Cannabis alcohol

Pharmacological Profiles of Anxiolytics and Sedative—Hypnotics. Historically, chemotherapy of anxiety and sleep disorders rehed on a wide variety of natural products such as opiates, alcohol, cannabis, and kawa pyrones. Use of various bromides and chloral derivatives ia these medical iadications enjoyed considerable popularity early ia the twentieth century. Upon the discovery of barbiturates, numerous synthetic compounds rapidly became available for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia. As of this writing barbiturates are ia use primarily as iajectable general anesthetics (qv) and as antiepileptics. These agents have been largely replaced as treatment for anxiety and sleep disorders. 

Agnihotri, P. K., R. K. Singh and S. N. Sethi. Fototoxic effects of crude alcoholic Cannabis sativa extract in rats. Fitoterapia 1992 63(6) 489-492. 

I. Mitchell. Alcohol, cannabis and cocaine usage in patients with trauma... 

A 34-year-old woman with a history of polysubstance dependence (alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine), depressive episodes associated with multiple suicide attempts, and borderline personality disorder, who had been incarcerated after conviction on charges of physical assault and possession of controlled substances, complained of difficulty in sleeping, poor impulse control, irritability, and depressed mood. She was given oral quetiapine 600 mg/day. On one occasion, she crushed two 300-mg tablets, dissolved them in water, boiled them, drew the solution through a cotton swab, and injected the solution intravenously. Apart from having the best sleep I ever had she described no dysphoric, euphoric, or other effects. She admitted to previous intranasal abuse of crushed quetiapine tablets. 

Psychoactive substances have been used to treat mental illnesses for centuries. In fact, many of the substances described in this text, such as alcohol, cannabis, and opium, have at one time or another been used as treatments for mental illness. In some cases the motivation to administer psychopharmacological agents to the mentally ill has been simply to subdue them. More typically today medications are intended to provide persons with some relief and ideally with the opportunity to function better in their environments. 

Unlike opium, morphine, or alcohol, cannabis was a relatively obscure drug. The so-called hashish vice was still confined to the large cities and to a minority of writers, students, thrill seekers, and the bored upper classes. Had it not been for certain social and economic changes and an ambitious bureaucrat who saw the marijuana issue as a way to save his dying department and his job as czar of narcotics enforcement, most Americans probably would not have heard about marijuana or hashish until the 1960s. 

Daynes G, Gillman MA. Psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide prevents craving after withdrawal for alcohol, cannabis and tobacco. Int J Neurosci 1994 76 13-16. 

Fatigue and low motivation are common with chronic alcohol/cannabis use... 

Macdonald, S., R. E. Mann, M. Chipman and K. Anglin-Bodrug (2004). Collisions and traffic violations of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine abuse clients before and after treatment. Accid. Anal. Prev., 36, 795-800. 

Mura, P., P. Kintz, B. Ludes, J. M. Gaulier, P. Marquet, S. Martin-Dupont, F. Vincent, A. Kaddour, J. P. Goulle, J. Nouveah, M. Moulsma, S. Tilhet-Coartet and O. Pourrat (2003). Comparison of the prevalence of alcohol, cannabis and other drugs between 900 injured drivers and 900 control subjects results of a French collaborative study. Forensic Sci. Int., 133, 79-85. 

Table 12-8. Culpability analysis of the Odds Ratios of being involved in a fatal or injury crash while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, or botfi (based on 9 studies reviewed by Ramaekers et al, 2004, with permission from Elsevier).

Comparable findings for lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders were obtained in another study of 133 persons, which also found that 47% received a concurrent DSM-III diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence (Khantzian and Treece 1985). The most frequently abused substances were sedative-hypnotics (23%), alcohol (14%), and cannabis (13%). Similar rates of psychiatric disorders were found in other studies of drug abusers (Mirin et al. 1986 Woody et al. 1983). Although such diagnoses do not imply causality, and, in many cases, opioid dependence causes or exacerbates psychiatric problems, some causal link seems likely (Regier et al. 1990). 

In summary, research on the use of antidepressants to treat cannabis dependence, particularly among individuals with comorbid major depressive disorder, although limited, offers a promising avenue for the development of pharmacological aids to assist in the treatment of cannabis withdrawal. There are clear parallels between this literature and the existing research on the use of antidepressants in the treatment of alcohol dependence comorbid with major depressive disorder (see Chapter 1, Medications to Treat Co-occurring Psychiatric Symptoms or Disorders in Alcoholic Patients). 

Teesson M, Lynskey M, Manor B, et al The psychometric properties of BSM-IV cannabis use disorders. Brug Alcohol Bepend 68 235—262, 2002 Tsou K, Patrick SL, Walker JM. Physical withdrawal in rats tolerant to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol precipitated by a cannabinoid receptor antagonist. Eur J Pharmacol 280 R13-R15, 1995... 

For instance, heroin, cocaine, crack, amphetamine, crystal meth (methamphetamine), cannabis, PCP, nicotine, alcohol. 

There are pharmacological, social and legal issues to consider in this context of drug dependence and, of course, drug users and abusers vary enormously. A chronic alcoholic is very different from a weekend user of cannabis and any consideration of the topic has to consider legal and social issues as well as pharmacological effects of the drugs. 

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