USA Today (11/4, Cannon) reports voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota all voted to legalize recreational marijuana, meaning 15 states have now legalized it. Meanwhile, Mississippi and South Dakota legalized medical marijuana. Oregon voters “further relaxed drug laws, becoming the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.”

Related Links:

— “These states legalized recreational marijuana on Election Day “Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, November 4, 2020

Healio (11/3, Gramigna) reports, “Statin use did not appear associated with suicidality, anxiety disorders or seizures,” investigators concluded after examining Swedish registry data on “1,149,384 individuals who were dispensed statins and aged 15 years or older between 2006 and 2013.” The findings of the “total-population cohort study” were published in the November issue of The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Statin treatment not associated with adverse neuropsychiatric outcomes “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 3, 2020

HealthDay (11/3, Preidt) reports, “The more symptoms of depression people have, the higher their risk of stroke,” investigators concluded in a study that “included more than 9,500 Black people and more than 14,500 white people across the United States who were 45 and older and had no history of stroke.” The findings were published online Oct. 6 in the journal Neurology: Clinical Practice.

Related Links:

— “Depression Has Strong Ties to Stroke, Study Finds “Robert Preidt, HealthDay , November 3, 2020

The New York Times (11/3, Bakalar) reports investigators “found no association between engagement in leisure activities at age 56 and the incidence of dementia over the following 18 years.” They arrived at that conclusion after studying “8,280 people, average age 56, who were free of dementia at the start of the analysis,” tracking “their involvement in 13 leisure activities – listening to music, gardening, attending cultural events, playing cards, using a home computer and others,” and then controlling for confounding factors. The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Pursuing Leisure Activities May Not Protect Against Dementia “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, November 3, 2020

Healio (11/2, Forand) reports, “Psoriasis has a substantial psychological burden that affects quality of life for many patients,” investigators concluded in “a meta-analysis of 98 studies.” The meta-analysis “found nearly 30% of patients with psoriasis experienced depression symptoms, and 10% of those were on antidepressants.” When “compared with the general population, those with psoriasis showed a higher rate of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation,” the meta-analysis revealed. The findings were presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology virtual congress.

Related Links:

— “Psoriasis increases psychological burden, depression “Rebecca L. Forand, Healio, October 2, 2020