Latest news with #Gowin
CNN
22-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
Teen use of cannabis edibles increases 43% after legalization in Canada, study finds
Legalization of cannabis products may be linked to growing use among teens, a new study found. Teen use of cannabis rose 26% in Canadian provinces that legalized the sale of edibles and extracts in October 2019, according to the study, which published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Edible use increased 43%, raising concerns about youth-friendly forms of the drug, such as cannabis chocolates, candies, sodas and desserts — the same products responsible for a growing number of child hospitalizations in the US. Based on surveys of more than 106,000 students aged 12 to 17 years old, the study found use remained stable in Quebec, where the sale of these products was still banned. Canada legalized dried cannabis use in October 2018, and all Canadian provinces except Quebec followed a year later by legalizing the sale of cannabis edibles and extracts. While Canada's 2018 law prohibits the sale of cannabis to individuals under 18, the study suggests legalization could have made these products more accessible to teens and influenced their attitudes surrounding use. Canadian laws require child-resistant, plain and clearly labeled packaging for cannabis edibles, but illicit products sold online and by unauthorized distributors often look like other snacks, according to the study. 'This finding is important in light of previous literature regarding potential long-term adverse health effects of cannabis use for adolescents,' said senior author Dr. Hai Nguyen, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in an email. Teens using cannabis products regularly are at a greater risk for developing dependency disorders later in life, according to neuroscientist Joshua Gowin, who was not involved in the study. 'Some (studies) suggest that cannabis use during adolescence, especially heavy use, could alter brain development,' said Gowin, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. 'If you start using earlier, it may be harder to change that trajectory later on.' Cannabis use can affect parts of the brain that deal with attention, coordination, learning, decision-making and emotional regulation, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use at an early age has been linked to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and a heightened risk of developing longer-lasting mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, in adulthood. Despite these risks, the study found the students perceived less harm from occasional cannabis use because of its legalization. Using both cannabis and alcohol at the same time, which studies show can lead to higher and more frequent consumption of both, was 28% more prevalent after legalization as well. When it comes to social attitudes around drug use, causality is often complicated to prove, because laws can change in response to cultural changes as well, Gowin said. For this reason, other research methods beyond surveys can play an important role in understanding the effects of legalization for future policymaking decisions. Related video These 'Cannamoms' say weed helps them be better moms In the US, the relationship between adolescent use and legalization may be even more complex to study because of variations in state and local regulations, Gowin said. Federally, cannabis is illegal, but 47 states have legalized it for medical uses and 24 states for adult recreational purposes. Each state has its own laws about marketing, packaging and distribution of these products. Nguyen also noted his research only addresses short-term effects based on one point in time after legalization, so it's important to continuously study how use patterns evolve and reflect changes in the laws. In the meantime, Nguyen recommended policymakers focus on striking the right balance between adult access and teen protection. Further enforcement may be needed to crack down on marketing and packaging that appeals to younger people, he noted, and local regulators can ensure cannabis distributors are located an appropriate distance away from schools. 'It is also essential to invest in public education campaigns that raise awareness about the risks of cannabis use among adolescents,' Nguyen said, adding that multimedia public health campaigns, school-based awareness efforts and parent-child communication are all important prevention strategies. Parent-youth communication guides can help families have more informed conversations at home and navigate common misconceptions about edible use, Nguyen said. 'It's not about scaring people,' Gowin said. 'Honesty and truth can be at the forefront of the conversations and hopefully people can make up their own minds about what's the best thing for them, their families and their communities.'
