The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids PDF Download

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309453070
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
Significant changes have taken place in the policy landscape surrounding cannabis legalization, production, and use. During the past 20 years, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis and/or cannabidiol (a component of cannabis) for medical conditions or retail sales at the state level and 4 states have legalized both the medical and recreational use of cannabis. These landmark changes in policy have impacted cannabis use patterns and perceived levels of risk. However, despite this changing landscape, evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis use remains elusive. While a myriad of studies have examined cannabis use in all its various forms, often these research conclusions are not appropriately synthesized, translated for, or communicated to policy makers, health care providers, state health officials, or other stakeholders who have been charged with influencing and enacting policies, procedures, and laws related to cannabis use. Unlike other controlled substances such as alcohol or tobacco, no accepted standards for safe use or appropriate dose are available to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively. Shifting public sentiment, conflicting and impeded scientific research, and legislative battles have fueled the debate about what, if any, harms or benefits can be attributed to the use of cannabis or its derivatives, and this lack of aggregated knowledge has broad public health implications. The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids provides a comprehensive review of scientific evidence related to the health effects and potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis. This report provides a research agendaâ€"outlining gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for providing additional insight into these issuesâ€"that summarizes and prioritizes pressing research needs.

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309065313
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Some people suffer from chronic, debilitating disorders for which no conventional treatment brings relief. Can marijuana ease their symptoms? Would it be breaking the law to turn to marijuana as a medication? There are few sources of objective, scientifically sound advice for people in this situation. Most books about marijuana and medicine attempt to promote the views of advocates or opponents. To fill the gap between these extremes, authors Alison Mack and Janet Joy have extracted critical findings from a recent Institute of Medicine study on this important issue, interpreting them for a general audience. Marijuana As Medicine? provides patientsâ€"as well as the people who care for themâ€"with a foundation for making decisions about their own health care. This empowering volume examines several key points, including: Whether marijuana can relieve a variety of symptoms, including pain, muscle spasticity, nausea, and appetite loss. The dangers of smoking marijuana, as well as the effects of its active chemical components on the immune system and on psychological health. The potential use of marijuana-based medications on symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and several other specific disorders, in comparison with existing treatments. Marijuana As Medicine? introduces readers to the active compounds in marijuana. These include the principal ingredient in Marinol, a legal medication. The authors also discuss the prospects for developing other drugs derived from marijuana's active ingredients. In addition to providing an up-to-date review of the science behind the medical marijuana debate, Mack and Joy also answer common questions about the legal status of marijuana, explaining the conflict between state and federal law regarding its medical use. Intended primarily as an aid to patients and caregivers, this book objectively presents critical information so that it can be used to make responsible health care decisions. Marijuana As Medicine? will also be a valuable resource for policymakers, health care providers, patient counselors, medical faculty and studentsâ€"in short, anyone who wants to learn more about this important issue.

Author: British Medical Association
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9789057023187
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
At the last Annual Representative Meeting of the British Medical Association a motion was passed that `certain additional cannabinoids should be legalized for wider medicinal use.'' This report supports this landmark statement by reviewing the scientific evidence for the therapeutic use of cannabinoids and sets the agenda for change. It will be welcomed by those who believe that cannabinoids can be used in medical treatment. The report discusses in a clear and readable form the use and adverse effects of the drug for nausea, multiple sclerosis, pain, epilepsy, glaucoma, and asthma.

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309071550
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The medical use of marijuana is surrounded by a cloud of social, political, and religious controversy, which obscures the facts that should be considered in the debate. This book summarizes what we know about marijuana from evidence-based medicineâ€"the harm it may do and the relief it may bring to patients. The book helps the reader understand not only what science has to say about medical marijuana but also the logic behind the scientific conclusions. Marijuana and Medicine addresses the science base and the therapeutic effects of marijuana use for medical conditions such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. It covers marijuana's mechanism of action, acute and chronic effects on health and behavior, potential adverse effects, efficacy of different delivery systems, analysis of the data about marijuana as a gateway drug, and the prospects for developing cannabinoid drugs. The book evaluates how well marijuana meets accepted standards for medicine and considers the conclusions of other blue-ribbon panels. Full of useful facts, this volume will be important to anyone interested in informed debate about the medical use of marijuana: advocates and opponents as well as policymakers, regulators, and health care providers.

