Drugs, Religion, and Cultural Heritage : An Analysis of the Public Policies Regarding the Use of Ayahuasca in Brazil Henrique Fernandes Antunes The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society, 2018, Volume #, Issue #, http://doi.org/###################### Abstract : In 1985, ayahuasca was banned for a short period of time by the Federal Council of Drugs (CONFEN). After more than two decades of debates and public policies, the Brazilian government consolidated the regulation of ayahuasca consumption for religious purposes and recognized ayahuasca groups as legitimate religions and part of the cultural heritage of the Amazon region. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that [...]
Lire la suiteEmerging from the dark side : new therapeutic applications of scheduled psychoactive substances Edward James, Thomas L. Robertshaw & Andrew D. Westwell Future medicinal chemistry, February 2019 Doi : 10.4155/fmc-2018-0447 Keywords : harm reduction • healthcare • MDMA • positive psychology • psilocybin • psychoactive • psychotherapy The discovery and development of new medicines occupies years of painstaking and expensive scientific work, with multidisciplinary teams working together in the hope of developing a new chemical entity that outperforms the current standard of care within the chosen disease setting. Once optimized in the laboratory and achieving acceptable regulatory preclinical benchmarks, years of clinical evaluation are required [...]
Lire la suiteEndocannabinoid system in sexual motivational processes : Is it a novel therapeutic horizon ? Renata Androvicova, Jiri Horacek, Tibor Stark, Filippo Drago, Vincenzo Micale Pharmacological Research, 2017, 115, 200–208 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2016.11.021 a b s t r a c t The endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is composed of the cannabinoid receptors types 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2) for marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (9-THC), the endogenous ligands (AEA and 2-AG) and the enzymatic systems involved in their biosynthesis and degradation, recently emerged as important modulator of emotional and non-emotional behaviors. For centuries, in addition to its recreational actions, several contradictory claims regarding the effects of Cannabis use in sexual functioning and behavior [...]
Lire la suiteCannabidiol as a potential treatment for psychosis C.D. Schubart, I.E.C. Sommer, P. Fusar-Poli, L. de Witte, R.S. Kahn, M.P.M. Boks European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2014, 24 ,(1), 51–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.11.002 Abstract Although cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis, the cannabis constituent cannabidiol (CBD) may have antipsychotic properties. This review concisely describes the role of the endocannabinoid system in the development of psychosis and provides an overview of currently available animal, human experimental, imaging, epidemiological and clinical studies that investigated the antipsychotic properties of CBD. In this targeted literature review we performed a search for English articles using Medline and EMBASE. Studies were selected if [...]
Lire la suiteCannabinoids and Mental Health, Part 1 : The Endocannabinoid System and Exogenous Cannabinoids Andrew Penn Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 2019, 57, 9, 7-10. Doi : 10.3928/02793695-20190813-01 ABSTRACT The increasing public acceptance of cannabis and the proliferation of cannabis products in the market-place has coincided with more patients using the drug as a substitute for psychiatric medications or as an adjunctive treatment modality for psychiatric conditions, despite limited evidence of efficacy. With a goal of furthering harm-reduction eff orts in psychiatric nursing, the current article reviews the fundamentals of the endocannabinoid system in humans and the exogenous phytocannabinoids that act on this regulatory [...]
Lire la suiteEffects of cannabidiol (CBD) in neuropsychiatric disorders: A review of pre-clinical and clinical findings. Molecular Basis of Neuropsychiatric Disorders : from Bench to Bedside Sonja ELSAID, Stefan KLOIBER, Bernard Le FOLL Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science, 2019, 167, 25-75. doi : 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2019.06.005. Cannabis sativa (cannabis) is on of the oldest plants cultivated by men. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the major non-psychomimetic compound derived from cannabis. It has been proposed to have a therapeutic potential over a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this narrative review, we have summarized a selected number of pre-clinical and clinical studies, examining the effects of CBD in neuropsychiatric [...]
Lire la suiteRole of the Endocannabinoid System in the Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia M. Fakhoury Molecular Neurobiology, 2017, 54, (1), 768-778. doi: 10.1007/s12035-016-9697-5 ABSTRACT : The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a group of neuromodulatory lipids, enzymes, and receptors involved in numerous behavioral and physiological processes such as mood, memory, and appetite. Recently, longitudinal and postmortem studies have shown that the ECS might be involved in neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. However, despite the large amount of research, our knowledge of the ECS and its implication in this debilitating disorder is still largely limited. This review aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge of the [...]
Lire la suiteAlkaloids Derived from Tryptophan : Harmine and Related Alkaloids T. D. Nikam, K. M. Nitnaware, and M. L. Ahire chapter 19, in K.G. Ramawat, J.M. Merillon (eds.), Natural Products, # Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2013 Doi : 10.1007/978-3-642-22144-6_20 Contents 1 Synonyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554 2 [...]
Lire la suiteTherapeutic potential of cannabinoids in schizophrenia, KUCEROVA J., TABIOVA K., DRAGO F., MICALE V. Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery, 2014, 9, (1), 13-25. Doi : 10.2174/1574889809666140307115532 Abstract Increasing evidence suggests a close relationship between the endocannabinoid system and schizophrenia. The endocannabinoid system comprises of two G protein-coupled receptors (the cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 [CB1 and CB2] for marijuana's psychoactive principle Δ(9)-tetrahydro-cannabinol), their endogenous small lipid ligands (namely anandamide [AEA] and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol [2-AG], also known as endocannabinoids), and proteins for endocannabinoid biosynthesis and degradation. It has been suggested to be a pro-homeostatic and pleiotropic signalling system activated in a time- and tissue-specific manner during [...]
Lire la suiteMedical use of cannabis. Cannabidiol: a new light for schizophrenia ? Serena Deiana Drug Testing and Analysis, 2013, 5, (1), 46-51 doi: 10.1002/dta.1425. Abstract The medical properties of cannabis have been known for many centuries; its first documented use dates back to 2800 BC when it was described for its hallucinogenic and pain-relieving properties. In the first half of the twentieth century, a number of pharmaceutical companies marked cannabis for indications such as asthma and pain, but since then its use has sharply declined, mainly due to its unpredictable effects, but also for socio-political issues. Recently, great attention has been directed to the medical properties [...]
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