Marijuana Flashcards
1
Q
Cannabis Plant
A
- hemp family
- cannabis sativa: grown in asia
- cannabis indica: smaller plant
- pot, skunk, weed, maryjane, hash, ganja, grass, dope, doobie, bud
- hemp plant: strong in fibre (very low psychoactive)
2
Q
Various psychoactive preparations
A
- marijuana
- hashish
- oil
3
Q
Psychoactive Preparations: Marijuana
A
- herb
- dried flowers and leaves
4
Q
Psychoactive Preparations: Hashish
A
- resin
- resin produced by glands (trichomes) to protect the plant
- separate trichomes from the plant and compressed together
5
Q
Psychoactive Preparations: Oil
A
- concentrated liquid marijuana extract
- thick
- treat with alcohol to extract out the actives and later evaporate the alcohol
6
Q
Potency of Cannabis Preparations
A
- Herb (5%) < Resin (20%) < Oil (70%)
- no probably much higher due to the controlled growth and special breeds
- developing new strains: Marketing
- effects unknown of those very high doses, data only available of the past generation with lower potency
7
Q
History of Cannabis
A
- stone age onwards: hemp fibres
- medical use (china): sedative, pain relief
- hinduism (india): sacred plant: joy
- middle east: 10th century arabs: hashish
- Trade / exploration: europe to south america
- new world: hemp fibre used to make sails
- 1800’s: panacea, medical use (tildens extract)
- 1920: prohibition of alcohol caused increased marijuana smoking
- 1960’s: flower power along with LSD
8
Q
Epidemiology
A
- medical use
- most widely used illicit drug
- medical use in many states
- recreational use in some states legal too
- third most used recreational drug: after alcohol and cigarettes
- 18-24 have highest prevalence
- men more likely than women
- use varies by ethnic group: native americans > blacks > whites > hispanics
9
Q
Active ingredients
A
- > 400 chemical compounds
- about 40 chemicals, cannabinoids (unique to the cannabis plant)
- delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol: delta-THC: most psychoactive of all
- Cannabidiol (CBD): medical effects, but very little psychoactive effects
- Cannabinol: synergetic effect, much more powerful when all chemicals work together
- very lipidic: not so water soluble (when making space tea, mix with milk)
10
Q
Pharmacokinetics: absorption oral
A
- oral
- chew leaves, liquid, food
- slow onset but long duration (steady absorption) around 46h
- less bioavailability
11
Q
Pharmacokinetics: absorption smoking
A
- most efficient
- joint: herb or resin
- bong/water-pipe
- no enzymes or first-pass-effect
- water pipes are actually the healthier and safer for the lungs since the large harmful particles fall down
12
Q
Pharmacokinetics: distribution
A
- very well distributed due to the high lipidity
- brain, liver
13
Q
Pharmacokinetics: metabolism and excretion
A
- liver (slow)
- high lipid solubility = reservoir effect
- metabolites can be detected for 30 days
14
Q
Mechanism of Marijuana Action: Anandamide
A
- endocannabinoids (remember endorphins)
- naturally occurring lipid neurotransmitters
- anandamide: only one known of all the family of endocannabinoids
- two types of brain receptors or andandamide
1. CB1 (brain): mood, movement, memory, cognition, appetite, pain
2. CB2 (body): immune system - not so much found in the brain, more in the spleen (organ that produced antibodies)
15
Q
Mechanism of Action of Anandamide
A
- anandamide binds post-synaptically to CB1 receptors
- via G protein: trigger opening of potassium channels –> potassium levels of the cell –> hyperpolarization: transduction pathway
- altered neuronal activity (ACh, serotonin, dopamine): stoping neural activities
- very similar to endorphins
- anandamide affect serotonin, serotonin affects appetite and mood
16
Q
Mechanism of Action of THC
A
- THC structurally similar to andandamide
- not quite sure in what it is involved, but most likely about forgetting pain
- mimics the natural neurotransmitter
- agonist: binds to the cannabinoid receptors, causing hyperpolarization and altered neural activity
17
Q
Psychological Effects: Marijuana
A
- calm euphoria: relaxed, drowsy, well-being
- “stoned”: experienced users are more receptive for the relaxing effects
- opioid receptors : dopamine, serotonin receptors
- decreased movement ability (dopamine, cerebellum)
- psychomotor impairment: slow reflexes
- Memory: ACh, hippocampus): short-term to long-term memory is affected
- sensory perception: mild hallucinogen due to a more intense perception and altered sense of time
18
Q
Adverse psychological effects
A
- hallucinations, disorientation, anxiety, paranoia
- more intense if not in safe environment
- worse when already anxious before (new users)
19
Q
Psychological effects: marijuana
A
- drug, user, environment
- more experienced users : more sensitive to the positive effects
- stimulant and hallucinogenic effects but still considered a depressant due to the hyperpolarization
- cannabis induced psychosis?
