Drug and Alcohol Review
May 1, 2007
Megan A. Harvey, John D. Sellman, Richard Porter et al.
AbstractResearch indicates that cannabis continues to be a popular illegal drug internationally. Furthermore, adolescent rates of use appear to be significant. Whilst the non‐acute effect of cannabis use on adult cognition has been extensively researched, there has been less examination of adolescents. This study aimed to investigate the non‐acute relationship between cannabis and cognitive...
Human psychopharmacology
April 2007
Daniel S O'Leary, Robert I Block, Julie A Koeppel et al.
Using an attention task to control cognitive state, we previously found that smoking marijuana changes regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). The present study measured rCBF during tasks requiring attention to left and right ears in different conditions. Twelve occasional marijuana users (mean age 23.5 years) were imaged with PET using [15O]water after smoking marijuana or placebo cigarettes as...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
April 2007
Marcello Solinas, Gianluigi Tanda, Zuzana Justinova et al.
Anandamide is an endogenous ligand for brain cannabinoid CB(1) receptors, but its behavioral effects are difficult to measure due to rapid inactivation. Here we used a drug-discrimination procedure to test the hypothesis that anandamide, given i.v. or i.p., would produce discriminative effects like those of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in rats when its metabolic inactivation was...
Addiction
March 12, 2007
James Christopher Anthony, Louisa Degenhardt
4 citations
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...
Depression and Anxiety
March 7, 2007
Heather Durdle, Leslie H. Lundahl, Chris‐ellyn Johanson et al.
34 citations
Previous research has suggested that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) users have elevated depressive symptomatology, although it is not clear whether this is due to MDMA or other drug use. This study aimed to investigate the contributions of MDMA and cannabis use to Major Depressive Disorder in MDMA users. A total of 226 MDMA users were studied. Participants (65% male) reported...
British Journal of Pharmacology
March 2007
R G Pertwee, A Thomas, L A Stevenson et al.
To follow up in vitro evidence that Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabivarin extracted from cannabis (eDelta(9)-THCV) is a CB(1) receptor antagonist by establishing whether synthetic Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabivarin (O-4394) and Delta(8)-tetrahydrocannabivarin (O-4395) behave as CB(1) antagonists in vivo. O-4394 and O-4395 were compared with eDelta(9)-THCV as displacers of [(3)H]-CP55940 from specific...
Neuropsychopharmacology
March 2007
Maria Ellgren, Sabrina M Spano, Yasmin L. Hurd
Cannabis use is a hypothesized gateway to subsequent abuse of other drugs such as heroin. We currently assessed whether Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure during adolescence modulates opiate reinforcement and opioid neural systems in adulthood. Long-Evan male rats received THC (1.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.)) or vehicle every third day during postnatal days (PNDs) 28-49. Heroin...
Current Opinion in Psychiatry
March 2007
Don H. Linszen, Therese van Amelsvoort
Cannabis use is the most commonly abused illicit substance. Its relation with psychosis remains a topic of debate. Epidemiological studies suggest that cannabis is a component cause accounting for approximately 10% of cases. An increasing number of studies have been published on neurobiological effects of cannabis and vulnerability of psychosis. Acute cannabis administration can induce memory...
Addiction
February 10, 2007
Matthew Hickman, Peter T. Vickerman, John Macleod et al.
97 citations
AIMS: To estimate long-term trends in cannabis use and projections of schizophrenia assuming a causal relation between cannabis use and schizophrenia. METHODS: Trends in cannabis use were estimated from a national survey, 2003; and incidence of schizophrenia was derived from surveys in three English cities, 1997-99. A difference equation cohort model was fitted against estimates of...
European Journal of Pharmacology
January 26, 2007
Daniela Braida, Valeria Limonta, Lorenzo Malabarba et al.
The mechanism mediating the effects of cannabinoids on anxiety-related responses appear to involve cannabinoid CB1 and non-CB1 receptors. However, other neurotransmitters may play a role in such effect. This study shows evidence of an interaction between endocannabinoid system and serotonin (5-HT), 1A receptor subtype on anxiety-like behavior in Sprague-Dawley rats. The exogenous cannabinoid...