Medicine & Drugs, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 24, 2018

Barely Buzzed or Super Stoned? An App Could One Day Reveal How High You Are

How stoned are you, really? That's the question researchers challenged marijuana users to answer in a prototype app called Am I Stoned? in which they completed a series of tasks evaluating their memory, cognitive speed, reaction time and fine-motor skills. The prototype could in time make users more aware of...

Apr 25, 2018

Does Marijuana Make You Forget to Remember?

Stoners may not be as forgetful and absent-minded as the stereotype suggests. A new study finds that heavy marijuana users are just as good as everybody else at remembering tasks they need to do in the future. This ability, called prospective memory, is the brain's internal calendar, which keeps track...

Apr 30, 2018

Don't Believe the 'Hype': This New Book Separates Health Fact from Fiction

Dr. Nina Shapiro is used to getting questions. After all, she's both a surgeon and a professor at UCLA. And at a time when people are having a hard time distinguishing between facts and misinformation, Shapiro thought it would be the perfect opportunity to put all of those questions into...

May 9, 2018

Most Marijuana Dispensaries Give Inaccurate Advice on Pot in Pregnancy

Many marijuana dispensaries recommend marijuana products for treating pregnant women's morning sickness, even though marijuana use in pregnancy is linked with health problems for newborns, according to a new study from Colorado researchers. The study surveyed 400 marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, and nearly 70 percent said they would recommend marijuana...

May 28, 2018

Bad Vibes? Heavy Marijuana Users Hold on to Negative Feelings

SAN FRANCISCO — Many people tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, remembering the good times and the good feelings, while forgetting the bad. But a new study suggests that heavy marijuana users may have some trouble letting go of negative emotions tied to memories — a...

Jun 19, 2018

Could Marijuana Use Make Injuries More Painful?

Marijuana use may affect how much pain people feel and the dose of painkillers they need following a traumatic injury, such as an injury from a car accident, a new study suggests. The study found that, after experiencing a traumatic injury, marijuana users reported higher levels of pain, and needed...

Jul 23, 2018

Americans Think Pot Is Healthy, But Scientists Still Have Questions

What are your thoughts on marijuana? If you're like the majority of Americans, you probably think this flowering herb has significant benefits and few serious risks, even though there is very little scientific evidence to support this view. That's according to a new study, published today (July 23) in the...

Aug 27, 2018

Marijuana and Pregnancy: 5 Key Takeaways from the New Official Guidelines

More than half of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, but questions remain about how the drug affects our health. Those questions are especially important for one group: pregnant women. Marijuana use during pregnancy is becoming more common, despite the lack of clarity about its possible effects. But today (Aug....

Sep 2, 2018

Why Is Synthetic Marijuana So Risky?

The Green, a gathering place in New Haven, Connecticut, near Yale University looked like a mass casualty zone, with 70 serious drug overdoses over a period spanning Aug. 15-16, 2018. The cause: synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2, Spice, or AK47, which induced retching, vomiting, loss of consciousness and trouble...

Sep 17, 2018

Neil deGrasse Tyson Reminds Us Why Smoking Weed in Space Is a Bad Idea

All astronauts get high — about 240 miles (385 kilometers) higher than the planet's surface, if they're working aboard the International Space Station. But no astronauts get stoned … at least, they're not supposed to. There are plenty of good reasons for that. Practically speaking, sparking up a fire in...

Sep 26, 2018

Rat Poison-Laced Synthetic Pot Made People Bleed. Here's How Doctors Treated Them.

In March of this year, strange reports began to emerge: Synthetic pot was making people's eyes bleed. And what started out as a handful of people who were affected has grown to more than 250 people across the U.S., with cases continuing to pop up. Soon after the outbreak began,...

Oct 16, 2018

Woman's Vomiting Bouts Tied to Mysterious Marijuana Syndrome. And Yes, Hot Showers Helped.

A woman who frequently ended up in the hospital with intense bouts of vomiting turned out to have a mysterious syndrome tied to heavy marijuana use, according to a new report of the case. The 27-year-old woman had been hospitalized six times in the last year with episodes of severe...

Nov 30, 2018

Vaping Marijuana Gets You Way, Way Higher Than Smoking It, Study Finds

Scientists have proved that inhaling vaporized marijuana will get you, like, way higher than smoking the exact same amount of weed. The new research, led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit in Baltimore, tested the effects of smoked versus vaped marijuana on 17 participants who had...

Dec 19, 2018

Men Who Smoke Pot May Have Lower Sperm Count

Recreational marijuana use is becoming increasingly legal across the U.S., but that doesn't mean that it's safe. As with alcohol and tobacco, the drug comes with risks. And a new study finds regular marijuana may — similar to alcohol and tobacco — affect a man's sperm count and vitality. While...

Jan 16, 2019

Smoking Pot Just Once May Increase Teen Brain Volume: Why That Could Be Bad

Smoking pot just once might be linked to changes in young brains, a new study suggests. Adolescents who smoked marijuana one or two times had increased amounts of gray matter — a combination of neuron bodies and cells that feed them — in their brains compared with those who hadn't,...