- probably with very strong strains, modulating NT
- worsening of some schizophrenic disorders: genetic vulnerabilities + environment
- Amotivational syndrome?
20
Q
Physiological Effects
A
- increased heart rate and blood pressure (usually on first 20 mins only), blood-shot eyes (damage to blood vessels in the eyes)
- lung damage: when adding nicotine, but no link between weed and lung cancer
- decreased movement
- reproductive effects
- reduction in sperm number and mortality
- involuting menstrual cycle
- risky pregnancies: low birth weight, developmental delay
21
Q
Medical Uses
A
- anti-emetic: treat nausea and vomiting due to cancer therapy
- “wasting away” from HIV or cancer: stimulates appetite
- glaucoma (increased intra-ocular pressure): not licensed for this yet
- analgesia: reduced perception of pain: no license yet
- MS, depression, protection from stroke, alzheimers, anti-tumor activity
- medical marijuana
- oily in a capsule
- Cesamet (nabilone) and Marinol (Dronabinol): both cannabis derivatives with anti-emetic effect
22
Q
Problems with medical use
A
- limited use and other meds are first choice
- unwanted psychological effects: first time users freaking out
- possible risk for psychosis, addiction, bad reaction: psychoactive effects that limit the medical use
- smoking is the most effective route: not health approved
- pharmaceutical issues: schedule I: only with derivatives research can be done, also cannot be patented (plant)
- political issues: war on drugs, breaks in research, no financial aid for research
- THC has the most unknown effects
23
Q
Marijuana as a Gateway Drug
A
- frequent users = 140x more likely to use other illicit drugs
- uniform sequence of drug use: alcohol > marijuana > harder drugs
- 90% of crack users previously used marijuana
- BUT: most marijuana users do not go on to become heroin addicts
24
Q
tolerance
A
- clearly present in animal studies
- less obvious in human beings
- tolerance is more likely if high doses are taken over a long time
- most studies have been done in the 70’s when the strains were much weaker
25
dependence
- argument if there is a withdrawal syndrome or not
- withdrawal: sleep disturbance, nausea, irritability, restlessness, anxiety
- most likely to occur following sustained heavy use
26
Legislation
- 1937 marijuana tax act
- 1944 LaGuardia (mayor of NY) Commission and others
- studies: not particularly harmful for society: no violence or aggression
- federal level: controlled substances act 1970
- schedule 1: many states = still prohibited
- some states: approved for medical use, decriminalized for medical/recreational use, completely legalized for retail sale
27
Changing legislation
- bills pending to reschedule
- UK: class B - class C - class B
- netherlands: recently much stricter
- spain: legal for own personal consumption: up to 4 plants
- US: changes all the time
28
Spice
- synthetic marijuana
- K2, fake weed, moon rocks
- marketed as natural, safe, legal high
- plant material + synthetic cannabinoid compounds
- usually not very good chemists
- similar experience to cannabis, also hallucinations, paranoia
