Role of the endocannabinoid system in the control of alcohol abuse mechanisms

The medical and recreational use of Cannabis sativa derivatives has been practised for thousands of years and nowadays marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States and in many other countries throughout the world. Their use in USA has reached the pick at the end of seventies and 4-5% of the general population and 15-20 % of high school seniors and college students used marijuana at least once a month in 1994 (Chalsma and Boyum,1994). Above all, the use between adolescents represent a big medical and social problem. However the consumers belong to an heterogeneous population for age and gender. The term marijuana, which is Mexican, refers to a particular form of cannabis that derives mainly from the leaves of the hemp plant growing in hot and dry climates but also in more temperate zones which has been harvested for thousands of years because of its usefulness in production of hemp for ropes and textiles, but also for its psychotropic effects and the multitude of therapeutic indications ascribed to it. Several different cannabis formulations are used, including hashish which consists of the psychoactive sticky resin pressed into blocks, and bhang, a liquid distillate used in India. The earliest archeological evidence of cannabis use dates back 10000 years. Between 2700 and 2000 BC, cannabis was used in Cina to treat rheumatic pains and other conditions (Adams and Martins, 1996) and in India cannabis use played an important role in religion. In 1000 AD hashish was known in the most part of arab world. The Cannabis plant attracted the attenction of European scientists when Napoleon's troops brought back from Egypt intriguing accounts of its psychotropic activity. We now now that cannabis effects in humans include disruption of short-term memory, cognitive impairments, enhanced body awareness, incoordination, sleepiness, reflex tachycardia, hypothermia and mood alterations with euphoria or dysphoria depending on prior experience of the user, mood state at the time of onset, drug dose and route of administration (Pertwee, 1988).