Teen Cannabis Use Tied to Slower Cognitive Development

 Cannabis use among teenagers is linked to delayed cognitive development and worse memory over time, the largest US study to date showed.

In an analysis of over 11,000 teenagers, cannabis use was associated with reduced improvement in memory, attention, language, and processing speed, compared to adolescents who did not use cannabis.

When researchers zeroed in on specific cannabis components, they found that those who used tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) showed worse memory as they grew older, compared to nonusers.

“Adolescence is a critical time for brain development, and what we’re seeing is that teens who start using cannabis aren’t improving at the same rate as their peers,” lead author Natasha Wade, PhD, and assistant professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said in a news release. “These differences may seem small at first, but they can add up in ways that affect learning, memory and everyday functioning.”

The study was published online April 20th in Neuropsychopharmacology.

Key Window of Brain Development 

Over the past few decades, the number of teenagers using cannabis has remained high, with an estimated 1 in 5 high schoolers using cannabis. Cannabis potency has also increased significantly over time, raising concerns over the risk of heightened adverse effects, particularly for younger users.

During adolescence, cannabis exposure may disrupt brain development and is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of incident psychiatric disorders and worse academic performance.

To gain a comprehensive picture of the effects of cannabis use on neurocognitive trajectories in this age group, the investigators included 11,036 teenagers (47% female) in their analysis. Teens were recruited at ages 9-10 years from 21 sites across the US and followed for over 10 years.

They were interviewed about their past-year substance use at annual follow-ups, along with a mid-year assessment. Caregivers were questioned about their child’s medicinal cannabidiol (CBD) use. The investigators combined this self-report data with toxicological testing on participants’ hair, urine, and saliva throughout the study.

Participants inhibitory control were assessed by the Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention task, and receptive language was tested by having participants listen to a word and match it to a picture. To evaluate their visuospatial performance, participants were asked to identify the correct location of an item in various orientations. Verbal recall and memory were assessed using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Other tasks assessed participants’ oral reading, processing speed, working memory, and episodic memory.

Covariates included age, sex, lifetime substance use, sociodemographic factors, family history of substance use, and prenatal substance exposure. 

Findings Over Time 

Initially, teen cannabis users’ working memory performance appeared to be better than nonusers. However, as they got older, their improvement slowed relative to controls and at age 17, cannabis use was associated with worse performance (P = .0001).

At ages 9 and 10, cannabis user’s inhibitory control was superior to controls (P < .01 for both). Over time, this relationship flipped such that by ages 15-17, users’ inhibitory control was worse (P < .0001 for all ages).

The same trend over time was shown for teen cannabis users’ processing speed, oral reading, episodic memory, receptive language, verbal recall, and visuospatial performance, culminating with statistically significant worse performance at ages 15-17.

Secondary hair analyses showed that THC was linked to a lower rate of episodic memory improvement (P = .007). At ages 15-17, THC teens showed worse episodic memory than controls and CBD teens.

“These results point to THC as a likely driver of the changes we’re seeing,” Wade said. “It also highlights how complicated cannabis products can be, especially since some products labeled as CBD may still contain THC.”

However, the authors also noted that this finding should be interpreted cautiously as the CBD positive subsample consisted of just 21 participants. There were no significant relationships found for the other neurocognitive tasks in this secondary hair analysis.

“Findings support interventions aimed at delaying cannabis initiation during early adolescence and integrating neuroscience-informed psychoeducation about cognitive development during sensitive periods,” the investigators wrote.

Limitations of the study were possible selection bias that may reduce generalizability and potential external contamination of hair samples.

The ABCD Study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and additional federal partners. The authors declared no competing interests.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/teen-cannabis-use-tied-slower-cognitive-development-2026a1000e0h

Russia downs 5 drones flying toward Moscow

 Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that Russian air defenses downed five Ukrainian drones flying toward the capital.

He added that emergency services are responding to the situation, although there is no information on casualties or damage. Earlier during the night, as per local time, one of the largest airports serving Moscow, Vnukovo, temporarily halted traffic. Flight restrictions have also been imposed at several other airports amid the conflict with Ukraine.

In the meantime, traffic at the Vnukovo Airport was normalized.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Russia-downs-5-drones-flying-toward-Moscow/66203968

Cigna’s exit adds to ObamaCare marketplace upheaval

 Cigna is pulling out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges in 2027, the company said, adding to the turmoil facing the individual marketplace after the loss of enhanced federal subsidies. 

Executives announced the decision on Cigna’s earnings call Thursday, a day when the company reported a better-than-expected first quarter, including $1.7 billion in first quarter net income. 

Cigna is now the second company to exit the ACA marketplace, after CVS’s Aetna stopped offering plans for this year. 

