In the Netherlands, cannabis use is quasi-legalized. Small quantities of cannabis can be bought in cannabis shops. We investigate how the distance to the nearest cannabis shop affects the age of onset of cannabis use. We use a mixed proportional hazard rate framework to take account of observable as well as unobservable characteristics that influence the uptake of cannabis. We find that distanc...

BACKGROUND To assess the prevalence of cannabis use and dependence in a population of schizophrenic inpatients and to compare schizophrenics with and without cannabis consumption. METHODS One hundred one schizophrenic patients were examined during their first week of hospitalization. They answered the PANNS scale of schizophrenia, the CAGE and the Fagerström questionnaire, and the DSM-IV-TR c...

BACKGROUND Cannabis is the illicit drug most widely used by young people in high-income countries. Allergy symptoms have only occasionally been reported as one of the adverse health effects of cannabis use. OBJECTIVES To study IgE-mediated response to cannabis in drug users, atopic patients, and healthy controls. METHODS Asthmatic patients sensitised to pollen, and all patients sensitised t...

Association between cannabis use and various psychiatric syndromes does exist, but their nature remains elusive. Cannabis intoxication, 'cannabis psychosis' and certain other conditions related with cannabis use like flashbacks and prolonged depersonalization are discussed in this paper. The controversial nature of the cannabis - schizophrenia link is noted, and various methodological issues in...

BACKGROUND Cannabis is the most widely consumed illicit substance in America, with increasing rates of use. Some theorists tend to link frequency of use with cannabis dependence. Nevertheless, fewer than half of daily cannabis users meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for cannabis dependence. This study seeks to determine whether the negative aspects associated with cannabis use can be explained by a proxy...

Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c1571 doi: 10.1136/bmj.c1571 About a third of adults in the UK have tried cannabis, and 2.5 million people, mostly 16-29 year olds, have used it in the past year. Although most people who smoke cannabis will develop neither severe mental health problems nor dependence, regular use of cannabis may be associated with a range of health, emotional, behavioural, social, an...

OBJECTIVES To determine incidence and patterns of natural course of cannabis use and disorders as well as cohort effects in a community sample of adolescents and young adults. METHOD Cumulative incidence and patterns of cannabis use and disorders were examined in a prospective longitudinal design (mean follow-up period=42 months) in a representative sample (N=2446) aged 14-24 years at the out...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is increasing rapidly among high school (HS) students. Of concern, e-cigarettes can be used to vaporize cannabis, although use rates among adolescents are unknown. We evaluated lifetime rates of using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis among all lifetime e-cigarette users (27.9%), all lifetime cannabis users (29.2%), and lifetime u...

Recent reports show that fewer adolescents believe that regular cannabis use is harmful to health. Concomitantly, adolescents are initiating cannabis use at younger ages, and more adolescents are using cannabis on a daily basis. The purpose of the present study was to test the association between persistent cannabis use and neuropsychological decline and determine whether decline is concentrate...

BACKGROUND Cannabis exposure, particularly heavy cannabis use, has been associated with neuroanatomical alterations in regions rich with cannabinoid receptors such as the hippocampus in some but not in other (mainly cross-sectional) studies. However, it remains unclear whether continued heavy cannabis use alters hippocampal volume, and whether an earlier age of onset and/or a higher dosage exac...