Trends in Cannabis-related Hospitalizations in Arizona from 2016-2021 and Associations with Mental Health-related Hospitalizations.

Objective: To examine trends in cannabis-related hospital visits in Arizona from 2016-2021 and associations with hospital visits for a mental health condition.

Methods: Data were emergency department and inpatient hospital discharge records from all Arizona licensed hospitals from 2016-2021. Records comprised 18,758,614 hospital visits.

Inclination of polarized illumination increases symmetry of structures grown inorganic phototropism.

Inclination of unpatterned, linearly polarized illumination in the plane of the electric field oscillation effected increased directional feature alignment and decreased off-axis order in Se-Te deposits generated by inorganic phototropic growth relative to that produced using normal incidence. Optically based growth simulations reproduced the experimental results indicating a photonic basis for the morphology change. Modeling of the light scattering at the growth interface revealed that illumination inclination enhances scattering that localizes the optical field along the polarization plane and suppresses cooperativity in defect-driven scattering.

Associations of alternative cannabis product use and poly-use with subsequent illicit drug use initiation during adolescence.

Rationale: Specific cannabis products may differentially increase risk of initiating non-cannabis illicit drug use during adolescence.

Objective: To determine whether ever- and poly-use of smoked, vaporized, edible, concentrate, or blunt cannabis products are associated with subsequent initiation of non-cannabis illicit drug use.

Methods: High school students from Los Angeles completed in-classroom surveys.

The effects of the 4/20 cannabis holiday and adult-use cannabis legalization on medical cannabis sales and medical cannabis patient registration in Arizona.

Background: This study examined whether the 4/20 cannabis holiday was associated with increases in medical cannabis sales from licensed dispensaries in Arizona from 2018-2021, and whether adult-use cannabis legalization (the vote in November 2020 and retail sales in January 2021) was associated with declines in medical cannabis sales and in the number of registered medical patients.

Methods: Data came from the Arizona Medical Marijuana Program monthly reports from January 2018-December 2021. The reports show daily sales from licensed medical cannabis dispensaries (i.

Preparedness for healthy ageing and polysubstance use in long-term cannabis users: a population-representative longitudinal study.

Background: Cannabis is often characterised as a young person's drug. However, people who began consuming cannabis in the 1970s and 1980s are no longer young and some have consumed it for many years. This study tested the preregistered hypothesis that long-term cannabis users show accelerated biological ageing in midlife and poorer health preparedness, financial preparedness, and social preparedness for old age.

Diminished Structural Brain Integrity in Long-term Cannabis Users Reflects a History of Polysubstance Use.

Background: Cannabis legalization and use are outpacing our understanding of its long-term effects on brain and behavior, which is fundamental for effective policy and health practices. Existing studies are limited by small samples, cross-sectional measures, failure to separate long-term from recreational use, and inadequate control for other substance use. Here, we address these limitations by determining the structural brain integrity of long-term cannabis users in the Dunedin Study, a longitudinal investigation of a population-representative birth cohort followed to midlife.

Plastic Morphological Response to Spectral Shifts during Inorganic Phototropic Growth.

Plants exhibit phototropism in which growth is directed toward sunlight and demonstrate morphological plasticity in response to changes in the spectral distribution of the incident illumination. Inorganic phototropic growth via template-free, light-directed electrochemical deposition of semiconductor material can spontaneously generate highly ordered mesostructures with anisotropic, nanoscale lamellar features that exhibit a pitch proportional to the wavelength (λ) of the stimulating illumination. In this work, Se-Te films were generated via a two-step inorganic phototropic growth process using a series of narrowband light-emitting diode sources with discrete output wavelengths (λ ≠ λ).

The anticipated effects of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use: Initial development and preliminary validation.

