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A Clinical and Metabolic Study of Acute Intoxication with Cannabis Sativa and its Role in the Model Psychoses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

Frances Ames
Frances Ames*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology and Psychiatry Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town
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Extract

This paper describes an inquiry into the effects of giving oral doses of the narcotic drug variously known as hashish, marihuana and, in South Africa, dagga. The drug is a preparation from the plant Cannabis sativa whose narcotic effect has been known for centuries. The writer's interest in it was inspired by the work in recent years on the mental disturbances produced by the active principles of other plants, e.g. mescaline and lysergic acid. Because of the similarity of these changes to those occurring in conditions such as schizophrenia, some workers have suggested that these “model psychoses” could be used as a research tool in attempts to elucidate the mechanisms and causes of the naturally occurring psychoses. Although there has been a great deal of work on mescaline and lysergic acid, cannabis has not received much attention. This may be because its chemistry is still not fully worked out and preparations of the plant are difficult to standardize and vary in their potency.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 104 , Issue 437 , October 1958 , pp. 972 - 999
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1958 

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