Document Outline

• Contents
• 1. Introduction
  • The Plant
  • Consumption of Cannabis Preparations for Their Psychoactive Effects
    • Smoking
    • Eating and Drinking
  • A Brief History
• 2. The Pharmacology of THC, the Psychoactive Ingredient in Cannabis
  • Man-Made Cannabinoids
  • Structure–Activity Relationships for Cannabinoids
  • Cannabinoid Antagonists
  • How Does THC Get to the Brain?
    • Smoking
    • Oral Absorption
    • Other Routes of Administration
  • Elimination of THC from the Body
  • How Does THC Work?
  • Discovery of Naturally Occurring Cannabinoids
    • Biosynthesis and Inactivation of Endocannabinoids
  • Interaction of Cannabinoids with Other Chemical Messenger Systems in the Brain
  • Some Physiological Effects of THC and Anandamide
    • Heart and Blood Vessels
    • Suppression of Immune System Function
    • Sex Hormones and Reproduction
    • Pain Sensitivity
    • Motility and Posture
    • The Billy Martin Tests
• 3. The Effects of Cannabis on the Central Nervous System
  • Subjective Reports of the Marijuana High
  • Laboratory Studies of Marijuana in Human Volunteers
    • Effects on Psychomotor Function and Driving
    • Higher Brain Function, Including Learning and Memory
    • Comparisons of Marijuana with Alcohol
  • Where in the Brain Does Marijuana Act?
    • Functional Neuroanatomy of Cannabinoid Receptor CB-1 in the Brain
  • What Can Animal Behavior Experiments Tell Us?
  • Does Repeated Use of Marijuana Lead to Tolerance and Dependence?
• 4. Medical Uses of Marijuana—Fact or Fantasy?
  • The Modern Revival of Interest in Cannabis-Based Medicines
  • The Synthetic Cannabinoids
    • Dronabinol (Marinol®)
    • Nabilone (Cesamet®)
  • What are the Medical Targets for Cannabis?
    • Nausea and Vomiting Associated with Cancer Chemotherapy
    • AIDS Wasting Syndrome
    • Pain
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Glaucoma
    • Epilepsy
    • Bronchial Asthma
    • Mood Disorders and Sleep
  • Conclusions
• 5. Is Cannabis Safe?
  • Toxicity
  • Acute Effects of Cannabis
  • Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Cannabis
    • Cannabis in Pregnancy
    • Cannabis and Mental Illness
  • Special Hazards of Smoked Marijuana
    • Marijuana Smoke and Smoking Behavior
    • Effects of Marijuana Smoke on the Lungs
    • Marijuana Smoking and Lung Cancer
    • Can Smoking Marijuana be Recommended for Medical Use? Are There Alternative Delivery Systems?
  • Comparison of the Health Risks of Cannabis with Those of Alcohol and Nicotine
    • Alcohol
    • Tobacco
  • Summary of the Conclusions Regarding the Medical Uses of Cannabis
• 6. The Recreational Use of Cannabis
  • Prevalence
  • How Is Cannabis Consumed and Where Does It Come From?
  • Patterns of Recreational Use
  • What Are the Effects of Recreational Cannabis Use?
  • The Potency of Illicit Marijuana
  • Is Marijuana a "Gateway" Drug?
  • Do Recreational Marijuana Users Become Dependent?
  • Forensic Testing for Cannabis — Growth Industry of the 1990s
  • Snapshots of Cannabis Use Around the World
    • India and Pakistan
    • Nepal and Tibet
    • Southeast Asia
    • Africa
    • Caribbean and Latin America
  • Conclusions
• 7. What Next?
  • A Hundred Years of Cannabis Inquiries
    • The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report (1894)
    • Mayor La Guardia's Report on "The Marijuana Problem in the City of New York" (1944)
  • The Wootton Report, England 1968
    • Report Followed Report
  • The Dutch Experiment
  • The Campaign for Medical Marijuana
  • What Promise Does Cannabis Research Hold?
  • Historical Changes in Attitudes to Psychoactive Drugs
    • Opium
    • Cocaine
    • Tobacco
  • What Are the Likely Outcomes in the Twenty-First Century?
• References
• Index
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