to believe. http://www.physorg.com/news171814164.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:30:02 EST news171814164 Imagine that you're working on your back porch, hammering in a nail. Suddenly you slip and hit your thumb instead - hard. The pain is incredibly intense, but it only lasts a moment. After a few seconds (and a few unprintable words) you're ready to start hammering again. http://www.physorg.com/news169403390.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:32:13 EST news169403390 In a finding that challenges the increasingly popular belief that smoking marijuana is less harmful to health than smoking tobacco, researchers in Canada are reporting that smoking marijuana, like smoking tobacco, has toxic effects on cells. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 17 issue of ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology. http://www.physorg.com/news168690870.html Chemistry Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:10:02 EST news168690870 Researchers on Sunday said they had pinpointed the biochemical pathway by which cannabis causes memory loss in mice. http://www.physorg.com/news168440808.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:10:01 EST news168440808 (AP) -- A drug deal plays out, California-style: A conservatively dressed courier drives a company-leased Smart Car to an apartment on a weekday afternoon. Erick Alvaro hands over a white paper bag to his 58-year-old customer, who inspects the bag to ensure that everything he ordered over the phone is there. http://www.physorg.com/news167162173.html Medicine & Health Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:02:27 EST news167162173 David Goldman has a chronic headache, but help is on the way. A driver arrives at his apartment and rings the doorbell, checks Goldman's ID card, then hands over a small bag of marijuana. http://www.physorg.com/news166121578.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:00:05 EST news166121578 (AP) -- It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law. The same marijuana smoke that doctors can recommend to ease cancer patients' suffering must soon come with a warning saying it causes the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news165936031.html Medicine & Health Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:21:13 EST news165936031 (AP) -- Marijuana smoke has joined tobacco smoke and hundreds of other chemicals on a list of substances California regulators say cause cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news164687602.html Medicine & Health Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:33:49 EST news164687602 Those in the United States living with HIV/AIDS are more likely to use marijuana than those in Kenya, South Africa or Puerto Rica to alleviate their symptoms, according to a new study published in Clinical Nursing Research, published by SAGE. Those who did use marijuana rate it as effective as prescribed or over the counter (OTC) medicines for the majority of common symptoms, once again raising the issue that therapeutic marijuana use merits further study and consideration among policy makers. http://www.physorg.com/news162814169.html Medicine & Health Fri, 29 May 2009 11:10:00 EST news162814169 (AP) -- The push to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois has taken a big step forward. http://www.physorg.com/news162707564.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 05:33:04 EST news162707564 Sparked anew by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for the state to study the legalization of marijuana, both sides in the smoldering pot debate point to research to bolster their positions. http://www.physorg.com/news162489689.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 May 2009 17:01:55 EST news162489689 When legal therapies let them down, some teens turn to cannabis. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy suggests that around a third of teens who smoke cannabis on a regular basis use it as a medication, rather than as a means of getting high. http://www.physorg.com/news159647774.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:36:49 EST news159647774 U.S. and Brazilian scientists have just proven that one of Bob Dylan's most famous lines -"everybody must get stoned" - is correct. That's because they've discovered that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal, may lead to new marijuana-like drugs for managing pain, stimulating appetite, and preventing marijuana abuse. http://www.physorg.com/news159465099.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:51:59 EST news159465099 Smoking both tobacco and marijuana increases the risk of respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), found a study in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg814.pdf. Smoking only marijuana, however, was not associated with increased risks. http://www.physorg.com/news158861123.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:06:07 EST news158861123 The main chemical in marijuana appears to aid in the destruction of brain cancer cells, offering hope for future anti-cancer therapies, researchers in Spain wrote in a study released Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news157903107.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:58:43 EST news157903107 (PhysOrg.com) -- It appears that when it comes to teen brain development, parents should be more worried about alcohol abuse than marijuana abuse. Two recent studies have been published showing that alcohol -- a legal substance (though not legal for teens in the U.S.) -- is considered more dangerous than marijuana, which is illegal in many countries. http://www.physorg.com/news157280425.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:00:48 EST news157280425 Marijuana, a commonly abused drug among high school and college students is linked to a severe form of vomiting syndrome and compulsive bathing behavior. This form of severe vomiting sickness is increasingly recognized with widespread abuse of marijuana. The syndrome usually subsides with strict abstinence from marijuana abuse. http://www.physorg.com/news156783151.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:54:19 EST news156783151 Frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The study results were published online Feb. 9 in the journal Cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news153373750.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:49:37 EST news153373750 Marijuana use appears to have decreased among most European and North American adolescents between 2002 and 2006, and those who went out with friends on fewer evenings of the week were less likely to report using the drug, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news152819328.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:49:00 EST news152819328 Adolescents and young adults who are heavy users of marijuana are more likely than non-users to have disrupted brain development, according to a new study. Pediatric researchers found abnormalities in areas of the brain that interconnect brain regions involved in memory, attention, decision-making, language and executive functioning skills. The findings are of particular concern because adolescence is a crucial period for brain development and maturation. http://www.physorg.com/news152807191.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:27:08 EST news152807191 Brain imaging shows that the brains of teens that use marijuana are working harder than the brains of their peers who abstain from the drug. At the 2008 annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Boston, Mass., Krista Lisdahl Medina, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of psychology, presented collaborative research with Susan Tapert, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. http://www.physorg.com/news143205542.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:19:02 EST news143205542 Substances in marijuana show promise for fighting deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections, including so-called "superbugs," without causing the drug's mood-altering effects, scientists in Italy and the United Kingdom are reporting. http://www.physorg.com/news140112587.html Chemistry Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:09:47 EST news140112587 Black girls who use marijuana are more likely to engage in risky sexual acts and contract a sexually transmitted disease, a new study finds. http://www.physorg.com/news137154666.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:31:06 EST news137154666