{"id":39119,"date":"2019-10-23T16:24:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T00:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/10\/23\/u-s-senate-looks-at-cannabis-health-policy\/"},"modified":"2019-10-24T00:45:45","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T08:45:45","slug":"u-s-senate-looks-at-cannabis-health-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/10\/23\/u-s-senate-looks-at-cannabis-health-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senate Looks At Cannabis Health & Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Today, the U.S. Senate hosted a hearing titled \u201cMarijuana and America\u2019s Health: Questions and Issues for Policy Makers.<\/em>\u201dThe hearing featured an array of expert witnesses and included input from the U.S. Surgeon General himself. Much of the conversation focused on repeating the dangers of cannabis consumption \u2014\u00a0particularly the \u201cextra potent\u201d forms of THC lawmakers fixated on \u2014 though there were a few moments of clarity around concrete policy steps forward.<\/p>\n

The hearing<\/a> was hosted by the Senate\u2019s Caucus on International Narcotics Control<\/a>, which is co-chaired by Senator John Cornyn of Texas and California Senator Diane Feinstein. Both Cornyn and Feinstein have expressed anti-cannabis perspectives on the past, with Feinstein in particular<\/a> working to block pro-cannabis legislation for decades. Earlier this year, however, she did take the small step of introducing a bill to encourage medical research<\/a> on cannabis and CBD.<\/p>\n

Cornyn started the hearing saying he and
\nFeinstein have been looking to have a forum on the public health consequences
\nof marijuana legalization, saying he believed the U.S. lacks the short- and
\nlong-term science on a variety of marijuana topics. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat type of evidence is conclusive enough to
\nmake a policy recommendation on?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical for people like Senator
\nFeinstein and I to understand these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feinstein agreed with her Republican
\ncounterpart and noted \u201cthe point of today is to better understand marijuana\u2019s
\nimpact on public health.\u201d She added: \u201cI\u2019m told much of what we know is
\nanecdotal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feinstein said it is her belief that science
\nshould inform policy, and that\u2019s why she introduced legislation to help remove
\nsome of the roadblocks to research. \u201cIt\u2019s important we learn more about
\nappropriate dosing and delivery mechanisms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Federal Medical Officials Warn About Cannabis Dangers & Push for Research<\/h4>\n

Dr. Jerome Adams, Surgeon General<\/a> of the United States, kicked off the testimony on what he called a complex issue that demands our attention and our action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken with health department officials
\nacross the country, my friends, many of them reluctant overseers of an enormous
\nand poorly informed public health experiment,\u201d Adams told lawmakers. \u201cOver and
\nover, I hear rapid escalating concern about the normalization of marijuana use,
\nand the impact of a false perception of its safety is having on our
\ncommunities, and specifically our young people and our moms-to-be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams was followed by Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.<\/a> She talked about standard issues like cognitive performance and the impact of marijuana on the developing mind. Then her testimony skewed a little darker, as Volkow noted serious mental illnesses and suicides in this country are on the rise. \u201cAnd while multiple factors are likely contributing to this rise, it is imperative to understand if exposure to high-potency cannabis during adolescence is one of them,\u201d she said. \u201cHigh-potency marijuana can trigger acute psychotic episodes, which is one of the main causes for emergency department visits associated with cannabis use. Which are also rising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the testimony, both Volkow and
\nAdams compared cannabis to tobacco and alcohol, relevant comparisons for the
\nfact that while both substances have negative health consequences, both are
\nfederally legal. (Neither Volkow nor Adams ever intimated that they supported
\nfederal cannabis legalization.)<\/p>\n

At one point, Cornyn asked the panel if the
\ncurrent cannabis landscape reminded them of what Americans learned about Big Tobacco
\nbefore. <\/p>\n

\u201cSir, we\u2019ve seen this play before,\u201d Adams
\nreplied. \u201cCocaine was thought to be an effective medicine and harmless. Once
\nupon a time, opioids were thought to be good for whatever ails you, and to not
\nhave any negative effects or a higher dosage limit. Not that I am in any way,
\nshape, or form comparing marijuana to those substances, but from a policy point
\nof view, I think the lesson we should have learned is that we have to make sure
\nthe science is leading the policy and that the tail isn\u2019t wagging the dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams said many of the things people are using
\nmarijuana for are unproven and overstated, \u201cand in my opinion we are
\ndownplaying risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late August, Adams put out a Surgeon General\u2019s advisory<\/a> about the consequences of marijuana use on the developing brain.<\/p>\n

