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Author: Leslie L. Iversen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 0195328248
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIntroduction -- The pharmacology of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) : the psychoactive ingedient in cannabis -- Endocannabinoids -- The effects of cannabis on the cental nervous system -- Medical uses of marijuana : fact or fantasy? -- Is cannabis safe? -- The recreational use of cannabis -- What next?
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2017-03-31
Total Pages: 487
ISBN-13: 0309453070
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSignificant changes have taken place in the policy landscape surrounding cannabis legalization, production, and use. During the past 20 years, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis and/or cannabidiol (a component of cannabis) for medical conditions or retail sales at the state level and 4 states have legalized both the medical and recreational use of cannabis. These landmark changes in policy have impacted cannabis use patterns and perceived levels of risk. However, despite this changing landscape, evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis use remains elusive. While a myriad of studies have examined cannabis use in all its various forms, often these research conclusions are not appropriately synthesized, translated for, or communicated to policy makers, health care providers, state health officials, or other stakeholders who have been charged with influencing and enacting policies, procedures, and laws related to cannabis use. Unlike other controlled substances such as alcohol or tobacco, no accepted standards for safe use or appropriate dose are available to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively. Shifting public sentiment, conflicting and impeded scientific research, and legislative battles have fueled the debate about what, if any, harms or benefits can be attributed to the use of cannabis or its derivatives, and this lack of aggregated knowledge has broad public health implications. The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids provides a comprehensive review of scientific evidence related to the health effects and potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis. This report provides a research agendaâ€"outlining gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for providing additional insight into these issuesâ€"that summarizes and prioritizes pressing research needs.
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2000-12-30
Total Pages: 216
ISBN-13: 0309065313
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSome people suffer from chronic, debilitating disorders for which no conventional treatment brings relief. Can marijuana ease their symptoms? Would it be breaking the law to turn to marijuana as a medication? There are few sources of objective, scientifically sound advice for people in this situation. Most books about marijuana and medicine attempt to promote the views of advocates or opponents. To fill the gap between these extremes, authors Alison Mack and Janet Joy have extracted critical findings from a recent Institute of Medicine study on this important issue, interpreting them for a general audience. Marijuana As Medicine? provides patientsâ€"as well as the people who care for themâ€"with a foundation for making decisions about their own health care. This empowering volume examines several key points, including: Whether marijuana can relieve a variety of symptoms, including pain, muscle spasticity, nausea, and appetite loss. The dangers of smoking marijuana, as well as the effects of its active chemical components on the immune system and on psychological health. The potential use of marijuana-based medications on symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and several other specific disorders, in comparison with existing treatments. Marijuana As Medicine? introduces readers to the active compounds in marijuana. These include the principal ingredient in Marinol, a legal medication. The authors also discuss the prospects for developing other drugs derived from marijuana's active ingredients. In addition to providing an up-to-date review of the science behind the medical marijuana debate, Mack and Joy also answer common questions about the legal status of marijuana, explaining the conflict between state and federal law regarding its medical use. Intended primarily as an aid to patients and caregivers, this book objectively presents critical information so that it can be used to make responsible health care decisions. Marijuana As Medicine? will also be a valuable resource for policymakers, health care providers, patient counselors, medical faculty and studentsâ€"in short, anyone who wants to learn more about this important issue.
Author: Godfrey Pearlson
Publisher: Academic Press
Published: 2020-07-11
Total Pages: 328
ISBN-13: 0128181753
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT MARIJUANA AND HOW DO WE KNOW IT? Marijuana is the most frequently consumed illicit drug worldwide, with over 158.8 million users, according to the UN. Responding to public pressure, the US federal government is likely to legalize recreational marijuana within the next few years. With increasing numbers of people using cannabis both medically and recreationally there are many looming questions that only science can answer. These include: - What's likely to happen, both good and bad, if the US legalizes marijuana? - What are some simple, science-based rules to separate fact from fiction and to help guide policy in the highly contentious marijuana debate? - Exactly what is cannabis doing in the brain that gets us high? A journey through THC neuroscience - Does cannabis really have medical benefits - what's the evidence? - To what extent does cannabis impair driving? - Can smoking marijuana in adolescence affect IQ or risk for developing schizophrenia? - Is marijuana safe to use during pregnancy? - Reviews the endocannabinoid system and why our bodies are full of "weed receptors" - Introduces readers to the various forms of marijuana: flower, dabs, hash, edibles, shatter, vapes, tinctures, oils and synthetics, THC, CBD and terpenes. - Demonstrates how and why cannabis affects different people very differently. Discusses how MRI and PET scans can help show the effects of marijuana on the brain. - Discusses long-term effects of adolescent and adult cannabis use. - Examines the evidence for cannabis's role in increasing the risk for schizophrenia-like illnesses.
