As emergency physicians, we are on the front lines. We treat affected patients; we need to be at the forefront of public policy recommendations at both state and national levels.
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ACEP Now: Vol 36 – No 05 – May 2017
Dr. Roberts is an emergency physician at Southern Colorado Emergency Medicine Associates in Pueblo and a volunteer clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
References
- The legalization of marijuana in Colorado: the impact. Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Posada marijuana brief. Posada Pueblo website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- The health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use. World Health Organization website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Knuth S. Nonstop Wellness to host medical marijuana exams this weekend. Canon City Daily Record website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Getting started with medical marijuana. Medical Jane website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Operation Cannabis medical marijuana benefits weed memes. Weed Memes website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Illnesses treatable with medical cannabis. United Patients Group website. Accessed April 13, 2017.
- Hall W, Degenhardt L. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet. 2009;374(9698):1383-1391.
- Volkow ND, Baler RD, Compton WM, et al. Adverse health effects of marijuana use. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(23):2219-2227.
- Wu TC, Tashkin DP, Djahed B, et al. Pulmonary hazards of smoking marijuana as compared with tobacco. N Engl J Med. 1988;318(6):347-351.
- Tapert SF, Schweinsburg AD, Drummond SP, et al. Functional MRI of inhibitory processing in abstinent adolescent marijuana users. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007;194(2):173-183.
- Schweinsburg AD, Nagel BJ, Schweinsburg BC, et al. Abstinent adolescent marijuana users show altered fMRI response during spatial working memory. Psychiatry Res. 2008;163(1):40-51.
- Andréasson S, Allebeck P, Engström A, et al. Cannabis and schizophrenia. A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet. 1987;2(8574):1483-1486.
- Arseneault L, Cannon M, Poulton R, et al. Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: Longitudinal prospective study. BMJ. 2002;325(7374):1212-1213.
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9 Responses to “Opinion: Dangers of Marijuana Experienced Firsthand”
May 29, 2017
Charles R CaffreyInteresting take! Can you comment on how many patients you see harmed from marijuana intoxication vs. alcohol intoxication? Both being unregulated in your state. In my experience, the devastating effects from alcohol seem to far outpace that of marijuana, in terms of addiction, trauma, suicide risk, end-organ damage, etc. However, I don’t practice in an environment where marijuana is legal, so perhaps marijuana is much more of a scourge in your practice setting. It seems that the Colorado Dept of Health has some interesting statistics regarding marijuana use in your state, including that daily or near-daily use of marijuana among adults in Colorado is much lower than daily use of alcohol. Further, past-month marijuana use along Colorado teens is almost identical to the national average.
June 10, 2017
YeVondaOne of the blading concerns mentioned in the article is non- medical employees diagnosing & prescribing in pot shops. Thankfully that’s not yet an occurrence in our CO liquor stores.
June 14, 2017
Brad RobertsThanks for the comment! Alcohol certainly remains a problem as well. I don’t have any specific data to say which is more of a contributing factor. I would say compared to New Mexico, I am seeing significantly more paranoia/anxiety/psychotic type symptoms and these correlate with MJ more than alcohol. Depression, SI, seem more correlated with alcohol- just anecdotally.
October 6, 2018
Aleksey DorofeyevBrad Roberts. I noticed something all too familiar. The most dangerous parts are limited to smoking, as well as “They were taking this with opioids and benzodiazepines”.
Trust me. My friend committed suicide after mixing xanax and lean. Alone they are fine, together they will accelerate a complete rewiring of the brain. Please consider OPIODS and benzos to be a more dangerous combination than any other medication out there.
Please research the effects of OPIODS and BENZOS COMBINED. Not seperate. I will guarentee you any patients that mix those drugs will be permanently mentally crippled.
May 29, 2017
Erik St.Pierre MDGreat article. Fairly new concept in Maine, but I am expecting the same to happen here. Everyone is excited about the increased tax revenue, but I doubt that it will be redirected at healthcare and drug rehabilitation. You can add marijuana to the list that includes alcohol, lottery tickets, and casinos as a really “poor”” way to generate tax revenue.
June 11, 2017
Pamela McCollno only a poor way but no way as the state of Colorado has a deficit after the cost of marijuana impaired driving costs- that alone ate up any tax revenue – not even mentioning the social and medical costs – other studies show millions of onpaid bills hospitals face dealing with marijuana cases. Then there is the increase in drop outs at $350,00 to society per case and the list goes on and on – we can not afford as taxpayers for this small minority to use this drug for a temporary intoxicating high.
July 14, 2017
medicoUpon what data are you basing your assertion that we “ate up any tax revenue” on impaired driving costs?
June 11, 2017
Todd B. Taylor, MDI have a very simple way to look at this burgeoning issue.
Who exactly do we think is “safe” or reasonable to use cannabis? Certainly not airline pilots, bus drivers, law enforcement, doctors, nurses, & pharmacists? Right, they are all regulated & will likely lose their license, assuming they get caught.
But what about Uber\Lyft drivers? What about school teachers, daycare workers, truck drivers, heavy machine operators?
Or what about the 218M US drivers? Right, they are going to be responsible & not drive when acutely intoxicated. But unlike alcohol, there’s no objective way to determine that. So, do we put very driver in jail who tests positive for cannabis they used two weeks ago?
So, for the people YOU count on every day to provide services to you & your family, who do you feel ok with them using cannabis on a regular basis? Might want to think about that the next time you sit down to get your hair cut.
Problem is, when the general public thinks about voting YES for a pot referendum, they are just thinking about how THEY would use it (responsibly) & would never give it to teenagers. Apparently, they fail to understand how the world really works. Put a McDonalds on every corner & the world gets fat. Put a Pot Dispensary on every corner & the world (including kids) gets stoned. Well, at least kids can’t get sugary drinks in schools.
October 21, 2018
AnnaThank you for your wonderful article. I have Epilepsy and marijuana and CBD Oil make my seizures WORSE. I can’t even be near anyone smoking because the 2nd hand smoke will cause me to go into a seizure.
If it’s really a medicine then it needs to be tested by the FDA and approved. Even then, one mans medicine is another mans poison.
Thank you for bravely speaking out.