CNN
22-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
Teen cannabis use increased after legalization in Canada, study finds
Legalization of cannabis products may be linked to growing use among teens, a new study found. Teen use of cannabis rose 26% in Canadian provinces that legalized the sale of edibles and extracts in October 2019, according to the study, which published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Edible use increased 43%, raising concerns about youth-friendly forms of the drug, such as cannabis chocolates, candies, sodas and desserts — the same products responsible for a growing number of child hospitalizations in the US. Based on surveys of more than 106,000 students aged 12 to 17 years old, the study found use remained stable in Quebec, where the sale of these products was still banned. Canada legalized dried cannabis use in October 2018, and all Canadian provinces except Quebec followed a year later by legalizing the sale of cannabis edibles and extracts. While Canada's 2018 law prohibits the sale of cannabis to individuals under 18, the study suggests legalization could have made these products more accessible to teens and influenced their attitudes surrounding use. Canadian laws require child-resistant, plain and clearly labeled packaging for cannabis edibles, but illicit products sold online and by unauthorized distributors often look like other snacks, according to the study. 'This finding is important in light of previous literature regarding potential long-term adverse health effects of cannabis use for adolescents,' said senior author Dr. Hai Nguyen, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in an email. Teens using cannabis products regularly are at a greater risk for developing dependency disorders later in life, according to neuroscientist Joshua Gowin, who was not involved in the study. 'Some (studies) suggest that cannabis use during adolescence, especially heavy use, could alter brain development,' said Gowin, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. 'If you start using earlier, it may be harder to change that trajectory later on.' Cannabis use can affect parts of the brain that deal with attention, coordination, learning, decision-making and emotional regulation, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use at an early age has been linked to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and a heightened risk of developing longer-lasting mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, in adulthood. Despite these risks, the study found the students perceived less harm from occasional cannabis use because of its legalization. Using both cannabis and alcohol at the same time, which studies show can lead to higher and more frequent consumption of both, was 28% more prevalent after legalization as well. When it comes to social attitudes around drug use, causality is often complicated to prove, because laws can change in response to cultural changes as well, Gowin said. For this reason, other research methods beyond surveys can play an important role in understanding the effects of legalization for future policymaking decisions. Related video These 'Cannamoms' say weed helps them be better moms In the US, the relationship between adolescent use and legalization may be even more complex to study because of variations in state and local regulations, Gowin said. Federally, cannabis is illegal, but 47 states have legalized it for medical uses and 24 states for adult recreational purposes. Each state has its own laws about marketing, packaging and distribution of these products. Nguyen also noted his research only addresses short-term effects based on one point in time after legalization, so it's important to continuously study how use patterns evolve and reflect changes in the laws. In the meantime, Nguyen recommended policymakers focus on striking the right balance between adult access and teen protection. Further enforcement may be needed to crack down on marketing and packaging that appeals to younger people, he noted, and local regulators can ensure cannabis distributors are located an appropriate distance away from schools. 'It is also essential to invest in public education campaigns that raise awareness about the risks of cannabis use among adolescents,' Nguyen said, adding that multimedia public health campaigns, school-based awareness efforts and parent-child communication are all important prevention strategies. Parent-youth communication guides can help families have more informed conversations at home and navigate common misconceptions about edible use, Nguyen said. 'It's not about scaring people,' Gowin said. 'Honesty and truth can be at the forefront of the conversations and hopefully people can make up their own minds about what's the best thing for them, their families and their communities.'
