Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the world. Over the past couple of decades, several Western jurisdictions have seen reforms in, or changes to, the way cannabis use is being ...controlled, departing from traditional approaches of criminal prohibition that have dominated cannabis use control regimes for most of the twentieth century. While reform is stalled at the international level, the last decade has seen an acceleration of legislative and regulatory reforms at the local and national levels, with countries no longer willing to bear the human and financial costs of prohibitive policies. Furthermore, legalization models have been implemented in US states, Canada and Uruguay, and are being debated in a number of other countries. These models are providing the world with unique pilot programs from which to study and learn.
This book assembles an international who’s who of cannabis scholars who bring together the best available evidence and expertise to address questions such as: How should we evaluate the models of cannabis legalization as they have been implemented in several jurisdictions in the past few years? Which scenarios for future cannabis legalization have been developed elsewhere, and how similar/different are they from the models already implemented? What lessons from the successes and failures experienced with the regulation of other psychoactive substances (such as alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals and “legal highs”) can be translated to the effective regulation of cannabis markets?
This book may appeal to anyone interested in public health policies and drug policy reform and offers relevant insights for stakeholders in any other country where academic, societal or political evaluations of current cannabis policies (and even broader: current drug policies) are a subject of debate.
Dying to Get High with Susie Bright on Boing Boing!Warring Wines; You Want to Fight?; Nurse Mary Jane in Santa CruzHigh Times interviews the authorsAlternet excerpt of the book ("How Pot Became ...Demonized")Discussion from the Santa Cruz MetroMarijuana as medicine has been a politically charged topic in this country for more than three decades. Despite overwhelming public support and growing scientific evidence of its therapeutic effects (relief of the nausea caused by chemotherapy for cancer and AIDS, control over seizures or spasticity caused by epilepsy or MS, and relief from chronic and acute pain, to name a few), the drug remains illegal under federal law.In Dying to Get High, noted sociologist Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb investigate one community of seriously-ill patients fighting the federal government for the right to use physician-recommended marijuana. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the Wo/Mens Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is a unique patient-caregiver cooperative providing marijuana free of charge to mostly terminally ill members. For a brief period in 2004, it even operated the only legal non-governmental medical marijuana garden in the country, protected by the federal courts against the DEA. Using as their stage this fascinating profile of one remarkable organization, Chapkis and Webb tackle the broader, complex history of medical marijuana in America. Through compelling interviews with patients, public officials, law enforcement officers and physicians, Chapkis and Webb ask what distinguishes a legitimate patient from an illegitimate pothead, good drugs from bad, medicinal effects from just getting high. Dying to Get High combines abstract argument and the messier terrain of how people actually live, suffer and die, and offers a moving account of what is at stake in ongoing debates over the legalization of medical marijuana.
Going beyond the newspapers,Killer Weedexamines how legal, political, and civil initiatives that have emerged from the media narrative have troubling consequences for a shrinking Canadian civil ...society.
Introduction: In recent years, multiple publications underscored many beneficial properties associated with medical marihuana. Its current applications encompass pain relief, multiple sclerosis, the ...treatment of anxiety disorders, Dravet syndrome and other. It can potentially extent to the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia or in people with diabetic complications. The expansive potential of medical cannabis in the prevention and treatment of many diseases is seen in its complex and multidirectional mechanisms of action. Medical marihuana has impact on cannabinoid receptors, and it exerts effects through many other molecular targets. Aim of the study: This review seeks present mechanisms of action of medical marihuana and explore its potential therapeutic targets. Materials and methods: A comprehensive review of literature available in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases was performed, using the following keywords: "medical marihuana", "medical cannabis", "medical marihuana mechanism of action", "therapeutic targets of medical marihuana", "endocannabinoid system", “medical marihuana in pain treatment”, “medical marihuana amygdala body”, “medical marihuana serotonin receptors”. Conclusions: Medical marihuana emerges as a promising candidate in the treatment of many diseases and common condition. However, further research is imperative to ascertain the effects of the drug and transform it into an effective medication which maximizes benefits and minimalizes side effects.
This book investigates the social construction of the processes of marijuana criminalization and marijuana medicalization. It is the first substantive study on the subject to include a detailed ...historical context in which to situate a new theoretical model for examining the contemporary U.S. drug policy debate.
1. Introduction. 2. The Pharmacology of THC, the Psychoactive Ingredient in Cannabis. 3. The Effects of Cannabis on the Central Nervous System. 4. Medical Uses of Marijuana--Fact or Fantasy?. 5. Is ...Cannabis Safe?. 6. The Recreational Use of Cannabis. 7. What Next?.
The rapid pace of Marijuana legalisation has spurred debate among citizens, cities, states and government. This collection of essays explains the benefits and concerns, the policies and actions, and ...the future of this controversial issue.
El gobierno de la República ha enviado al Congreso Nacional un proyecto de leypara legalizar el uso recreativo de la marihuana. Antes de analizar lo que considerolos aspectos más relevantes de este ...proyecto, es conveniente recordar que el primerdía de marzo del año en curso la Asamblea aprobó el proyecto de ley que permitey regula el uso “medicinal y terapéutico del cannabis y sus derivados y… autoriza laproducción, industrialización y comercialización del cáñamo…y cannabis psicoactivocon fines exclusivamente medicinales y terapéuticos.” (Expediente No. 21.388).
This book provides an academic foundation for further study while also informing clinical mental health practice as well as policy decisions by articulating the connection between marijuana and ...mental health, particularly in the United States.
The implications of cannabis use in the onset of early psychosis and the severity of psychotic symptoms have resulted in a proliferation of studies on this issue. However, few have examined the ...effects of cannabis use on the cognitive symptoms of psychosis (i.e., neurocognitive functioning) in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to assess the neurocognitive functioning of cannabis users (CU) and nonusers (NU) with FEP.
Of the 110 studies identified through the systematic review of 6 databases, 7 met the inclusion criteria, resulting in 14 independent samples and 78 effect sizes. The total sample included 304 CU with FEP and 369 NU with FEP. The moderator variables were age at first use, duration of use, percentage of males, and age.
Effect sizes were not significantly different from zero in any neurocognitive domain when users and NU were compared. Part of the variability in effect sizes was explained by the inclusion of the following moderator variables: (1) frequency of cannabis use (β = 0.013, F = 7.56, p = 0.017); (2) first-generation antipsychotics (β = 0.019, F = 34.46, p ≤ 0.001); and (3) country where the study was carried out (β = 0.266, t = 2.06, p = 0.043).
This meta-analysis indicates that cannabis use is not generally associated with neurocognitive functioning in patients with FEP. However, it highlights the deleterious effect of low doses of cannabis in some patients. It also stresses the importance of the type of antipsychotic prescription and cannabis dose as moderator variables in the neurocognitive functioning of CU with FEP.
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