Browsing by Subject "Cannabis"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Open Access
    A prospective study of methamphetamine use as a predictor of high school non-attendance in Cape Town, South Africa
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2010) Plüddemann, Andreas; Flisher, Alan J; McKetin, Rebecca; Parry, Charles D; Lombard, Carl J
    BACKGROUND: This prospective study investigated the association between life-long methamphetamine and other drug use and high school non-attendance, in a sample of high school students in Cape Town, South Africa. METHODS: A random sample of 1535 high school students completed a baseline questionnaire in 2006, and were asked to complete a follow-up questionnaire 12 months later. The questionnaire included questions on substance use, including tobacco, alcohol, methamphetamine and cannabis use, demographic factors, and questions relating to school attendance and performance. RESULTS: Forty-three percent of the students surveyed at baseline did not complete a follow-up questionnaire after 12 months. Compared with students who were not using selected substances, an adjusted logistic regression model showed that life-time methamphetamine use in addition to other substances was significantly associated with non-attendance (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.24 - 5.36) when other non-substance use factors (repeating a year at school and being older than the norm for current grade) were taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: Early identification of students with methamphetamine and other substance use problems, and a supportive rather than punitive school policy, may be valuable in improving high school completion and student retention rates.
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    Open Access
    Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys
    (Public Library of Science, 2008) Degenhardt, Louisa; Chiu, Wai-Tat; Sampson, Nancy; Kessler, Ronald C; Anthony, James C; Angermeyer, Matthias; Bruffaerts, Ronny; Girolamo, Giovanni de; Gureje, Oye; Huang, Yueqin
    Louisa Degenhardt and colleagues report an international survey of 17 countries that finds clear differences in drug use across different regions of the world.
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    Open Access
    Toward the identification of a phytocannabinoid-like compound in the flowers of a South African medicinal plant (Leonotis leonurus)
    (2020-11-10) Hunter, E; Stander, M; Kossmann, J; Chakraborty, S; Prince, S; Peters, S; Loedolff, Bianke
    Abstract Objective Current global trends on natural therapeutics suggest an increasing market interest toward the use and discovery of new plant-derived therapeutic compounds, often referred to as traditional medicine (TM). The Cannabis industry is currently one such focal area receiving attention, owing to the occurrence of phytocannabinoids (pCBs) which have shown promise in health-promotion and disease prevention. However, the occurrence of pCBs in other plant species are often overlooked and rarely studied. Leonotis leonurus (L.) R. Br. is endemic to South Africa with a rich history of use in TM practices amongst indigenous people and, has been recorded to induce mild psychoactive effects akin to Cannabis. While the leaves have been well-reported to contain therapeutic phytochemicals, little information exists on the flowers. Consequently, as part of a larger research venture, we targeted the flowers of L. leonurus for the identification of potential pCB or pCB-like compounds. Results Flower extracts were separated and analyzed using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). A single pCB candidate was isolated from HPTLC plates and, using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), we could successfully group this compound as a fatty amide and tentatively identified as 7,10,13,16-Docosatetraenoylethanolamine (adrenoyl-EA), a known bioactive compound.