Possible Consequences of Cannabis Legalization - What Do Research Show?

BACKGROUND: Indian hemp (lat. Cannabis sativa subs. Indica) has been used as a source of industrial fiber, seed oil, food, medicine for some somatic diseases, and it is also used as a psychoactive substance. Cannabis can be used by smoking, evaporation, as a food ingredient, or as an extract. Acute and chronic cannabis use has been shown to be detrimental to several aspects of psychological and physical health and many experimental studies done on healthy people indicate the potential of Δ9- tetra hydro cannabinoid (THC) in inducing transient, dose-dependent psychotic symptoms, but also affective, behavioral, cognitive, neurovegetative, and psychophysical symptoms. Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug globally. In many communities, cannabis is perceived as a low-risk drug, leading to political lobbying to decriminalize its use. The wave of laws and initiatives to liberalize cannabis use continues to spread across the United States and the rest of the world, and there seems to be a political debate in the background about the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use. Aim is to present the possible consequences that the legalization of cannabis would have from the aspect of mental health and mental disorders. METHODS: Authors reviewed the literature using PubMed resources on the effects of cannabis using the keywords: cannabis use, cannabis use and psychoticism, cannabis use and depression, cannabis use and anxiety, cannabis use and cognition, cannabis use and insomnia, legalization of cannabis. RESULTS: Authors examined the effects of cannabis use on psychiatric disorders and the review of the legal status of cannabis use in the world was also made. The possible consequences of cannabis legalization on the public health system were also considered, based on experiences from countries where legalization has already been done. The evidence cited in this article suggests that strong claims about the need to legalize cannabis are still questionable, and may, even in the long run, remain mixed, inconclusive, or even contradictory. Political interference in this issue can trigger a wide range of unintended but profound and lasting consequences for the health system and the health of the individual. CONCLUSION: We recommend further research on this topic and data collection with an emphasis on the effects and consequences of cannabis use on mental health, and in particular the benefits and harmful effects of medical cannabis use.

Do Cannabis and Cannabinoids Have a Psychopharmacotherapeutic Effect?

BACKGROUNDS: Written historical evidence reveals that Cannabis sativa has been used medically, recreationally and spiritually for more than five centuries in many cultures. It is considered the most-used plant-based psychoactive substance with millions of different usages across the world. To review what the studies, conducted over the past two decades, indicate about effects of the cannabis on physical and mental health as well as the impact on social functioning. METHODS: We selected literature review using PubMed resources, to summarize the findings of the existing publications on cannabis and cannabinoids and their possible psychopharmacological therapeutic effects only. RESULTS: Research supports cannabis' clear acute effect on neurocognition, while non-acute effects for prolonged use of marijuana are unclear and still insufficiently explored. Due to cannabidiol's (CBD) safety and tolerability, the absence of psychoactive or cognitive effects, the existence of clinical trials with positive results and its broad pharmacological spectrum, CBD is a cannabinoid whose initial results will likely lead to implementation into clinical practice. The fact that the results of previous studies establish the claim of CBD as an antipsychotic and anxiolytic, makes the above developments even more likely. However, long-term, double-blind, placebo studies with samples of patients with different psychotic and anxiety disorders are still necessary. Likewise, due to CBD's biphasic effects, determining an adequate therapeutic dose remains a challenge to conclude, the cannabinoid system represents a promising target for new therapeutic interventions in psychiatry. CONCLUSION: Further controlled studies are essential to determine the precise mechanisms of action of cannabinoids on various neuropsychiatric disorders as well as the safety of their use are needed. Never just the use of 'smoking cannabis in an unlicenced way'. The use of simple 'smoked cannabis' remains dangerous because of the effects on inducing psychosis which the article itself refers to, and needs to remain illegal.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) as a Psychiatrist: A View from Today's Perspective.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) is primarily known for his philosophy and medicine, but there is almost no scientific discipline in which this great man didn't leave a significant mark. This paper gives a brief review of his contributions to medicine, especially to psychiatry. Medical works of Ibn Sina represent a pinnacle of most important medical achievements of his time. These works contain synthesis of all Greek, Indian and Iranian medical schools, but also new breakthroughs achieved by Muslim scholars through their own experimentation and practice. Although he wrote many medical works, his most important one is El-Kanun fit-tib, which can be translated as The Canon of Medicine. It's made out of five books which systematically show everything known in the area of medicine up until that point in time. In it, Ibn Sina discusses, among other things, the structure of psychological apparatus of human being and the connection of psychological functions with the brain as well as the role of psyche in etiology of somatic diseases. He also describes certain psychiatric diseases along with the explanation of their etiology and recommended therapy. He considered psychology to be very important for medicine, so in his psychological works he discusses, in great detail, the essence of human soul, consciousness, intellect and other psychological functions.

Psychological Disorders in Childhood and Adolescent Age - New Classifications.

INTRODUCTION: The eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is planned to be published in 2018. So called, "beta version" of the chapter of mental and behavioral disorders (ICD-11) is already available and it is considered that there will be no significant deviations in the final version. The DSM-5 was released in 2013. Changes related to mental disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry have been made in both of these classifications. To identify changes in the classifications of mental disorders in childhood and adolescent age in beta version of ICD-11 and DSM-5. METHODS: Review of mental disorders in childhood and adolescent age and their classification in ICD-11 and DSM-5. RESULTS: For disorders that are classified as "mental retardation" in ICD-10, a new term "intellectual development disorders" has been introduced in ICD-11, ie "intellectual disabilities" in DSM-5. Hyperactivity disorders and attention deficit is a separate entity in relation to ICD-10, in which it is classified as a hyperkinetic disorder. Asperger's syndrome, which is isolated from autism spectrum disorders in DSM-5, does not appear under that name in ICD-11 either. Elimination disorders are in a separate block MKB-11 and DSM-5. Speech and language disorders are classified as communication disorders in the DSM-5 classification. Selective mutism and anxiety separation disorder in childhood are in the block of anxiety and fear-related disorders in ICD-11, and among anxiety disorders in DSM-5, respectively. Reactive emotional disorder and disinhibited attachment disorder of childhood are classified as stress-related disorders in ICD-11 and DSM-5. CONCLUSIONS: The new classifications (ICD-11 and DSM-5) classify mental disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry somewhat differently from their antecedents. New entities have also been formed.