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A type of Trema micrantha. (Daniel Pineda Vera/iNaturalist/CC BY 4.0) Scientists have discovered cannabidiol, a compound in cannabis known as CBD, in a common Brazilian plant, opening potential new avenues to produce the increasingly popular substance. The team found CBD in the fruits and flowers of a plant known as Trema micrantha blume, a shrub which grows across much of the South American country and is often considered a weed, molecular biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro told AFP in 2023. CBD, increasingly used by some to treat conditions including epilepsy, chronic pain and...

New medical research in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that 11% of high school seniors admit to using a prevalent and easily accessible synthetic marijuana, known as delta-8 THC. That number translates to “at least one or two students in every average-sized high school class,” according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A lack of federal regulation means there’s no age restriction on the over-the-counter product, found readily in gas stations, online and in convenience stores in many states — leaving experts worried.

Teens are getting high on an emerging drug called "fake weed," a concoction also known as K2 and "spice" that is also causing hallucinations, vomiting, agitation and other dangerous effects. In the last month, Dr. Anthony Scalzo, a professor of toxicology at Saint Louis University, has seen nearly 30 cases of teenagers experiencing these adverse effects after smoking the fake weed, a legal substance that reportedly offers a marijuana-like high.