AIMS To compare post-treatment alcohol use between those who use cannabis and those who abstain during treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUD); and to examine potential cannabis use thresholds by comparing post-treatment alcohol use between four frequency groups of cannabis users relative to abstainers. DESIGN Secondary analyses of the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions...

The prevalent use of cannabis by adolescents and young adults, combined with the common misconception that smoking cannabis is relatively harmless, warrants the exploration of factors influencing resistance to health education messages about cannabis use. This investigation did so within a Reversal Theory framework. One hundred and thirteen undergraduate students responded to an informative lea...

The current investigation uses a large non-clinical sample of undergraduate college students (N=189) to investigate schizotypal traits among cannabis and non-cannabis users, as well as the temporal order of the onset of these traits and cannabis use. Findings suggest that regular cannabis users are significantly more prone to cognitive and perceptual distortions as well as disorganization, but ...

This paper estimates the price responsiveness of cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use. Individual level data from four waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey are merged with previously unavailable state level data on cannabis prices, and ABS alcohol and tobacco price indices. In addition to own price effects, we estimate cross price effects and the impact of differing legal regimes...

Marijuana (cannabis) remains a controversial drug in the twenty-first century. This paper considers current research on use of Cannabis sativa and its constituents such as the cannabinoids. Topics reviewed include prevalence of cannabis (pot) use, other drugs consumed with pot, the endocannabinoid system, use of medicinal marijuana, medical adverse effects of cannabis, and psychiatric adverse e...

This study examined the relationship between neuropsychological performance and three different indices of cannabis use in schizophrenia. These indices were DSM-IV lifetime abuse/dependence, frequency of use, and recency of use. Sixty males with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and 17 healthy males were recruited. The two groups were matched for age, years of education, and premorbid IQ. ...

IMPORTANCE Prior neuroimaging studies have suggested that alterations in brain structure may be a consequence of cannabis use. Siblings discordant for cannabis use offer an opportunity to use cross-sectional data to disentangle such causal hypotheses from shared effects of genetics and familial environment on brain structure and cannabis use. OBJECTIVES To determine whether cannabis use is as...

AIMS To assess if cannabis use is a risk factor for future psychotic symptoms, and vice versa, in adolescents and young adults from the general population. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS 'Zuid Holland' study, a 14-year follow-up study of 1580 initially 4-16-year-olds who were drawn randomly from the Dutch general population. Because cannabis use is generally condoned in the Nethe...

OBJECTIVE Cannabis use is associated with a younger age at onset of psychosis, an indicator of poor prognosis, but better cognitive function, a positive prognostic indicator. We aimed to clarify the role of age at onset and cognition on outcomes in cannabis users with first-episode schizophrenia as well as the effect of cannabis dose and cessation of use. METHODS Ninety-nine patients without ...

BACKGROUND Cannabis use can frequently have adverse affects in those that use it and these can be amplified by various characteristics of an individual, from demographic and environmental variations to familial predisposition for mental illnesses. METHODS The current study of 100 individuals, who were cannabis users during their adolescence and may still be users, was a survey of the self per...