Medicinal cannabis in Australia, 2016: the Cannabis as Medicine Survey (CAMS-16).

Objective: To explore patterns of cannabis use for medical purposes in Australia immediately prior to the 2016 legislation for frameworks for medical cannabis use. Design, setting: Anonymous online survey with convenience sample, April-October 2016. Participants were recruited through online media and at professional and consumer forums.

Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of cannabinoid replacement therapy (Nabiximols) for the management of treatment-resistant cannabis dependent patients: a study protocol.

Background: The cannabis extract nabiximols (Sativex®) effectively supresses withdrawal symptoms and cravings in treatment resistant cannabis dependent individuals, who have high relapse rates following conventional withdrawal treatments. This study examines the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of longer-term nabiximols treatment for outpatient cannabis dependent patients who have not responded to previous conventional treatment approaches.

Methods/design: A phase III multi-site outpatient, randomised, double-blinded, placebo controlled parallel design, comparing a 12-week course of nabiximols to placebo, with follow up at 24 weeks after enrolment.

An Australian nationwide survey on medicinal cannabis use for epilepsy: History of antiepileptic drug treatment predicts medicinal cannabis use.

Epilepsy Action Australia conducted an Australian nationwide online survey seeking opinions on and experiences with the use of cannabis-based products for the treatment of epilepsy. The survey was promoted via the Epilepsy Action Australia's main website, on their Facebook page, and by word of mouth. The survey consisted of 39 questions assessing demographics, clinical factors, including diagnosis and seizure types, and experiences with and opinions towards cannabis use in epilepsy.

The Effects of Lithium Carbonate Supplemented with Nitrazepam on Sleep Disturbance during Cannabis Abstinence.

Study Objective: Sleep disturbance is a hallmark feature of cannabis withdrawal. In this study we explored the effects of lithium treatment supplemented with nitrazepam on objective and subjective measures of sleep quality during inpatient cannabis withdrawal.

Methods: Treatment-seeking cannabis-dependent adults (n = 38) were admitted for 8 days to an inpatient withdrawal unit and randomized to either oral lithium (500 mg) or placebo, twice daily in a double-blind RCT.

Lithium carbonate in the management of cannabis withdrawal: a randomized placebo-controlled trial in an inpatient setting.

Rationale: Preclinical studies suggest that lithium carbonate (lithium) can reduce precipitated cannabinoid withdrawal in rats by stimulating release of the neuropeptide oxytocin, while two open-label studies indicate lithium may ameliorate cannabis withdrawal symptoms in humans.

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of lithium in the inpatient management of cannabis withdrawal and to determine whether lithium affects plasma oxytocin and the rate of elimination of plasma cannabinoids during abstinence.

Methods: Treatment-seeking cannabis-dependent adults (n = 38) were admitted for 8 days to an inpatient withdrawal unit and randomized to either oral lithium (500 mg) or placebo given twice a day under double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) conditions.

The detection of THC, CBD and CBN in the oral fluid of Sativex® patients using two on-site screening tests and LC-MS/MS.

Sativex(®) is an oromucosal spray used to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis sufferers in some European countries, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. The drug has also recently been registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia for treatment of multiple sclerosis. Sativex(®) contains high concentrations of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), with the former being the subject of random roadside drug tests across Australia to detect cannabis use.

Fasting and exercise increase plasma cannabinoid levels in THC pre-treated rats: an examination of behavioural consequences.

Rationale: Δ(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, accumulates in fat tissue where it can remain for prolonged periods. Under conditions of increased fat utilisation, blood cannabinoid concentrations can increase. However, it is unclear whether this has behavioural consequences.

Changes in cigarette and alcohol use during cannabis abstinence.

Objective: Cannabis causes lower mortality and morbidity than alcohol and tobacco so it is clinically important if quitting cannabis is associated with substitution with these substances. This study tests if cannabis is substituted with alcohol and/or tobacco during cannabis abstinence, and factors predicting such substitution.

Method: A secondary analysis of a prospective community based study quantified cannabis, alcohol and tobacco use with Timeline Follow-back during a two-week voluntary cannabis abstinence and at one-month follow-up in non-treatment seeking cannabis users (n=45).

Nabiximols as an agonist replacement therapy during cannabis withdrawal: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: There are no medications approved for treating cannabis dependence or withdrawal. The cannabis extract nabiximols (Sativex), developed as a multiple sclerosis treatment, offers a potential agonist medication for cannabis withdrawal.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of nabiximols in treating cannabis withdrawal.

Quantifying the clinical significance of cannabis withdrawal.

Background And Aims: Questions over the clinical significance of cannabis withdrawal have hindered its inclusion as a discrete cannabis induced psychiatric condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). This study aims to quantify functional impairment to normal daily activities from cannabis withdrawal, and looks at the factors predicting functional impairment. In addition the study tests the influence of functional impairment from cannabis withdrawal on cannabis use during and after an abstinence attempt.

The Cannabis Withdrawal Scale development: patterns and predictors of cannabis withdrawal and distress.

Background: Rates of treatment seeking for cannabis are increasing, and relapse is common. Management of cannabis withdrawal is an important intervention point. No psychometrically sound measure for cannabis withdrawal exists, and as a result treatment developments cannot be optimally targeted.

A dimensionless invariant for relative size at sex change in animals: explanation and implications.

Recent comparative studies across sex-changing animals have found that the relative size and age at sex change are strikingly invariant. In particular, 91%-97% of the variation in size at sex change across species can be explained by the simple rule that individuals change sex when they reach 72% of their maximum body size. However, this degree of invariance is surprising and has proved controversial.

Sex-ratio evolution in sex changing animals.

Sex allocation theory is often able to make clear predictions about when individuals should facultatively adjust their offspring sex ratio (proportion male) in response to local conditions, but not the consequences for the overall population sex ratio. A notable exception to this is in sex changing organisms, where theory predicts that: (1) organisms should have a sex ratio biased toward the "first" sex: (2) the bias should be less extreme in partially sex changing organisms, where a proportion of the "second" sex matures directly from the juvenile stage; and (3) the sex ratio should be more biased in protogynous (female first) than in protandrous (male first) species. We tested these predictions with a comparative study using data from 121 sex changing animal species spanning five phyla, covering fish, arthropods, echinoderms, molluscs, and annelid worms.