Japan Times
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
AI resurrecting the dead threatens our grasp on reality
A cruel twist of fate led Jason Gowin to make a novel parenting decision. Days after his wife gave birth to their twin boys in 2019, she had a stroke. The doctors gave her two or three years to live. Gowin and his oldest son were devastated, but worse was to come. Months later, Gowin found out he had stomach cancer. Facing the prospect of leaving three children without parents, he got an idea from watching the Superman movie "Man Of Steel," where the caped hero walks into the Fortress of Solitude and talks to a simulation of his father. There was something comforting about that possibility, of he and his wife leaving behind talking replicas of themselves for their children. "I thought, I bet someone has already come up with this,' he remembers. A Google search led Gowin, a 47-year-old actor in Pennsylvania, to about 10 different companies offering to train AI models on personal data — text messages, videos and other digital traces — to create virtual likenesses of people. He signed up as a beta tester with a provider called "You, Only Virtual,' and today his 9-year-old son occasionally talks to a chatbot they call Robo Dad, an AI simulation that sounds eerily like Gowin. Recently, when his wife mentioned something about putting the dishes away, Robo Dad made the same joke moments after Gowan himself did. Artificial intelligence is beginning to offer a startling new proposition: the chance to keep talking to the dead. While only a small subset of people have tried so-called grief tech tools so far, the technology heralds a profound and disturbing shift in how we process loss. The price of the comfort from these tools could be a further erosion of our collective grip on what's real and what isn't. Despite AI's explosive growth, digital resurrections remain rare. "You, Only Virtual' has about 1,000 users, according to Chief Executive Officer Justin Harrison. A similar firm called "Project December' reports 3,664 people have tried its service. A few thousand in China have "digitally revived' their loved ones through an AI firm called "Super Brain,' using as little as 30 seconds of audiovisual data. These numbers pale against ChatGPT's 300 million weekly users. But as AI becomes cheaper and more sophisticated, these early adopters may signal a change in how we deal with death. The idea isn't totally unprecedented. Millions already seek companionship from chatbots like Replika, Kindroid and drawn by one of generative AI's most surprising capabilities: simulated empathy. These interactions have proven so emotionally compelling that users have fallen in love with their AI companions or, in extreme cases, allegedly been driven to suicide. Others have tried speaking to digital simulations of their older selves to help plan for their future, with more than 60,000 people now using one such tool called Future You. It's easy to see the allure when so much of our communication today is text-based and AI has become so fluent. If Gowin's story doesn't move you, ask yourself: Would you chat with a digitized version of a deceased friend or relative if it was trained on their speech? I would struggle to resist the opportunity. But using generative AI to process grief also encroaches on something inviolate in our values as humans. It's not just the potential of muddying our memories with those of a "fake' loved one: Did Grandma really say she loved pumpkin pie or just her avatar? The risks include consent: What if Grandma would have hated being recreated in this way? And it's not just about impermanence or the idea that, when we die, we leave space for the next generation to fill the public discourse with their own voices. The core danger is how grief tech could accelerate our growing disconnect from the present, a phenomenon already fueled by social media's quantified metrics of human worth and the rise of fake news and echo chambers. Now comes an assault on our appreciation of finality, as technology encroaches on yet another corner of our most personal experiences. Grief tech betrays "our fundamental commitment to reality,' says Nathan Mladin, a senior researcher at Theos, a London-based think tank. He argues that while humans have always kept relics of the dead — like photos and locks of hair — AI simulations cross an existential boundary because they're interactive and underpinned by data from across the internet. In a 2024 study, Mladin also warned about the exploitation of grieving people for profit. "Some people go on these apps for a while, but others stay hooked and continue interacting like that person is still there.' While grief tech remains fringe, its normalization seems plausible. That means it will need guardrails, like temporal limits that make AI replicas fade over time, mirroring natural grief. They could also benefit from being integrated with human counselors to keep an eye out for unhealthy dependency. Gowin is grappling with these boundaries. Robo Dad can't discuss sex, but questions for his family remain over how it will handle future, big-subject conversations about relationships and alcohol or what happens if his son becomes too attached to the system. For now, Robo Dad is good enough for Gowin, even if it does lead to intermingling recollections of the real and digital dad. "Honestly, human memory is so patchy anyway,' he says. "The important thing to me is that I know that my AI model has got my essence at its core.' But preserving someone's essence also risks something fundamental. The Japanese concept of mono no aware suggests that things are beautiful — like cherry blossoms that bloom for just one week each year — precisely because they don't last forever. Stretching out our presence artificially means we don't just lose our appreciation for impermanence, but something even more essential: our collective anchor to what's real. In trying to soften the edges of death through technology, we may gradually weaken our ability to face life itself. [bio]Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. She is author of "Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World.'[bio]
