AddictionJuly 31, 2017Christine L. Miller2 citations
The review of cannabis-induced psychosis by Ian Hamilton in Addiction 1 raised key issues that warrant further exploration. In focusing upon the literature up to the turn of the 21st century, the author omitted the subsequent explosion of scientific inquiry into a causal relationship between cannabis use and chronic psychotic disorders. The author pointed towards one type of relevant research,...
The points made by Dr Miller 1 raise further important issues we need to consider in thinking about the relationship between cannabis and psychosis. With regard to later research, I accept that much of the research published after the millennium was not included in my original paper, as the focus was upon how work prior to this time had evolved and how well it had stood the test of time. The...
AIMS: This study tested whether adolescents who used cannabis or met criteria for cannabis dependence showed neuropsychological impairment prior to cannabis initiation and neuropsychological decline from before to after cannabis initiation. DESIGN: A longitudinal co-twin control study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 1989 twins from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin...
AddictionJune 29, 2017Hans Y. Oh, Jordan DeVylder4 citations
Hamilton 1 outlined the past three decades of research connecting cannabis use to schizophrenia. We add to this narrative by mentioning the value of examining the relation between cannabis use and subthreshold regions of the psychosis continuum. Psychotic experiences are manifestations of psychosis that resemble frank hallucinations and delusions found in psychotic disorders, but are generally...
On-line drug markets flourish and consumers have high expectations of on-line quality and drug value. The aim of this study was to (i) describe on-line drug purchases and (ii) compare on-line with off-line purchased drugs regarding purity, adulteration and price. Comparison of laboratory analyses of 32 663 drug consumer samples (stimulants and hallucinogens) purchased between January 2013 and...
(1) To determine whether measured concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) in individuals' own cannabis predict their estimates of drug potency and actual titration; and (2) to ascertain if these effects are influenced by frequency of use and cannabis type. Cross-sectional, naturalistic. Participants' own homes. A total of 247 cannabis users in the United...
The emergence of ‘bath salts’ products containing synthetic cathinones represents a global public health threat. Synthetic cathinones have significant abuse potential, and the effects of high-dose administration can be life-threatening. More preclinical and human research is needed to understand the complex pharmacology and toxicology of these substances. During the past several years, there...
AIMS: To examine the direction of the longitudinal association between vulnerability for psychosis and cannabis use throughout adolescence. DESIGN: Cross-lagged path analysis was used to identify the temporal order of vulnerability for psychosis and cannabis use, while controlling for gender, family psychopathology, alcohol use and tobacco use. SETTING: A large prospective population study of...
Abstract Aims It is still unclear if cognitive abnormalities in human 3,4‐methylenedioxymeth‐amphetamine ( MDMA ) users existed before the beginning of use or if other confounders could explain the deficits. The present study was conducted in order to assess the relationship between beginning MDMA use and subsequent cognitive performance and to overcome previous methodological shortcomings....
AddictionSeptember 1, 2011J. Cousijn, A. Goudriaan, R. Wiers
Aims Repeated drug exposure can lead to an approach-bias, i.e. the relatively automatically triggered tendencies to approach rather that avoid drug-related stimuli. Our main aim was to study this approach-bias in heavy cannabis users with the newly developed cannabis Approach Avoidance Task (cannabis-AAT) and to investigate the predictive relationship between an approach-bias for...
AIMS: Ketamine remains an important medicine in both specialist anaesthesia and aspects of pain management. At the same time, its use as a recreational drug has spread in many parts of the world during the past few years. There are now increasing concerns about the harmful physical and psychological consequences of repeated misuse of this drug. The aim of this review was to survey and integrate...
Halpern et al. 1 presented some interesting findings from a study of abstinent ecstasy users in Salt Lake City, USA. Their ecstasy group reported comparatively slight use of all psychoactive drugs, both legal and illicit, and were therefore different from the typical user who often takes a range of other drugs. Their control group comprised similar-aged occasional rave attendees, who had never...
