Marijuana: Real medicine or reefer madness?

Ecstasy: America's new "reefer madness".

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) was first used as a legal adjunct to psychotherapy in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, "Ecstasy" had become a tiny part of the recreational American drug scene, and was ultimately criminalized in 1986. For a decade use continued, but remained quiet. By the end of the 1990s, increased supply, demand, seizures of pills, arrests of distributors associated wit...

[Reefer madness revisited: cannabis and psychosis].

Appraising the Risks of Reefer Madness

Editor's Note: Studies that have tied cannabis use to schizophrenia in the developing brain are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marijuana. Are different strains and synthetic cannabinoids especially dangerous? Are we doing enough to educate young people on the risks? Does marijuana use lower IQ? Where is the line between medical marijuana and recreational use? Our author, a noted B...

Marijuana (Cannabis) as Medicine

The modern published literature on the therapeutic potentials of cannabis has been reviewed. A pure preparation of the major active component, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Marinol or dronabinol, is available for treating nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy and as an adjunct to weight loss in patients with wasting syndrome associated with AIDS. Although such approval c...

Why we need to be cautious about medical marijuana. Reefer sadness.

Marijuana smoke is blanketing the United States. Medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber coffee shops in some communities. And no matter where you go, there’s no escaping the debate over whether the drug should be legalized for medical or recreational purposes. Thus far, 20 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing medical use of marijuana. An additional 15, including Minne...