AIM To describe the development of cannabis use in a birth cohort studied to the age of 21 years. METHODS The data were gathered during the Christchurch Health and Development Study. In this study a cohort of 1265 children born in the Christchurch urban region in mid 1997 has been studied to the age of 21 years. Information was gathered on patterns of cannabis use and dependence during the pe...

Introduction: Despite known sex differences in the endocannabinoid system of animals, little attention has been paid to sex differences in human's cannabis use patterns and effects. The purpose of the present study was to examine sex differences in cannabis use patterns and effects in a large sample of recreational and medical cannabis users. Methods: A large sample (n=2374) of cannabis users c...

Introduction This paper discusses the case for decriminalization of cannabis use, based on a careful weighting of the currently available evidence regarding advantages and risks of such a policy change. The issue of decriminalization is a response to the widespread use of cannabis in spite of its current illegal status; that is, as a consequence of the perceived ineffectiveness of the tradition...

Significant advances have increased our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), yet this has not translated into any greatly effective therapies. It appears that a number of abnormal physiological processes occur simultaneously in this devastating disease. Ideally, a multidrug regimen, including glutamate antagonists, antioxidants, a centrally acting an...

Arseneault et al (2004) very accurately reviewed recent epidemiological data and concluded that cannabis use should now be considered as a component cause leading to psychosis. Yet at least two unanswered questions remain. How can cannabis lead to psychosis? Are some subjects specifically vulnerable to the psychotogenic effect of cannabis? Several studies, including the Dunedin study, have sugg...

BACKGROUND In European countries, including Switzerland, as well as in many states worldwide, cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol and tobacco. Although approximately one in ten users develop serious problems of dependency, only a minority attends outpatient addiction counseling centers. The offer of a combined web-based self-help and chat counseling treatment c...

With a political debate about the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use as a backdrop, the wave of legalization and liberalization initiatives continues to spread. Four states (Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska) and the District of Columbia have passed laws that legalized cannabis for recreational use by adults, and 23 others plus the District of Columbia now regulate cannabis use...

Cannabis has been employed in human medicine for more than 4000 years. In the last century, political prohibition led to its disappearance from the conventional pharmacopoeia, but this trend is reversing due to the broad acceptance and application of this forbidden medicine by patients with chronic and intractable disorders inadequately treated by available therapeutics. This study addresses th...

UNLABELLED Cannabis is widely used as a self-management strategy by patients with a wide range of symptoms and diseases including chronic non-cancer pain. The safety of cannabis use for medical purposes has not been systematically evaluated. We conducted a prospective cohort study to describe safety issues among individuals with chronic non-cancer pain. A standardized herbal cannabis product (1...

Cannabis use is increasingly pervasive among adolescents today, even more common than cigarette smoking. The evolving policy surrounding the legalization of cannabis reaffirms the need to understand the relationship between cannabis exposure early in life and psychiatric illnesses. cannabis contains psychoactive components, notably Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that interfere with the brain'...