ABSTRACT Aims To improve our understanding of the pharmacology of ‘ecstasy’ in recreational environments; in particular, to describe the composition of ecstasy pills, patterns of ecstasy use and the relationship between dose of 3,4‐methylendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and resulting plasma concentrations. Design, setting and participants A naturalistic observational study of 56 experienced...
Both depression and substance use disorders represent major global public health concerns and are often co-occurring. Although there are ongoing discoveries regarding the pathophysiology and treatment of each condition, common mechanisms and effective treatments for co-occurring depression and substance abuse remain elusive. Mindfulness training has been shown recently to benefit both...
AddictionSeptember 15, 2010Carlo C. DiClemente6 citations
Mindfulness training has become an integral part of treatment approaches for a variety of behavioral and emotional problems. Brewer and colleagues 1 identify rumination and stress coping as potential common etiological components in major depression and substance abuse disorders and then speculate upon how mindfulness coping, specifically attention and acceptance, address these components and...
The paper by Brewer et al. [1] is based upon the assumption that there are common underlying mechanisms for depression and substance use disorders and the ambition is to provide a theoretical, clinical and neurobiological perspective that can frame the conceptualization and treatment of co-occurring depression and substance use disorders. The main starting point for this task is the meditation...
ABSTRACTAims Alexander T. Shulgin is widely thought of as the ‘father’ of +/−3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). This paper re‐assesses his role in the modern history of this drug.Methods We analysed systematically Shulgin's original publications on MDMA, his publications on the history of MDMA and his laboratory notebook.Results According to Shulgin's book PIHKAL (1991), he synthesized...
'Recreational' use of ketamine is spreading rapidly among young people. In healthy individuals an acute dose of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine induces marked psychosis-like effects and cognitive impairments, but little is known about the long-term effects of the drug. To evaluate the long-term neuropsychiatric or cognitive consequences. A total of 150 individuals...
The present paper outlines the results of analyses carried out on the content of tablets sold as ecstasy, collected in the Netherlands by the Drugs Information Monitoring System (DIMS) from January 1993 to December 2008. During a period of 16 years, the DIMS analysed the content of 33 006 tablets sold as ecstasy that were handed in by numerous individual (potential) substance users. The DIMS...
ABSTRACT Aims This study evaluated the prevalence and reliability of DSM‐IV adopted criteria for 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) abuse and dependence with a purpose to determine whether it is best conceptualized within the category of hallucinogens, amphetamines or its own category. Design Test–re‐test study. Participants MDMA users (life‐time use >5 times) were recruited in St Louis,...
AddictionFebruary 6, 2009Ingrid van Beek7 citations
but seems unlikely to me.I feel much the same way about the use of the term 'entheogen' as a replacement for 'psychedelic'; the old term accumulated a great deal of baggage, but it is only a minor cognitive operation to transfer those bags to the new cart, and the new term asserts what ought to be an open question about these drugs' properties.Also, it seems likely that opponents dislike the...
A law banning smoking in public places and regulating tobacco products in Kenya came into force in July, ending a long legal tussle between the government and tobacco firms. The Tobacco Control Act was passed in parliament last year but given a nine-month implementation period. It provides a legal framework to control the production, manufacture, sale, advertising and use of tobacco products....
ABSTRACT Aims Cell‐mediated immune function and the occurrence of mild infectious diseases was investigated. Participants Polydrug consumers of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and cannabis ( n = 37) compared to cannabis users only ( n = 23) and control group ( n = 34). Design A longitudinal prospective study with three cross‐sectional evaluations at time 0 and at 6 months and 1 year...
Salvia divinorum is a non-water-soluble hallucinogen that is becoming increasingly popular among adolescents. Salvia is a highly selective full agonist of primate and cloned human cerebral kappa-opioid receptors, although its psychotomimetic effects are similar to serotonergic agonists and NMDA glutamate antagonists. Salvia has been associated with depersonalization, laughter, feelings of...
In this issue, Hickman and colleagues [1] present estimates from a simulation exercise to project the impact of cannabis use upon the future incidence of schizophrenia in England and Wales. The projections are based upon an assumption (which the authors disclose) that cannabis smoking causes newly incident cases of schizophrenia that would never appear in the absence of cannabis smoking. It is...