Researchers have long been intrigued by the intoxicating effects of the world's most popular illicit drug. Here's how pot affects your body and mind When neurologist Frances Ames began testing the effects of a single dose of cannabis sativa on a group of her medical colleagues who were, on the whole, "articulate and fairly stable people," the onset of abnormal sensations "was always abrupt and immediate." One was sustained hilarity. "The whole idea of the experiment," Ames reported in 1958 in the Journal of Mental Science, "would suddenly seem enormously amusing." Researchers have long been intrigued by the intoxicating effects of the world's most popular illicit drug. Here's everything you need to know about how pot affects your body and mind. [continues 1328 words]
Canada is about to legalize POT, yet how we'll detect high DRIVERS is more than a little HAZY About half of pot-smoking Canadians who get behind the wheel while high believe the drug doesn't impair their ability to drive safely - and 20 per cent say nothing would make them stop driving while stoned. That's the conclusion of a new survey, suggesting considerable nonchalance about marijuana and driving. It comes as the federal government is studying the idea of setting legal limits for driving under the influence of weed, similar to those for alcohol. [continues 625 words]
The Liberal government's vow to legalize pot is a flagrant violation of international drug laws, a global health law expert says - making it an ideal time to either renegotiate international drug-control treaties or pull out of them altogether, he suggests. In a commentary in this week's Canadian Medical Association Journal, the University of Ottawa's Steven Hoffman says efforts to de-penalize, decriminalize and legalize marijuana can be good for public health, "if done right." However, the Liberal government's pot bill, expected to be introduced next spring, would almost certainly run up against three UN treaties requiring marijuana possession to remain a criminal offence, and that Canada, as a signatory, is legally obliged to follow, writes Hoffman. [continues 340 words]
The nation's doctors are under no obligation to prescribe marijuana to patients seeking it for pain relief or other medical purposes, Canada's federal health minister says. Marijuana isn't an approved drug, Health Canada has not endorsed its use and it has not been proven safe or effective, Rona Ambrose said Monday at the opening day of the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association. "The majority of the physician community do not want to prescribe it, they don't want to be put in a situation where they're pressured to prescribe it and I encourage them to not prescribe it if they're not comfortable with it," Ambrose told reporters. [continues 591 words]
Health Minister Defends Proposed Anti-Pot Ads Doctors should not feel obliged to prescribe marijuana to patients seeking it for pain relief or other medical purposes, says the federal health minister. "Health Canada does not endorse the use of marijuana, nor is it an approved drug in this country, nor has it gone through any of the clinical trials that other pharmaceutical products that are approved in this country have gone through," Rona Ambrose said Monday after her opening address to the Canadian Medical Association's annual general meeting in Ottawa. [continues 481 words]
The nation's doctors are under no obligation to prescribe marijuana to patients seeking it for pain relief or other medical purposes, Canada's federal health minister says. Marijuana isn't an approved drug, Health Canada has not endorsed its use and it has not been proven safe or effective, Rona Ambrose said Monday at the opening day of the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association. "The majority of the physician community do not want to prescribe it, they don't want to be put in a situation where they're pressured to prescribe it and I encourage them to not prescribe it if they're not comfortable with it," Ambrose told reporters. [continues 593 words]
While there "may well be" legitimate uses for medical marijuana, doctors have been thrust into an "untenable" position by being made the sole gatekeepers to legal pot, says the incoming president of the nation's most powerful doctors' lobby. "We have Health Canada telling us that marijuana is not a medicine, we have our malpractice insurance company telling us to be very cautious because nobody is taking responsibility for the safety of it," says Queen's University cardiologist Dr. Chris Simpson, who will assume the helm of the Canadian Medical Association at the organization's annual general meeting in Ottawa later this month. [continues 608 words]
While there "may well be" legitimate uses for medical marijuana, doctors have been thrust into an "untenable" position by being made the sole gatekeepers to legal pot, says the incoming head of the Canadian Medical Association. "We have Health Canada telling us that marijuana is not a medicine, we have our malpractice insurance company telling us to be very cautious because nobody is taking responsibility for the safety of it," says Queen's University cardiologist Dr. Chris Simpson, who assumes the helm Canada's most powerful doctors' lobby at the CMA's annual general meeting in Ottawa later this month. [continues 192 words]
MDs left with 'untenable' position on medical marijuana While there "may well be" legitimate uses for medical marijuana, doctors have been thrust into an "untenable" position by being made the sole gatekeepers to legal pot, says the incoming president of the nation's most powerful doctors' lobby. "We have Health Canada telling us that marijuana is not a medicine, we have our malpractice insurance company telling us to be very cautious because nobody is taking responsibility for the safety of it," says Queen's University cardiologist Dr. Chris Simpson, who will assume the helm of the Canadian Medical Association at the organization's annual general meeting in Ottawa later this month. [continues 673 words]