Author: Michael T. Compton
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128051833
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
The Complex Connection between Cannabis and Schizophrenia provides an in-depth overview of the current state of research into the role that cannabis plays in schizophrenia, covering both the pathophysiological and the pharmacological implications. It addresses the epidemiology of cannabis use and the risks associated with its use, the biological aspects of the drug, its effects on the brain and the pharmacological possibilities of using cannabidiol to treat schizophrenia. It is the only book on the market devoted exclusively to examining the links between this very commonly used (and misused) drug and a specific set of devastating psychiatric illnesses, providing a comprehensive guide to our current understandings of this relationship. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug globally, and is becoming increasingly decriminalized and even legalized worldwide. Among the numerous mental-health concerns related to the drug, there is mounting evidence of an intricate link between cannabis use and schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. At the same time, there is promising evidence to suggest that cannabidiol, one of the many compounds found in cannabis that activates the brain's cannabinoid receptors, could prove to be an effective antipsychotic to treat schizophrenia. - Synthesizes existing knowledge about the confusing, but crucial, relationship between cannabis use and schizophrenia symptoms - Provides a comprehensive overview of the neurobiological mechanisms of cannabis use and its effects on the brain, including an exploration of the endocannabinoid system - Examines the promising evidence suggesting cannabidiol as an effective antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia - Aids readers studying the neurobiological underpinning of cannabis addiction and psychosis in determining directions for their own future research

Author: Isaac Campos
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807882682
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Historian Isaac Campos combines wide-ranging archival research with the latest scholarship on the social and cultural dimensions of drug-related behavior in this telling of marijuana's remarkable history in Mexico. Introduced in the sixteenth century by the Spanish, cannabis came to Mexico as an industrial fiber and symbol of European empire. But, Campos demonstrates, as it gradually spread to indigenous pharmacopoeias, then prisons and soldiers' barracks, it took on both a Mexican name--marijuana--and identity as a quintessentially "Mexican" drug. A century ago, Mexicans believed that marijuana could instantly trigger madness and violence in its users, and the drug was outlawed nationwide in 1920. Home Grown thus traces the deep roots of the antidrug ideology and prohibitionist policies that anchor the drug-war violence that engulfs Mexico today. Campos also counters the standard narrative of modern drug wars, which casts global drug prohibition as a sort of informal American cultural colonization. Instead, he argues, Mexican ideas were the foundation for notions of "reefer madness" in the United States. This book is an indispensable guide for anyone who hopes to understand the deep and complex origins of marijuana's controversial place in North American history.

Author: Kevin P Hill
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1616495707
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
The leading clinical expert on marijuana sifts through the myths about the drug to deliver an unbiased, comprehensive guide backed by scientific facts to give you the information you need to make informed decisions about marijuana. Marijuana--or weed, pot, grass, MJ, Mary Jane, reefer, cannabis, or hemp among dozens of other names--has a long, colorful history dating back more than 2,000 years as the one of the most sought-after mood-altering substances in the world. Societal opinion about the drug has dramatically swayed over the years, from viewing it as a grave danger to society in the 1930s film Reefer Madness, to a harmless recreational high in the ’60s, to an addictive substance and gateway to such “hard” drugs as heroin today. The myths and misinformation about marijuana have only multiplied over the years as the controversy over legalization and medical marijuana grows. A nationally recognized clinical expert and leading researcher on marijuana, Kevin P. Hill provides a comprehensive guide to understanding the drug in Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth about the World’s Most Popular Weed. Through research-based historical, scientific, and medical information, Hill will help you sort through what you hear on the streets and in the media and cut straight to the facts. Whether you’re a parent concerned about your child’s use, someone with an illness considering medical marijuana as a treatment option, a user who has questions about its effect on your health, or if you’re just trying to make up your mind about legalization, this book will give you the most current and unbiased information you need to make informed decisions about marijuana.

