Study: More women using marijuana to help ease menopause symptoms
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay News
Women are increasingly using marijuana to ease the symptoms of menopause, according to a new study. Photo by Circe Denyer/publicdomainpictures
Restlessness. Night sweats. Anxiety. Irritability. Aches and pains.
Would smoking a little pot help women deal with these common symptoms of menopause?
A good number of middle-aged women apparently think so, because they've been turning to marijuana to help handle the change of life, a new study reports.
"Midlife women within the menopause transition period of their life are using cannabis, and they're using it for symptoms that tend to overlap with menopause," said lead researcher Katherine Babyn, a graduate student at the University of Alberta in Canada.
RELATED Experts offer 'weak' support for marijuana to treat chronic pain
There's just one drawback -- little to no research has proven that pot can effectively treat menopause-related symptoms, said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society.
"This hasn't been studied formally in women going through menopause, and so we don't know what the potential benefits or risks are," Faubion said. "That's the danger here, is we're using a drug that has not been studied."
For this study, Babyn and her colleagues surveyed nearly 1,500 middle-aged women in the Canadian province of Alberta.
RELATEDStudy: Cancer patients avoiding marijuana, even as rules relax on use
Two-thirds of the women said they had used pot at some time, and one-third said they'd done so within the past month.
Of the current users, 75% reported that they'd been using pot for medical purposes, even though only 23% had it medically prescribed to them.
They used pot in a number of forms, including 52% who use edibles, 47% who use oils, 41% who smoked flower and 26% who used a vape.
The products they used combined cannabidiol, or CBD, and THC, which is the chemical in pot that causes intoxication. About 58% reported using CBD/THC blends, while 36% used products with high THC and 35% used products with high CBD.
The most common menopause-related issues they were trying to address with pot included:
Troubling, at 74%
Anxiety, at 59%
Difficulty concentrating, at 58%
Irritability, at 55%
Muscle and joint aches, at 53%
Across the board, women who used cannabis reported more menopause symptoms than those who didn't use, "but we can't establish which way that relationship goes," Babyn said.
Faubion said the findings tell her that women who use cannabis have worse symptoms.
"Is it that they have worse symptoms that's driving them to cannabis, or is the cannabis making their symptoms worse?" she said. "We can't really make conclusions based on this article."
Up to 74% of the women reported improvement in their symptoms after using cannabis, said senior researcher Nese Yuksel, a professor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Alberta.
But because it was a general question relating to all symptoms, "we can't make any real association with it," Yuksel said. "What we feel is that women feel they're getting some benefit, but we can't say that conclusively."
Faubion, Yuksel and Babyn agreed that until more medical evidence has accrued regarding pot's benefits, women are better off relying on tried-and-true menopause treatments.
"There is a need for future research to really investigate whether cannabis would be effective and safe for managing menopause symptoms," Babyn said.
Faubion agreed.
"We have safe and effective therapies for menopause symptoms," she said. "I would not be directing them to something that hasn't been studied."
Doctors should reach out to patients to assess their symptoms and steer them toward effective treatments, Yuksel said.
"It's a wake-up call to say we need to have these discussions with our patients," she said. "A lot of women do kind of fall through the cracks as far as even getting their symptoms assessed and knowing what different approaches there are for treatment."
The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society, in Washington, D.C. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Harvard Medical School has more about dealing with the symptoms of menopause.
Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Federal marijuana legalization could tax drug back to the street, experts sayBy Dennis Thompson, HealthDay News
Women are increasingly using marijuana to ease the symptoms of menopause, according to a new study. Photo by Circe Denyer/publicdomainpictures
Restlessness. Night sweats. Anxiety. Irritability. Aches and pains.
Would smoking a little pot help women deal with these common symptoms of menopause?
A good number of middle-aged women apparently think so, because they've been turning to marijuana to help handle the change of life, a new study reports.
