March 2021 – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has just released their National Drug Threat Assessment of drugs in American for 2020. This unclassified publication is based in law enforcement intelligence and data from the public health sector. It provides a broad overview of the drugs (illicit and legal) in[Read More…]
Public Health and Safety
Impaired Driving in Colorado: 2016 – 2018 (Nov 2020)
In 2017, Colorado passed House Bill 17-1315 which requires the Colorado Department of Public Safety to annually produce a report regarding data associated with impaired driving in the state. One of the requirements was to include data not only for alcohol, but on other drugs to include marijuana. As with[Read More…]
Vaping or Smoking: An Early Look at Impairment
Currently, there is scant policy or guidance when it comes to either smoking or vaping cannabis. Similarly there is no uniform policy as to the potency levels of products available in today’s public market; nor a complete understanding how the two administration methods (smoking v. vaping) can affect the user. [Read More…]
THC and Its Effect on Driving
Date: January 22, 2021 The December 1st, 2020 edition of JAMA (Vol. 324, No. 21) released the results of a study into impaired driving from the Netherlands titled, “Effect of Cannabidiol and Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol on Driving Performance” by T. Arkell (et.al.). The near year-long study examined the effects of vaporized cannabis[Read More…]
Marijuana Use and Older Adults
January 19, 2021 With the advent of the legalization of marijuana by some U.S. states, there has been a noted increase in use rates in recent years. One subgroup that has received attention is the use rates in older adults, ages 60 and older. The Journal of the American Geriatrics[Read More…]
Substance Use and COVID Outcome Risks
Psychiatry Online released a study on November 3rd, 2020 concerning the negative impacts that substance use disorders (SUD) has on adults that have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The authors (Baillargeon, J. et.al.) provide information on over 54,000 COVID-19 patients as it relates to the outcomes of (1) hospitalization, (2) ventilator[Read More…]
Cannabis use disorders among people who use cannabis: Potential Risks
Read Time: <10 minutes Date: November 5, 2020 The journal “Addictive Behaviors” (109, (2020), 106479, May 2020) released a study, “What is the prevalence and risk of cannabis use disorders among people who use cannabis? A systematic review and meta-analysis” by authors J. Leung (et.al.). The recent meta-analysis sought to[Read More…]
Substance Use Disorders and Increased Risks from COVID-19
September 24, 2020 According to a recent study (Wang, Kaelber, Xu and Volkow) published in Molecular Psychiatry, nearly 11 percent of the U.S. population has a substance use disorder (SUD). Additionally, those individuals with a current SUD are at increased risks for COVID-19 as well as its adverse outcomes. This study examined[Read More…]
Marijuana Most Common Drug Detected in Workplace Testing
Date: August 25, 2020 Read time: 5 Minutes Quest Diagnostics, a leader in workplace drug testing, reported that positive drug tests reached a 16-year high in 2019. Notable increases were seen in positive test results for cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. Marijuana continues to be the most commonly detected drug in[Read More…]
Smoking, Vaping and COVID Risk Factors
Association Between Youth Smoking, Electronic Cigarette Use, and Coronavirus Disease 2019 In July 2020, researchers from Stanford University (Gaiha, Cheng, et.al.) published the results of a study of over 4,300 people (youth to young adults) in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study examined the association between the use of[Read More…]