“We did not make this decision lightly, and appreciate the importance of ensuring patients have continuity through the transition,” said Brian Evanko, the company’s president and incoming chief executive.  

Evanko said he didn’t see a “clear path” to scale the ACA business to a size that would achieve a meaningful impact on the company’s bottom line. Cigna’s ACA footprint is a small portion of its overall market share; the decision to exit the exchanges will impact 369,000 members across 11 states. The company has 18.3 million total members. 

But its enrollment dropped 17 percent compared to the first quarter of 2025 — 369,000 in 2026 compared to 446,000 in 2025. 

“This is small business for us today, and it’s been shrinking in recent years,” Evanko said.  

Overall ACA enrollment dropped this year after Congress failed to extend enhanced subsidies that help reduce premiums for many enrollees. The subsidies made insurance free for the lowest-income customers and helped reduce premiums for people who earned more than about $63,000 per year.

Initial sign-ups had already fallen by about 1.2 million people, and those numbers are likely to grow as more people see unaffordable bills and can’t pay. 

The Trump administration has argued that the decline in enrollment is due to a crackdown on fraud, and the only people dropping coverage shouldn’t have been enrolled to begin with.

Insurers will have to price the uncertainty into their rates, leading to potentially even higher premiums. The people most likely to end their coverage when bills rise are younger and healthier. That leaves sicker policyholders with more expensive medical costs, leading insurers to raise rates to cover the higher spending. 

So far, the exit of two plans from the marketplace has not raised the same concerns as 2017, when some counties had no ACA plans amid upheaval. But affordability and the rising cost of healthcare are top issues for voters, and the issue is likely to feature prominently in the midterm elections.  

Democrats hammered Republicans earlier this year for failing to agree to an extension of the enhanced subsidies, and those attacks will likely intensify as November approaches. 

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5859943-cigna-leaving-aca-exchanges/

Appeals court blocks mail-order mifepristone, restricting abortion access nationwide

 A federal appeals court late Friday blocked the ability of doctors to prescribe the abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth and dispensed through the mail.

A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Louisiana in a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The court issued a temporary nationwide injunction that reinstates a 2021 nationwide requirement that mifepristone must be prescribed and dispensed in person.

Mifepristone is one of the two drugs commonly used in medication abortions.

The FDA permanently lifted the in-person requirement in 2023, leading to a surge in pills prescribed over the internet in the wake of the Dobbs ruling that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion.

Louisiana argued the FDA rules made it easier for abortion pills to be mailed into states where abortion is banned. The appeals court said Louisiana showed it was likely to succeed in its challenge and was suffering irreparable harm.

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” the ruling stated.

The ruling Friday sets up a likely appeal to the Supreme Court and overrides a lower court’s ruling earlier this month that had paused the lawsuit while the Trump administration’s FDA conducts a review on the safety of mifepristone.

“Make no mistake: this ruling is not grounded in science or patient safety,” Brittany Fonteno, CEO of The National Abortion Federation, said in a statement. “It is a politically-driven decision that overrides medical expertise and years of research, and threatens to upend how abortion care is delivered nationwide.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement that the “real-world consequences” of the decision “are devastating and immediate.”

“Mifepristone is safe and effective—millions of women have used this medication since the FDA approved it over 25 years ago,” she said. “The only reason mifepristone is regulated as heavily as it already is, is because of anti-abortion politics, not because of science.”

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5860135-mifepristone-telehealth-prescription-blocked/

FDD Action’s Nick Stewart joins Trump Iran negotiating team

 

The Trump administration added a new member to its Iran negotiating team amid stalled talks with Tehran, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

Nick Stewart, managing director of advocacy at FDD Action, the lobbying arm of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joined the office of Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff, US officials and sources said.

Stewart previously served in the first Trump administration as chief of staff at the State Department’s Iran Action Group under then-Special Representative Brian Hook.

US Representative Claudia Tenney said Nick Stewart is an “outstanding addition” to the Office of the Special Envoy for Peace Missions, describing him as one of America’s “sharpest experts on Iran policy” in a post on X.

Nick Stewart is an outstanding addition to the Office of the Special Envoy for Peace Missions.

Nick is one of America's sharpest experts on Iran policy.

His extensive expertise and proven leadership will help advance President Trump’s peace goals and deliver a deal that puts…

— Rep. Claudia Tenney (@RepTenney) May 2, 2026

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202604294038

Iran struggles to counter US blockade as strategy falters - WSJ

 

Iran is scrambling for ways to respond to a US naval blockade that has disrupted its oil exports and exposed weaknesses in its long-standing strategy of relying on maritime disruption and sanctions evasion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The report cited analysts as saying the blockade is testing Tehran’s long-standing strategy of leveraging disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and evading sanctions through covert oil shipments.

