Final exam Flashcards
History of Cannabis
Cannabis has been cultivated since the Stone Age and may be the earliest non-food-bearing plant grown by humans. Archaeologists have found pots made of hemp fibres dating back more than 10,000 years. The first known reference to cannabis’s medicinal use was in 2737 BCE, in the Pen Ts’ao Ching, the pharmacopeia of traditional Chinese medicine.
17th- to 19th-Century Canada and USA Cannabis history
First hemp crop planted in 1606 in Nova Scotia. By 1611, English settlers had planted cannabis in Jamestown. Even George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, grew cannabis. In 1801, hemp seeds were given to farmers in Upper Canada by the lieutenant-governor, on behalf of the king of England. By 1938, hemp production in Canada ended, with some growers licensed again starting in 1997. Throughout the 19th century, cannabis was legal and widely available, and used as an analgesic, appetite stimulant, and muscle relaxant. Anyone could walk into a pharmacy and purchase a wide range of cannabis preparations
Cannabis use n 20th Century and Beyond
In 1923 the Act to Prohibit the Improper Use of Opium and Other Drugs was passed into law, criminalizing the use of cannabis. The passing of the Act was associated with significant racist propaganda from Canadian judge Emily Murphy, who wrote that members of non-White races were using cannabis to bring about the downfall of the White race.
The La Guardia Report (1944)
Found that cannabis was not addictive and that it produced no permanent negative effects to the user or to society. In contrast to what Harry Anslinger had argued, the report did not find that cannabis led to physical, mental, or moral decay, insanity, sexual deviance, violence, or criminal misconduct. The committee recommended that cannabis’s medical uses be investigated. Anslinger rejected the findings; he called the authors “dangerous” and “strange” and instructed the FBN to investigate the commission members’ own drug use.
Le Dain Commission and Shafer Commission
In Canada, the Le Dain Commission (1969 through 1972) recognized that convictions under Canadian drug laws were more harmful than the effects of many drugs—especially cannabis—and recommended that cannabis specifically be removed from the Narcotics Control Act.
The Shafer Commission conducted the most comprehensive review of cannabis that had ever been produced. To the dismay of then US president Richard Nixon, the Shafer Commission found no evidence that cannabis causes physical or psychological harm, harsh withdrawal, birth defects, brain damage, a compulsion to use hard drugs, or death resulting solely from cannabis intoxication. They found the potential harm of getting arrested was much greater than any harm that might come from using the plant and recommended that laws be changed to remove criminal penalties for possession of cannabis for personal use.
Cannabis is the _____ most commonly used recreational drug in the world, surpassed only by ________________. Approximately ___ per cent of the world’s adult population, or 162 million people, use cannabis each year, and about _____ million people around the world use cannabis daily.
Fourth. Tobacco, caffeine, alcohol. 4%. 22.5.
What percentage of Canadian high school students reported that cannabis is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain?
80-90
Cannabis sativa vs cannabis Indica plants differences
Cannabis sativa is a tall, slender plant with thin, light green leaves capable of reaching heights of 4.5 to 6 metres that grows in tropical or semitropical regions. The shorter (grows to a height of about 1 metre) and bushier Cannabis indica fares better than sativa in cooler climates and is cultivated in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Indica has wider, darker, deeply serrated leaves and a compact and dense flower cluster. Cannabis indica has a higher cannabidiol (CBD) to THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) ratio, which makes it less likely to induce anxiety and more likely to produce sedation and alleviate pain than Cannabis sativa.
Female vs male cannabis plants
Cannabis plants are either male or female. The female plants produce flower clusters (also called buds) with a sticky, psychoactive resin that protects the flowers from excessive heat and catches the pollen produced by the male plants. After fertilization, the flower no longer needs the protective (psychoactive) resin. But if it is not pollinated, the female plant continues to produce THC within the resin of the flowers. Growers separate the male plants from the female ones.
Phytocannabinoids
phytocannabinoids bind to the body’s cannabinoid receptors. THC is the most psychoactive of the phytocannabinoids and is most abundant in the flowering heads
What is psychoactive THC or CBD and what do they stand for
THC psychoactive. CBD stands for cannabidiol, and THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol
Synthetic Cannabinoids examples and what are they used for
Dronabinol (Marinol) is a synthetic THC pill approved to raise appetite and diminish nausea and vomiting in cancer and AIDS patients (dronabinol, although approved, is no longer marketed in Canada, as has been replaced by the synthetic THC analogue nabilone [Cesamet], and nabiximols [Sativex], which is a botanical extract of phytocannabinoids including THC.
