By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — An experimental medication made from marijuana successfully reduced back pain in a new study, offering further support for the drug’s potential in treating one of the most common forms of chronic pain.

The 800-patient study by a German drugmaker is the latest evidence of the therapeutic properties of cannabis, which remains illegal under U.S. federal law even as most states have made it available for medical or recreational use.

Health officials in Canada and Europe have previously approved a pharmaceutical-grade form of cannabis for several types of pain, including nerve pain due to multiple sclerosis. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug containing CBD — one of the many non-intoxicating chemicals found in cannabis — to treat rare seizures in children with epilepsy.

Unlike that drug, known as Epidiolex, the new cannabis formula from drugmaker Vertanical contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that gets users high. But levels of the chemical are very low, essentially a microdose compared to what’s available in gummies, chocolate bars and other products sold at marijuana dispensaries in the U.S. The company said patients in the trial didn’t show any signs of drug abuse, dependence or withdrawal.

Vertanical is seeking approval for a large group of patients: those suffering from lower-back pain, a chronic condition that affects millions and has few proven treatments.

Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen can’t be used for long-term pain because of their side effects, which include stomach ulcers and indigestion. Opioids are no longer recommended, after the overprescribing of painkillers such as OxyContin in the 1990s and 2000s led to the ongoing epidemic of addiction to that class of drug.

Chronic pain is one of the most frequently cited conditions of people enrolled in state-run medical marijuana programs. But there’s been little rigorous research on the drug’s use in that group.

Lead study author Dr. Matthias Karst said in an email that the new findings show cannabis “can significantly reduce pain and improve physical function in patients with chronic low-back pain, without the safety concerns commonly associated with opioids.” Karst is a pain specialist at Hannover Medical School and a consultant for Vertanical.

For the new study, patients with back pain were randomly assigned to take Vertanical’s proprietary liquid cannabis extract or a placebo.

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At the end of 12 weeks, patients taking the medication reported a nearly 2-point reduction in pain on an 11-point scale, compared with 1.4 points for those taking placebo. The difference was statistically significant. Those getting the drug also reported improvements in sleep and physical function.

Patients who continued with a six-month extension phase continued to experience reductions in pain. The results were published Monday in the journal Nature.

Side effects included dizziness, headache, fatigue and nausea and led to more than 17% of people discontinuing the drug early. Researchers said that dropout rate was lower than what’s typically reported with opioids, which can cause constipation, nausea, drowsiness and carry risks of addiction.

Vertanical has filed an application for its drug with European regulators. In the U.S., the company says it is “working closely” with regulators to design a study to support FDA approval.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — OpenAI said Monday it’s adding parental controls to ChatGPT that are designed to provide teen users of the popular platform with a safer and more “age-appropriate” experience.

The company is taking action after AI chatbot safety for young users has hit the headlines. The technology’s dangers have been recently highlighted by a number of cases in which teenagers took their lives after interacting with ChatGPT.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has even opened an inquiry into several tech companies about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions.

In a blog post posted Monday, OpenAI outlined the new controls for parents. Here is a breakdown:

Getting started

The parental controls will be available to all users, but both parents and teens will need their own accounts to take advantage of them.

To get started, a parent or guardian needs to send an email or text message to invite a teen to connect their accounts. Or a teenager can send an invite to a parent. Users can send a request by going into the settings menu and then to the “Parental controls” section.

Teens can unlink their accounts at any time, but parents will be notified if they do.

Automatic safeguards

Once the accounts are linked, the teen account will get some built-in protections, OpenAI said.

Teen accounts will “automatically get additional content protections, including reduced graphic content, viral challenges, sexual, romantic or violent role-play, and extreme beauty ideals, to help keep their experience age-appropriate,” the company said.

Parents can choose to turn these filters off, but teen users don’t have the option.

OpenAI warns that such guardrails are “not foolproof and can be bypassed if someone is intentionally trying to get around them.” It advised parents to talk with their children about “healthy AI use.”

Adjusting settings

Parents are getting a control panel where they can adjust a range of settings as well as switch off the restrictions on sensitive content mentioned above.

For example, does your teen stay up way past bedtime to use ChatGPT? Parents can set a quiet time when the chatbot can’t be used.

Other settings include turning off the AI’s memory so conversations can’t be saved and won’t be used in future responses; turning off the ability to generate or edit images; turning off voice mode; and opting out of having chats used to train ChatGPT’s AI models.

Get notified

OpenAI is also being more proactive when it comes to letting parents know that their child might be in distress.

It’s setting up a new notification system to inform them when something might be “seriously wrong” and a teen user might be thinking about harming themselves.

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A small team of specialists will review the situation and, in the rare case that there are “signs of acute distress,” they’ll notify parents by email, text message and push alert on their phone — unless the parent has opted out.

