Position statement on cannabis.

Adding to the cannabis debate: Comment on various Central Drug Authority papers.

This editorial addresses the following documents published in this and a previous edition of the SAMJ:The Central Drug Authority (CDA)'s position paper on cannabisThe CDA's position paper on harm reductionThe CDA's response to the editorial 'Comment on the CDA's position statement on cannabis'. As there is considerable overlap between the contents of the above documents, this editorial tries to...

Position statement on cannabis: A step forwards.

Respiratory health effects of cannabis: position statement of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Both the gaseous and the particulate phases of tobacco and cannabis smoke contain a similar range of harmful chemicals. However, differing patterns of inhalation mean that smoking a 'joint' of cannabis results in exposure to significantly greater amounts of combusted material than with a tobacco cigarette. The histopathological effects of cannabis smoke exposure include changes consistent with ...

Enhancing neuropsychological performance in chronic cannabis users: the role of motivation.

This study sought to determine whether cannabis users demonstrate differential effort during neuropsychological assessment compared to nonusers, and whether better performance can be induced in participants with a motivational statement prior to testing. For two groups of participants, cannabis users and nonusers, either a motivational or a neutral statement was administered prior to neuropsych...

Cannabis legal debacle.

May 2011, Vol. 101, No. 5 SAMJ Cannabis legal debacle To the Editor: The editorial in the SAMJ1 questioning whether it is time to decriminalise drugs refers. The Central Drug Authority (CDA) produced the South African Position Paper on Cannabis in 2004; however, the document was never made public or released.2 The Position Paper builds a case for prohibition on a ‘public health’ basis and osten...