The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that employers have the right to fire workers who test positive for marijuana—even if the pot is being used in line with California’s medical marijuana statutes.

Heavy marijuana use has been found to contribute to gum disease, apart from the known effects that tobacco smoke was already known to have. In a group of more than 900 New Zealanders, smoking cannabis more than 40 times a year since age 18 was found to be responsible for more than one-third of the new cases of periodontal disease between ages 26 and 32, according to a new study.

Using a brain imaging technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging, scientists have discovered that cocaine-related images trigger the emotional centers of the brains of patients addicted to drugs -- even when the subjects are unaware they've seen anything.

Only about 6 percent of former alcoholics and 4 percent of former illicit drug users will relapse into their addictions in any given year following an organ transplant. Substance abuse can lead to serious organ diseases for which transplantation is increasingly considered an acceptable treatment.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C infection should not use marijuana daily, according to a new study. Researchers found that HCV patients who used cannabis daily were at significantly higher risk of moderate to severe liver fibrosis, or tissue scarring. Additionally, patients with moderate to heavy alcohol use combined with regular cannabis use experienced an even greater risk of liver fibrosis.

Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes. Abstinence from each of these drugs appears to cause several common symptoms, such as irritability, anger and trouble sleeping -- based on self reporting in a recent study of 12 heavy users of both marijuana and cigarettes.

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, accompanied by Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announced the Government's support for the Drug Prevention Strategy for Canada's Youth, which is an initiative that will help to steer youth away from using illicit drugs and is part of the Government's new National Anti-Drug Strategy.

Heavy marijuana use has been found to contribute to gum disease, apart from the known effects that tobacco smoke was already known to have.In a group of more than 900 New Zealanders, smoking cannabis more than 40 times a year since age 18 was found to be responsible for more than one-third of the new cases of periodontal disease between ages 26 and 32, according to a study published Feb. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Young people who are heavy smokers of cannabis may be putting themselves at significant risk for periodontal disease, according to new research.The study, published in the Feb. 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is believed to be the first to explore whether or not smoking a substance other than tobacco in this case, marijuana more than other cannabis products may be a risk factor for gum disease.

Only about 6 percent of former alcoholics and 4 percent of former illicit drug users will relapse into their addictions in any given year following an organ transplant. These results are published in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons.