BACKGROUND/AIMS We assessed to what extent adolescents use alcohol and cannabis simultaneously and expanded previous research by estimating the proportion of all events of cannabis use that had occurred in relation to drinking. How the prevalence of this form of polysubstance use co-varied with the overall level of alcohol and cannabis use in different countries was also examined. METHOD We a...

XI Abbreviations XVIII Publications and Submissions XX Chapter 1 Cannabis: a review of use, abuse and dependence 1 1.1. A brief history of cannabis use 1 1.2. Current use of cannabis 4 1.3. Recent advances in cannabinoid science 7 1.4. Cannabis dependence in humans 11 1.5. Why do people become dependent on cannabis? 15 1.5.1. The cannabis withdrawal syndrome 16 1.5.2. The role of cannabis withd...

Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug worldwide. Cross-sectional neuroimaging studies suggest that chronic cannabis exposure and the development of cannabis use disorders may affect brain morphology. However, cross-sectional studies cannot make a conclusive distinction between cause and consequence and longitudinal neuroimaging studies are lacking. In this prospective study we inves...

With the increasing legalization of cannabis, understanding the consequences of cannabis use is particularly timely. We examined the association between cannabis use and dependence, prospectively assessed between ages 18-38, and economic and social problems at age 38. We studied participants in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, a cohort (n=1,037) followed from birth to age 38. Study members with ...

Cannabis use has increased considerably during the last 15 years. One of the major problems dealing with cannabis use is driving under the influence of drugs. With the exception of ethyl alcohol, the majority of the epidemiological studies have shown that cannabis is the most frequently detected substance in people suspected of driving under the influence of drugs. Experimental studies are ther...

AIMS The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of affiliation with cannabis-using peers in the pathways from various dimensions of temperament to life-time cannabis use, and to determine if these associations also contributed to the development of regular cannabis use. METHODS Objectives were studied using data from 1300 participants of the Tracking Adolescents' Individ...

BACKGROUND Anxiety reactions and panic attacks are the acute symptoms most frequently associated with cannabis use. Understanding the relationship between cannabis and anxiety may clarify the mechanism of action of cannabis and the pathophysiology of anxiety. Aims of the present study were to review the nature of the relationship between cannabis use and anxiety, as well as the possible clinica...

BACKGROUND Cannabis use appears to exacerbate psychotic symptoms and increase risk of psychotic relapse. However, the relative contribution of cannabis use compared with other risk factors is unclear. The influence of psychotic symptoms on cannabis use has received little attention. AIMS To examine the influence of cannabis use on psychotic symptom relapse and the influence of psychotic sympt...

OBJECTIVE Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the United States and is increasingly being legalized throughout the United States. Many believe that cannabis is relatively harmless, and some believe that cannabis is not addictive. We wondered what the rates of cannabis abuse and dependence might be among adolescents referred for substance use evaluations and also about the in...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cannabis use among Swiss students and to assess their attitudes regarding health and safety issues associated with drug use. SUBJECTS AND METHODS After a workshop, 173 students (23.1% male, 75.7% female; 44.4% age 16, 43.8% age 17 and 11.8% age 18) from a Swiss school were surveyed by questionnaire. RESULTS 59.3% (n=103) of ...