Journal of psychoactive drugs
-
J Psychoactive Drugs · Jul 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialPostoperative analgesia in the Jamaican cannabis user.
Anecdotal reports suggest that cannabis users require increased postoperative analgesia but there is insufficient supporting data. ⋯ Cannabis users require significantly more opioid rescue analgesia in the immediate postoperative period. Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanism by which this occurs.
-
J Psychoactive Drugs · Apr 2013
From 32 ounces to zero: a medical geographic study of dispensing a cultivated batch of "plum" cannabis flowers to medical marijuana patients in Washington State.
The medicinal use of cannabis is a growing phenomenon in the U. S. predicated on the success of overcoming specific spatial challenges and establishing particular human-environment relationships. This article takes a medical geographic "snapshot" of an urban site in Washington State where qualifying chronically ill and debilitated patients are delivered locally produced botanical cannabis for medical use. ⋯ A convenience sample of 37 qualifying patients delivered this batch of cannabis botanical medicine was recruited and prospectively studied with survey instruments. Results provide insight into patients' self-rated health, human-plant relationships, and travel-to-clinic distances. An overall systematic geographic understanding of the medical cannabis delivery system gives a grounded understanding of the lengths that patients and care providers go, despite multiple hurdles, to receive and deliver treatment with botanical cannabis that relieves diverse symptoms and improves health-related quality-of-life.
-
This theoretical article presents and applies the theories of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. The article takes as its starting point the observation that current biomedical, social and psychological research does not provide a coherent view of the nature of addiction and there is a great deal of controversy in the field. The material philosophy of Deleuze provides the opportunity to introduce new ideas and bridge the gaps between different theories and approaches. ⋯ Addiction alters the production of desire and life itself begins to be reduced to alcohol, drugs or a specific mode of behavior. Recovery from addictions is connected with the changes in life that offer subjects an open future. A recovering body must increase its capacity to be affected and be capable of creating new biopsychosocial connections of desire.
-
J Psychoactive Drugs · Jan 2013
The role of mental illness in alcohol abuse and prescription drug misuse: gender-specific analysis of college students.
The present study examined whether and how collegians' misuse of prescription drugs and alcohol abuse are associated with mental illness and with a lack of mental health care. Nationally representative data were derived from 5,241 full-time American college students who completed the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. We observed the presence of alcohol abuse/dependence and the nonmedical use of prescription drugs to be associated with relatively serious mental illness and with lack of health care. In pursuing gender-specific results, we found that the association between alcohol abuse and mental illness was stronger among females than males.
-
J Psychoactive Drugs · Nov 2012
Case ReportsA case of treating cathinone dependence and comorbid depression using bupropion.
Cathinone is a potent CNS stimulant found in khat leaves. Cathinone and synthetic cathinone-derivatives have become popular recreational drugs in recent years, commonly marketed as "legal highs." In addition to acute physical and psychiatric adverse effects, dependence on these substances is a concern. ⋯ Clinical awareness to the addictive potential of cathinone and cathinone-derivatives is important. Research regarding the potential effectiveness of bupropion in these cases is needed.