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An Exciting New Study on An Important CBD Benefit
A new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that cannabidiol (or CBD) reduces psychotic symptoms in patients with psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia.
CBD is a compound known as a cannabinoid that’s found in the cannabis (or marijuana) plant. It is known to have many therapeutic benefits, including anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory, and anti-seizure properties. Considerable current research is focused on CBD.
A group of researchers from Johns Hopkins and other universities are getting a lot of attention with a study that claims to show dangerous levels of various metals in e-cigarette vapor.
The press release was in newsrooms before the study had even been published, and the researchers were on the phone with reporters before the ink on the press release was dry. And the story is still spreading. Unfortunately, most reporters simply repeat the authors’ version of what the results mean, and don’t bother seeking out experts who might challenge the paper’s conclusions. And they definitely need challenging.
“Toxic metals linked with brain damage are ‘leaking from e-cigarettes into vapour’, experts have found,” said The Mirror. “Oh good, e-cigarette vapor contains toxic metals, too,” shouted the sarcastic Mashable banner. And those weren’t even the worst headlines.
Do the headlines match the study’s findings? And, for that matter, do the researchers’ own conclusions even describe the findings of the research? (more…)
Americans Mistakenly Believe Nicotine Causes Cancer
Nicotine doesn’t cause cancer, but a majority of Americans believes it does. The idea that nicotine itself is harmful probably leads the public to fear and avoid low-risk nicotine products like e-cigarettes.otin
A new study offers alarming evidence that Americans misunderstand the relative safety of nicotine. More than half of adults (52.9 percent) think nicotine causes most of the cancer from smoking, and another 21.2 percent weren’t sure.
Almost as many cigarette smokers — 52.5 percent — think nicotine is a carcinogen. That means they may be unlikely to use vaping products, or even nicotine replacement therapy products like gum and patches, since they may believe those products aren’t any safer than smoking.
The study reflects that concern too. Only 31.6 percent of the surveyed smokers agreed that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking cigarettes. And a miniscule 3.4 percent believe vapes are much less harmful. Even vapers are misinformed, although less so as a group than smokers and non-smokers. The study found that 14.6 percent of vapers believe that nicotine causes cancer.
Can Cole-Bishop Still Save the Vaping Industry?
Once again, Congress is negotiating the final appropriations bills that will fund the government for fiscal year 2018. And once again, the Cole-Bishop Amendment is in the mix.
The Cole-Bishop is a version of the bill introduced last year by Reps. Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Sanford Bishop of Georgia. It’s a bipartisan effort that has plenty for both Republicans and Democrats to support. And it’s backed by all the major vaping advocacy groups, including CASAA, SFATA, VTA, and the American Vaping Association.
The most important part of the amendment is that it changes to predicate date in the FDA Deeming Rule from Feb.15, 2007 to Aug. 8, 2016. That means that if the Cole-Bishop Amendment passes, all vaping products that are already on the market can continue to be sold without being forced into the FDA’s brutally expensive and difficult premarket tobacco application (PMTA) process.
