This week in weed. Mystery cannabinoids, a DEA record and promising research about cannabis and suicidal thoughts.

Science News

• Medical cannabis could help treat suicidal ideation. Drug Science , a UK-based research group, published a study in the Archives of Suicide Research that that cannabis might help relieve suicidal thoughts. The study looked at observational data about nearly 4000 patients seeking medical cannabis, and found that the prevalence of suicidal ideation was reduced by about a third after three months of medical cannabis treatment. This study could help clarify debates about the link between cannabis and suicidal thoughts. Past research has found that cannabis users are more likely to experience suicidal ideation, but it's hard to say whether this is because weed causes people to think about suicide, or at because people who feel suicidal are more likely to seek out the drug. This study found that people who seek medical cannabis are more likely to experience suicidal ideation than the general population, even before they get access to the drug. Once they do get access, medical cannabis might actually help alleviate those symptoms.
• Canadians are smoking less and using edibles more since legalization, according to a study published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Liquid vape cartridges might not contain the cannabinoids they say they do. They also might contain never-before-seen, "semi-synthetic" cannabinoids, according to researchers from the Forensic Science Group in Japan.

Policy News

• The American College of Physicians is calling for cannabis to be decriminalized
• The DEA received a record 43,000 comments on their proposal to reschedule cannabis. You can peruse them yourself here. These comments and testimonies offer a window into America's relationship with cannabis. One thing that I found notable, especially given the research on cannabis and suicidal thoughts above, is that some commenters said cannabis nearly led them to suicide, while others said that it saved them from suicide.
• The government of Thailand plans to make cannabis a regulated medical drug.

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