Marijuana and madness
Marijuana and madness
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大麻与疯狂
DOI:
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发表时间:
2011
期刊:
影响因子:
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通讯作者:
D. D’Souza
中科院分区:
文献类型:
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作者:
D. Castle;R. Murray;D. D’Souza
book as a stocking filler for my 19year-old son who, like many of his generation, is not a stranger to marijuana. However, the usual delays on the London transport system resulted in my thumbing through the very expensive pages of this slim hardbacked book before it reached his stocking. I devoured this academic yet compulsive book as I would a novel, unable to release it until it was finished. I had read with interest all the press coverage in recent times about the supposed links between marijuana consumption and the development of psychosis in some individuals, which made the government’s downgrading of the drug seem incongruous. I therefore anticipated that this compilation of all the available research into the drug would be just the shock that my son required, as its editors are leading lights in the study of the psychiatry of marijuana users. Several points emerge from this book, the salient one being that the links between the use of marijuana and the development of schizophrenia and other psychoses in some individuals are not entirely conclusive. It would appear that marijuana may be a component of several risk factors which may contribute towards such conditions. It is possible that there is a potential dysfunction in the endogenous cannabinoid system in schizophrenia sufferers, but whether the changes are the result of the disease pathology or are responses to exogenous cannabinoids, antipsychotics or other medications is as yet unknown. As the authors admit, much of the available research is inconclusive owing to compounding variables, yet a specific cannabis psychosis appears likely (often the psychosis goes into remission following withdrawal of the substance). I was left with the impression that marijuana is a very exciting and underused drug in neuroscience, as well as in other medical areas, and we have only scratched the surface of its many benefits. The potential for future research is enormous. Marijuana’s use as an anticonvulsant, analgesic, antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug is beginning to be explored. Its benefit in food intake and weight regulation are already known, and its natural presence in the body also invites further research. I strongly recommend this book to anyone (except my own son and others like him who I think would not be dissuaded from the use of marijuana by reading it). It raises debate in the political arena and has radically altered my own views of the use of marijuana. My own copy is thick with Post-it notes scribbled with observations, and I anticipate it being a vital aid to teaching for many years to come.