Gulf Today
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
AI resurrecting the dead threatens our grasp on reality
Tribune News Service A cruel twist of fate led Jason Gowin to make a novel parenting decision. Days after his wife gave birth to their twin boys in 2019, she had a stroke. The doctors gave her two or three years to live. Gowin and his oldest son were devastated, but worse was to come. Months later, Gowin found out he had stomach cancer. Facing the prospect of leaving three children without parents, he got an idea from watching the Superman movie Man Of Steel, where the caped hero walks into the Fortress of Solitude and talks to a simulation of his father. There was something comforting about that possibility, of he and his wife leaving behind talking replicas of themselves for their children. 'I thought, I bet someone has already come up with this,' he remembers. A Google search led Gowin, a 47-year-old actor in Pennsylvania, to about 10 different companies offering to train AI models on personal data — text messages, videos and other digital traces — to create virtual likenesses of people. He signed up as a beta tester with a provider called 'You, Only Virtual,' and today his nine-year-old son occasionally talks to a chatbot they call Robo Dad, an AI simulation that sounds eerily like Gowin. Recently, when his wife mentioned something about putting the dishes away, Robo Dad made the same joke moments after Gowan himself did. Artificial intelligence is beginning to offer a startling new proposition: the chance to keep talking to the dead. While only a small subset of people have tried so-called grief tech tools so far, the technology heralds a profound and disturbing shift in how we process loss. The price of the comfort from these tools could be a further erosion of our collective grip on what's real, and what isn't. Despite AI's explosive growth, digital resurrections remain rare. 'You, Only Virtual' has about 1,000 users, according to Chief Executive Officer Justin Harrison. A similar firm called 'Project December' reports 3,664 people have tried its service. A few thousand in China have 'digitally revived' their loved ones through an AI firm called 'Super Brain,' using as little as 30 seconds of audiovisual data. These numbers pale against ChatGPT's 300 million weekly users. But as AI becomes cheaper and more sophisticated, these early adopters may signal a change in how we deal with death. The idea isn't totally unprecedented. Millions already seek companionship from chatbots like Replika, Kindroid and drawn by one of generative AI's most surprising capabilities: simulated empathy. These interactions have proven so emotionally compelling that users have fallen in love with their AI companions or, in extreme cases, allegedly been driven to suicide. Others have tried speaking to digital simulations of their older selves to help plan for their future, with more than 60,000 people now using one such tool called Future You. It's easy to see the allure when so much of our communication today is text-based, and AI has become so fluent. If Gowin's story doesn't move you, ask yourself: Would you chat with a digitized version of a deceased friend or relative if it was trained on their speech? I would struggle to resist the opportunity. But using generative AI to process grief also encroaches on something inviolate in our values as humans. It's not just the potential of muddying our memories with those of a 'fake' loved one: Did Grandma really say she loved pumpkin pie, or just her avatar? The risks include consent: What if Grandma would have hated being recreated in this way? And it's not just about impermanence or the idea that, when we die, we leave space for the next generation to fill the public discourse with their own voices. The core danger is how grief tech could accelerate our growing disconnect from the present, a phenomenon already fueled by social media's quantified metrics of human worth and the rise of fake news and echo chambers. Now comes an assault on our appreciation of finality, as technology encroaches on yet another corner of our most personal experiences. Grief tech betrays 'our fundamental commitment to reality,' says Nathan Mladin, a senior researcher at Theos, a London-based think tank. He argues that while humans have always kept relics of the dead — like photos and locks of hair — AI simulations cross an existential boundary because they're interactive, and underpinned by data from across the internet. In a 2024 study, Mladin also warned about the exploitation of grieving people for profit. 