OpenAI said it will protect the teen’s privacy by only sharing the information needed for parents or emergency responders to provide help.

“No system is perfect, and we know we might sometimes raise an alarm when there isn’t real danger, but we think it’s better to act and alert a parent so they can step in than to stay silent,” the company said.

Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.

By ISABELLA VOLMERT and MARK VANCLEAVE

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Investigators were focusing on what motivated a former Marine to ram a pickup truck into the sanctuary of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan and open fire during a crowded service, killing at least four people while setting the building ablaze.

Crews continued searching for victims in the charred rubble Monday as authorities said “some” people were unaccounted for following the Sunday morning attack that wounded eight others in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Detroit.

The FBI considered the attack — the second on an American church in little over a month — an “act of targeted violence,” said Ruben Coleman, a special agent in charge for the bureau.

Authorities identified the shooter as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of the neighboring town of Burton. Investigators deployed a robot while searching Sanford’s residence Sunday but did not say what they found or provide any additional details about him, including whether he had any connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said investigators were looking into how much planning went into the attack and whether any clues about the motive were left behind.

“From what I understand, based on my conversations with the FBI director, all they know right now is this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith,” she said Monday during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

Searching for more victims

Crews in white coveralls and hard hats searched through what remained of the church on Monday morning. A silver pickup truck with two American flags in the back remained where it had smashed into the front brick wall near a sign that says “visitors welcome.”

Across the street, there was an SUV with apparent bullet holes in the windshield and driver window.

The attacker apparently used gas to start the fire and also had explosive devices but it wasn’t clear if he used them, said James Dier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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Officers responding to a 911 call were at the church within a minute, said Township Police Chief William Renye. The suspect was killed while exchanging gunfire with two officers, the chief said.

Flames and smoke poured from the church for hours. The fire gutted nearly all of the building, consuming its towering white steeple and sanctuary — only its outer walls and a few side rooms remained standing.

Two bodies were found in the debris, and Renye said on Sunday more victims could be found but he did not have an exact number of those missing.

One of the wounded people was in critical condition Sunday evening and the seven others were stable.

Suspect was deployed to Iraq

According to records released by the Marine Corps, Sanford served for four years during the early years of the global war on terror. He enlisted in 2004 and was discharged in 2008 at the rank of sergeant. He deployed once to Iraq for seven months and was awarded a Good Conduct Medal, indicating three years of service without any major infractions.

The shooting was the latest of several attacks on houses of worship in the U.S. over the past 20 years, including one in August that killed two children at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis.

It also was the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than 24 hours. On Saturday night, a man in a boat opened fire on a crowd in Southport, North Carolina, killing three and injuring five.

President Donald Trump asked for prayers for the victims and their families. “THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote on social media.

The shooting occurred a day after Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of the Utah-based faith, died at 101.

“Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection,” spokesperson Doug Anderson said. “We pray for peace and healing for all involved.”

The shooting’s impact spread throughout the area

Brandt Malone, a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints who was attending services at a different church Sunday morning, said his congregation was evacuated when they heard about the attack.

“Everyone’s in a state of shock right now,” he said, adding he knows quite a few people who were in the Grand Blanc church. “We view church and our worship services really as a sanctuary.“

Grand Blanc Community Schools were closed Monday to “allow time for families to process and mourn this tragedy with their children,” Superintendent Trevor Alward said in a letter. “This act of violence is reprehensible.”

About 100 people gathered for a prayer service Sunday evening at a nondenominational Christian church in Grand Blanc. Many bowed their heads and some cried softly.

“We live in days that are difficult and troubled, days that are weary and tiring,” said Pastor Chuck Lindsey. “We’re exhausted by the evil, we’re exhausted by these things. But Lord, you are our refuge.”

Associated Press reporters Corey Williams in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Konstantin Toropin in Washington; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Airplane maintenance workers at a North Carolina airport found the body of a suspected stowaway in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines flight that had recently arrived from Europe, police said.

The body was found Sunday morning while the plane was undergoing maintenance at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a statement that it is investigating the death.

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Neither the airline nor police have offered information about the person who died, including a possible cause of death, or said where the flight originated.

The airport said it was deeply saddened by the discovery and said it will support the police investigation. American Airlines said it was working with law enforcement on its investigation and directed questions to police.

Experts believe roughly three-quarters of stowaways do not survive if they hide on a plane’s undercarriage because of the extreme cold and lack of oxygen they experience as the plane reaches cruising altitude.

In January, two bodies were found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The bodies were discovered in the wheel well area during a routine post-flight inspection. The aircraft had arrived in Fort Lauderdale shortly after flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The jet had been in both Kingston, Jamaica, and Salt Lake City, Utah, earlier that day.

In December, a body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed in Maui from Chicago.