Clinical Consequences of Marijuana
August 13-14, 2001
Center on AIDS and Other Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse
Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Recommendations for Future Research
- In the area of the general health consequences of marijuana use, future research should address the neurocognitive effects of chronic marijuana use by adolescents and young adults; animal models for studying marijuana dependence in humans; marijuana effects in various human diseases (cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary/respiratory diseases; immune dysfunction-related infections); chronic effects of marijuana on sleep disorders; drug-drug interactions between marijuana and those used in the treatment of mental disorders or other diseases; and functional assays to study neuropsychiatric/behavioral deficits.
- In the cardiovascular area, future research should study the effects of chronic marijuana use on atherosclerotic events (effects on clotting mechanisms; lipid metabolism) and endothelial function; arrhythmic effects of chronic marijuana use; effects on body weight resulting from plasma fluid changes (renal effects via renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system); and long-term effects on coronary output using noninvasive techniques.
- Future pulmonary and cancer studies should address lung immunity among chronic marijuana smokers; incidence, prevalence, and underlying pathophysiology (molecular/genetic basis) of head and neck cancer and other cancers (cervix, prostate) associated with chronic marijuana use; population-based epidemiologic studies; and tumor registries to determine whether chronic marijuana smoking is associated with cancers.
- Study the long-term effects of marijuana on the immune, endocrine and reproductive systems.
- Participants also recommended that NIDA train young investigators from other disciplines to conduct research on the clinical consequences of marijuana.