'Some people go on these apps for a while, but others stay hooked and continue interacting like that person is still there.' While grief tech remains fringe, its normalisation seems plausible. That means it will need guardrails, like temporal limits that make AI replicas fade over time, mirroring natural grief. They could also benefit from being integrated with human counselors to keep an eye out for unhealthy dependency. Gowin is grappling with these boundaries. Robo Dad can't discuss controversial topic, but questions for his family remain over how it will handle future, big-subject conversations about relationships and alcohol, or what happens if his son becomes too attached to the system. For now, Robo Dad is good enough for Gowin, even if it does lead to intermingling recollections of the real and digital dad. 'Honestly, human memory is so patchy anyway,' he says. 'The important thing to me is that I know that my AI model has got my essence at its core.' But preserving someone's essence also risks something fundamental. The Japanese concept of 'mono no aware' suggests that things are beautiful — like cherry blossoms that bloom for just one week each year — precisely because they don't last forever. Stretching out our presence artificially means we don't just lose our appreciation for impermanence, but something even more essential: our collective anchor to what's real. In trying to soften the edges of death through technology, we may gradually weaken our ability to face life itself.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Heavy cannabis use could pose this threat to the brain
As cannabis is legalized in more states across the country, new research points to the negative side effects of partaking too much. Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus looked into the impact of recent and lifetime cannabis use on brain function during cognitive tasks. The study, published in the journal JAMA Open Network, is the "largest of its kind," according to the university, using brain imaging technology to examine the effects of cannabis use on 1,000 young adults from 22 to 36 years old. Daily Marijuana Smokers Face Higher Risk Of Heart Attack, Stroke, Says American Heart Association Study The cannabis users were tested on their "working memory," which is the ability to retain and use information to perform tasks, like solving a math problem. Neural response was measured through seven cognitive tests – probing working memory, reward, emotion, language and motor skills – such as "tapping a finger to map brain control, relational assessment and theory of mind." Read On The Fox News App The results showed that 63% of heavy lifetime cannabis users demonstrated reduced brain activity while completing a working memory task. Meanwhile, 68% of recent cannabis users exhibited a similar impact. Older Americans Turn To Marijuana For Better Sleep And Pain Relief: Here's What To Know The researchers concluded that cannabis had a "statistically significant effect" on brain function during working memory tasks, but was less significant in other tasks. There was reduced brain activity in areas involved in important cognitive functions like decision-making, memory, attention and emotional processing. Lead study author Joshua Gowin, PhD, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, stressed the importance of studying the effects of cannabis on health as it continues to "grow globally." "By doing so, we can provide a well-rounded understanding of both the benefits and risks of cannabis use, empowering people to make informed decisions and fully comprehend the potential consequences," he said in a press release. Marijuana Use Linked To Increased Asthma Risk In Youth, Study Says: 'Worrisome' Health Implications Refraining from cannabis use before a cognitive task could help improve performance, according to Gowin and his team. "People need to be aware of their relationship with cannabis, since abstaining cold turkey could disrupt their cognition as well," Gowin said. "For example, heavy users may need to be more cautious." "There are a lot of questions … regarding how cannabis impacts the brain," he went on. "Large, long-term studies are needed to understand whether cannabis use directly changes brain function, how long these effects last and the impact on different age groups." Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter Neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Saphier, MD, pointed out that the overall study sample size is large, but that only about 8% of participants were reported as "heavy" users. "While the study appears to be designed well … I'd like to see a larger sample size of heavy users compared to either moderate or non-users to draw any definitive data," the doctor, who was not involved in the study, shared with Fox News Digital. For more Health articles, visit Saphier, founder of Coaxial Neurosurgical Specialists in New Jersey, noted that he is "not surprised" by the study findings. "Heavy use of cannabis over one's lifetime may ultimately lead to decreased cognitive/memory tasks," he confirmed. "This also supports a relatively common and well-articulated lifestyle mantra of 'everything in moderation,' with the obvious exceptions of in-arguably deleterious activities/lifestyle choices." The neurosurgeon added that he looks forward to a "more well-rounded and higher enrollment study of heavy and moderate users, so I can offer more definitive data to my own patients."Original article source: Heavy cannabis use could pose this threat to the brain
