Marijuana Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Marijuana, including details on benefits, cancer, effects, uses, addiction. | ||||||
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Reduced attentional scope in cocaine polydrug users.Colzato LS, van den Wildenberg WP, Hommel B Institute for Psychological Research & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. colzato@fsw.leidenuniv.nl Cocaine is Europe's second preferred recreational drug after cannabis but very little is known about possible cognitive impairments in the upcoming type of recreational cocaine user (monthly consumption). We asked whether recreational use of cocaine impacts early attentional selection processes. Cocaine-free polydrug controls (n = 18) and cocaine polydrug users (n = 18) were matched on sex, age, alcohol consumption, and IQ (using the Raven's progressive matrices), and were tested by using the Global-Local task to measure the scope of attention. Cocaine polydrug users attended significantly more to local aspects of attended events, which fits with the idea that a reduced scope of attention may be associated with the perpetuation of the use of the drug. Published 26 June 2009 in PLoS One, 4(6): e6043. Articles on Marijuana published 26 June 2009: Attached to the web - harmful use of the Internet and its correlates. Eur Psychiatry. BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study was to test the validity of the Finnish version of the Internet Addiction Test and the correlates of harmful use of the Internet. METHODS: One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five students (45.5% men and 54.5% women, mean age 24.7 years, S.D.=5.7) filled in a web-based questionnaire including IAT, reasons for use of the Internet, distress, social support, and substance use. RESULTS: Men had a statistically significantly higher mean score on the IAT ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Interest in marijuana treatment programs among teenage smokers and nonsmokers. J Subst Abuse Treat. Little is known about adolescents' interest in marijuana treatment programs. This question was evaluated by telephone interview in a convenience sample of 575 adolescents responding to advertisements for tobacco research studies. Eighty-one percent of respondents endorsed the need for marijuana treatment programs for adolescents. These adolescents were younger and less likely to smoke tobacco, smoke marijuana, or use alcohol than those not endorsing such a need. Among the 192 marijuana smokers, ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Cannabis smoke condensate III: The cannabinoid content of vaporised Cannabis sativa. Inhal Toxicol. Cannabis sativa is a well-known recreational drug and, as such, a controlled substance of which possession and use are illegal in most countries of the world. Due to the legal constraints on the possession and use of C. sativa, relatively little research on the medicinal qualities of this plant has been conducted. Interest in the medicinal uses of this plant has, however, increased in the last decades. The methods of administration for medicinal purposes are mainly through oral ingestion, ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Articles on Marijuana published 25 June 2009: Impaired Error Awareness and Anterior Cingulate Cortex Hypoactivity in Chronic Cannabis Users. Neuropsychopharmacology. Drug abuse and other psychiatric conditions (eg, schizophrenia) have been associated with a diminished neural response to errors, particularly in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) thought critical to error processing. A diminished capacity for detecting errors has been linked to clinical symptoms including the loss of insight, delusions, and perseverative behavior. A total of 16 active chronic cannabis users and 16 control participants were administered a Go/No-go response inhibition task ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Adolescent Exposure to Chronic Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Blocks Opiate Dependence in Maternally Deprived Rats. Neuropsychopharmacology. Maternal deprivation in rats specifically leads to a vulnerability to opiate dependence. However, the impact of cannabis exposure during adolescence on this opiate vulnerability has not been investigated. Chronic dronabinol (natural delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, THC) exposure during postnatal days 35-49 was made in maternal deprived (D) or non-deprived (animal facility rearing, AFR) rats. The effects of dronabinol exposure were studied after 2 weeks of washout on the rewarding effects of ... [Abstract] [Full-text] College students rarely seek help despite serious substance use problems. J Subst Abuse Treat. The prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD) and aspects of the help-seeking process among a high-risk sample of 946 students at one large public university were assessed in personal interviews during the first 3 years of college. After statistically adjusting for purposive sampling, an estimated 46.8%(wt) of all third-year students met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for SUD involving alcohol and/or marijuana at least once. Of 548 SUD cases, ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Articles on Marijuana published 24 June 2009: Aims Rather than using the traditional, costly method of personal interviews in a general population sample, substance-use prevalence rates can be derived more conveniently from data collected among members of an online access panel. To examine the utility of this method, we compared the outcomes of an online survey with those obtained with the computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) method. Design Data were gathered from a large sample of online panellists and in a two-stage stratified ... [Abstract] [Full-text] Articles on Marijuana published 23 June 2009: Cluster attacks responsive to recreational cannabis and dronabinol. Headache, 49(6): 914-6. Pharmacological preparations of cannabinoid compounds have a variety of therapeutic uses in medicine, including different pain syndromes, but have not been previously reported as beneficial for cluster headache. We present a patient with cluster headache who was refractory to multiple acute and preventive medications but successfully aborted his attacks with recreational marijuana use; subsequent use of dronabinol provided equally effective pain relief. The beneficial effect may be related to ... [Abstract] [Full-text] © 2004-2009 Marijuana Research Today. All Rights Reserved. |
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