• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Study: Marijuana use increases, shifts away from illegal market

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 18, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

A new article published by researchers from University of Puget Sound and University of Washington reports that, based on analysis of public wastewater samples in at least one Western Washington population center, cannabis use both increased and substantially shifted from the illicit market since retail sales began in 2014.

Led by chemist Dan Burgard, the research team analyzed wastewater samples collected from 2013-2016 from two treatment plants that service a community of two hundred thousand in Western Washington.

“We set out to perform a wastewater-based analysis that explored the impact of newly legalized retail cannabis sales on its use, and to determine if this approach could estimate the size of the legal market place,” says Burgard, who chairs the chemistry department at Puget Sound.

The researchers estimate that THC-COOH (the metabolite of psychoactive THC in cannabis created within the human body) found in wastewater has increased by 9% per quarter, on average, from December 2013 to December 2016. During this time, cannabis sales increased at nearly 70% per quarter, on average, for stores operating from August 2014 to December 2016.

“Given that wastewater represents a total population measure, these findings suggest that many established users switched very quickly from the illegal to the legal market,” says Burgard. “This is the strongest statement possible regarding displacement of the illegal market.”

Caleb Banta-Green, interim director and principal research scientist at University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, is a co-author of the article and was a key researcher on the project.

“This project was designed to aid the understanding of how the sales of adult recreational cannabis impact its total consumption within a population,” says Banta-Green. “We believe this will be a valuable tool for local, state, national and international policy makers as they assess and consider Washington’s recreational cannabis law.”

In the past six years nine U.S. states (Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan, and the District of Columbia), as well as the countries of Uruguay and recently Canada, have legalized the adult use of recreational cannabis.

“Existing measures, particularly surveys are subject to important biases and limitations, including potential changes in self-report as social norms change as well as very limited information on the amount of THC actually consumed,” Banta-Green notes. “Wastewater based estimates help address these limitations.”

The researchers note that their findings suggest that legalization is, in part, achieving one of its primary objectives which was to eliminate black market sales.

Funded in part by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the research process included testing samples from 387 days spread over three years. The team utilized a new method that enables a complementary and potentially more timely and objective assessment of illicit drug consumption compared to existing measures.

Raw wastewater samples representing a full day are collected at a treatment plant and analyzed for drugs and their metabolites at extremely low concentrations (part per billion or part per trillion levels). These data can be used to track drug consumption trends, both legal and illegal, but not individual users. In some instances, the concentration of the metabolites can be used to “back calculate” to the actual number of doses of drug used in a particular area.

###

When this research project was announced in 2015 and throughout its duration it has earned national and international press from media like NPR Public Health, NPR Market Watch, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and The Seattle Times.

The report, titled “Using Wastewater-Based Analysis to Monitor the Effects of Legalized Retail Sales on Cannabis Consumption in Washington State, USA,” was published in Addiction, a journal published by the Society for the Study of Addiction.

Media Contact
Jackson Holtz
[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.14641

Tags: AddictionDrugsMedicine/Health
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Over 150 Hospitals Nationwide Honored for Excellence in Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care

August 5, 2025
Pregnancy Risks from Chikungunya, Dengue, Zika in Brazil

Pregnancy Risks from Chikungunya, Dengue, Zika in Brazil

August 5, 2025

Assessing Demirjian Method Reliability Among Forensic Experts

August 5, 2025

Real-Time Risk Model Predicts Pediatric Kidney Injury

August 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    73 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    47 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Enhancing Sodium Storage: NaTi2(PO4)3/C Nanocomposite via Spray Drying

New Study Identifies Promising Prognostic Marker for Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma

Dynamic Laws of Multispectral Camouflage: Nature-Inspired Coding Unveiled

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.