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 1999-07-10
Total Pages: 288
ISBN-13: 0309071550
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe medical use of marijuana is surrounded by a cloud of social, political, and religious controversy, which obscures the facts that should be considered in the debate. This book summarizes what we know about marijuana from evidence-based medicineâ€"the harm it may do and the relief it may bring to patients. The book helps the reader understand not only what science has to say about medical marijuana but also the logic behind the scientific conclusions. Marijuana and Medicine addresses the science base and the therapeutic effects of marijuana use for medical conditions such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. It covers marijuana's mechanism of action, acute and chronic effects on health and behavior, potential adverse effects, efficacy of different delivery systems, analysis of the data about marijuana as a gateway drug, and the prospects for developing cannabinoid drugs. The book evaluates how well marijuana meets accepted standards for medicine and considers the conclusions of other blue-ribbon panels. Full of useful facts, this volume will be important to anyone interested in informed debate about the medical use of marijuana: advocates and opponents as well as policymakers, regulators, and health care providers.
Author: David S. Younger
Publisher:
Published: 2018-11-14
Total Pages: 144
ISBN-13: 9781536145663
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe cultural, scientific and legislative divide created by vigorous debates over the legalization of medical marijuana is giving way to a new synergy among community stakeholders across the United States. The goal is to improve access to medical marijuana for patients with refractory debilitating neurological disorders, cancer, and chronic pain as an alternative to ineffective pharmacotherapy and potentially addictive pain medications. The ultimate test of our nations resolve to ensure the welfare of our sickest patients is the enactment and implement of effective public health reform in the area of medical marijuana, also known as medical cannabis.This book evolved out of the present need for a definitive volume on the science and public health aspects of medical cannabis to fuel this national narrative. The ethnographic research presented in the concluding chapter was inspired by Professor Miriam W. Boeri and colleagues, at Bentley University in Waltham, MA. They examined views of community stakeholders including medical marijuana dispensary entrepreneurs, health care professionals, and patients in a state that legalized medical marijuana in 2013, yet there continued to be confusion and misunderstandings in the interpretation and implementation of medical marijuana guidelines during the period of policy shifts. Apparent gaps in policy development and implementation signaled the urgency for a comparison study addressing stakeholder views in New York State, where its medical marijuana program has legally dispensed the drug since 2014. The resulting pilot study was carried out in the Division of Health Policy and Management of the City University of New York School of Public Health. The research model incorporated ethnographic and grounded methodologies to detail the views of physicians, pharmacists, educators, patients, and entrepreneur stakeholders; with triangulation of data and application of dominant themes into a socioecological framework model to identify areas of public health policy reform. The findings of this study detail that New York, like other states that recently legalized the dispensation of medical marijuana, faces challenges beyond policy transparency, communication and education explicitly to improve the implementation process for applying and registering medical cannabis dispensaries, referring physicians, and qualified patient recipients.Ken Langone, Chairman of the Board of New York University Langone Health, and Steven Galetta, Chair of Neurology in the School of Medicine, where the authors is senior staff in neuroepidemiology, motivated him to pursue doctoral training in Health Policy and Management. The author has had the good fortune of interacting with thought-provoking medical students, neurology trainees, public health doctoral students, and professors who reinforce the high ethical standards in medical and public health practice and research. However, his patients still educate him in empathy and humanity. The author is grateful to his family, including his spouse Holly and sons Adam and Seth, who serve as his daily compass, encouraging him to take on projects that promote core values of medicine and humanity.
