Drug Facts in Media

A new study analyzes the disease burden and the risk factors for severity among people who suffer from a condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Researchers say the condition occurs in people who are long-term regular consumers of cannabis and causes nausea, uncontrollable vomiting and excruciating pain in a cyclical pattern that often leads to repeated trips to the hospital.

A new study has uncovered potential risks, including impaired fetal growth, associated with the use of both tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, as well as CBD, during pregnancy.

Researchers analyzed cannabis smoking practices to assess whether in-home smoking was associated with cannabis detection in children.

A new study found no changes in opioid outcomes among the general population with the states' passage of medical and recreational marijuana laws. However, the findings also show decreases in opioid outcomes after medical marijuana laws existed among people reporting cannabis use.

According to a new study, ketamine use has risen significantly since 2015. The results highlight the need for closer monitoring of recreational ketamine use.

A study of nearly 10,000 adolescents has identified distinct differences in the brain structures of those who used substances before age 15 compared to those who did not. Many of these structural brain differences appeared to exist in childhood before any substance use, suggesting they may play a role in the risk of substance use initiation later in life, in tandem with genetic, environmental, and other neurological factors.

Teens who think their parents use cannabis are more likely to hold favorable attitudes toward the drug and to consider trying it themselves, according to a new study. The research also reveals that parental monitoring and the closeness of parent-child relationships play crucial roles in adolescents' views about cannabis, often with distinct effects based on the parent's gender.

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs' ability to relieve pain, according to a new study. Endocannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors throughout the body that regulate activities, such as learning and memory, emotions, sleep, immune response and appetite.

Evidence has been growing to suggest that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, poses risks to the developing fetus by impacting brain development. Now a new preclinical research study finds that this could increase the risk of addiction to opioids later in life.

Research shows that a non-hallucinogenic marijuana constituent increases both REM and non-REM sleep in rats. Human trials are now under way.