Dimensions of marihuana experience.

A questionnaire concerned with expected effects of marihuana was completed by 182 persons with histories of social use of the drug. The majority of subjects were relatively infrequent users. Reported experiences from use were greater among the most frequent users, and included some unpleasant effects.

Action of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. An approach to the active metabolite hypothesis.

The active metabolite hypothesis, that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) must be converted to its 11-hydroxy metabolite before it becomes active, was tested in a study of subjects chosen as rapid and slow hydroxylators of drugs on the basis of antipyrine and phenylbutazone plasma disappearance rates. Although the sample of subjects showed the customary wide variations in effects experienced after an intravenously administered dose of THC, it was impossible to correlate either the speed of onset, total intensity, or duration of these effects with speed of hydroxylation of drugs. Although 11-hydroxy-THC has unquestioned activity indistinguishable from THC itself, it need not necessarily be solely responsible for the pharmacologic activity of THC.

Panel 2: phase II investigations.

At the end of Phase II, a decision must be made as to whether or not the drug should be developed as a therapeutic agent. Such a decision may be based on many criteria in addition to the scientific data derived from the Phase II study. At this point, expert judgment is needed.

Interactions in man of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. II. Cannabinol and cannabidiol.

Oral doses of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) 20 mg, combined with placebo or with 40 mg dses of cannabinol (CBN) and cannabidiol (CBD), were given to volunteers. The combination of THC with CBN produced no detectable changes in the quality, intensity, or duration of the effects of THC alone. The THC-CBD combination tended to delay onset and prolong effects of THC, while making them somewhat more intense.

Marihuana and setting.

Marihuana or placebo cigarettes were smoked by 12 subjects in two environments, one "favorable" and one "neutral". The object was to determine the contribution of setting to the effects reported from the drug. Two quantifiable self-report measurements, the linear euphoriant scale and the card-sort version of the Addiction Research Center Inventory (marihuana and hallucinogen scales), were the major reporting criteria.

Marihuana metabolites in urine of man. V. Characterization and separation of polar metabolites of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

Extraction of human urine with ether at pH 12 and thin-layer chromatography using two solvent systems permitted separation of several polar metabolites of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), not previously isolated by these techniques. These metabolites appeared as conjugates and are probably dihydroxy alcohols.

Dose-ranging studies of clonazepam in man.

A potent benzodiazepin derivative, clonazepam, was studied over a range of single doses to determine tolerance for the drug. The best tolerated doses were 0.5 and 1 mg.

Butaclamol hydrochloride in newly admitted schizophrenics.

Butaclamol hydrochloride, a new type of antipsychotic drug, was evaluated by an uncontrolled study of 13 newly admitted schizophrenic patients. The drug had antipsychotic effects as well as a strong propensity for evoking extrapyramidal side effects. With the maximal daily doses of 30 mg used in this study, therapeutic results obtained were probably somewhat less than optimal.

Cholinergic imbalance hypotheses of psychoses and movement disorders: strategies for evaluation.

It has been proposed that the etiologies of tardive dyskinesia and Huntington's chorea and of some forms of schizophrenia and the affective disorders involve a cholinergic imbalance with respect to a second neurotransmitter. This relative over- or underactivity of the cholinergic system could result from altered synthesis, storage, release, degradation, or reuptake or from a variety of receptor interactions. Under these hypotheses, clinical symptoms would reflect both the brain region in which the imbalance occurs and the neurotransmitter with which acetylcholine is interacting.

Hydroxyzine hydrochloride: possible adverse cardiac interactions.

Hydroxyzine hydrochloride may produce abnormal ventricular repolarization when given in substratial doses or to susceptible individuals. Phenothiazines, such as thioridazine, tricyclic antidepressants, or antiparkinson drugs, any of which may be given concurrently to psychiatric patients, may augment this effect as well as atropine, quinidine or procainamide. Such EKG abnormalities may increase the likelihood of dysrhythmias and sudden death.