Author: Timmen L. Cermak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-04-02
Total Pages: 257
ISBN-13: 1108597572
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe trend toward liberalizing medical and recreational marijuana use is increasing the obligation on clinicians to provide useful information to the public. This book summarizes the science all healthcare professionals need to know in order to provide objective and relevant information to a variety of patients, from recreational and medicinal users to those who use regularly, and to adolescents and worried parents. The author brings two and a half decades of studying cannabinoid research, and over forty years' experience in psychiatric and addiction medicine practice, to shed light on the interaction between marijuana and the brain. Topics range from how marijuana produces pleasurable sensations, relaxation and novelty (the 'high'), to emerging medical uses, effects of regular use, addiction, and policy. Principles of motivational interviewing are outlined to help clinicians engage patients in meaningful, non-judgmental conversations about their experiences with marijuana. An invaluable guide for physicians, nurses, psychologists, therapists, and counsellors.
Author: Mitch Earleywine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2002-08-15
Total Pages: 342
ISBN-13: 019988143X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMarijuana is the world's most popular illicit drug, with hundreds of millions of regular users worldwide. One in three Americans has smoked pot at least once. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that Americans smoke five million pounds of marijuana each year. And yet marijuana remains largely misunderstood by both its advocates and its detractors. To some, marijuana is an insidious "stepping-stone" drug, enticing the inexperienced and paving the way to the inevitable abuse of harder drugs. To others, medical marijuana is an organic means of easing the discomfort or stimulating the appetite of the gravely ill. Others still view marijuana, like alcohol, as a largely harmless indulgence, dangerous only when used immoderately. All sides of the debate have appropriated the scientific evidence on marijuana to satisfy their claims. What then are we to make of these conflicting portrayals of a drug with historical origins dating back to 8,000 B.C.? Understanding Marijuana examines the biological, psychological, and societal impact of this controversial substance. What are the effects, for mind and body, of long-term use? Are smokers of marijuana more likely than non-users to abuse cocaine and heroine? What effect has the increasing potency of marijuana in recent years had on users and on use? Does our current legal policy toward marijuana make sense? Earleywine separates science from opinion to show how marijuana defies easy dichotomies. Tracing the medical and political debates surrounding marijuana in a balanced, objective fashion, this book will be the definitive primer on our most controversial and widely used illicit substance.
Author: Robert L Zimdahl
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2010-02-04
Total Pages: 220
ISBN-13: 0123815029
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIt is important that scientists think about and know their history - where they came from, what they have accomplished, and how these may affect the future. Weed scientists, similar to scientists in many technological disciplines, have not sought historical reflection. The technological world asks for results and for progress. Achievement is important not, in general, the road that leads to achievement. What was new yesterday is routine today, and what is described as revolutionary today may be considered antiquated tomorrow. Weed science has been strongly influenced by technology developed by supporting industries, subsequently employed in research and, ultimately, used by farmers and crop growers. The science has focused on results and progress. Scientists have been--and the majority remain--problem solvers whose solutions have evolved as rapidly as have the new weed problems needing solutions. In a more formal sense, weed scientists have been adherents of the instrumental ideology of modern science. That is an analysis of their work, and their orientation reveals the strong emphasis on practical, useful knowledge; on know how. The opposite, and frequently complementary orientation, that has been missing from weed science is an emphasis on contemplative knowledge; that is, knowing why. This book expands on and analyzes how these orientations have affected weed science's development. - The first analytical history of weed science to be written - Compares the development of weed science, entomology and plant pathology - Identifies the primary founders of weed science and describes their role
Author: Robert Zimdahl
Publisher: Academic Press
Published: 2012-12-02
Total Pages: 465
ISBN-13: 0323149421
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFundamentals of Weed Science provides an introduction to the basic principles of weed science for undergraduate courses. It discusses several aspects of weed biology and control, and traces the history of herbicide development. The book begins with an introduction to weeds, covering their definition, characteristics, harmful aspects, and the cost of weed control. This is followed chapters on weed classification, the uses of weeds, weed biology, weed ecology, allelopathy, the significance of plant competition, weed management and control methods, and biological weed control. Later chapters deal with herbicidesthe most important weed control tools and the ones with the greatest potential for untoward effects. Students of weed science must understand herbicides and the factors governing their use as well as the potential for misuse. These chapters discuss chemical weed control, the properties and uses of herbicides, factors affecting herbicide performance, herbicide application, herbicide formulation, ecological impact of herbicides, pesticide registration and legislation, weed management systems, and the future of weed science.
