Contents -- 1. Introduction -- The Plant -- Consumption of Cannabis Preparations for Their Psychoactive Effects -- Smoking -- Eating and Drinking -- A Brief History -- 2. The Pharmacology of THC, the Psychoactive Ingredient in Cannabis -- Man-Made Cannabinoids -- Structure-Activity Relationships for Cannabinoids -- Cannabinoid Antagonists -- How Does THC Get to the Brain? -- Smoking -- Oral Absorption -- Other Routes of Administration -- Elimination of THC from the Body -- How Does THC Work? -- Discovery of Naturally Occurring Cannabinoids -- Biosynthesis and Inactivation of Endocannabinoids -- Interaction of Cannabinoids with Other Chemical Messenger Systems in the Brain -- Some Physiological Effects of THC and Anandamide -- Heart and Blood Vessels -- Suppression of Immune System Function -- Sex Hormones and Reproduction -- Pain Sensitivity -- Motility and Posture -- The Billy Martin Tests -- 3. The Effects of Cannabis on the Central Nervous System -- Subjective Reports of the Marijuana High -- Laboratory Studies of Marijuana in Human Volunteers -- Effects on Psychomotor Function and Driving -- Higher Brain Function, Including Learning and Memory -- Comparisons of Marijuana with Alcohol -- Where in the Brain Does Marijuana Act? -- Functional Neuroanatomy of Cannabinoid Receptor CB-1 in the Brain -- What Can Animal Behavior Experiments Tell Us? -- Does Repeated Use of Marijuana Lead to Tolerance and Dependence? -- 4. Medical Uses of Marijuana-Fact or Fantasy? -- The Modern Revival of Interest in Cannabis-Based Medicines -- The Synthetic Cannabinoids -- Dronabinol (Marinol®) -- Nabilone (Cesamet®) -- What are the Medical Targets for Cannabis? -- Nausea and Vomiting Associated with Cancer Chemotherapy -- AIDS Wasting Syndrome -- Pain -- Multiple Sclerosis -- Glaucoma -- Epilepsy -- Bronchial Asthma -- Mood Disorders and Sleep -- Conclusions.

5. Is Cannabis Safe? -- Toxicity -- Acute Effects of Cannabis -- Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Cannabis -- Cannabis in Pregnancy -- Cannabis and Mental Illness -- Special Hazards of Smoked Marijuana -- Marijuana Smoke and Smoking Behavior -- Effects of Marijuana Smoke on the Lungs -- Marijuana Smoking and Lung Cancer -- Can Smoking Marijuana be Recommended for Medical Use? Are There Alternative Delivery Systems? -- Comparison of the Health Risks of Cannabis with Those of Alcohol and Nicotine -- Alcohol -- Tobacco -- Summary of the Conclusions Regarding the Medical Uses of Cannabis -- 6. The Recreational Use of Cannabis -- Prevalence -- How Is Cannabis Consumed and Where Does It Come From? -- Patterns of Recreational Use -- What Are the Effects of Recreational Cannabis Use? -- The Potency of Illicit Marijuana -- Is Marijuana a "Gateway" Drug? -- Do Recreational Marijuana Users Become Dependent? -- Forensic Testing for Cannabis - Growth Industry of the 1990s -- Snapshots of Cannabis Use Around the World -- India and Pakistan -- Nepal and Tibet -- Southeast Asia -- Africa -- Caribbean and Latin America -- Conclusions -- 7. What Next? -- A Hundred Years of Cannabis Inquiries -- The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report (1894) -- Mayor La Guardia's Report on "The Marijuana Problem in the City of New York" (1944) -- The Wootton Report, England 1968 -- Report Followed Report -- The Dutch Experiment -- The Campaign for Medical Marijuana -- What Promise Does Cannabis Research Hold? -- Historical Changes in Attitudes to Psychoactive Drugs -- Opium -- Cocaine -- Tobacco -- What Are the Likely Outcomes in the Twenty-First Century? -- References -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- W -- Z.