Marijuana (Cannabis) is one of the most widely used illicit drugs around the world, particularly in the United States. Its use is widespread among young people. According to a yearly survey of middle and high school students, rates of marijuana use have steadied in the past few years after several years of increase. Specifically, amongst 8th graders (9.4%), 10th graders (23.9%) and 12th graders...

Legalization of medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial areas of state policy change over the past twenty years. However, little is known about whether medical marijuana is being used clinically to any significant degree. Using data on all prescriptions filled by Medicare Part D enrollees from 2010 to 2013, we found that the use of prescription drugs for which marijuana could s...

Worldwide, marijuana (cannabis) is a widely used drug. The incidence of marijuana smoking is increasing and is second only to tobacco as the most widely smoked substance in the general population. It is also the second most commonly used recreational drug after alcohol. Some adverse effects of marijuana smoking have been documented; however, the number of studies on the pulmonary effects of mar...

A recent editorial in this journal provides a summary of key economic, social, and public health considerations of the forthcoming legislation to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana in Canada. As our government plans to implement an evidence-based public health framework for marijuana legalization, we reflect and expand on recent discussions of the public health implications of...

IMPORTANCE Driving after marijuana use increases the risk of a motor vehicle crash. Understanding this behavior among young drivers and how it may differ from alcohol-related driving behaviors could inform prevention efforts. OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence, sex differences, and risk factors associated with underage college students' driving after using marijuana, driving after drinking ...

Marijuana Legalization in California: Rational Implementation of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) Peter Banys M.D., M.Sc. & Timmen L. Cermak M.D. To cite this article: Peter Banys M.D., M.Sc. & Timmen L. Cermak M.D. (2016) Marijuana Legalization in California: Rational Implementation of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 48:1, 63-65, DOI: 10.1080/02791072...

Introduction: Status asthmaticus is an acute exacerbation of asthma caused by increased airflow resistance and mucus plugging. Symptoms of dyspnea may lead to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. There is limited knowledge about the effects of marijuana on pulmonary function. We report a unique case of status asthmaticus related to frequent marijuana use. Case Presentation: A 38-year-old Afr...

Moves to legalize marijuana highlight the urgency to investigate effects of chronic marijuana in the human brain. Here, we challenged 48 participants (24 controls and 24 marijuana abusers) with methylphenidate (MP), a drug that elevates extracellular dopamine (DA) as a surrogate for probing the reactivity of the brain to DA stimulation. We compared the subjective, cardiovascular, and brain DA r...

OBJECTIVES This article describes a sample of 160 adults selected to participate in a randomized controlled trial conducted at a specialized outpatient clinic for cannabis users in Brazil. It correlates consumption with several measures of marijuana use, comparing it with other samples. METHODS Instruments used were the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and Wender Utah Ratin...

Specific personality traits have been linked with substance use disorders (SUDs), genetic mechanisms, and brain systems. Thus, determining the specificity of personality traits to types of SUD can advance the field towards defining SUD endophenotypes as well as understanding the brain systems involved for the development of novel treatments. Disentangling these factors is particularly important...