Dr. Matthew Hill: How Cannabis Impacts Health & the Potential Risks

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Matthew Hill, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology and anatomy at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary and an expert on the biology of cannabis. We discuss how cannabis affects the brain to produce its psychoactive effects (feeling “high”), including altered time perception, focus, memory, appetite, and stress.

We discuss how THC vs. cannabidiol (CBD) affects the brain, the effects of different routes of cannabis administration (e.g., smoking, vaping, edibles), high-potency THC, and whether cannabis is addictive. We discuss if there is a link between cannabis use and the development of psychosis, anxiety, bipolar depression, or schizophrenia.

We discuss whether CBD has clinical benefits in regulating stress, promoting sleep, and treating certain diseases. We also discuss if there are real and consistent differences in the biological effects of different cannabis strains, if cannabis impacts hormones, and the uses of cannabis for the management of pain, stress, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and nausea.

Listeners of this episode will get an up-to-date understanding of what is currently known about how cannabis affects the brain and body, including both its potential benefits and risks.

Articles

• Methadone-induced attenuation of the effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on temporal discrimination in pigeons (The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics)
• Isolation, Structure, and Partial Synthesis of an Active Constituent of Hashish (Journal of the American Chemical Society)
• Endocannabinoid Hedonic Hotspot for Sensory Pleasure: Anandamide in Nucleus Accumbens Shell Enhances ‘Liking’ of a Sweet Reward (Neuropsychopharmacology)
• Endocannabinoids selectively enhance sweet taste (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
• Role for fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in the leptin-mediated effects on feeding and energy balance (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
• Protective effects of elevated anandamide on stress and fear-related behaviors: translational evidence from humans and mice (Molecular Psychiatry)
• Vaporized Cannabis Extracts Have Reinforcing Properties and Support Conditioned Drug-Seeking Behavior in Rats (The Journal of Neuroscience)
• The effects of cannabinoids on serum cortisol and prolactin in humans (Psychopharmacology)
• Recommendations From Cannabis Dispensaries About First-Trimester Cannabis Use (Obstetrics & Gynecology)
• Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines: A Comprehensive Update of Evidence and Recommendations (American Journal of Public Health)
• Emotional response to intravenous delta9tetrahydrocannabinol during oral surgery (Journal of Oral Surgery)
• Metabolic Messengers: endocannabinoids (Nature Metabolism)
• Association of cannabis potency with mental ill health and addiction: a systematic review (The Lancet Psychiatry)
• Effects of Cannabis Use on Human Behavior, Including Cognition, Motivation, and Psychosis: A Review (JAMA Psychiatry)
• CANNABIS AND SCHIZOPHRENIA A Longitudinal Study of Swedish Conscripts (The Lancet)
• Relationship among subjective responses, flavor, and chemical composition across more than 800 commercial cannabis varieties (Journal of Cannabis Research)
• The phytochemical diversity of commercial Cannabis in the United States (PLoS ONE)
• Vaporized D-limonene selectively mitigates the acute anxiogenic effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy adults who intermittently use cannabis (Drug and Alcohol Dependence)
• Randomized, dose-ranging safety trial of cannabidiol in Dravet syndrome (Neurology)
• Inhibition of an equilibrative nucleoside transporter by cannabidiol: A mechanism of cannabinoid immunosuppression (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
• The Use of a Synthetic Cannabinoid in the Management of Treatment-Resistant Nightmares in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics)
• Suppression of Amygdalar Endocannabinoid Signaling by Stress Contributes to Activation of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis (Neuropsychopharmacology)
• Elevated Anandamide, Enhanced Recall of Fear Extinction, and Attenuated Stress Responses Following Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase: A Randomized, Controlled Experimental Medicine Trial (Biological Psychiatry)
• Functional Redundancy Between Canonical Endocannabinoid Signaling Systems in the Modulation of Anxiety (Biological Psychiatry)
• Comparison of subjective, pharmacokinetic, and physiological effects of marijuana smoked as joints and blunts (Drug and Alcohol Dependence)
• Association of Naturalistic Administration of Cannabis Flower and Concentrates With Intoxication and Impairment (JAMA Psychiatry)
• Cannabis vapor self-administration elicits sex- and dose-specific alterations in stress reactivity in rats (Neurobiology of Stress)
• The relationship between cannabis use, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder: a genetically informed study (The Lancet Psychiatry)
• Genetic predisposition to schizophrenia associated with increased use of cannabis (Molecular Psychiatry)
• GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal effect of schizophrenia liability (Nature Neuroscience)
• Assessing causality in associations between cannabis use and schizophrenia risk: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study (Psychological Medicine)
  

Other Resources

• Don’t Harsh Our Mellow Dude (Maureen Dowd, The New York Times)
• The CannaVan Helps Marijuana Researchers Drive Around Some Roadblocks (CPR News)
• Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids
• Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids CME Program
• Canada’s Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines (LRCUG)
• Why I changed my mind on weed (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Dr. Zachary Knight: The Science of Hunger & Medications to Combat Obesity
• The Effects of Cannabis (Marijuana) on the Brain & Body
• ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus
• Adderall, Stimulants & Modafinil for ADHD: Short- & Long-Term Effects
• The Science & Treatment of Bipolar Disorder
• Placebo Effect & Nicotine Dose-Dependent Response (timestamp)
• Dr. Nolan Williams – Cannabis, THC, CBD (timestamp)
• Dr. Matt Walker – CBD (timestamp)

People Mentioned

• Leah Mayo: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Calgary
• Markus Heilig: Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Linköping University
• Carrie Cuttler: Associate Professor of Psychology, Washington State University
• Kent Hutchison: Professor of Psychology, University of Colorado Boulder
• Angela Bryan: Professor of Psychology, University of Colorado Boulder
• Cinnamon Bidwell: Clinical psychologist, University of Colorado Boulder
• Ryan McLaughlin: Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology, Washington State University
• Ziva Cooper: Professor of Psychiatry, University of California Los Angeles
• Cecilia Hillard: Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Wisconsin
• Donald Tashkin: Pulmonologist, University of California Los Angeles
• Sachin Patel: Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern Medicine