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Scientists research unfold new Marijuana Addiction Gene

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Scientist are saying that people who just can’t go a day without taking a sniff of marijuana aren’t doing it because they want to get high, but also because there is an addiction gene in the plant. A recent Yale study may have identified the specific genes involved in cannabis dependence (CAD).

via The Daily Beast:

“We showed that risk for cannabis dependence is affected specifically by certain risk alleles and these risk alleles fit biologically with some of our existing ideas of the nature of cannabis dependence,” Dr. Joel Gelernter, senior author of the study and a Yale psychiatrist, told The Daily Beast.

For their study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry, Dr. Gelernter and his team analyzed the genes of nearly 15,000 people sampled from three independent substance dependence cohorts. The participants were being followed for several years in order to try and understand the genetics of various types of addiction.

Between 18 and 36 percent of the sample had an addiction to cannabis. These percentages are proportionally higher than the 10 percent of people who, on average, develop a dependence to cannabis. In order to up their chances of finding predictive genes, a higher number of people with CAD was needed.

While the discovery of genes specific to cannabis dependence is interesting in itself, what’s even more telling are the disorders these genes share. “We also showed that genetic predisposition for cannabis dependence overlaps with genetic predisposition for major depression and schizophrenia,” Dr. Gelernter said, adding that his team was particularly surprised to find the gene overlap between cannabis dependence and major depression.

These results help explain prior research into cannabis dependence that Dr. Gelernter alluded to earlier. For instance, a 2002 study found that 90 percent of people with CAD had some other psychiatric condition. If cannabis dependence shares some of the same genes with disorders such as major depression, then that finding of a 90 percent co-occurrence makes all the more sense.

But one must interpret these results carefully. The authors from Yale write, “Substance use and other psychiatric illnesses may share common genetic risk factors,” or the reverse might be true, that “self-medication, or confounding by other factors may explain their co-occurrence.”

It’s been hotly debated among scientists whether the use of cannabis early in life eventually leads to depressive symptoms later on, or whether people self-medicate such symptoms with cannabis, in order to feel better. The latter is often referred to as the self-medication hypothesis. One recent study found evidence for the former, that cannabis use in young adults eventually leads to depression later in life. On the contrary, another studyfound no evidence that cannabis use causes depression and other conditions.

But, whichever direction the causal arrows point, this knowledge will help us better understand those who struggle with marijuana use, and why some people get addicted and others don’t.

This is especially true for young people, as Time reporter Maia Szalavitz writes, “Teens who feel socially disconnected are at the highest risk for all types of addictions, and research shows that one of the best ways to prevent teen drug problems is to identify such youth early, before they turn to drugs.” Perhaps with genetic testing, parents will better know if their child is at risk for addiction.

Turning to the second major finding of the Yale study, that marijuana and schizophrenia share certain genes, sheds light on another area of contention within science. Prior research does suggest that the early use of cannabis in young people is associated with a later onset of psychosis and schizophrenia. This is a long standing correlation which has been studied for years, but some studies argue it’s indeed the cannabis that eventually causes the schizophrenia. But again, the direction of causality is hard to prove.

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Former South African President Jacob Zuma involved in car crash

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South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has been involved in a car crash overnight after a vehicle transporting him was hit by a drunk driver, police said on Friday.

Zuma, however, escaped from the accident unhurt.

The car crash happened just hours after electoral officials barred Zuma from standing in the May 29 general election, further stoking tensions in the run-up to the polls.

The driver’s car “collided with former president Mr Jacob Zuma’s official armoured state vehicle”, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said.

The 51-year-old man was arrested in KwaZulu Natal province “for drunken driving, as well as on a charge of reckless and negligent driving”, SAPS said.

Zuma and his bodyguards escaped uninjured and the 81-year-old was taken to his place of residence.

Zuma, a former veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was forced out of office in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations but still wields political clout.

In December he announced he would be campaigning for the opposition uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in an attempt to relaunch his career — a major blow to the ANC.

On Wednesday the ANC launched a new court application against MK, after losing an initial bid to have it disqualified.

The ANC says that MK’s name and logo are similar to those of the now disbanded apartheid-era military wing of the ANC once led by Nelson Mandela, and that this could deceive or confuse voters.

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Delta monarch declared wanted over murder of army personnel turns himself in

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Clement Ikolo Oghenerukevwe, monarch of Ewu-Urhobo kingdom in Delta, has reported to the police, hours after the military named him as one of the wanted persons for the murder of 17 army personnel in Okuama.

Bright Edafe, Delta state police spokesperson, confirmed Oghenerukevwe’s surrender to newsmen on Friday.

Edafe said the monarch turned himself in on Thursday.

“We have already handed him over to the military, they were the ones that declared him wanted,” the spokesperson said.

The Defence Headquarters had on Thursday declared Oghenerukevwe among eight persons wanted in connection to the murder of the army personnel.

Among those declared wanted are Ekpekpo Arthur, a professor of physics at the Delta State University; Akeywiru Omotegbono, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, a lady; Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, and Reuben Baru.

Before turning himself in, the monarch released a statement to plead his innocence.

“I am very surprised that my name as the monarch of the kingdom will appear in the list of wanted persons. I have no hand in the killings, I have no hand in encouraging anybody to kill anybody, it is against my philosophy as a human being and my faith as a Catholic,” he said.

“It is a serious crime against humanity and they need to look at the appropriate places and do thorough investigation to know all those who have committed this and bring them to book and let justice prevail.

“I am not a party to this and like I have said earlier, the state government is aware of the turbulence I have been going through and as I speak, an arrangement was made by the government to invite the opponents recently just before this happenings.”

After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.

The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of search to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.

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Bus conveying 46 passengers crashes in South Africa – 8-year-old is sole survivor

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Forty-five passengers died on Thursday when a bus conveying them crashed through a barrier of a bridge in South Africa.

Only an eight-year-old child survived accident with multiple injuries.

The bus was said to have caught fire after it fell off a bridge approximately 300km north of Johannesburg in the north-eastern Limpopo province.

BBC reports that the passengers were pilgrims travelling from Botswana’s capital Gaborone to an Easter service in the town of Moria.

The vehicle lost control and went off a bridge on the Mmamatlakala mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken, around 300km (190 miles) north of Johannesburg, according to South African public broadcaster SABC.

Speaking with reporters after visiting the scene, Sindisiwe Chikunga, South Africa’s minister of transportation, said the government will carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time,” Chikunga said.

We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend.”

In his Easter message to South Africans, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on citizens to “do our best to make this a safe Easter”.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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