The Cannabis Boomer reviews the days news and new articles in cannabis research.

[0:0:0.0]​ Grace

On today's Cannabis Boomer's Journal of News and Reviews in Cannabis Science, Dr. Alex Terrazas, PhD gives his take on the latest findings in cannabis research.

But first. here is The Cannabis Boomer's top cannabis news story.

[0:0:18.69] The Cannabis Boomer, Alex Terrazas. PhD

The news summary is about the legal recreational marijuana dispensary operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. Despite Senator Thom Tillis' request for Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the dispensary, tribal officials have rejected his allegations against the industry. The dispensary, known as the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., remains the only legal recreational marijuana dispensary in the state, over a year after it first opened to the public. These actions highlight the ongoing debate and legal status surrounding the Cherokee's marijuana industry within North Carolina.

[0:1:4.74] Grace

And now the Cannabis Boomer reviews recent cannabis science publications.

[0:1:10.24] The Cannabis Boomer, Alex Terrazas. PhD

First up is Rethinking Alzheimer's: Harnessing Cannabidiol to Modulate IDO and cGAS Pathways for Neuroinflammation Control by Emami Naeini and others. This study investigated the potential of cannabidiol (CBD) to modulate the key regulators of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here is what I found interesting. CBD treatment significantly reduced inflamatory markers, correlating with decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines, and bioinformatics analysis identified potential interactions between CBD and immune targets. The study used the male transgenic AD mouse model, administered CBD via inhalation, and assessed inflmatory marker expression using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and gene expression analysis. These findings support CBD as a potential monotherapy or adjunctive treatment for AD by targeting distinct neuroinflammatory pathways. of course, no study is perfect. The study was conducted in a mouse model, and further research is needed to fully explore the therapeutic potential of CBD in Alzheimer's disease.

The next article today is Misinformation About Medical Cannabis in YouTube Videos: Systematic Review by Khare and colleagues. This systematic review examined the prevalence of misinformation about medical cannabis in YouTube videos. The review found that a significant proportion of YouTube videos contained misinformation about the medical use of cannabis, including claims about its efficacy, safety, and legality. The researchers systematically searched YouTube for videos related to medical cannabis, assessed the accuracy of the information presented, and categorized the types of misinformation found. The findings highlight the need for healthcare providers and public health authorities to actively counter misinformation about medical cannabis on social media platforms like YouTube. Some methodological challenges are that the study was limited by the subjective nature of assessing the accuracy of information in the videos, and the potential for selection bias in the video sampling.

The final article today is Unravelling gender differences in cannabis cue-reactivity in individuals who use cannabis by Kaag and Cousijn. This is my summary. This study investigated gender differences in neural cue-reactivity, craving, and their associations with cannabis use characteristics among regular cannabis users and non-using controls. The findings were: Women who use cannabis displayed blunted neural cue-reactivity in the right insula and putamen compared to men, a pattern opposite to that seen in controls; among women, but not men, session-induced relief and reward craving correlated positively with cue-reactivity in the right superior frontal gyrus, cerebellum, and precentral gyrus; cannabis use severity was linked to cue-reactivity in the precentral gyrus in women only. The study used functional MRI to assess neural cue-reactivity during a cannabis cue-reactivity task, and the Marijuana Craving Questionnaire to measure craving, in 66 regular cannabis users (27 women) and 71 controls (31 women). The findings underscore complex, gender-related interactions between neural responses, craving, and cannabis use severity, emphasizing the need for gender-tailored research to address critical gaps in understanding the development and treatment of cannabis use disorder. Some methodological challenges are that The study did not include a longitudinal design to assess the development of cannabis use disorder, and the sample size may have limited the ability to detect more subtle gender differences.

[0:5:29.82]​ Michael

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