While there "may well be" legitimate uses for medical marijuana, doctors have been thrust into an "untenable" position by being made the sole gatekeepers to legal pot, says the incoming head of the Canadian Medical Association. "We have Health Canada telling us that marijuana is not a medicine, we have our malpractice insurance company telling us to be very cautious because nobody is taking responsibility for the safety of it," says Queen's University cardiologist Dr. Chris Simpson, who assumes the helm Canada's most powerful doctors' lobby at the CMA's annual general meeting in Ottawa later this month. [continues 96 words]
CMA's incoming chief: ' we need to find the truth' While there "may well be" legitimate uses for medical marijuana, doctors have been thrust into an "untenable" position by being made the sole gatekeepers to legal pot, says the incoming president of the nation's most powerful doctors' lobby. "We have Health Canada telling us that marijuana is not a medicine, we have our malpractice insurance company telling us to be very cautious because nobody is taking responsibility for the safety of it," says Queen's University cardiologist Dr. Chris Simpson, who will assume the helm of the Canadian Medical Association at the organization's annual general meeting in Ottawa later this month. [continues 416 words]
Injuries often not reported, study says Alcohol and drugs can damage a teenager's brain in more ways than people think. A new study has found that youths who said they frequently consume booze or pot were up to five times more likely than abstinent youths to report having suffered at least one traumatic brain injury that left them unconscious for at least five minutes or hospitalized overnight. Overall, the survey of nearly 9,000 Ontario high school students found that, in general, one in five teens said they had had a brain injury at some time in their lives. [continues 579 words]
MDs Reluctant to Have Role As 'Gatekeepers' Doctors in Canada are so skittish about the medical use of marijuana that a third of MDs who have been asked to endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it, a Canadian Medical Association survey suggests. A further 25 per cent of doctors who responded to the survey said they would "seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot; 64 per cent are worried that patients who request medical marijuana might only want it to get high. [continues 899 words]
Survey Reveals Reluctance to Assume Gatekeeper Role Doctors in Canada are so skittish about the medical use of marijuana that a third of MDs who have been asked to endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it, a Canadian Medical Association survey suggests. Another 25 per cent of doctors who responded to the survey said they would "seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot; 64 per cent are worried patients who request medical marijuana may only want it to get high. [continues 784 words]
Ottawa prepares to publish proposed new regulations to its medical marijuana access program Doctors in Canada are so skittish about the medical use of marijuana that a third of MDs who have been asked to endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it, a Canadian Medical Association survey suggests. Another 25 per cent of doctors who responded to the survey said they would "seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot; 64 per cent are worried that patients who request medical marijuana may only want it to get high. [continues 897 words]
Doctors in Canada are so skittish about the medical use of marijuana that a third of MDs who have been asked to endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it, a Canadian Medical Association survey suggests. Another 25 per cent of doctors who responded said they would "seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot, and 64 per cent are worried that patients who request medical marijuana may only want it to get high. [continues 134 words]
Doctors in Canada are so skittish about the medical use of marijuana that a third of MDs who have been asked to endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it, a Canadian Medical Association survey suggests. Another 25 per cent of doctors who responded to the survey said they would "seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot; 64 per cent are worried that patients who request medical marijuana might only want it to get high. [continues 453 words]
Expectant mothers' use of opioids has risen dramatically and children suffer, doctors say The newborn babies are inconsolable, their frantic, high-pitched cries a telltale sign of a newborn in the throes of drug withdrawal. Canada's baby specialists are witnessing an alarming new phenomenon: growing numbers of infants being born dependent on prescription painkillers and other opioids. Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, have doubled in Canada, the latest fallout of the rise in legitimate and illicit use of prescription opioids across the country. Most of NAS is due to opioids, drugs that include oxycodone, the active ingredient in OxyContin and its successor, OxyNEO. [continues 954 words]
Driving under the influence of pot nearly doubles the risk of a serious or fatal car crash, a Canadian study finds. The number of Canadians confessing to driving within an hour of using pot is growing, researchers from Dalhousie University write in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal. In addition, "surveys of young drivers have also shown that rates of driving under the influence of cannabis have surpassed rates of drinking and driving in some jurisdictions," the Halifax team reports. [continues 192 words]
Psychomotor Skills Impaired by Cannabis Driving under the influence of marijuana nearly doubles the risk of a serious or fatal car crash, a Canadian study finds. Cannabis is the most widely consumed illicit substance in the world, and the number of Canadians confessing to driving within an hour of using pot is growing, researchers from Dalhousie University write in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal. In addition, "surveys of young drivers have also shown that rates of driving under the influence of cannabis have surpassed rates of drinking and driving in some jurisdictions," the Halifax team reports. [continues 644 words]