The report said the pressure is fueling internal divisions within Iran’s leadership, with some officials pushing for renewed escalation while others favor negotiations to end the standoff.

The U.S. Navy’s blockade is revealing a hole in Tehran’s strategy of guerrilla warfare and controlling the Strait of Hormuz https://t.co/HhtOxtgU80

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 2, 2026

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202604294038

The Marriage Gap Is America's Most Overlooked Source of Inequality

by Veronique de Rugy

The most consequential inequality in America is not the wealth gap or the wage gap. It may not be the racial opportunity gap. The marriage gap is wreaking havoc. And unfortunately, it's the gap that gets the least attention.

I'm a libertarian. I don't care whom, or if, you marry. Yet I'm reminded that there is a problem by a new report from the American Enterprise Institute. Edited by Kevin Corinth and Scott Winship, "Land of Opportunity: Advancing the American Dream" covers a broad range of challenges facing the country today, from the cost of living and workforce development to education, crime, and the erosion of community life.

The authors are not culture warriors. They are empirical economists. But among their most important findings are those dealing with the collapse of the American family and what the government has done to accelerate it.

From economist Robert VerBruggen's chapter on the erosion of married parenthood, I learned that in the mid-20th century, only one in 20 children were born out of wedlock. Now it's two in five. I also learned that America has the world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households: 23 percent in the U.S. against an international norm of 7 percent.

Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, VerBruggen shows that 40 percent of millennials from intact, two-parent families graduated from college and 77 percent achieved middle-class incomes or higher. Among those who didn't grow up in intact families, only 17 percent graduated from college and just 57 percent reached middle-class incomes. The latter are also roughly twice as likely to be incarcerated, even after controlling for other socioeconomic factors.

The damage doesn't stop at the front door: Research using tax-return data "suggests that neighborhoods with high rates of single parenthood cultivate lower social mobility, including among kids who themselves are not raised by single parents," VerBruggen notes.

This is a rather bipartisan idea at this point. In a 2013 review of the relevant research, Princeton University sociologist Sara McLanahan and coauthors found that "studies using more rigorous designs continue to find negative effects of father absence on offspring well-being." Economist Melissa Kearney's work shows that marriage protects against poverty among all races. In fact, married parents regardless of race and education suffer significantly less poverty than unmarried mothers.

This collapse in family stability is not happening evenly. Winship and O'Rourke found that while marital births dropped by 29 points overall from 1970 to 2018, they fell by 47 points for the bottom education quintile and by just 6 points for the top. Consistent with that divide, from the early 1960s to the late 2010s, marriage rates fell by roughly 46 percentage points for the least educated young women compared with about 17 points for the most educated, leaving those least able to bear the costs of single parenthood the most likely to experience it.

Marriage is clearly a singularly important institution for raising children and for income mobility. Still, I don't view government efforts to tilt the scale toward marriage favorably. I am also firmly opposed when the government puts its thumb on the scale against marriage.

Unfortunately, VerBruggen marshals evidence showing there is a lot of that going on. A couple with two kids, with each parent earning $30,000, receives around $5,000 in earned income tax credit benefits if they remain unmarried. They lose all those benefits if they marry. That's a tax on marriage.

Medicaid thresholds, housing vouchers, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits all phase out in ways that punish couples who combine households and incomes. VerBruggen cites a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimate showing that "7.5 percent more low-income women with kids would be married by age 35 if they were not penalized for doing so."

You cannot simultaneously believe that family structure doesn't matter and that the single-parent disadvantage is a crisis. Or that children's outcomes are shaped by economic conditions and that it's irrelevant whether two committed adults are in the picture or one parent cycles through unstable relationships. Careful researchers, including those attempting to debunk the marriage effect, keep finding it.

My conservative friends focus on redesigning America's $1 trillion safety net to reduce the marriage penalty. But the harder question—the one almost no one asks—is whether that safety net's existence changes the marriage calculus in ways no redesign can fully fix. If the government reliably tries to replace the economic function of a spouse, more people will rationally choose not to marry.

Acknowledging this doesn't require abandoning people in genuine need. Nor does it require overcorrecting and incentivizing women to live in abusive unions. It does, however, require admitting that every dollar of well-intentioned assistance comes with a behavioral price tag that we've largely refused to count.

Sometimes the most compassionate long-term answer is to remove the marriage penalty in welfare programs. Sometimes, it's to have a smaller program or no program at all. We will never know until we honestly ask the question.

https://reason.com/2026/04/30/the-marriage-gap-is-americas-most-overlooked-source-of-inequality/