Medical Reasons for Marijuana Use, Forms of Use, and Patient Perception of Physician Attitudes Among the US Population.

Background: The use of marijuana for medical purposes is increasing in parallel with expanding legalization and decreased public perception of harm. Despite this increase in use, it is unclear which medical conditions patients are attempting to treat with marijuana and whether they are communicating with medical providers about their use.

Objective: To understand the medical reasons for marijuana use, forms of marijuana used for medical purposes, and disclosure of use to physicians.

Development of a Cannabis Assessment Tool (CAT-1) to measure current and lifetime marijuana use among older Veterans.

Objective: To develop a tool to assess current (past 30 days) and lifetime marijuana use in older Veterans.

Setting: US Veteran's Affairs Healthcare System.

Participants: 704 older Veterans were screened, 339 completed the initial survey, 100 completed the follow-up.

Differences in Opinions About Marijuana Use and Prevalence of Use by State Legalization Status.

Objective: Beliefs about marijuana use and prevalence of use may be associated with the legalization status of the state of residence. We examined differences in views and rates of use of marijuana among residents in recreationally legal, medically legal, and nonlegal states.

Methods: We surveyed a nationally representative online panel of US adults (N = 16,280) and stratified results by marijuana legalization status of states.

Sources of Information and Beliefs About the Health Effects of Marijuana.

Background: Marijuana is currently legal for recreational use in 10 states and Washington DC while a total of 34 states have implemented varying degrees of medical marijuana. The commercialization of marijuana has been accompanied by a proliferation of false claims regarding the therapeutic potential of marijuana, which are popularized by several different information sources. To date, no study has examined where US adults get their information regarding marijuana.

Substitution of marijuana for opioids in a national survey of US adults.

Opioid prescriptions for chronic pain and subsequent opioid-related complications have risen dramatically in the US. Recent data suggest that medical marijuana laws have been associated with lower state-level opioid overdose mortality. In a national survey, we examined the prevalence of substitution of marijuana for opioids among US adults taking opioids for pain.

Risks and Benefits of Marijuana Use: A National Survey of U.S. Adults.

Background: Despite insufficient evidence regarding its risks and benefits, marijuana is increasingly available and is aggressively marketed to the public.

Objective: To understand the public's views on the risks and benefits of marijuana use.

Design: Probability-based online survey.

Children's Exposure to Violence: The Underlying Effect of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms on Behavior Problems.

In this study we investigated whether witnessing violence and violence victimization were associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in these relationships. Secondary data analysis was conducted using 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Path analyses were conducted to test direct and indirect effects of violence exposure on behavior problems, using 2,064 children (ages 8-15 years) reported to Child Protective Services for maltreatment.

Gender differences in caregiver-child relationship mediation of the association between violence exposure severity and adolescent behavior problems.

The main objectives of this study were to investigate (1) the relationship between mild, moderate, and severe violence exposure in the home and behavior problems in adolescents; (2) the caregiver-child relationship as a potential mediator in this relationship; and (3) gender differences. A series of path analyses were conducted using a sample drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NCSAW-I) of 848 adolescents (ages 11-15) who had been reported to Child Protective Services for maltreatment and who remained in their homes. Exposure to violence and the caregiver-child relationship were reported by adolescents.

Resilience in physically abused children: protective factors for aggression.

Aggression continues to be a serious problem among children, especially those children who have experienced adverse life events such as maltreatment. However, there are many maltreated children who show resilient functioning. This study investigated potential protective factors (i.