BACKGROUND AND AIMS Questions over the clinical significance of cannabis withdrawal have hindered its inclusion as a discrete cannabis induced psychiatric condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). This study aims to quantify functional impairment to normal daily activities from cannabis withdrawal, and looks at the factors predicting functional impairment....

BACKGROUND Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit substance in the United States resulting in high rates of cannabis use disorders. Current treatments for cannabis use are often met with high rates of lapse/relapse, tied to (1) behavioral health factors that impact cannabis use such as poor sleep, and (2) access, stigma, supply, and cost of receiving a substance use intervention. OBJECT...

Chronic cannabis use has been shown to block long-term depression of GABA-glutamate synapses in the striatum, which is likely to reduce the extent to which endogenous cannabinoids modulate GABA- and glutamate-related neuronal activity. The current study aimed at investigating the effect of this process on striatal dopamine levels by studying the spontaneous eye blink rate (EBR), a clinical mark...

OBJECTIVE We sought to examine the relation between cannabis abuse and the symptomatic course of recent-onset schizophrenia and related disorders. DESIGN A prospective cohort study over a year using monthly Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale assessments. PARTICIPANTS Cannabis-abusing patients (n = 24) were compared with nonabusers (n = 69). Eleven patients were mild and 13 were heavy cannabis-a...

In the last 15 years there has been a major shift in the laws governing medical use of cannabis in the United States. Corresponding with this change there has been escalating interest in the role that cannabis, commonly referred to as marijuana, and cannabinoids play in the care of patients with cancer. This review will examine cannabis' and cannabinoids' current and potential roles in cancer c...

This chapter reviews the limited evidence on strategies for reducing the harms arising from cannabis use and from criminal penalties to control its use. It summarises evidence on the harms arising from cannabis use, namely, increased risks of: car crashes among users who drive while intoxicated; the development of cannabis dependence among regular users; psychosis and poorer adolescent psychoso...

A majority of women experience some nausea and/or vomiting during pregnancy. This condition can range from mild nausea to extreme nausea and vomiting, with 1-2% of women suffering from the life-threatening condition hyperemesis gravidarum. Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) may be used therapeutically to mitigate pregnancy-induced nausea and vomiting. This paper presents the results of a survey of 84 f...

This paper estimates the price responsiveness of cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use. Individual level data from four waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey are merged with previously unavailable state level data on cannabis prices, and ABS alcohol and tobacco price indices. In addition to own price effects, we estimate cross price effects and the impact of differing legal regimes...

Marijuana (cannabis) remains a controversial drug in the twenty-first century. This paper considers current research on use of Cannabis sativa and its constituents such as the cannabinoids. Topics reviewed include prevalence of cannabis (pot) use, other drugs consumed with pot, the endocannabinoid system, use of medicinal marijuana, medical adverse effects of cannabis, and psychiatric adverse e...

OBJECTIVE To examine the reasons for cannabis use among individuals with psychotic disorders. METHOD Forty-nine people with psychotic disorders in treatment with community health centres in Northern Sydney were interviewed to collect information about their experience of antipsychotic side-effects and their influence on cannabis use. Other information collected on cannabis use included: amoun...