Interest in the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis has increased dramatically in recent years, in part because of concerns related to the growing availability of cannabis and potential risks to health and human functioning. There now exists a plethora of scientific articles addressing this issue, but few provide a clear verdict about the causal nature of the cannabis-psychosis...
The primary psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC), has medicinal value but also produces unwanted deleterious effects on cognitive function, promoting the search for improved cannabinergic therapeutics. The present studies used a battery of touchscreen procedures in squirrel monkeys to compare the effects of different types of cannabinergic drugs on several...
Aims: This study investigated patterns and trajectories of substance use, with a special focus on illicit drugs other than cannabis. It examined both patterns and trajectories of use among a general population-based sample. Methods: We used data from the 2011 French ESCAPAD survey of French 17-year-olds to assess exposure and age of initiation of 14 licit and illicit drugs (N=23,882). Latent...
Shifting policies towards legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic and recreational use raise significant ethical issues for health-care providers seeking evidence-based recommendations. We investigated whether heavy cannabis use is associated with persistent harms to the hippocampus, if exposure to cannabidiol offers protection, and whether recovery occurs with abstinence. To do this, we...
Abstract There has been a marked increase in the availability of synthetic drugs designed to mimic the effects of marijuana. These cannabimimetic drugs, sold illicitly as ‘Spice’ and related products, are associated with serious medical complications in some users. In vitro studies suggest that synthetic cannabinoids in these preparations are potent agonists at central cannabinoid CB1 receptors...
It has been proposed that medicinal strains of cannabis and therapeutic preparations would be safer with a more balanced concentration ratio of Δ(9) -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to cannabidiol (CBD), as CBD reduces the adverse psychotropic effects of THC. However, our understanding of CBD and THC interactions is limited and the brain circuitry mediating interactions between CBD and THC are...
BMJ Open2016R. Patel, R. Wilson, R. Jackson et al.
Objective To investigate whether cannabis use is associated with increased risk of relapse, as indexed by number of hospital admissions, and whether antipsychotic treatment failure, as indexed by number of unique antipsychotics prescribed, may mediate this effect in a large data set of patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). Design Observational study with exploratory mediation analysis....
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica) is the illicit drug most frequently abused by young men and women. The growing use of the drug has raised attention not only on the impact of direct exposure on the developing brain and behavior later in life, but also on potential cross-generational consequences. Our previous work demonstrated that adolescent exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol...
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...
Marijuana, behind only tobacco and alcohol, is the most popular recreational drug in America with prevalence rates of use rising over the past decade. A wide range of research has highlighted neurocognitive deficits associated with marijuana use, particularly when initiated during childhood or adolescence. Neuroimaging, describing alterations to brain structure and function, has begun to...
As more states and countries legalize medical and/or adult recreational marijuana use, the incidences of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) will likely increase. While young people increasingly view marijuana as innocuous, marijuana preparations have been growing in potency in recent years, potentially creating global clinical, public health, and workforce concerns. Unlike fetal alcohol spectrum...
Background: Cannabis use disorders and induced disorders are common in the world.Objective: To discuss an emergency psychotic patient having diagnosis of cannabis induced psychosis with severe use disorder who responded successfully to Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT).Results: The patient improved after ECT administration.Discussion: This study clarified that ECT could be life saving in this...
We examine the ethical, social, and regulatory barriers that may hinder research on therapeutic potential of certain controversial controlled substances like marijuana, heroin, or ketamine. Hazards for individuals and society and potential adverse effects on communities may be good reasons for limiting access and justify careful monitoring of these substances. Overly strict regulations, fear of...
Effect of cannabis use on memory function is a contentious issue, with effects being different in healthy individuals and patients with psychosis. Employing a meta-analytic approach we investigated the effects of cannabis use on memory function in patients with psychosis and healthy individuals, and the effect of diagnosis, memory dimension and moderating factors. A total of 88 studies were...
Adolescents who use marijuana are more likely to exhibit anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders, including psychotic-like symptoms. Additionally, the age at onset of use and the stress history of the individual can affect responses to cannabis. To examine the effect of early life experience on adolescent Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure, we exposed adolescent (postnatal day (P)...
Little is known about cannabis use in hunter-gatherers. Therefore, we investigated cannabis use in the Aka, a population of foragers of the Congo Basin. Because cannabis contains anthelminthic compounds, and the Aka have a high prevalence of helminthiasis, we also tested the hypothesis that cannabis use might be an unconscious form of self-medication against helminths. We collected self- and...