Pros and cons to cannabis pills
Pros: avoids the respiratory damage
Cons: when cannabis is ingested rather than smoked, it may actually increase nausea. Second, a person taking oral THC to treat nausea may vomit up the pill before it has had a chance to work. Third, the dose, onset, and duration of action are harder to control in an orally administered pill than with smoking because of delayed absorption of the pill and the first-pass effect. Finally, while cannabis is made up of hundreds of natural compounds and scores of cannabinoids, each with a unique medicinal impact, which interact synergistically, dronabinol contains only THC.
Spice (K2)
Commercially available psychoactive product containing one or more synthetic cannabinoids, which is sprayed onto dried, shredded plant material and then smoked or eaten. Past-year use of Spice in grade 7–12 students is approximately 1.6 per cent. Spice’s popularity among some young people may be due to its easy access and affordability, a promise of a stronger high than with cannabis, the perception that it’s legal (it isn’t!), and the difficulty in detecting the drug in standard urine drug tests. Spice binds more fully to brain cannabinoid receptors than does THC and may produce more intense effects. It does not typically contain CBD, which in cannabis reduces many of THC’s negative effects.
CBD effects
Non-psychoactive, has antioxidant, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antianxiety, antipsychotic, and neuroprotective properties and can modify some of THC’s more negative effects.
Cannabis distribution in body
THC travels through the blood and is distributed to all areas of the body. Plasma levels decrease rapidly as THC leaves the blood and is deposited in fatty tissues and the brain. The maximum subjective effects are usually reported while THC plasma levels are falling, because THC levels in the brain continue to increase as the drug leaves the blood and enters the brain and other tissues. THC is gone from the brain within a few hours, but it accumulates in the lungs, liver, kidney, spleen, adipose, and testes. Because cannabinoids are so lipid-soluble, they can remain in the body fat for days.
Is ingested cannabis stronger
When cannabis is ingested, the liver metabolizes most of the absorbed THC into 11-hydroxy-THC, which is four times more potent than THC. This is known as the first-pass effect.
In 1992, Raphael Mechoulam and his colleagues discovered an ____ cannabinoid that mimics THC and binds to cannabinoid receptors. This substance is called ________
endogenous, Anandamide
Endocannabinoids synthesization (+retrograde signalling)
Endocannabinoids are too fat-soluble to be stored in vesicles—they would float right through the vesicle membrane; so, instead of being stored, they are rapidly synthesized as needed from components of the cell membrane, and released in areas that require that particular compound when certain biochemical processes occur. Undergo retrograde signalling, meaning they’re released from postsynaptic neuron and bind to Presynaptic terminal.
Endocannabinoids have significant roles in a variety of biological and neurobiological processes:
neuroplasticity and learning and memory, homeostasis, neurogenesis, the fine-tuning of neural connections during development, stress, emotional regulation, reward signalling, pain, appetite, and others. Researchers have also shown that cannabinoids may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and thus may have neuroprotective value in cases of traumatic brain injury and stroke.
Cannabis: _______ receptors are found predominately in the central nervous system, whereas _______ receptors are found chiefly in the spleen, tonsils, and immune system.
CB1; CB2
Physiological Effects of Cannabis at Low and Moderate Doses
Brain: affect memories, coordination, reward, emotions, hunger, sex, sleep, perception and cognition.
Analgesia: reduce sensitivity to both short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) painful stimuli, and their potency and efficacy are comparable to those of opioids.
Candidascular: increases heart rate.
Immune system: immunomodulators, which means they increase some immune responses and decrease others
Cannabis effects on Respiratory System
Smoking cannabis on a regular basis is associated with an increased risk of chronic cough and bronchitis. Cannabis smoke contains as much or more tar, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, acetaldehyde, acetone, benzene, toluene, benzopyrene, and hydrogen cyanide as tobacco smoke does.
Cannabis drug interactions
Cannabis can enhance the sleep-inducing effects of barbiturates, benzodiazepines, alcohol, and other sedatives, and also may increase the hypertension and tachycardia that occur with cocaine and amphetamines. Drinking alcohol when using cannabis increases the concentration of THC in the blood, which in part explains the increased impairment seen when cannabis and alcohol are combined.
Amotivational syndrome
Amotivational syndrome describes the decreased productivity, lack of interest, and inability to implement long-term plans in adolescent cannabis users. Evidence for amotivational syndrome is mostly from people’s observations and personal stories.
