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Workshop on Clinical Consequences of Marijuana

August 13-14, 2001

 Presented by
Center on AIDS and Other Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse
Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health

Recommendations for Future Research

  1. In the area of the general health consequences of marijuana use, future research should address the neurocognitive effects of chronic marijuana use by adolescents and young adults; animal models for studying marijuana dependence in humans; marijuana effects in various human diseases (cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary/respiratory diseases; immune dysfunction-related infections); chronic effects of marijuana on sleep disorders; drug-drug interactions between marijuana and those used in the treatment of mental disorders or other diseases; and functional assays to study neuropsychiatric/behavioral deficits.


  2. In the cardiovascular area, future research should study the effects of chronic marijuana use on atherosclerotic events (effects on clotting mechanisms; lipid metabolism) and endothelial function; arrhythmic effects of chronic marijuana use; effects on body weight resulting from plasma fluid changes (renal effects via renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system); and long-term effects on coronary output using noninvasive techniques.


  3. Future pulmonary and cancer studies should address lung immunity among chronic marijuana smokers; incidence, prevalence, and underlying pathophysiology (molecular/genetic basis) of head and neck cancer and other cancers (cervix, prostate) associated with chronic marijuana use; population-based epidemiologic studies; and tumor registries to determine whether chronic marijuana smoking is associated with cancers.


  4. Study the long-term effects of marijuana on the immune, endocrine and reproductive systems.


  5. Participants also recommended that NIDA train young investigators from other disciplines to conduct research on the clinical consequences of marijuana.

 

[Introduction] [Agenda] [Abstracts] [Participant List]

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