"Midlife women within the menopause transition period of their life are using cannabis, and they're using it for symptoms that tend to overlap with menopause," said lead researcher Katherine Babyn, a graduate student at the University of Alberta in Canada.
RELATED Experts offer 'weak' support for marijuana to treat chronic pain
There's just one drawback -- little to no research has proven that pot can effectively treat menopause-related symptoms, said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society.
"This hasn't been studied formally in women going through menopause, and so we don't know what the potential benefits or risks are," Faubion said. "That's the danger here, is we're using a drug that has not been studied."
For this study, Babyn and her colleagues surveyed nearly 1,500 middle-aged women in the Canadian province of Alberta.
RELATEDStudy: Cancer patients avoiding marijuana, even as rules relax on use
Two-thirds of the women said they had used pot at some time, and one-third said they'd done so within the past month.
Of the current users, 75% reported that they'd been using pot for medical purposes, even though only 23% had it medically prescribed to them.
They used pot in a number of forms, including 52% who use edibles, 47% who use oils, 41% who smoked flower and 26% who used a vape.
The products they used combined cannabidiol, or CBD, and THC, which is the chemical in pot that causes intoxication. About 58% reported using CBD/THC blends, while 36% used products with high THC and 35% used products with high CBD.
The most common menopause-related issues they were trying to address with pot included:
Troubling, at 74%
Anxiety, at 59%
Difficulty concentrating, at 58%
Irritability, at 55%
Muscle and joint aches, at 53%
Across the board, women who used cannabis reported more menopause symptoms than those who didn't use, "but we can't establish which way that relationship goes," Babyn said.
Faubion said the findings tell her that women who use cannabis have worse symptoms.
"Is it that they have worse symptoms that's driving them to cannabis, or is the cannabis making their symptoms worse?" she said. "We can't really make conclusions based on this article."
Up to 74% of the women reported improvement in their symptoms after using cannabis, said senior researcher Nese Yuksel, a professor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Alberta.
But because it was a general question relating to all symptoms, "we can't make any real association with it," Yuksel said. "What we feel is that women feel they're getting some benefit, but we can't say that conclusively."
Faubion, Yuksel and Babyn agreed that until more medical evidence has accrued regarding pot's benefits, women are better off relying on tried-and-true menopause treatments.
"There is a need for future research to really investigate whether cannabis would be effective and safe for managing menopause symptoms," Babyn said.
Faubion agreed.
"We have safe and effective therapies for menopause symptoms," she said. "I would not be directing them to something that hasn't been studied."
Doctors should reach out to patients to assess their symptoms and steer them toward effective treatments, Yuksel said.
"It's a wake-up call to say we need to have these discussions with our patients," she said. "A lot of women do kind of fall through the cracks as far as even getting their symptoms assessed and knowing what different approaches there are for treatment."
The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society, in Washington, D.C. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Harvard Medical School has more about dealing with the symptoms of menopause.
Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference to call for the decriminalization of marijuana at the federal level at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 14. He is joined by Sens. Cory Booker (L), D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who have been working in support of the legislation.
File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- As more states and the public embrace legal cannabis, Congress is considering a bill to legalize the drug at the federal level and clear up legal ambiguity that's hampered the burgeoning industry.
But drug reform advocates and the cannabis industry have reacted cautiously to what may be the best shot at federal marijuana legalization. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, backed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would disrupt the varying tax structures for the 19 states that have legal recreational weed.
The cannabis industry and its allies worry that federal legalization will come with higher taxes that'll put smaller companies out of business and send consumers back to the unregulated market.
"We need to be careful not to kill the goose that laid the golden egg," said Eric Gaston, owner of Evergreen Market, a chain of five recreational cannabis stores in the Seattle area.
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- As more states and the public embrace legal cannabis, Congress is considering a bill to legalize the drug at the federal level and clear up legal ambiguity that's hampered the burgeoning industry.