Social learning theories suggest that outcome expectancies are strong determinants of behavior, and studies find that alcohol and cannabis expectancies are associated with negative substance use outcomes. However, there are no measures to date that assess expectancies for simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use (SAM), often referred to as SAM, despite strong links with negative consequences and rising time trends. The present study sought to provide initial validation of test scores for the Anticipated Effects of Simultaneous Alcohol and Cannabis Use Scale (AE-SAM), using a sample of past month college student simultaneous users ( = 434).

Long-Term Cannabis Use and Cognitive Reserves and Hippocampal Volume in Midlife.

Objective: Cannabis use is increasing among midlife and older adults. This study tested the hypotheses that long-term cannabis use is associated with cognitive deficits and smaller hippocampal volume in midlife, which is important because midlife cognitive deficits and smaller hippocampal volume are risk factors for dementia.

Methods: Participants are members of a representative cohort of 1,037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-1973 and followed to age 45, with 94% retention.

Validating a brief screening measure for early-onset substance use during adolescence in a diverse, nationwide birth cohort.

The Loeber Risk Score (LRS) was developed to predict early-onset cannabis use in adolescence from late childhood, facilitating early identification. However, the LRS was developed in non-representative historical samples, leaving uncertain its generalizability to children/adolescents across the U.S.

Are recreational cannabis laws associated with declining medical cannabis program enrollment in the U.S.? An analysis of cardholder enrollment and demographic characteristics from 2013 to 2020.

Background: There is speculation that enrollment in U.S. state medical cannabis programs differs depending on whether adult recreational cannabis use is legal.

Selective-Area, Water-Free Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxides on Graphene Defects.

Passivating defective regions on monolayer graphene with metal oxides remains an active area of research for graphene device integration. To effectively passivate these regions, a water-free atomic layer deposition (ALD) recipe was developed and yielded selective-area ALD (sa-ALD) of mixed-metal oxides onto line defects in monolayer graphene. The anisotropically deposited film targeted high-energy defect sites that were formed during synthesis or transfer of the graphene layer.

Assessing Effects of Near-Field Synergistic Light Absorption on Ordered Inorganic Phototropic Growth.

We report herein that synergistic light absorption in the optical near-field enables nanoscale self-organization during inorganic phototropic growth. Se-Te was grown electrochemically under illumination from an incoherent, unstructured light source in geometrically constrained, wavelength scale areas. Despite the limited dimensions, with as few as two discrete features produced in a single sub-micron dimension, the deposit morphology exhibited defined order and anisotropy.

Path-Dependent Morphological Evolution of Se-Te Mesostructures Prepared by Inorganic Phototropic Growth.

We describe herein a path-dependent "history" effect wherein the film morphology generated in the second step of a two-step inorganic phototropic growth process depends on a preexisting structure that has been first grown under different optical stimulation conditions. Se-Te generated with static illumination exhibited a highly anisotropic lamellar morphology with a characteristic feature pitch proportional to the input wavelength. Growth using first a short wavelength of light, followed by growth using a longer wavelength, resulted in the second-stage morphology exhibiting termination of lamellae formed during the first growth step.

The Anticipated Effects of Cannabis Scale (AECS): Initial development and validation of an affect- and valence-based expectancy measure.

Prior research suggests that cannabis expectancies are related to cannabis misuse and problems. Although there are established measures of cannabis expectancies, existing measures have psychometric limitations and/or are lengthy. Existing measures typically have a two-factor structure of positive and negative expectancies, but recent conceptualizations of alcohol expectancies support a valence- (positive vs.

A within-person comparison of the subjective effects of higher vs. lower-potency cannabis.

Background: Cannabis concentrates have much higher concentrations of THC than marijuana (flower) and are quickly gaining popularity in the United States. One hypothesis is that use of higher-THC cannabis (concentrates) might result in greater intoxication and more severe acute negative effects than lower-THC cannabis (marijuana), but few studies have compared the subjective effects of concentrates and marijuana.

Methods: Current (past-year) cannabis users were recruited online to complete a survey about their cannabis use.

Cannabis use and psychosocial functioning: evidence from prospective longitudinal studies.