Author: David Casarett M.D.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698186648
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A doctor discovers the surprising truth about marijuana No substance on earth is as hotly debated as marijuana. Opponents claim it’s dangerous, addictive, carcinogenic, and a gateway to serious drug abuse. Fans claim it as a wonder drug, treating cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines, PTSD, and insomnia. Patients suffering from these conditions need—and deserve—hard facts based on medical evidence, not hysteria and superstition. In Stoned, palliative care physician Dr. David Casarett sets out to do anything—including experimenting on himself—to find evidence of marijuana’s medical potential. He smears mysterious marijuana paste on his legs and samples pot wine. He poses as a patient at a seedy California clinic and takes lessons from an artisanal hash maker. In conversations with researchers, doctors, and patients around the world he learns how marijuana works—and doesn’t—in the real world. Dr. Casarett unearths tales of near-miraculous success, such as a child with chronic seizures who finally found relief in cannabidiol oil. In Tel Aviv, he learns of a nursing home that’s found success giving marijuana to dementia patients. On the other hand, one patient who believed marijuana cured her lung cancer has clearly been misled. As Casarett sifts the myth and misinformation from the scientific evidence, he explains, among other things: • Why marijuana might be the best treatment option for some types of pain • Why there’s no significant risk of lung damage from smoking pot • Why most marijuana-infused beer or wine won’t get you high Often humorous, occasionally heartbreaking, and full of counterintuitive conclusions, Stoned offers a compassionate and much-needed medical practitioner’s perspective on the potential of this misunderstood plant.

Author: Godfrey Pearlson
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128181753
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT MARIJUANA AND HOW DO WE KNOW IT? Marijuana is the most frequently consumed illicit drug worldwide, with over 158.8 million users, according to the UN. Responding to public pressure, the US federal government is likely to legalize recreational marijuana within the next few years. With increasing numbers of people using cannabis both medically and recreationally there are many looming questions that only science can answer. These include: - What's likely to happen, both good and bad, if the US legalizes marijuana? - What are some simple, science-based rules to separate fact from fiction and to help guide policy in the highly contentious marijuana debate? - Exactly what is cannabis doing in the brain that gets us high? A journey through THC neuroscience - Does cannabis really have medical benefits - what's the evidence? - To what extent does cannabis impair driving? - Can smoking marijuana in adolescence affect IQ or risk for developing schizophrenia? - Is marijuana safe to use during pregnancy? - Reviews the endocannabinoid system and why our bodies are full of "weed receptors" - Introduces readers to the various forms of marijuana: flower, dabs, hash, edibles, shatter, vapes, tinctures, oils and synthetics, THC, CBD and terpenes. - Demonstrates how and why cannabis affects different people very differently. Discusses how MRI and PET scans can help show the effects of marijuana on the brain. - Discusses long-term effects of adolescent and adult cannabis use. - Examines the evidence for cannabis's role in increasing the risk for schizophrenia-like illnesses.

Author: Robert L Zimdahl
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0123815029
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
It is important that scientists think about and know their history - where they came from, what they have accomplished, and how these may affect the future. Weed scientists, similar to scientists in many technological disciplines, have not sought historical reflection. The technological world asks for results and for progress. Achievement is important not, in general, the road that leads to achievement. What was new yesterday is routine today, and what is described as revolutionary today may be considered antiquated tomorrow. Weed science has been strongly influenced by technology developed by supporting industries, subsequently employed in research and, ultimately, used by farmers and crop growers. The science has focused on results and progress. Scientists have been--and the majority remain--problem solvers whose solutions have evolved as rapidly as have the new weed problems needing solutions. In a more formal sense, weed scientists have been adherents of the instrumental ideology of modern science. That is an analysis of their work, and their orientation reveals the strong emphasis on practical, useful knowledge; on know how. The opposite, and frequently complementary orientation, that has been missing from weed science is an emphasis on contemplative knowledge; that is, knowing why. This book expands on and analyzes how these orientations have affected weed science's development. - The first analytical history of weed science to be written - Compares the development of weed science, entomology and plant pathology - Identifies the primary founders of weed science and describes their role