A team of researchers have studied emergency room records and determined that cannabis legalisation in Canada has not resulted in an increase in admissions.

The data published in the journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence revealed that there has been no increase in two provinces, Alberta and Ontario.

Canada legalised cannabis in 2018, which led to concerns that it would increase the number of traffic injuries, especially among young drivers.

The researchers, from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of British Columbia, assessed emergency department records to find any patterns in traffic-injury visits in the months leading to the legalisation and immediately afterwards.

They separated the drivers into two groups focusing on adult drivers and teenagers aged 14 to 18-years-old.

Cannabis legalisation and drivers

They reported: “The current study found no evidence that the implementation of the Cannabis Act was associated with significant changes in post-legalisation patterns of all drivers’ traffic-injury ED visits or, more specifically, youth-driver traffic-injury ED presentations.”

“Given that Canada’s Cannabis Act mandated that the Canadian Parliament review the public health consequences of the Act no later than 2023, the findings of the current study can provide empirical data not only for the Canadian evaluation of the calculus of harms and benefits but also for other international jurisdictions weighing the merits and drawbacks of cannabis legalisation policies.”

The Canadian data is consistent with studies from the United States that show no changes in traffic safety in the months following legalisation.

The study does not take into account the longer-term implications of legalisation despite other studies producing mixed results.

A study from earlier this year reported that drivers who use cannabis may not feel as impaired as someone else who used the same amount but a different strain.

Read more: Cannabis shortage may have caused a rise in synthetic cannabinoids being consumed

A study from researchers in Canada and Israel have revealed that a history of cannabis use is not associated with compromised effects on IVF.

The study, published in the Journal of Cannabis Use, on the effects of a person’s history of cannabis use found it is not associated with compromised effects on in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

The team of researchers from Canada and Israel studied IVF treatment outcomes of male and female, non-donor patients who were cannabis consumers or not. They focused on the ongoing pregnancy rate as well as oocyte yield, fertilization rate, peak serum estradiol, sperm, and embryo quality.

There were 722 participants involved in the research of which, 68 percent were cannabis users who were mostly defined as light consumers. The study revealed a similar implantation rate at 40.74 percent compared to 41.13 percent. It also highlighted similar rates of ongoing pregnancy at 35.2 percent to 29.1 percent between users and non-users. There were no significant differences between consumers and non-consumers in any of the other areas of focus.

IVF and cannabis use

They stated: “Our study did not show any detrimental impact of current cannabis use on any of the measured IVF outcomes. … All the reproductive outcomes of cannabis users and non-users in our study were comparable. These parameters included measures of ovarian response, sperm quality, the efficiency of fertilisation, early embryonic development, and implantation.”

“In fact, the ongoing pregnancy rate per cycle start trended higher for the group of cannabis users (35.2 percent vs. 29.1 percent). This could partially relate to the female participants in the user group being younger than the non-user counterparts.”

The concluded: “They concluded, “The results of this study are in line with the newer studies suggesting that the use of cannabis is not associated with a compromised outcome for couples undergoing IVF.”

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Spain has approved the first cannabis based medicine, Epidyolex for patients with severe conditions such as epilepsy.

Epidyolex, an oral cannabis-based medicine, has been approved in Spain by the Ministry of Health after a large two-year trial. The approval for Epidyolex was based on the results of four randomised controlled Phase III trials. The clinical development of the therapy was spread over 10 different hospitals.

The trial involved over 700 participants with severe forms of epilepsy.

Until recently, there was no distinction between recreational and medicinal cannabis use in Spain which made it difficult to obtain products with higher quantities of 0.02 percent THC.

The medicine will only be available in hospital pharmacies for the treatment of seizures caused by Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) and Dravet Syndrome (DS).

Spain and medical cannabis

Speaking at a press conference, neurologist Vicente Villanueva, head of the Refractory Epilepsy Unit of the Hospital Universtiari i Politècnic La Fe de València said the trials have found a 40 percent reduction in seizures.  “As clinicians and researchers, we are satisfied to have these new options”, 

Antonio Gil-Nagel Rein, a neurologist and director of the Epilepsy Program of the Hospital Ruber Internacional de Madrid reported: “The potential improvement of the quality of life in an area where therapeutic options are very small is good news. Access to a new drug with a novel and clinically proven mechanism of action is a reason for hope for patients and satisfaction for specialists.”

Epidyolex received approval from the European Commission in September 2019. This made it the first cannabis-based prescription medicine to receive authorisation.

Read more: Can cannabis reduce the side effects of anti-seizure medication?