NCJ Number
32558
Date Published
1972
Length
300 pages
Annotation
THIS RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT CHRONIC DAILY USE IS NOT DESIRABLE AT THE DOSAGE LEVELS WHICH THE AUTHORS USED; THIS WAS DEMONSTRATED FOR RATS, CATS, MONKEYS, AND HUMANS.
Abstract
DURING THE SECOND YEAR OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT, VERIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF THREE EARLIER TENTATIVE FINDINGS WERE MADE, IT WAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THE CHRONIC DAILY USE OF MARIJUANA RESULTS IN A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN SLOW WAVE SLEEP IN BOTH HUMANS AND LOWER ANIMALS. MARIJUANA EFFECTS THE BEHAVIOR OF MALE AND FEMALE RATS DIFFERENTLY. CERTAIN MEASURES OF BRAIN FUNCTIONING REFLECT A TOLERANCE TO MARIJUANA USAGE WHILE OTHERS DO NOT. THIS IS ADDITIONAL CONFIRMATION OF THE FACT THAT MARIJUANA HAS MULTIPLE EFFECTS ON BRAIN FUNCTIONING AND CANNOT BE EASILY CLASSIFIED UNDER A TRADITIONAL PHARMACOLOGICAL HEADING. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT PROVIDE A BASIS FOR FURTHER EXPERIMENTS THAT WILL ESTABLISH THE LIMITS WITHIN WHICH MARIJUANA CAN BE USED BY HUMANS WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR LIFE STYLE OR BASIC MOTIVATIONAL PATTERNS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)