But drug reform advocates and the cannabis industry have reacted cautiously to what may be the best shot at federal marijuana legalization. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, backed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would disrupt the varying tax structures for the 19 states that have legal recreational weed.
The cannabis industry and its allies worry that federal legalization will come with higher taxes that'll put smaller companies out of business and send consumers back to the unregulated market.
"We need to be careful not to kill the goose that laid the golden egg," said Eric Gaston, owner of Evergreen Market, a chain of five recreational cannabis stores in the Seattle area.
The bill faces an uncertain future with Republican opposition, unease among moderate Democrats and no clear signals from the White House, The New York Times reports. But the bill's backing from Schumer, as well as Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, shows how mainstream the once fringe idea has become.
The proposal shows how taxation will remain a stumbling block for any federal legalization measure.
Gaston's business is an example of the complicated -- and expensive -- relationship weed stores already have with the tax collector.
RELATED WADA asks panel to review status of marijuana on banned substances list
Evergreen Market has many common business expenses: attorneys fees, rent, utilities and payroll for 170 employees. But unlike more conventional businesses, Gaston can't deduct common expenses from his tax bill to the federal government because it recognizes no legal use of marijuana.
Gaston must pay Washington state's 37% excise tax and 10% sales tax on recreational cannabis -- the highest of any state that has legalized the drug. The state tax rate, along with being blocked from writing off many expenses, means that more than half of every dollar he makes goes to taxes.
The bill would allow cannabis businesses to access write-offs used by other businesses. It also funds programs intended to assist communities affected by the drug war. That funding comes from a 10% excise tax placed on cannabis in the first year the bill is enacted that would grow to 25% by the fifth year.
RELATED Experts offer 'weak' support for marijuana to treat chronic pain
Industry groups have complained that the 25% rate still leaves businesses burdened.
Beau Whitney, a Portland, Ore.-based cannabis economist, said many cannabis businesses have little left after paying expenses and taxes. The legislation would increase the taxes for cannabis businesses that would disproportionately affect smaller operations owned by women or minorities.
Even with normal business deductions, cannabis businesses would pay $1.1 billion in higher taxes between 2021 and 2025, according to his analysis.
"If businesses have increased costs, it's hard to push those costs onto consumers," he said. "If it goes to the consumer, they will go back to the illicit market, but if operators absorb those costs, they are under stress. It's a lose-lose scenario."
A federal marijuana tax would also disrupt the existing tax structure in the 19 states that have legalized the drug for recreational use.
In a letter sent this month to Schumer, Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, pointed out, for instance, that Alaska only taxes cannabis at the point of sale from a state-licensed cultivator. So Alaska would see no revenue from products brought in from out of state under relaxed federal restrictions, she wrote.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also weighed in with a letter arguing that the proposed cannabis tax rate "would pressure states to consider cutting their tax rates," reducing revenues they rely on for social equity and education programs. He also warned that national cannabis regulations could spur consolidations and push smaller, local businesses out.
"We are learning that the cannabis industry is quickly becoming a piggy bank for special projects," said Peter Marcus, spokesman for Terrapin, a chain of six recreational stores in Colorado.
He said headlines of how much money is flowing through the industry obscure its tight margins and how many are struggling or going out of business.
Colorado has a combined 30% wholesale and retail transaction tax on cannabis. Marcus said the rate could be higher as the state government seeks money to cover services. He pointed to Initiative 25, an education funding measure Colorado voters will decide on in November. If approved, it will add another sales tax on cannabis that will rise to 5% by 2024.
Vicki Christophersen, executive director of the Washington CannaBusiness Association, said that if taxes become too high they'll undermine the legal market and send consumers back to the black market, which doesn't have safeguards to keep products safe and out of the hands of minors.
She said she's grateful that Congress is seriously discussing legalization and expects there to be some taxation. But she said that discussion needs to consider how state and local cannabis taxes will play into any national regulation framework.
"Every state has a different tax structure, and I don't think we necessarily know what that sweet spot is," she said.
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