Top Cannabis Science Headlines: August Roundup

A promising clinical trial?
 

Glioblastoma is an aggressive and fast-growing brain cancer with a very low five-year survival rate of five percent. Currently, the very few treatment options that exist are not always effective, as the tumor can begin regrowing after a few months of treatment. As such, a UK clinical trial called ARISTOCRAT is investigating whether combining cannabinoids with traditional chemotherapies can improve glioblastoma patient outcomes. With promising results in phase I, this phase II, double-blind randomized trial will combine Sativex with the usual treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ). The trial is recruiting patients with recurrent glioblastoma to find out whether the addition of Sativex to standard TMZ treatment improves how long patients live, delays the growth of their tumor, and/or improves their quality of life.

No smoking indoors
 

As the legalization of recreational cannabis continues to grow, so do concerns over the exposure to secondhand cannabis smoke (SHCS). A group of researchers decided to measure air quality using real-time, continuous PM2.5 air monitors in a five hour experiment to measure fine particle concentrations. The study took place in a two-story house with either a tobacco cigarette or a marijuana joint fully smoked in the home's living room. Results demonstrated that average secondhand PM2.5 concentrations from smoking cannabis indoors were 4.4 times greater than PM2.5 concentrations from smoking tobacco cigarettes indoors. Although opening windows did reduce the indoor PM2.5 concentrations from cannabis smoking, concentrations were still higher than the PM2.5 levels produced by tobacco smoking with closed windows. These results suggest that SHCS in the home is not safe, with the authors calling for the public perception of SHCS safety to be addressed.

Helicopter parenting 
 

Psychological reactance (PR) in adolescents is a psychological state or trait characterized by resistant responses to threats to behavioral freedom. Now what does this have to do with cannabis? Well, PR has been closely linked to negative health behaviors, including cannabis abuse. Researchers examined the link between parental approaches and cannabis use in adolescents. The findings indicate that combined low parental warmth and high parental monitoring results in higher adolescent reactance, in turn leading to increased adolescent cannabis use. The authors suggested that potential interventions might focus on counseling parents about the likely outcomes of parenting style, and ways to implement beneficial approaches, including reasonable monitoring practices with adequate levels of warmth, responsiveness, and caring.