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By Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 22, 1996
Study says chocolate may mimic marijuana in brain
NEW YORK (AP) - Chocolate contains substances that might mimic the effects of marijuana, boosting pleasure gotten from eating the stuff, researchers say.
The ingredients might make the texture, smell and flavor of chocolate more enjoyable and combine with other ingredients like caffeine to make a person feel good, researcher Daniele Piomelli speculated.
''We are talking about something much, much, much, much milder than a high,'' said Piomelli, a researcher at the Neurosciences Institute of San Diego. He reported the work with colleagues in today's issue of the journal Nature.
But a researcher who studies the brain chemistry of marijuana said chocolate contains such low levels of the ingredients Piomelli identified that he doubts they have any effect.
Christian Felder of the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that a 130-pound person would have to inject the equivalent of 25 pounds of chocolate in one sitting to get any marijuana-like effect.
Piomelli found that chocolate contains anandamide, which is also produced naturally in the brain and which activates the same target that marijuana does.
He also found two chocolate ingredients that inhibit the natural breakdown of anandamide, which could lead to heightened levels of anandamide in the brain.
Piomelli stressed that his work does not imply that chocolate is addicting.
Clinton could OK tobacco crackdown by tomorrow
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton hopes to give his final blessing tomorrow to politically-potent rules cracking down on teen-age smoking, focusing on advertising, availability and education.
Declaring teen smoking a national health hazard, Clinton proposed regulations a year ago that would severely curb tobacco advertising, ban vending machine sales and require tobacco companies to pay $150 million a year educating teen-agers to avoid their products.
The idea was to limit teen-friendly icons like Joe Camel in magazines read by teens, at sports events, on T-shirts or on billboards near schools.
Clinton has managed to make the issue a centerpiece of his ''family values'' drive, along with calls for school uniforms, V-chips to deal with violence on television and federal help against truant teens.
The tobacco and advertising industries have filed lawsuits opposing the proposal. Cigarette makers deny targeting teen-agers, and argue that the FDA has no jurisdiction over their products.
Clinton proposed forbidding tobacco advertising at sports events, on T-shirts, on billboards within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds and in some magazines Advertising groups have charged those rules infringe on free speech.
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