Week 11 RF-Development of the CCMQ Flashcards
What is Cannabis?
-Also called: Bhang, Bud, Dope, Draw, Ganja, Grass, Hash, Hashish, Herb, Marijuana, Pollen, Pot, Puff, Resin, Sensi, Sinsemilla, Skunk, Weed and others.
-Cannabis is a wind-pollinated plant with separate female and male plants. Only female plants produce cannabinoids, and only if female plants are not fertilised.
-Flowers have glandular hairs (trichomes) excreting a resin-like substance containing cannabinoids, terpenes and other chemicals.
-Contains over 100 different cannabinoids. THC and CBD are just two.
What is the Endocannabinoid system?
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a complex cell-signalling system identified in the early 1990s by researchers exploring THC.
It plays a role in:
-Sleep
-Mood
-Appetite
-Memory
-Reproduction and fertility
What are Endocannabinoids?
-They’re similar to cannabinoids (THC/CBD), but they’re molecules produced by your body.
Experts have identified two key endocannabinoids so far:
1. Anandamide (AEA)
2. 2-arachidonoylglyerol (2-AG) Dietrich and McDaniel (2004).
-2-AG associated with ‘runners high’ not endorphins (Daniel & McDaniel, 2004)
What are Endocannabinoid receptors?
-These receptors are found throughout your body. Endocannabinoids bind to them in order to signal that the ECS needs to take action.
There are two main endocannabinoid receptors:
1. CB1 receptors, which are mostly found in the central nervous system
2. CB2 receptors, which are mostly found in your peripheral nervous system, especially immune cells.
-Endocannabinoids can bind to either receptor. The effects that result depend on where the receptor is located and which endocannabinoid it binds to.
What are the functions of the endocannabinoid system? (The ECS is complicated, and experts haven’t yet determined exactly how it works or all of its potential functions).
-Appetite and digestion
-Metabolism
-Chronic pain
-Inflammation and other immune system responses
-Mood
-Learning and memory
-Motor control
-Sleep
-Cardiovascular system function
-Muscle formation
-Bone remodelling and growth
-Liver function
-Reproductive system function
-Stress
-Skin and nerve function
What are 3 interesting studies on the effects of cannabis?
- Regular cannabis use alongside prescription medication (opioids) led to a reduction in dose required to elicit desired effect (Lynch et al., 2003). (Less pain medication needed as cannabis and opioids have a synergistic effect).
- CBD (Epidiolex) significantly reduces seizures as an adjunct to standard antiepileptic therapies in patients ≥2 years old with Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and is well tolerated. (Chen et al., 2019).
- Finally, and most recently, Wilsey et al. (2016) conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial utilizing vaporized cannabis among 42 participants with central neuropathic pain related to spinal cord injury and disease. (Pain reduction was just through amount of cannabis usage).
Why do people smoke cannabis?
Simons et al., (1998):
(1) Conformity – Friends / partners are etc.
(2) Coping – Had a hard day / uncomfortable social situation.
(3) Enhancement – To enjoy a party, food, sex more.
(4) Social – To use in a group setting. (e.g. social smokers)
(5) Expansion – “I like the feeling”
Lee et al., (2009):
(1) Enjoyment (2) Celebration
(3) Conformity (4) Altered Perception
(5) Coping (6) Social Anxiety
(7) Experimentation (8) Relative Low Risk
(9) Boredom (10) Sleep/Rest
(11) Alcohol (12) Availability
-Both in American Universities using undergraduate students
-First 4 factors in Simons study are the same as alcohol use
Why do people smoke cannabis according to historical accounts?
- Medicinal – Plethora of medicinal uses (pain and epilepsy among others).
- Enhancement – Gave users the feeling of “joy.”
- Sedative (Sleep) – Helped sedate patients (in Napolean’s time).
- Recreational (Social) – Assyrians. People would consume cannabis together.
- The remaining four reasons either come from alcohol research or the psychopharmacological mechanisms of action of cannabis.
- Using cannabis for food purposes (appetite and appreciation).
- Using cannabis to help cope (Addiction research).
- Using cannabis because others are (Addiction research).
- Using cannabis for creative purposes (Music, films and reflection).
What is the Psychological research steps done for cannabis?
1) Firstly a questionnaire needs to be developed
-The questions used on the questionnaire addressing different constructs (10,18,22,32,43 e.g., are all used to test cannabis use in relation for sleep purposes)
2) Each motive needs relevant questions which will be asked to participants
-Questions from an alcohol scale which were relevant were edited to fit cannabis use.
-This was done for all factors apart from creative where these questions were developed in focus groups with cannabis users.
3) Questionnaire given to participants (minimum 450).
4) Clean the data, run the analysis then write up on paper
-Analysis called R and Factor Analysis
-Fish=questions on questionnaire
-Predator makes fish cluster up (“Killer whale factor analysis”)
-8 different factors on why people use cannabis (food, medicinal, sleep, social, high, coping, conform, creativity)
-The higher the factor, the more relevant it is to cannabis use
What are the main reasons for cannabis use?
- Food (appreciation)
- Medicinal
- Sleep
- Coping
- Conformity
-Coping and medicinal use was associated with problematic use
-Conformity was negatively correlated with problematic use
What’s next for cannabis research?
- Are certain motives correlated with problematic use more than others?
- Does this work in different samples/populations? UK vs USA?
- Does this work in different languages? English vs Dutch.
- Are there male and female differences?
Future applications:
1. Development of targeted interventions for cannabis use disorders.
2. & lots more.
