Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. A growing number of Americans now perceive marijuana as relatively harmless and the notion that the drug should be legalized it is becoming increasingly popular. As policy in this area remains dynamic, resulting health issues, including the harm to adolescents and the potential for compounds to have therapeutic value, become more salient. Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana is a balanced, empirically driven volume that highlights new and meaningful theory and evidence pertaining to marijuana use. Authored by a multidisciplinary group of experts from the fields of psychology, epidemiology, medicine, and criminal justice, chapters comprehensively review numerous research domains of public health interest with respect to marijuana use, including the drug's impact on cognitive and neurological functioning, its medical effects, treatment approaches for cannabis use disorders, the effects of marijuana smoking on lung function, and marijuana-impaired driving. The book concludes with a chapter on policy implications, taking stock of current trends and anticipating prevalence rates and resulting health consequences that will only continue to grow. Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana is a resource of great clinical, scientific, and public policy value that will be a must-have for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike.

Kevin Sabet, from 2009 to 2011, served as the Obama Administration's Senior Advisor at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). He also served two other White House ONDCP terms, making him the only appointee in both Democrat and Republican administrations. Now the Head of SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), Affiliated Fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale University, and Director of the Drug Policy Institute, Dr. Sabet is widely published and often appears in the media. His areas of specialization include evidence-based drug prevention, treatment, and law enforcement (both domestic and international), as well as the impacts of drug legalization. Ken Winters founded and directed for 25 years the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research, University of Minnesota Medical School. The Center is nationally recognized for developing assessment tools and brief interventions to address adolescent drug abuse. He currently is a Senior Scientist, Oregon Research Institute. Dr. Winters received numerous research grants from the National Institute of Health and various foundations over a 30-year period, and is a frequent publisher, speaker and trainer and he is a consultant to many organizations.

Preface - Ken C. Winters and Kevin A. Sabet
Introduction - Nicholas Chadi, Sharon Levy, Rajiv Radhakrishnan, Mohini Ranganathan, and Aaron S. B. Weiner
Chapter 1. Recent Epidemiological Trends in Marijuana Use - Linda B. Cottler and Chukwuemeka N. Okafor
Chapter 2. International Trends in Cannabis Use - James C. Anthony, Omayma Alshaarawy, and Catalina Lopez-Quintero
Chapter 3. Clinical Characteristics of Cannabis Use Disorder - Tammy Chung and Ken C. Winters
Chapter 4. Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Brain Structure and Function: Current Findings and Recommendations for Future Research - Randi Melissa Schuster, Jodi Gilman, and A. Eden Evins
Chapter 5. The Impact of Marijuana on Mental Health - Christine L. Miller
Chapter 6. Impact of Marijuana Smoking on Lung Health - Donald P. Tashkin
Chapter 7. Marijuana-Impaired Driving: A Path through the Controversies - Robert L. DuPont, Erin A. Holmes, Stephen K. Talpins, and J. Michael Walsh
Chapter 8. Risk Factors for Adolescent Marijuana Use - Richard F. Catalano, Elizabeth C. Speaker, Martie L. Skinner, Jennifer A. Bailey, Ge Hong, Kevin P. Haggerty, Katarina Guttmannova, and Erin N. Harrop
Chapter 9. Status Update on the Treatment of Cannabis Use Disorder - Alan J. Budney, Catherine Stanger, Ashley A. Knapp, and Denise D. Walker
Chapter 10. What Is the Evidence of Marijuana as Medicine? - Kevin A. Sabet, David Atkinson, and Shayda M. Sabet
Chapter 11. Policy Implications - Kevin A. Sabet and Ken C. Winters
Index