Marijuana abuse

ADOLESCENT MARIJUANA ABUSERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. Herbert Hendin, M.D. Ann PoIIinger, Ph.D. Richard Ulman, Ph.D. and Arthur Carr, Ph.D. 

ADOLESCENT MARIJUANA ABUSERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. Herbert... 

In addition, societal expectations about substance use seem to be related to the susceptibility of societal members to experience drug-related problems. Many respected researchers believe that exposure to responsible substance use in society early in life may promote more moderate substance use in those societies where such behavior is sanctioned. One striking example is the Netherlands, which legalized marijuana use in coffee shops two decades ago but currently has lower marijuana abuse rates than the United States. We have no idea whether this kind of societal exposure would work with more potent substances than marijuana, although the same results have been found for alcohol in France, which has a much lower cirrhosis rate than the United States even... 

For men, the most frequent source of referral to drug treatment is through the criminal justice system. In 1998 (the latest year for which SAMHSA has statistics) some 39 percent of men, compared to 25 percent of women, entered treatment as the result of a judicial process. Sixty-two percent of adult men entering treatment for marijuana abuse were sent by the criminal justice system. (Figure 3. Criminal Justice Referrals, by Sex and Primary Substance 1998. http //www.samhsa.gov/oas/2k1/enterTX/ enterTX.htm). 

Abood, M.E. and Martin, B.R. (1992) Neurobiology of marijuana abuse. Trends Pharmacol Sci 13 201-206. 

Donovan et al. (1996, 1997) completed an open study evaluating the use of valproic acid (Depakote) in adolescent outpatients with marijuana abuse or dependence and explosive mood disorder (mood symptoms were not classified using the DSM FV Diagnostic System). Eight subjects were prescribed 1000 mg of valproic acid (Depakote) for 5 weeks, in addition to regular therapy sessions, but did not receive any other psychotropic medications. All subjects showed a significant improvement in their marijuana use (p <0.007) and their affective symptoms (p < 0.001), although both outcomes were measured only by self-report. The most common adverse events were nausea and sedation. No subjects discontinued because of these side effects, nor were there any reported interactions between the valproic acid (Depakote) and substances of abuse. 

Adolescents with mood lability and marijuana abuse/dependency in outpatient treatment... 

In a 2001 study, the number of men who abused marijuana consistently outnumbered women, and by a large margin. Males comprised anywhere from 60-72% of marijuana users, and men were also far more likely than women to be admitted to treatment centers for marijuana abuse. 

NIDA (2005). NIDA Research Monograph Series Marijuana Abuse NIH, Washington, DC. 

Magic Mushroom Seeker, 88 magnesium, 69 Man and Dolphin, 33 manufacturing processes, 86 MAO inhibition, 42-43,60,69 MAPS, 37,57,63 marijuana, 10-11,35,60,70,88 marijuana abuse, 11 marijuana dependence, 11 Marijuana Growers Hndbk, 35 marijuana legalization movement, 35... 

Herning RI, Better W, Tate K, Cadet JL. EEG deficits in chronic marijuana abusers during monitored abstinence preliminary findings. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2003 993 75-8 discussion 79-81. 

Parkinson s disease Postslroke Malignant disease Substance use disorders (including intoxication and withdrawaO Alcoholism Marijuana abuse and dependent Nio)tine dependence Opiate abuse and dependence (eg, heroin) Psychostimulant abuse and dependence (e.g, cocaine)... 

BohatyrewiczM, Urasinska E, Rozanski J, Ciecharowski K. Membranous giomeruionephritis may be associated with heavy marijuana abuse.Transpiant Proc. 2007 39(10) 3054-3056. 

Chang L, Leckova K, Cloak C, Arnold S, Yakupov R, Lozar C, Warren K, Ernst T (2003) Decreased BOLD activation during visual attention tasks in marijuana abusers. International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Toronto, ON, Canada... 

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Research Report—Marijuana Abuse. Washington, NIH Publication No. 02-3859, October 2002 1-8. 

Volkow and colleagues from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) found that marijuana abusers had lower overall cerebellar glucose metabolism than normal subjects, but they had increased glucose utilization in orbitofrontal cortex, prefrontal cortex, and basal ganglia. 

B. Voytek. Differences in regional brain metabolism associated with marijuana abuse in methamphetamine abusers. Synapse, 2005. 

Cardiovascular or blood viscosity measures may differ between the control subjects and marijuana abusers and thereby confound the results of TCD studies. Resting heart rate and BP are recorded in all subjects at times when TCD measurements are made. Measurements are made within 72 h of admission and at 28-30 d after admission to the clinical unit for the substance abusers. These cardiovascular measures are also recorded on an outpatient visit for the control subjects as a comparison. Cholesterol, hemoglobin, and hematocrit are measured on an outpatient visit for control subjects and within 72 h of last use for substance abusers as indirect measures of blood viscosity. 

The changes in blood flow velocity observed in our study of marijuana abusers may be due to abuse of substances other than marijuana, since cocaine abusers also show abnormalities in TCD measurements (55). However, the marijuana abusers we recruit for our studies report no substance abuse except for alcohol and nicotine. In fact, prospective subjects who reported other substance abuse or had urine tests positive for other substance were rejected from our marijuana studies. Subjects with excessive use of alcohol are also screened out of our studies. 

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