We have, for some time, known that the more marijuana there is in our communities, the more opiate and heroin use rises. Now, brain science is beginning to explain why.
Studies reveal that the cannabinoid-opioid systems of the brain are intimately connected. There is a functional interaction between the mu and Cb1 receptors of the brain and these receptors commonly exist together on brain cells. In the areas of the brain where cannabinoids bind, opioids bind as well. If you modify one system, you automatically change the other.
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate voted 32 to 2 Thursday to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco in the state to 21 from 18 to 21, passing legislation that supporters said would cut down youth smoking and nicotine addiction.
The bill, compiled by the Joint Committee on Public Health based on several separate measures, also would ban pharmacies and health-care institutions from selling tobacco products and prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes in places where smoking is already banned.