Therapeutic effects of cannabis
Substantial evidence exists that cannabis is effective for treating chronic pain, reducing seizures, reducing nausea and vomiting, stimulating hunger, and alleviating the stiffness and muscle spasms experienced by patients with multiple sclerosis. There is considerable evidence that cannabis can effectively treat chronic pain in adults.
Cannabis smoke has been found to contain carcinogenic hydrocarbons; however, epidemiological data has failed to find an association between cannabis use and an increased incidence with most types of cancers. What have researchers concluded about these contradictory findings?
Methodological concerns with some studies, as well as a lack of longitudinal research, mean that the relationship between cannabis and cancer remains unclear.
Difference between anabolic and androgenic steroids
AAS have similar effects to those of testosterone. Anabolic substances encourage muscle growth, while androgenic ones promote male physiological characteristics.
tetrahydrogestrinone (THG, or “the clear”)
Developed and manufactured by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). This synthetic performance-enhancing steroid was designed to escape detection during drug analysis. The lab was raided, and many steroids were found, along with a list of customers.
Prevalence of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use
Globally, 6.4 per cent of men and 1.6 per cent of women have reported ever using AAS.
Adult steroid users characteristics
Users were significantly less confident about their body appearance before weight training and steroid use; body image disorders may be both a risk factor for steroid use and a consequence of it. Some who abuse steroid had physical or sexual abuse in childhood and use steroids to increase muscle size.
Forms of Performance-Enhancing Drugs
These drugs include AAS, central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, pain relievers, beta2-agonists, beta-blockers, human growth hormone (HGH), and creatine, as well as the process of blood doping.
Blood doping
The use of illicit products and methods to increase oxygen transport in the body is known as blood doping. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a hormone that controls red blood cell production. Because red blood cells carry oxygen through the body, increasing their production can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity and endurance. Another method of blood doping is athletes receiving a blood transfusion one to seven days before a high-endurance event. Can be dangerous as can cause myocardial infarction.
Beta2-Agonists and Beta-Blockers as steroids
Drugs that affect norepinephrine can influence athletic performance. Norepinephrine binds to both alpha and beta receptors. When inhaled, beta2-agonists such as albuterol increase lung capacity by dilating the bronchi leading to the lungs. When taken orally or injected, beta2-agonists may build muscle. Beta-blockers, on the other hand, slow heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduce anxiety and trembling, actions that are desired in archery and shooting events.
Steroids Routes of Administration
AAS can be administered orally, by IM injection, or topically as creams or gels either worn as skin patches or rubbed on the skin. Oral administration is the most convenient, but orally administered AAS undergo rapid first-pass metabolism by the liver, making the drugs less effective. Oral administration of steroids is especially toxic to the liver.
Dosage and Pattern of Use of steroids
Cycling: Cycles of use are typically 4–16 weeks in duration followed by a period of abstinence that allows adverse side effects to subside, allows tolerance to decline, and reduces the chance of detection of banned substances.
Pyramiding: start with low doses and build up, no proven benefits.
Stack: simultaneously take two or more types of steroids at the same time to increase the effects on muscle size, no proof it works
Steroids and testosterone regulation
Testosterone self-regulates its own release, but when a person continually takes high doses of AAS, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland will remain inhibited, ultimately leading to infertility, impotence, and shrinkage of the testes.
Physiological effects of steroids
AAS increase skeletal muscle growth, increase muscle mass by boosting the production of proteins and by blocking muscle breakdown, decrease fat, thicker skin, stimulate oil and pore size, irreversible male-pattern baldness and a deeper voice. In males, AAS lead to reduced sperm production, testicular atrophy, enlarged prostate, and temporary infertility. In women, AAS lead to reversible menstrual irregularities and loss of breast tissue, as well as permanent enlargement of the clitoris and excessive growth of body and facial hair. Increase blooding clotting and hypertension, very had on liver, Herron death, reduce immune cells.
Psychological Effects of steroids
AAS users initially report feelings of euphoria, well-being, increased energy, confidence, and sex drive. Eventually, some may experience severe mood swings, anxiety, heightened aggression, distractibility, forgetfulness, confusion, decreased sex drive, and even mania and delusions.
Medical and Therapeutic Uses of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids
They are used to replace male hormones in men who have androgen deficiency; to stimulate the bone marrow in the treatment of leukemia, kidney failure, and certain forms of aplastic anemia; to treat breast cancer and osteoporosis; and to treat severe muscle loss, such as after major trauma or HIV/AIDS. Drugs with higher androgenic and lower anabolic effects are given to treat hypogonadism (absence of hormones) in males, while steroids higher in anabolic effects are used for anemia and osteoporosis, as well as to reverse protein loss.