Cannabis legalization is expected to result in more frequent and compulsive use, potentially contributing to worsening psychosocial functioning among some cannabis users. This review evaluates associations between cannabis use and psychosocial functioning in recently published reports from prospective longitudinal studies and considers evidence for and against causation. Unlike previous reviews, studies of adolescents/emerging adults are considered separately from studies that followed adolescents well into adulthood, in part because of vast differences in cumulative cannabis exposure.

Adolescent executive cognitive functioning and trait impulsivity as predictors of young-adult risky drinking and alcohol-related problems.

Executive cognitive functioning (ECF) and trait impulsivity have long been implicated in risky drinking and alcohol-related problems. However, research on these constructs has developed independently. The present study tested whether two subdomains of adolescent ECF (updating and response inhibition) and adolescent trait impulsivity, considered separately and together, predicted young-adult risky drinking and alcohol-related problems.

Associations between Recent and Cumulative Cannabis Use and Internalizing Problems in Boys from Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

This study tested whether increases in recent and cumulative cannabis use were each associated with increases in internalizing problems from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were boys from a community sample that was assessed annually from ~age 15-26 (N = 506). Boys reported on their cannabis use, depression symptoms, and anxiety/depression problems each year.

Inorganic Phototropism in Electrodeposition of Se-Te.

Photoelectrochemical deposition of Se-Te on isolated Au islands using an unstructured, incoherent beam of light produces growth of Se-Te alloy toward the direction of the incident light beam. Full-wave electromagnetic simulations of light absorption indicated that the induced spatial growth anisotropy was a function of asymmetric absorption in the evolving deposit. Inorganic phototropic growth is analogous to biological systems such as palm trees that exhibit phototropic growth wherein physical extension of the plant guides the crown toward the time-averaged position of the sun, to maximize solar harvesting.

Cannabis Concentrate Use in Adolescents.

Background: Cannabis concentrates, which are cannabis plant extracts that contain high concentrations of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannbinol (THC), have become increasingly popular among adults in the United States. However, no studies have reported on the prevalence or correlates of cannabis concentrate use in adolescents, who, as a group, are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the harms of THC.

Methods: Participants are a racially and ethnically diverse group of 47 142 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students recruited from 245 schools across Arizona in 2018.

Associations between adolescent cannabis use frequency and adult brain structure: A prospective study of boys followed to adulthood.

Background: Few studies have tested the hypothesis that adolescent cannabis users show structural brain alterations in adulthood. The present study tested associations between prospectively-assessed trajectories of adolescent cannabis use and adult brain structure in a sample of boys followed to adulthood.

Methods: Data came from the Pittsburgh Youth Study - a longitudinal study of ˜1000 boys.

Associations between cannabis use and retinal vessel diameter in young adults.

Cannabis appears to have vascular effects that may have implications for cerebrovascular function, but no studies have directly visualized the microvasculature in living cannabis users. The current study used retinal imaging, a tool taken from ophthalmology, to visualize the small retinal microvessels in cannabis users. We compared retinal arteriolar (small arteries) and venular (small veins) diameters in 55 frequent cannabis users and 51 comparison individuals with a mean age of 19.

Exploring Cannabis-Specific Parenting as a Mechanism of the Intergenerational Transmission of Cannabis Use and Cannabis Use Disorder.

Objective: Parental cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a known risk factor in the development of adolescent cannabis use. One potential mechanism is parenting behaviors. This study considered cannabis-specific parenting strategies as a mechanism of the relation between parental CUD and adolescent cannabis use.

Associations Between Cannabis Use and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Longitudinal Study of Men.

Objective: This study tested longitudinal associations between cannabis use and cardiometabolic risk factors that underlie the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Methods: Participants were men from the youngest cohort of the Pittsburgh Youth Study who were followed prospectively from approximately age 7 to 32 years (N = 253). Frequency of cannabis use was assessed yearly from approximately ages 12 to 20 years and again at approximately ages 26, 29, and 32 years.