Cornyn later asked Adams to go further, and to
\nstate if cannabis use would be damaging to a developed adult brain and if he
\nwould advise adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the Surgeon General of the United States,
\nthe first thing I would way is absolutely not,\u201d Adams replied. \u201cThere are
\nplenty of substances out there which adults can partake of that are not only
\nnot harm free, but my office had a long history of trying to reign the horse
\nback in on. You mention tobacco, alcohol is one of the top killers in our
\ncountry\u2026 I think, again, we need to be careful about the normalization of
\nbehavior.\u201d <\/p>\n

Adams said of the other dangers of marijuana
\nusage is that \u201cwe don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Adams and Volkow mentioned that the Schedule I status of cannabis inhibits productive federal research on the substance. <\/p>\n

Of course, the vaping health scare also earned some air time. Feinstein asked about the safety of vaping, citing the 33 deaths reported by health officials. The Surgeon General replied he was very concerned and spoke of collaborative efforts with the Center for Disease Control and Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cA large number of these cases have been associated with vaping THC, particularly THC that has been obtained on the black market,\u201d Adams said, before being cut off by Feinstein, who wanted him to explain what happens inside the lungs after a tainted vape is consumed. <\/p>\n

Doctors Provide Some Nuance in Second Senate Panel<\/h4>\n

In the second panel of the day before the same
\nSenate caucus, Dr. Robert Fitzgerald, a professor of pathology at the
\nUniversity of California-San Diego, testified about the data around the impact
\nlegal cannabis has had on traffic accidents and related fatalities. <\/p>\n

Dr. Staci Gruber, an associate professor of psychiatry
\nat Harvard Medical School, also testified, and quickly made a much-needed
\ndistinction that the conversation of the day had been lacking: most research
\nfocuses on high-THC recreational consumption, rather than what consumption
\nlooks like for medical cannabis patients. Gruber explained that, despite the
\ncountry being in the middle of a \u201cgreen rush,\u201d it\u2019s tough for people to
\nnavigate facts. <\/p>\n

\u201cNearly all of what we know about marijuana
\ncomes from studies of recreational marijuana users,\u201d Gruber said. \u201cThese
\nstudies typically focus on those with chronic heavy marijuana use. Data across
\nstudies is inconsistent but generally reflects on those who use marijuana and
\nthose who don\u2019t spanning a number of areas that we\u2019ve heard allusions to
\nalready including cognitive performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gruber argued later that CBD might have the
\npotential to counteract some of the negative effects THC might have on your
\nbrain, \u201cbut it\u2019s virtually undetectable in recreational products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gruber went back to making sure the
\nconversation separates medical users from recreational. She said in some cases
\nmedical patients showed improved cognitive performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Schedule I status of marijuana leads to a
\nnumber of obstacles in conducting research,\u201d she said. \u201cPolicy at this point
\nhas clearly outpaced science, and as the nation has warmed to the use of both
\nmedical and recreational marijuana, the need for empirically found data is
\ncritical in order to maximize benefit and reduce harm.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her testimony was followed by Dr. Sean
\nHennessy, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s
\nPerelman School of Medicine. He was a member of the 16-person committee that
\nwrote the 2017 National Academy of Science report on the then-existing
\nliterature about the potential health effects of cannabis-derived products, both
\ntherapeutic and harmful.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

As Hennessey testified, the report recommended public health agencies fund a cannabis research agenda, federal agencies convene to create benchmarks for high-quality research and fund improvements to the public health surveillance system, and federal agencies should find regulatory barriers and think of strategies to create the infrastructure needed to conduct cannabis research.<\/p>\n

Dr. Madeline Meier, an assistant professor of psychology
\nat Arizona State University, finished the panel by speaking on her research
\ninto marijuana\u2019s effects on cognitive performance in 2012. <\/p>\n

TELL US,<\/strong> do you think cannabis
\nshould be a Schedule I drug?<\/p>\n

The post U.S. Senate Looks At Cannabis Health & Policy<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: U.S. Senate Looks At Cannabis Health & Policy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the U.S. Senate hosted a hearing titled \u201cMarijuana and America\u2019s Health: Questions and Issues for Policy Makers.\u201dThe hearing featured an array of expert witnesses and included input from the U.S. Surgeon General himself. Much of the conversation focused on repeating the dangers of cannabis consumption \u2014\u00a0particularly the \u201cextra potent\u201dContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,12730,12731,6885,81,186,978,748,2075],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39120,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39119\/revisions\/39120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}