Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana

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.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.

"There is an increasing disconnect between public attitudes and published science on marijuana. Given the current level of discourse and the importance of this issue to the health and wellbeing of many Americans, it is critical that we have objective, fact based information with which to guide our laws and policies. This edited volume takes us a long way towards that goal, and should be required reading for anyone seeking facts on marijuana." -- Micha el Botticelli, Executive Director, Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine"The legalization of marijuana brings strong opinions, on both sides. This book focuses on the science of marijuana. With chapters by leading experts across a range of fields from epidemiology to treatment and criminal justice, it sheds light on a contemporary debate." -- Nancy Petry, PhD, Professor of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine"Drs. Sabet and Winters have convened a stellar group of contributors for Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana. These scholars have cast a broad net to offer readers a timely and sensible analysis of marijuana use and its consequences. Individual chapters focus on a panoply of issues central to advancing our understanding of marijuana use. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, from the epidemiology of marijuana use patterns, medicinal marijuanause, and the health consequences of marijuana use, to treatments for marijuana use, a thoughtful consideration of driving under the influence, and the public policy implications of marijuana use.Each chapter in this volume is sharp, focused and clearly written. Perhaps most importantly, this volume represents thoughtful contributors who offer a fair and balanced assessment of the state of marijuana use-without prejudice. This is a must read for any clinician, scientist, public health worker, or public policy maker." -- Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, C.A.S., Morris E. Chafetz Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioral Sciences, Harvard Medical School & Director, Division on Addiction, The Cambridge Health Alliance

• 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