ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the epidemiology of cannabis use by adolescent populations. A systematic review of epidemiological data on cannabis dependence concluded that, in 2010, there were 13.1 million cannabis-dependent people globally. Cannabis is mainly smoked in small pipes, bongs or in paper roll-ups usually mixed with tobacco, or by using vapourisers, which eliminate carcinogenic combustion by-products. Cannabinoids have high lipid solubility and this can result in their persisting in the body for long periods of time. Cannabis has a unique mixture of depressant and stimulant effects on the central nervous system and it increases the metabolic rate of the brains of animals and humans. Cannabis Intoxication is included as a diagnosis in both ICD-10 and DSM-5, in the chapters pertinent to Substance Use Disorders; the diagnostic criteria set differ only on the number of behavioural/psychological and physical symptoms required for diagnosis. Cannabis stimulates the medial forebrain bundle and elevates dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens and other dopamine terminal fields.
