Medscape (3/17, Harrison) reports that researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are “sounding the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.” A clinical review conducted by NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD, revealed that “as legalization of” cannabis “for recreational and medical use spreads, vulnerable populations, especially adolescents, are exposed to toxic effects of the drug.” Dr. Volkow “explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of ‘brain programming,’ in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain.” The findings were published in the March issue of JAMA Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— Medscape (requires login and subscription)